I would think that allowing and/or bringing a dog on the show grounds that has attacked and bitten a child, and killed her puppy, would fall in the category of gross negligence.
I’m not an attorney, however I do understand that no “release” that is signed can indemnify anyone against a charge of gross negligence.
Coming from an owner of a “banned breed” at most apartment complexes, etc…banning a breed is NOT a solution. Banning irresponsible owners should be.
My 110lb Rottie may look intimidating but will lick you to death if you let her. Then again, I may trust her with my newborn and toddler, but I am not going to parade her around a horse show that may make others uncomfortable.
IME those small yappy breeds are much more the terror than large breeds. However, again, this is not an argument on dogs. This is an argument of lack of training, accountability, and responsible ownership.
Rest in Peace little pupper.
When I was eventing I use to hate having to deal with the constant yapping in the stables from everybody and their brother bringing their dog with them. I did a few course walks where people even had their dogs off leash and running amuck. Dogs don’t belong at horse shows, and this is coming from somebody that has always owned small yappy dogs and tries to take them everywhere.
I tend to agree. I haven’t been to many non-eventing shows, but eventers LOVE to bring their dogs to shows. Many people even bring multiple dogs. I am animal-obsessed and adore dogs, but I find it super distracting and ultimately quite disrespectful when people tie up their dogs at their stabling and just let them bark and tangle themselves in their leashes. Last summer I was stabled near a woman who brought 3-4 little yippy dogs who legit did not shut up the entire weekend and she didn’t seem to view it as a problem. She almost seemed to find it endearing, which made it even more annoying. What makes it worse is that you know they have no way to rectify the situation if they traveled quite a distance for the event, so confronting them just backs them into a corner they cannot escape from. Unless the dog is exceptionally low key and well-behaved, I agree that they do not belong at shows. People should factor the expense/inconvenience of dog care into their show planning, or alternatively, into their decision on whether to own one or more dogs.
Oh gosh, there was one show where the mother had brought her VERY large dog and two kids under the age of 10 with her and no other adult helper. I understand the struggle of the amateur adult working/riding mother, but she would leave to do her rides and leave the children totally unsupervised. The dog was constantly getting itself tangled up and the kids would yell at it and hit it. Finally I had to step in and baby sit the two children and the dog until the mother came back. I had a very hard time not giving her a piece of my mind.
Perfect example of why it is disrespectful. (I’m happy to throw children into the same bucket as dogs for this reason, even though that may be an unpopular opinion. :lol:) The last thing on your mind should be making sure other people’s children and dogs are behaving and not hanging themselves on leashes. We work too hard and pay too much money to let stuff like that interfere with our highly anticipated competitions.
I am riding in the jumpers now at the local level and thankfully these shows all have very strict no dog policies. It does make things nicer. Sadly there is still aren’t any “no children allowed” policies. :lol:
Bahahaha! you’re my spirit animal of the day today :winkgrin:
A long, long time ago I was at our local event when a woman brought her two young children and not one, but two not fit, unschooled horses to show with no other help. There was a lot of “failing to prioritize correctly” going on - the horses were unclipped in mid-Spring, unfit, not shod and the kids just trailed along in her wake, creating havoc where ever they all went.
My late and much lamented vet was there in an official capacity and refused to let her continue to show after the dressage, had the event refund her entries and then gave her an earful about the unprepared horses AND the unsupervised children.
Sadly, it’s hard to imagine this happening today - the wonderful vet was elderly, cranky, beholden to absolutely no one, and her giveadamn was broken beyond repair.
In theory there is a USEF rule regarding dogs and leashes. The problem is show management that will not enforce this rule. And we all know why. The biggest offenders are their biggest name, biggest dollar customers. It’s the “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” attitude.
I hate unruly, unmanaged dogs at shows. Don’t get me started on the toddlers/young kids but we know they will not get banned. There is a no dog rule at my home barn, but in some ways it does me a disservice at shows, as my horse is not used to dogs underfoot.
I have a very large dog. He does not go to shows unless he has his own person who is totally responsible for him and nothing else.
I ended up with cable burn around an ankle and almost a fist fight at Lowe’s last summer when some person had her 20lb dog on the extendo leash totally unsupervised. It was not pretty.
I was at an event when someone walked her horse over the leash of a dog tied in the barn aisle. Not sure who panicked first but the end result was two panicked animals and a leash digging into the horse’s leg.
I really dislike dogs at horse shows. If you’re focusing on your dog, you’re not focusing on your riding. It is often too hot for dogs, too wet, etc. I don’t take my horse to dog shows, please don’t take your dog to horse shows.
Yes, I totally get this, and this is one of the reasons I think our sport is going downhill. Show managers have no interest in serving all of us little people that are paying the bills. They only are interested in serving the BNTs who control when and where the big paying clients will show up.
Our sport seems to be totally unable to police the big name people who disregard the rules. Those big name people may control a certain number of big paying clients, but IRL they are also driving away scores of people who would love to show but quickly become disgusted by an environment that tolerates bad behavior by “special people.” I see this happen repetitively: new people to the sport get interested, get invested, and then suffer disappointment when they realize how badly the sport treats newcomers or anyone who isn’t a big name.
It was nice of you to do so but you certainly did not have to. It is not your job. I would have reported the abandoned kids and dog to show officials – those in authority on the scene – and gotten on with my own affairs. I would have felt guilty, but also extremely irritated. What if the dog had bitten someone or attacked the kids on your “watch”?
Walk away. Extended working walk!
Well, when you consider the history and traditions of hunters and hunting, it is a sport started by and for the “upper classes.” Just because the rich no longer bring kennelmen and nannies to watch their dogs and children, the tradition of “privilege” still remains, whether directly inherited or not, it is the heritage. Even though most “hunter” people these days don’t hunt and never have, and their horses would probably faint at sight of a pack of hounds, still, a hunter is supposed to be fine with a pack of baying dogs on the loose, and kids are supposed to know how to behave around horses and dogs. Unfortunately the tradition of “privilege” in childcare and dogcare has not kept up with the rest of the tradition that insists on continuing to use the term “hunter” for what is not now hunting and has not been for decades, not even in the lifetimes of many people showing this discipline. 
To me the whole discipline is a joke. It started going downhill sometime before 1980 and has continued its decline.
ETA: Back in the days of hunter shows when many hunters actually hunted, I don’t remember seeing a single loose dog at a show, or even at a barn. People must have brought dogs, because I remember thinking that when I grew up I would bring my dog to a show on a leash that matched my reins. But the dogs did not run loose IIRC.
Sorry, but paying one of the numerous teens populating any show grounds to watch kids for a couple of hours has nothing to do with privilege and is what the vast majority of showing parents do for child care at shows. Not sure show management has any authority to seize children or dogs, currently they call Animal Control on the loose dogs and assume would call the police on “abandoned” children.
But thanks for dissing the Hunter discipline.
Ah, but the majority of dogs found at horse shos would be considered “curs”.
You clearly know nothing about the subjects you are disparaging. Kindly educate yourself or keep your opinions to yourself.
For those of us who don’t compete in hunters, can you elaborate on where the inaccuracies lie? As someone on the outside, I have to admit that the hunter discipline does seem awfully diluted, pointless, and heavily influenced by factors that only privilege can afford…but I honestly would like to hear a more comprehensive perspective from someone on the inside since I have developed my impressions from a place of ignorance.
I believe that extra cash aspect is true in ever horse discipline. The better horse you buy, the better you do.
Are any horse show type sports serving some purpose other than horse showing? I am not sure how that makes hunters more or less pointless just because it is not your chosen thing.
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