Hopefully USEF will finally get with the program. It still bothers me that Devin Ryan was on our Nations Cup team at Aachen in 2018, three years after this:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/young-jumper-winner-asked-leave-hampton-classic/?_gl=1
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I guess her point was that nobody (one hopes) needs to be told what most abuse is. If you see a horse tied with its head between the legs or to the rafters, if you see water being withheld, if you see boiling water poured on a horseâs leg and so on, one hopes that you recognize that as abuse and report it (ok, in case of empty water buckets you let the owner know because horses do drain their buckets, but if itâs empty again, thereâs your sign).
There are other kinds of abuse, such as drugging with substance that are ahead of the testing protocol, which is different. Chances are you would never see it or know it if you did. That requires a whistleblower. Again, if you arenât someone regularly showing in those circles, chances are you arenât ever going to be in a position to be a whistleblower. But I sincerely hope that on the off chance you credibly learn that someone is giving a competing horse pentobarbital you would also recognize that this was indeed abuse and report it immediately.
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Iâll chime in and say I also had not heard about withholding water until this thread. My pet peeve when I night check is the lights - I almost always have to turn off the light in every single barn when I night check at the show (even switches that people staple drapes over! Wtf. 
đ€Šđ»). Iâll for sure be checking waters now too!
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You must be doing night check at local shows, hopefully, since USEF passed the light and noise rule as a part of GR1215 which is now in effect, so no one should be messing with the lights at a USEF competition unless they are a USEF steward.
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I think they are just putting up drapes over light switches in an expedited manner rather than deliberately messing with them (especially since those lights are rarely just for their horses). Typically the end stall is used as a tack stall which is also where the switches usually are. Grooms setting up have a billion other things to do on arrival day so I can see just putting that drape up no matter whatâs behind it and getting on to the other tasks.
Honestly, just ânot thinkingâ plays a big role here, that rule was a great idea but it was mostly necessary because people go back for night check, someone else is there so you donât turn off the lights and so on, until the last person forgets. If leaving lights on created some competitive advantage hunters would probably travel with their own flood lights by now 
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I have to chime in and say that I, too, had not heard of withholding water to affect performance. I had someone, years ago, suggest withholding water to a mare whose foal had just been weaned. In order to expedite the drying up of milk. My thought was no, under no circumstances would I withhold water.
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I agree with this, putting up drapes over light switches is more "we just need to get these drapes up now
" then nefarious behavior. However, Demerara has stated that they have never shown at a rated show and donât follow USEF rules so probably has no idea.
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In what way is a thirsty and/or dehydrated horse a better performer? Does it make them quieter somehow? Or what? I canât figure out how this is supposed to be advantageous.
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A couple thoughts on withholding water⊠Itâs just not that common because itâs not that effective since horses can voluntarily choose to go 12+ hours without drinking. At home, my fjord drinks for 5+ straight minutes at night and rarely touches his water until the next day. It gave me heart failure for quite some time, however Iâve come to terms with this wild horse behavior. At shows his buckets are always full at dinner but I can see him draining them in one sitting and leaving untouched for the rest of the night. And if youâve decided to randomly check water and you are NOT the Steward I would ask you to please just tell Steward if you see empty/missing buckets. Thereâs plenty of medical reasons that one takes water and hay away for the night and it would not be cool to screw that up.
But certainly the idea is not new. I heard about it long before I joined USEF because it was a thing in breed horses in the 80s. Even there it was never about the water and more about tying their heads up all night which makes it hard to drink. /sarcasm Not drinking wasnât the issue, being tied up was. Since that time Iâve NEVER heard anyone talking about not giving water as a competitive edge. Doesnât mean it hasnât happened, but itâs probably limited to stupid people who read stuff online and think âhey, Iâll try thatâ and probably all they get for their efforts is a vet bill.
However this is the thing about abuse and mistreatment. If you are at a show and you see something amiss, you really shouldnât need a BB to list all the known or speculated methods of abuse. Just ask yourself, âdoes this look right?â If it doesnât, report it to a Steward.
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I apologize. My intention was not to make anyone feel dumb. My intention was to encourage thoughtful attention to what goes on around you. I also wish to avoid feeding the voyeurs with a list of abuses. Pay attention. But be polite. There was a big kerfuffle at Devon over a horse with a mark near the riders heel. Turns out it was from a small surgery, riders leg did not cause or aggravate it, vet okâd. Donât fill someone elseâs water bucket but do contact an official. And remember, just because withholding water doesnât seem to us to be advantageous, or because whacking a horse in the head to keep it straight doesnât seem sensible, doesnât mean someone wonât do it.
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I remember a BNT who chimed in on the Karl Cook/Ward thread withholding water to make horses quieter in the 80s. I lost ALL respect and have not gotten it back.
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If theyâre doing âbadâ or âinappropriateâ things that includes them in âshadyâ IMHO
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Really? In a grazing animal meant to have fodder in front of it 24/7? What might those be?
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We have taken hay and grain away before for Cushings testing. But never water. . And I donât know why anyone would be doing that at a horse show.
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Surgical procedures involving anesthesia require withholding for 12 hours unless emergent, and I believe gastric scoping is no food no water for 12 hours. Not 
sure on the water since itâs been a very long time since I needed one scoped, Iâm absolutely sure about no food and ideally use a muzzle since that aforementioned long time ago horse hoovered any and every invisible scrap and I was busted . And while itâs not common, I could totally see bringing a horse along and arranging these procedures if you happen to be showing in Ocala and near big diagnostic/surgical practices. Regardless I think we can agree that messing with someone elseâs horse is a big no no!
ETA obvs not a thing if you are just going to s show for a week or two, but when you are there for 5-10 weeks, shit happens 
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I donât think putting the drapes over the switches is nefarious either, but as a groom itâs literally your job to look after your horses. If you donât know that 1) horses need dark to sleep, and 2) where the switches are so you can turn them off at night check, you suck at your job. As evidenced by the fact that USEF had to make a rule about it (that I doubt gets actually enforced).
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Lots of âcowboysâ will take water away from a snorty one before a first ride to try and temper the reaction.
Itâs just not something I had heard of being done at a show where while a horse may be green, theyâre not unridden.
Note that I donât condone the action in either case.
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Yes, showing at a USEF show teaches you everything you need to know about horse welfare at horse shows. đ€Šđ»
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My experience in life is that there are a great many people who arenât exactly superstars in their field
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