Alcohol and Horse Shows?

[DMK]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by slugger:
There is a time and a place for everything. I think horseshows can be that time and place for imbibing provided one exhibits decorum and one isn’t lap-dancing for the judge while crooning the Spice Girls.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, if it were to help with your placings the next day…

I’m with you, I am not talented enough as it is, without adding drinking before I show. However, after I’m done showing and the horse is put up, some of the nicest times I have had at a show is sitting around with a bunch of horse show folks, drinking a glass of wine and talking, gossiping, being silly, whatever… Of course, I am also at that age where after just a few, I can be counted on to be completely useless the next day…

[ccoronios]

I agree to a great extent, cactus.
I think one of the saddest comments I’ve heard was YEARS ago from a 17 year old who rode/showed every orangutan her trainer dragged in (usually a week off the track) - back in the days of outside courses and REAL working hunters… “I have to be bombed to have the guts to ride a working stake class - they want it so ‘brilliant’ - and these things aren’t even broke.”

[3eme]

Oh! Oh! And here’s another one :

I had a night jumper class at a horse show last winter (indoor). The class was sponsored by a champagne company.

The judges, who were sitting in a skybox, got SO DRUNK on the free champagne that we were just waiting for them to start falling out of the skybox!

And when I entered the ring and announced my name to them, one of them got on the microphone and started imitating my accent, and then quickly switched the music to a blaring “BORN IN THE USA” by Bruce Springsteen… yeesh… (okay, so it was a little funny, anyway)

Do I think drinking is appropriate at horse shows? A little – yes. To excess (like um, drunk judges) HECK NOOOOOO!!!

But then again… overall, I do think that drinking should be a part of shows, because that is where sponsorship often comes from!

[Flash44]

I base my decision on whether or not to drink on whether or not I am driving! Actually, I’ve reached the age that if I have more than 4 drinks (even over 4 hours) I am hung over. Could drink like a fish in college, but those were the days. I see nothing wrong with a beverage or 2 AFTER your duties are done, but be responsible, and be a good friend.

PS - My husband went to a football game 2 weeks ago. Left the house at noon (for a 4:30 game) and returned at 9:30 at night. Was I surprised he called me at 7 the next morning and asked me to take him to the ER because he fell off the 2nd horse he got on? No.

[Thoroughlybred]

I personally dislike seeing trainers and underage students drinking together at shows, I think it looks bad on the sport…but I think it is fine for an adult barn to have a few drinks to unwind for the day. I think drinking before a class is wrong, you need so much control and accuracy (I ride jumpers) as it is I’m sure a drink or two before the class would make the rider lose focus and be a danger to themselves and their horse.

[Twister]

There seems to be a trend in the comments, especially from those of the junior set trying to sound cool, that drinking=getting drunk.

You’ve fiinished your day. The horsies are tucked in for the night and you sit on your trunk and have a beer. Big deal.

Going to an exhibitor’s party does not mean you must drink or get drunk. Grow up, kids…

[Moesha]

This is great this is just the kind of stuff I want to hear. I think that a lot of the Drunken parties mentioned on this BB, happened away from the horses in all fairness, at a bar or restaurant.

Regalmeans… Of course the demographics at one day and 5-6 day shows are quite different but your opinion is still very valid, appreciated and important.

Cactuskate…The same, I do not think it is being a dinosaur, and do you think that people riding around drunk or buzzed is common? I would hope not? I mean I joke about wanting a shot of Whisky, Which I’ve never tasted!!! believe it or not before the A/O jumpers sometimes, but please there is enough to go wrong completely sober!!! More importantly I would never want to endanger my horse, who is my best friend!
Do you think it is more common than not for trainers/riders to ride after too much to drink??

[3eme]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Moesha:

3eme, what did you do??? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Looked for a new doctor!

[ErinB]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sandstone:
[B]After I first started going to the big parties, I definatly got hooked! They are so much fun and it is nice to be equal with the older guys and trainers as far as who can drink. I can drink and not worry about how i am not legal yet.

At Blowing rock the beers are in the ice buckets literally an inch away from the soda ice buckets. They are just asking for it. And I love the Outback Parties… a group of 5 girls under 16 and a few trainers all with beers and most with cigarets. There is just so easy to get anything you want.[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, whatever.

[JRG]

Here is my opinion for all its worth, probably about 2 cents.

For day shows I think it is not appropriate, after all you will be driving at somepoint, holding a horse or walking around the show grounds. I don’t feel it is necessary.

But for 2 day or longer, why not. After the horse is put to bed, your relaxing and it is fairly descrete (like someone had mentioned, no bottles and shots lying around) why not? I do draw the line of getting drunk at this point, because anything can happen. I guess I am just a fan of my whits and saftey.

As far as party’s. To each his own. Not my place to judge anyone drinking, I’ll have one myself.

[Blinky]

HHHmmm-smoking and horses. That’s smart! Ever here of a barn fire.

I’m not critizing those that smoke just don’t think around horses is appropriate.

[Moesha]

Trooper, that is true especially when watching. Drinks and food do make watching inviting and honestly more fun!!

ccoronios, that is really sad!

[This message has been edited by Moesha (edited 12-07-2000).]

[Moesha]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by AHC:
I’m with you trooper… spectating is one thing, riding another. And we are all role models for kids who are around whether we like it or not… A beer at the end of the day or at an exhibitor’s party is one thing, being sloppy drunk at a horse show quite another. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree a drink here or there is fine and being “buzzed” and being an out of control drunk at a show are two separate things!!!

Last year my life could have been changed forever, I was so excited because we “Swept” our division at Culpeper and it guaranteed me the Virginia Year end, anyway a friend of mine had way too much to drink and decided to take my Golf Cart for a spin! I should have said no but I had work to do, Go ahead I’m sure someone will make fun of the fact that I like to do my own work and set my horse up for the night!!!, even with grooms. Well, I like to give my horse a good rinse so he can roll and then I rebath him with vetrolin and brace and let him graze until he is dry, the grooms do not have time for my method!!! They are way too busy, anyway, my friend came around the corner near the entrance to Commonwealth park where we were grazing and was joking she would run into me or my horse, well! She lost control of the golf cart flipped it and almost landed on me!! I jumped out of the way my horse trotted away, and I was very lucky!! What if she had hit me? Or my Horse! he just trotted to the next patch of clovers, but what if he had spooked into the road! Or in front of a car!

She was so drunk, at least a six pack and a bunch of Lemon Ciders??? She thought it was funny! She still drinks way too much , at Duke she was bombed the night of the grand Prix and left me at the show grounds, probably safer for me anyway!!

[MKFSVR]

I have not seen drinking during the show day but have seen plenty at night. My daughter, now 16, started to show last year, and I am usually with her. At one show I did not go. She went to the exhibitors’ party with others from the barn and was offered beer and wine numerous times by adults. I don’t think it is right, and probably not legal, for adults to encourage kids to drink, especially when they are watching out for them in the absence of parents. I will also say that smoking in the horse world is everywhere. I don’t see how these athletes can be in good shape with all of that smoking. I worry about the issue of trainers serving as role models, though my daughter says her trainer is just that, her trainer, not her role model.

[Dementia_13]

Riding with a hangover is not fun. It completely screws up your concentration, your eye and your judgement.

Trying not to barf before your class because you have a hangover is not fun. Trust me on this.

I don’t like to see adults giving underage kids alcohol at shows, nor do I care to associate with people who think its fun to get completely blotto at the exhibitors parties.

On the other hand, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a drink or two after your classes are over.

[BeeLu]

I think that if you are going to ride (and ride well) you need to not drink. You are controling a 1200 + or - animal that needs your FULL attention! Even if it IS the icing on the cake, your child will be spending a fair amount of time with the trainer. Think about this- If you do not want your child to act like the trainer, then do not send them to that trainer. I am thinking, as I write this, of a barn in a rough area. The trainers there act that way (in a low class manner) and the students (from a mix of upper, middle, and lower class areas) all act that way.

[This message has been edited by jumpergal (edited 12-08-2000).]

[ErinB]

The attitude seems to be prevalent. A pretty well-known rider was telling me once that the best part of this huge show she attended was the party where “all the trainers and their kids got drunk”. I was like, okay I’d just love to be riding with those trainers! I think that drinking shouldn’t be acceptable at shows, and if it is then only in MODERATION! Shows are athletic events, and you have a responsibility towards live animals and other people when you’re riding. Doing it UTI could be disastrous. Okay, maybe I’m still going from the drug/alcohol test you have to take pre-driver’s permit, but I don’t think so I feel pretty strongly that a lot of the stuff that goes on at the shows isn’t only wrong, it’s stupid and a danger to other people.

[This message has been edited by ErinB (edited 12-07-2000).]

[ponyesq]

I have been to many shows and have not been in the “right” place at the “right” time to observe any public drunkenness. And I definitely think the distinction has to be made between having a few drinks at the end of the day and drinking for the purpose of getting drunk, falling down, crashing horses, cars and trailers, and throwing up.

I also think that time and place has to be a major consideration at shows where there are so many young kids. I agree with the other posters who acknowledge the role model status of adults at horse shows – if a kid’s trainer or adult mentor or friend drinks to excess in front of her, the kid naturally will presume that this is part of the horse show scene and that it must be all right. If the adults have had enough to drink, the kids will probably be invited to join in.

I’m not a puritan by any means and try not to be a hypocrite. I don’t think its realistic to tee-total because children might see you take a drink. I do think it’s important that the adults make sure the children know that it is not only against the law but harmful for children to drink, and that drinking for the purpose of getting drunk is self-destructive. You can’t very well get that point over if you are blotto yourself.

[ErinB]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sandstone:
When was the last exhibitors party you were at?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I’ve been to one party in my life. And out I went. I don’t like being stomped on, kissed at by guys w/ alcohol breath and having people barf around me, thanks. I plan to go to Pony Finals next year if I can and see what the parties there are like 'cause I hear they’re better, but my hopes aren’t exactly high. Maybe some of us prefer to spend time elsewhere.

[Reckoning]

I don’t drink before my classes are over. Ever. But after I ride, I will attend exhibitors parties or go out to dinner/for drinks. I rather enjoy exhibitors parties because they give me the chance to socialize with the people I see all day but am generally too focused on riding to socialize with. I enjoy getting a good buzz with other horse people, and see nothing wrong with it.

There is a time and a place for everything. I think horseshows can be that time and place for imbibing provided one exhibits decorum and one isn’t lap-dancing for the judge while crooning the Spice Girls.