Disputes Between Riders and Officials at USEA Annual Meeting

[Old_Mac_Donald]

I would say that 99.9% of horses competing at any level in Australia are microchipped, outside of rural “horse sports” type events. Anything attending pony club or an event on PC grounds is microchipped. Buy an OTTB? It comes microchipped. Any horse on the east coast vaccinated for HeV is chipped. Anything registered with a breed society? Chipped. To move a horse off my property to a club grounds requires a biosecurity declaration which requires a microchip number.

Good luck buying a horse - outside of a stationbred stock horse - in Aus that doesn’t come with a chip these days.

What you aren’t seeing much of is branding. The only horses I’ve owned with brands were two OTTBS and a stationbred in the 90s.

So this would be such a moot point here. Everything is chipped anyway! It would be like requiring all horses to have four legs prior to registration. Most eastern seaboard comps want your horses HeV vaccinated which is a yearly cost of $100+ a vet visit (no DIY permitted) plus registering a horse with EA is a ridiculous cost.

I think Eventing USA is simply adopting practices that are becoming standardised globally, not trying to nickel and dime grassroots out of existance.

[beowulf]

It is quite expensive to produce a horse and rider to that level. They are very different than the “average amateur” or the grassroots members of this sport.

It has been a few years since I looked at the level breakdown but IIRC, 75% of eventers never make it past Training. If I remember right, something like 10% of riders ride at Modified or above. You can’t just decide one day to ride at Modified - you have to meet MERs to get to that level and are well past “dipping your toes” into the water. You are no longer an “average amateur” when you ride at that level. It is nothing like the H/J world where a competent rider can ride in 3’3 or 3’6 classes – even incredibly competent horsemen won’t make it to Modified.

It’s very different than parents with kids who have other financial concerns or burdens.

[trubandloki]

@Old_Mac_Donald

Anything registered with a breed society? Chipped.

Curious, how long has that been the case?

I say this because I am old. And though the two registries that I deal with both require chips now, that is what I would call a rather recent change (I will be generous and say in the last 10 years). My horses are all chipped, but not because that was a requirement of those registries when I bought them, but because I wanted them chipped and I paid my vet to do it.

I guess what I am saying is… older beginner level horses were likely brought along before breed registries required chipping, I am betting even there (Australia). Those are the horses new to BN kids are frequently riding here.

[volvo_240]

@Xctrygirl

Not like my dog whose chip costs me $26 a year.

Home Again? You can totally blow off the annual fee, they won’t remove your pet from the database you just don’t get the ‘extras’ that come with the annual subscription.

On topic- microchipping is a good thing, and such a drop in the bucket compared to all of the other costs of competing that it seems like a silly hill to die on.

It’s a simple thing to make the object of frustration about rising costs but its not the true problem.

[Libby2563]

@Janet

While microchipping of horses will be required, members will be encouraged to explore the use of biothermal microchips that allow for Bluetooth connectivity for monitoring of horse temperatures

Never heard of this before—how fascinating!

A promising new way to monitor equine disease

[equinelibrium]

I think the best argument for making it required at Modified and above is that a “full” registration is required at that level vs a “limited” one for Training and below. That actually makes sense to me.

However, if the goal of the rule is to prevent disease outbreaks, requiring a chip for only some horses doesn’t really get you anything. I totally get what you’re saying @beowulf, but in the grand scheme of things, a microchip is useful for more than just showing. It can be used for general identification as well. I had my horse chipped when I bought her. While she does have fairly unique markings and I live in a brand inspection state, she’s not registered. I appreciate the peace of mind of knowing there’s some kind of identification that will link her to me if she gets lost. I don’t remember how much it cost, but it wasn’t too expensive. Eta just looked it up and it was $50.

It sure seems that we’re moving towards a world where most/all horses are microchipped, so while this might dissuade some in the short term, I think that issue will lessen over time.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

For thoroughbreds, 2003. For HeV vx’ed horses, 2012/2013.

Not sure about other reg’s. Mine was required in 2014 at least.

Any kid riding an older horse on an eventing facility on the East Coast is going to be riding a chipped horse. Hendra insurance / Pony Club / EA registration basically ensured that. Western Aus maybe not so much. Up here we have two x-country courses, both run by pony clubs. PCs clamped down on unvaccinated horses a few years back, more relaxed now. So anything turning up on PC grounds was chipped. We like OTTBs for jumping up here, all chipped. You want a vet to see your horse? Vaccination and chipping.

Hendra and EI outbreaks really pushed microchipping to the point where, if your horse isn’t chipped, you might get asked what back paddock you found it in. Even the brumby rehomers chip their brums before rehoming.

It helps that you must have all cats and dogs chipped before sale in QLD, so it’s really become very normalised. I know we aren’t talking pets, but the mindset remains. We have two dogs and three cats, all chipped, so getting the horses done as well is just “routine business”. My vet will microchip your pet snake too if you ask.

[fordtraktor]

For what it is worth, RRP horses must all be chipped. It sounds like they already are perhaps? But if anything is entry-level, that sure is.

I totally understand that it is one more fee, but it is one that actually has benefits for horse welfare. As someone who once had a horse get EHV1 at a show and nearly died, anything we can do to help prevent outbreaks is important. And speaking of costs, that episode cost me well over $10k and that was in 2001. I can only imagine what treatment would cost now!

It’s the same as the drug testing program. While it’s another fee, it is one that unfortunately does protect horses from unscrupulous behavior on the part of their humans, and thus is necessary in my view.

[trakehners]

@fordtraktor

For what it is worth, RRP horses must all be chipped. It sounds like they already are perhaps?

The Jockey Club started requiring chipping for all the babies born in 2017 and later in order to register them, so anything coming off the track now that’s six or younger will be chipped (you heard it here first, folks, save money, buy an OTTB /s).

My horse is a 2016 foal so I paid $50 to our vet a month ago to have him chipped. We aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, let alone to any recognized competition, but it seemed like a worthwhile investment to me.

[Xctrygirl]

Speaking as a Makeover official, some horses that are eligible to compete in the Makeover have not been chipped yet. Some owners are slow and a bit backwards sometimes. They don’t want to do the chip (Before it was they didn’t want to get the tattoo) until they definitively KNOW that the horse will make it to the races.

So some horses do need to be chipped by their riders/owners before they come to the Makeover.

Em

[Highflyer1]

The JC literally mails them the chip so that’s pretty bad.

[Xctrygirl]

Oh I know.

I never said I would do it that way…

More fun when you get told you have a Tb and now need a DNA Test before it get’s chipped to ensure it’s the horse you think it is. Not many of those but somewhere along the line people figured out that without a Tattoo or a chip already inserted, that they could make up what breed they wanted to call it. And folks are not AS likely to pay for a DNA test to check before just registering it as what they were told and adding a chip with that info.

I have 2 great stories about sales horses (Ironically both were chestnuts) that are NOT registered accurately. This is why we all need more microchips. Hell my co-worker’s Tb has 2 chips and both are on the Tb’s papers. One didn’t scan once it was inserted, so they had to put in a second. Funny enough, he is also chestnut. LOL

Em

[trubandloki]

@Xctrygirl, it sounds like you have some fun stories.

[Xctrygirl]

Here’s one the best ones… happened last year.

Short version,
Horse represented as a “Wb x Tb”
Horse had a vetting and 2022 seller asserted to ppe vet that horse didn’t have a microchip so horse was not scanned.
Horse passes vet, sold to buyer.
Buyer has vet out to do coggins, vaccines and such. They want to get him a microchip inserted, vet agrees. Vet scans before to ensure there is not an existing chip. A microchip is found.
Chip number looked up and horse is actually a Papered Tb gelding. Not tattooed due to being young enough to fall into new JC Microchip rules, but definitely in JC database as correct horse. Name confirmed by 2021 Seller and former trainer at the track.

Buyer loves the horse. No question there. Does NOT love paying premium for buying a WB cross when it was not one.

Bill of sale states that the horse is Wb x Tb.

Did some more research and spoken to the previous owner of the horse, “2021 Seller” to make things clearer in this retelling. The 2022 seller in this instance KNEW FULL WELL it was a FULL TB. Up to and including that the previous owner, 2021 seller, signed over his JC papers and gave them to the 2022 seller with the horse when it was picked up.
2022 seller bought the horse in late 2021 “For themselves”
They sold the horse for 4x more than they paid themselves largely based on the false pedigree.

All of that is pretty epic but the epilogue to this is better.

The person who bought this horse, after discovering it’s full Tb, decides/experiences more troubling rides and decides it’s not the horse for her.

Between myself and an Equine Lawyer friend I brought in to help the buyer, we research enough to get all of the full story above. The lawyer friend works on this and talks to both sides. She did the helping with the promise of being paid “For her effort” once it was all settled one way or another. So she is a kick ass attorney, she gets the buyer ALL OF HER MONEY Back. ALL. And the horse goes back to the person who sold it as a wb cross.

But the woman never ever pays the attorney. And she had offered to pay me also and I declined and suggested that she make a donation to RRP as thanks for my part. She never did that either.

Em

[trubandloki]

Wow. I felt sorry for that buyer until they did not pay up when they promised to.

[Bearx2]

Honestly I think it’s a bit unfair to assume that if people aren’t willing to microchip there horse to compete they can’t afford basic care. I know plenty of people who budget careful to be able to afford horses and an extra vet visit to put in a micro chip so they can show at an entry level at a recognized events is just not in the cards. People need to remember a lot of people ( non horsey parents especially) will not want to insert the chip themselves so the cost of a vet visit will be added to the cost of the chip it’s self. And yes things like this can be part of the discussion when it comes to someone trying deciding if they want to try eventing or not.

[paw]

@Bearx2

I know plenty of people who budget careful to be able to afford horses and an extra vet visit to put in a micro chip

If you know that the horse has to be chipped to compete, just get your vet to chip it at the next scheduled visit.

[Bearx2]

If you know the rules that would be a great way to get the chip. Issues arises when someone who is new to the sport / wants to try it once might not know this when they are getting shots done. These are the people we potentially turn away when we require chips at the into/ BN levels. I am all for micro chipping being required at training and above, but let’s leave the lower levels as a place that people coming into the sport can come try it out with few additional costs.

[Bearx2]

I want to add that I am a big believer in micro chipping your pets and I believe that in a perfect world everyone would have their horses microchipped so that if they are lost or stolen they have a way to Identify them.

[Libby2563]

I wonder if “microchipping clinics” might be offered at events as the rule phases in? There’s a vet on-site anyway.