Is this like a martingale?

Does it have the same purpose? To keep the horses head from setting too high?
Thanks in advance :)

It's a running martingale, opposed to a standard martingale. The rings thread through the reins. Usually used for jumping to correct a horse from throwing his head up, but still giving them the freedom to stretch their neck over fences.

Yep, that's a running martingale. I use one very similar to that for jumping because my mare tends to throw her head up sometimes.

Thank you! And I was just looking that item up and it said it was a Western version of a running martingale. Called Training Forks

A technicality maybe, but I would call that a running attachment, not a true running martingale in the sense of the word.

The attachment would clip to the front of a breast plate, vs. a true running martingale that has a collar for the hoses' neck. A small difference worth noting.

Technically, it is an attachment. But it is still a RM because of the way it works. Just attach it to the breast plate and you're good to go! I like the attachments because you have the versatility of having a RM or just a breast plate instead of having to buy two different ones.

My trainer hooks it to the girth rings. Is that ok too?

Depends on the length of the attachment. Judging from the one you posted, I wouldn't put it on the girth. That would make it too tight and more like a tie-down than anything else.

I use one like this and attach it to the breast plate: http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/Eque...R-a?$oldimage$

No way that attaches to the front of the breast plate. It attaches to the center of the girth. That is a running martingale but it should also have the strap around the neck. The ones that attach to the front of the breast plate have a buckle at the ring.
Technically that is a running martingale but a poor one.

I wouldn't say it's a poor running martingale. It looks like the one I use and it does it's job perfectly.

It's hard to tell how long the RM attachment really is, therefore, we can't know if it attaches to the girth or breastplate. However, the ones I have used always attach to the breastplate.

This style of RM is much more versatile than the "real" RM's which is why I use them.