Alright, so I have this horse that is 17.3hh, 11 years old, and was previously abused. He was a rescue case. He was terrified of whips, and would squeal and kick out if one touched him. He is now over that, and we are moving onto his more serious issue. Being strong. His previous owner rode him with a twisted gag bit, and was EXTREMELY harsh on his mouth. You would not believe how hard she was on him. Now, he will pull through almost any bit. He won't relax his jaw, or flex at the poll. He is always too nervous. To make a downwards transition from a canter, you have to use all the seat you can, and VERY strong half halts, or one rein stop him. At the walk and trot he is progressing, but the canter is tough. At the walk and trot he still won't relax his jaw or flex at the poll, and it is still very hard to slow him with ENORMOUS seat cues and hand cues. I have tried many different natural horsemanship techniques as well as more traditional english training techniques with this horse, and he is slowly coming along. He can now be ridden in a very thin loose ring snaffle. I still have a LOT of trouble with the canter, and with rounding up, working off the hind end, and softening and suppling. I have done some research, and the german martingale (or market harobourgh) is supposed to help teach horses that are strong to give to gentle rein pressure. He has had other martingales on, and is not frightened by being restricted, and is not a panicker. Would the german martingale help me re-train this horse? pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Thanks
Ally
P.S: I do not need people telling me that "devices" and "equipment" should not be used to train a horse, I would only use it once in a while as a reminder to the horse, and it is a training AID, which means it helps in the process of training. It is not a cruel device, and does not hurt the horse or force them into uncomfortable positions unless used or adjusted improperly.

Opinions on whether or not the german martingale would be helpful or not are welcome from people who have experience with it, not haters of this aid.
Thanks again!

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RE-EDITED........... (i was in a bad mood before..lol) :-P

Bending work. Lots of bend work.

One rein stops, serpentines, changes of direction, all with very specific things in mind....how he does them and what you expect....driving him plenty into the bit and using the bit one handed, never two (for now)

I wouldn't recommend the martingale. frankly, I don't see the point of it. If I can do the same thing without it and be safer, I'd rather not tie a horse's head down

a moving tie down or a fixed tie down....it's all just a tie down....and guess what? if the horse bucks or bolts, you're sh!t out luck. I have personally known people who got seriously injured using that crap.

I've used a Dr cook's bitless for retraining horses like that....who are stiff in their body. (it's not his mouth, not his neck....it's his back that is locked up....that locks up the poll). I've found that horses that were scared by bits do better without one. Haven't been disappointed or proven wrong yet.

He can be a 500 pound pony and still be strong. I think a mistake is to think about him as a big horse. He's just a horse. He just happens to be larger. Think of him as a stiff in the body horse. And that's it.

He is unbroke, too. Restart him from the ground to the saddle again. Because he's got massive holes in his training....sounds like he was never truly broke to begin with.

Alright, first thing I want to say: THANK YOU for training instead of getting a harsher bit! :)
Second, there's a blog I love about a similar situation you might find interesting:
http://spencersnewlife.blogspot.com/

I have a Haflinger, and he is a strong little sucker. The trick isn't to overpower them, because that's impossible. You have to outsmart them into THINKING you're stronger. This does NOTt mean you whip them or anything. It means you always make sure you have the upper hand in a situation and they will start to regard you as the "herd leader" and respect you.
Also, it sounds like you need to build trust. If he is nervous, he's not going to work his best. I would do tons of ground work, which will build trust AND respect. He's going to need lots of time.
I don't know anything about martingales though i'm sorry.

Good luck! :D