@Mardi1- I would be surprised if Usef fines rule-breakers and does more than slap them on the wrist. If it was Archie Cox, that’s the biggest name in the business and Usef is not going to piss him off. They will just let it brush over! They broke the rules because upon leaving Thermal they had to isolate at a different facility for 7 to 10 days before going on to the next horse show, which according to the reports I’m reading, they did not do -they went directly to Los Angeles. Those are California Department of Food and Agriculture rules and the barns did not play by the rules.
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I know my horse will get to enjoy a quarantined stall for the next two weeks at the showgrounds along with my kid not being able to show last night in the ammy derby or today.
And, thanks to that trainer’s actions, I get to pay for boarding and a groom to take care of my horse offsite. Thankfully it’s not too much further from home than our barn, so not that big of an inconvenience…
AND…thankfully, my barn owners are making it easier/more palatable by only charging us really nominal fees to take care of our horses…that makes it a little “easier” but still super annoying nevertheless.
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@Horsegirl_s_Mom
The mare tested positive, and everyone at the show packed up and started going home Saturday afternoon. Maybe not the smartest thing - maybe they should have isolated at the showgrounds? Other barns who are coming in for the third and fourth week of showing began scratching their entries. The show had no entries and had only one solution left and that was to cancel. The Rancho Murietta show is not canceled because of concern out of EHV. In fact the show manager allowed the positive horse to be entered in week one at the showgrounds. This being just 4 days after she was shown at thermal week 4. Upon learning about the EHV outbreak in Thermal, the show manager did nothing to remove the mare from his show, and despite voiced concerns from other trainers, allowed her to continue showing. Don’t be fooled by smoke and mirrors. The show manager is as complicit as the trainer who did not follow CDFA isolation guidelines and came directly from a contaminated showgrounds to another showgrounds. It’s not that much different than what was going on in Los Angeles.
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California Department of Food and Agriculture.
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It’s her. The trainer was asked to leave after many protests and she wouldn’t leave so she challenged them to test the mare. It came back positive Friday Night. No idea why NWC has not sent out an alert that a positive horse was on the premises.
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What horsegurl said above. Exactly what happened
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That’s messed up. Sometimes I think BNTs are like addicts who lack the insight and judgment to stop and think about what they are doing because they are so obsessed with getting their next hit.
I can’t say I blame people for pulling their horses out of RM if management was being so irresponsible.
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Is the manager Tim Postel ?
Can you imagine the conversations she is having with her clients? Apparently she was the only one who was at Thermal. She then came to Murieta to join most of her clients—thereby putting all their horses in close contact with an infected horse. If I were an owner, I’d be very upset.
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How incredibly disappointing. I was just reading a Chronicle article about the horse and her owner/rider/trainer described the mare as her “horse of a lifetime”. I can’t imagine putting her and other horses at risk like that.
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I googled her as well, and the first youtube video I watched she had a pretty violent refusal lol. Luck of my youtube draw I guess, her jump is incredible.
All I can say is west coast social media has been wild to watch the last 2 weeks. So much innuendo, and just very passive aggressive as a whole. These are big names & major stall fillers for both northern & southern california circuits. You couldn’t write bigger players & it’s interesting to see the tongues being held. If these were small fry trainers they’d be getting annihilated in the comments.
(eta: to be clear, I don’t think anyone should “get annihilated in the comments” like, almost ever, but the absence of it in this go-round is notable)
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Okay, WTAF. Winning ribbons has become so important to people that they are willing to risk the lives of their horses and others? WHAT is so important about horse showing?!
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I don’t know how other trainers run their businesses, but my trainer charges a show fee on top of what the client is already paying for monthly training.
So for the trainer in question who went to Murieta directly from Thermal wasn’t just chasing ribbons for herself, but was probably making a lot of money from each client at that show.
Horse shows are a lot of work for trainers, but if you have ten clients showing, that’s a huge payday.
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If this is all true, then I am stunned. And utterly disgusted. To be so self-centered as to put at risk other horses is beyond the pale. And then, moreover, to continue to compete your "horse of a lifetime’ (that fabulous mare!) rather than Doing the Right Thing and hunker down in isolation for the required time period. What a revelation about personal character!
Ribbons, titles, points and accolades are the drugs. They’ve lost all touch with reality and how their actions affect others. Certainly not all BNTs. But some.
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I totally get the trainers’ financial incentive. But what about the owners? IMO, they are not absolved of responsibility. If it were my horse, it would be a big, hard NO WAY. Ribbons be damned.
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Link?
