Exactly, I have heard of show barns that routinely give dex because they think it makes horses calmer.
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You “have heard of”?. That’s not helpful or good enough, do you think?
If you have experience, share it. 
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I mean, quieting with dex is a thing, but dex is also a legal medication. Because both are true absolutely zero assumptions can be made based on one fine in umpteen years.
First someone shows up with video of some amateur(?) biffing it out of a line with her name in clear view and downright accuses them of showing a knowingly drugged horse all year long.
Then, not even 24 hours after the banquet, the recipient of top USEF honors is flayed because the timing gods did not align 1 time 3 years ago.
This. is. counterproductive. This is what makes people hate regulation, get their hackles up about it, and fight it every step of the way. If you truly take this effort seriously, then stop randomly slinging accusations on the internet without any evidence whatsoever. It’s not generating any respect for the cause.
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@dags, so wise. Thank you for this post. And @skydy, thank you for continuing to correct the record/keep things in proper perspective, even while being personally attacked.
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Which is why there were limits put on the allowable levels of dex.
So anyone using it close enough to competition time for that effect would have levels significantly higher than allowed.
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One of my guys had a horrible allergic reaction to something this summer and broke out in hives and then huge scabs, mostly on one side of his body and legs. We thought we were getting on top of it and then everything just blew up, so my vet put him on dex. I was planning to show in about a month so my vet counted the days and med amounts down to the show date to see if he would be weaned off in time. She figured out it was going to work, but it was very close and we were a bit on the fence, especially since we weren’t sure if the dex would actually deal with the issue so that we could start weaning him off when we needed to.
The dex worked almost immediately so I was able to stick to the original weaning off plan. We didn’t end up showing for other reasons, but there was a chance he would have tested had we gone so it was probably for the best. My point is that (as others have said) legitimate uses for dex are out there and it is very easy to see how a positive test could result from non-nefarious causes.
The vet did warn me that my boy might be made sleepy by the dex (luckily it didn’t seem to have that effect on him), so I can also see how someone would think to use it a calmer for nefarious reasons. I do jumpers and both my guys are actually pretty mellow- I definitely don’t want them calmer! It’s easy to leap to judgment because there are rampant abuses within H/J but in this case (Haness) it does seem that the infraction was a one-off mistake.
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If you really believe these people are using these medications therapeutically for a necessary condition like you did, you’re very misinformed. So sorry, Pennywell 
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There are certainly bad eggs out there – but c’mon – it isn’t everyone.
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The problem I have with allowing the administration of dex to horses that are showing is that the dex itself can have side effects that make you feel crummy. So even if it’s given for a legitimate purpose such as allergic reaction, you’re just trading one way of feeling crappy that’s obvious (hives) with another way of feeling crappy that the horse can’t tell you. And expecting the horse to compete. Not to mention the very real risk of founder.
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I thought similarly.
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I guess if you’d rather a horse have an allergic reaction and suffer instead of giving them a carefully measured dose of a medication by a vet well within the legal limit and time frame and then seeing if the horse is ok to show or not then that’s on you.
MANY of the medications routinely given to horses have side effects.
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Whoever said they didn’t want meds administered at all? What I said I have a problem with is administering meds with known side effects and then showing the horse anyway. If a horse needs dex for an allergic reaction, by all means follow the vet recommendations, but maybe give the horse some time off? I’m not sure why that would be a controversial stance.
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These people?
All others not you? General some people?
Just a generic hating?
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Have you ever given a horse Dex for hives?
If you have, your vet would tell you when you’d be able to ride/compete your horse again. In fact, the USEF rule puts you able to compete the horse after any side effects would have dissipated.
With many show grounds not allowing you to bring your own bedding, an allergic reaction can and does happen.
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This is regarding Diann’s article - “these people” are the people she’s writing about and I’m referring to.
Yes of course. I have strong opinions about the use of dex for valid personal reasons. YMMV
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If by “these people” you mean certain bad actors that will do anything to win? Rest assured they are waaaaay past Ace, Bute and Dex into far more effective substances.
IME, it was not allergic reactions that created a legit use for Dex. It was various tiny life forms living in 10x10 stalls occupied by hundreds of horses over decades of use that a combo of Dex and SMZs, under vet supervision and declared, cleared up. With the two horses I had that needed the Dex it was only at certain showgrounds and I noticed no calming effect. I needed relief from swelling and non specific dermatitis, not a calmer.
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I agree and have posted as much. ACTH, Oxytocin, administering magnesium via pvc pipes in horse’s rectums. They also use dex in combo with ACTH though. ACTH just isn’t part of their test.
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Now they’ve adjusted the rules to permit some hydroxyzine, with a drug form, for hives, I’m relieved that dex won’t be the only option available for showing my sensitive, idiopathic uticaria-prone horse. He comes up in (mercifully non-itchy) welts at the drop of a hat, any hat, and, if I gave him a day off every time he did, would spend half his life hanging out doing nothing.
(One reason amongst many being that it makes him nuts. He doesn’t care about the hives, TBH, but the dex? Holy heck… talk about seeing dead people. In my sample of one, it sure wouldn’t be my choice of calmer!)
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Just to be clear for everyone, you’d still have to take him off of it. The drug form does not let you show while on it. It just lets you test positive for it matching with documentation of the dose and the timeframe. The horse has to stop receiving the prohibited drug 24 hours before showing.
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