Thanks MHM - based on the OP I assumed it was in the Rolex preview issue and I didn’t see the article there. It turns out I haven’t gotten the latest issue yet.
Everyone that is a print subscriber can access the online one too, should you want to see it now.
And thank you MHM for pointing out what I thought was a pretty obvious reason people weren’t supplying a link. I wasn’t trying to be coy!
[QUOTE=ChristinaClarLuisa;8641987]
This is why I do dressage, when I would love to be riding some little jumps with my good young horse.
He is not a piece of athletic equipment to be “adjusted” with drugs. What a strange concept of sport…[/QUOTE]
If you’d love to be riding some little jumps why don’t you? I show in the hunters and my horses get no prep but a short hack in the morning sometimes. No drugs, no lunge, etc. Not everyone needs or wants an opinionless horse. The fact that anyone even wants to do anything to an animal to make it opinionless is disgusting. They should learn how to ride or take up tennis. I’m still in there competing against the perfect round and not other people so good ribbons and scores are nice but not required. I enjoy the challenge and social experience of the horse show.
And I totally agree with SS that horses tell you if they are not suited for a particular job and it’s better not to try and squeeze a square peg into a round hole.
Most owners who post on here are not representative of most owners in general…I suspect many of those we train with aren’t afraid to tell us the truth about a horse needing more work, better riding or just being flat unsuitable. Or unsound and refuse to continue working it while pumped full of the painkiller or combination of drugs du jour. However also pretty sure most owners of show horses on here do not fall into the BNO category that are the bread and butter of the BNTs and show managers alike spending 6 figures a year just in show expenses, they are the grease that’s turning the wheels. Not the one or two horse owner on a less generous budget.
Unfortunately too many owners at all levels are caught up in winning, preventing their children from facing any real challenges so the perfect round is guaranteed and getting their money’s worth out of expensive horses. Trainers face financial pressures to produce results or lose clients to those that do. No wonder some free lance or just do clinics instead of running a barn and managing client horses.
Its a complicated problem getting worse when you hear more trainers every day jumping on the “you can’t win today without giving them something” bandwagon after losing yet another client and even more income to trainers that do just that.
Ethics fade when the practical problems, like eating and paying bills take over.
I don’t have any answers for that one. Said before, say again, the things done to aging and unsound ones out there grinding away for another season that should be rested or retired bother me more then Ace, which seems to be the poster boy for the whole issue, there’s far worse things out there.
What drives me nutz (most of all) is the increasing number of clinicians who advise medication. I am now thinking that the judges are very much to blame as well. The last two articles are written by judges. Many have said that the judging must change but if the judges themselves want the robotic hunter there is, IMO, no chance of change. I do believe that if a judge rocked the boat these days he/she would not be hired back.
As for the Equitation gong show; perhaps it is time to retire the big trophies. The horsemanship is not there anymore and the rest of the class is just over the top. Have provincial/state finals and call it done.
Judges who swim upstream and don’t pin the classes in the expected order expected just by looking at the entry list have always had a difficult time getting bookings, even if they are right.
Now that we have the mega circuit shows and their managers dominating the calendar and catering to the BNT/BNO market, who works a lot, who does not and why is much more obvious. It’s the same dilemma, ethics versus making a living. I’m betting many judges don’t want the robotic look but a) it’s most of what’s out there and b) unless it makes an obvious, major mistake or is openly breaking a rule there maybe consequences in not using it.
Welcome to the world of Western Pleasure 
(Said tongue - in - cheek).
Sorry, couldn’t reisist…heard the words “opinionless”… “robotic”… “Judging must change”…
Looking back on the Western Pleasure world- is there no solution?
Assuming that it is highly moneyed juniors and amateurs creating pressure to win, thus, the call to drug hunters and eq horses-- I have to ask-- what the the thrill of winning on a drugged horse possibly be? It reminds me of the cyclist who was found to have a small motor on her cycle-- how can there have been any satisfaction in winning with that? What does it stand for? What does it represent? To me, wanting to ride a drugged horse is tantamount to saying that the rider does not have the skill needed to manage the horse. What could be more of an admission of being a poor rider than wanting a drugged horse for eq or hunters?
I have not read the article, but the whole idea is reprehensible beyond words.
Sunflower, I agree. I watched the whole Parker-Colvin debacle and just shook my head. I now watch any round by a Parker horse or some others and just question whether what I saw was real or produced with illegal drugs. I wonder what they think of when they look at a trophy they know was won dishonestly and on endangering the health of their horse with a needless injection.
[QUOTE=Showbizz;8642658]
Welcome to the world of Western Pleasure (Said tongue - in - cheek).
Sorry, couldn’t reisist…heard the words “opinionless”… “robotic”… “Judging must change”…[/QUOTE]
Oh, but I read the AQHA is taking steps against the robotic head to tail peanut rolling along the rail, trantering and poll below the knees by changing the judging that perpetuates it.
Problem is I read that about 30 years ago.
Far as the owners knowing they won by deceit? Most don’t know what the horse gets and don’t want to know as long as it wins and sells at a profit. Others do know and don’t care as long as it wins.
Stay around long enough and you get a little jaded…and a lot skeptical of mega winners. It’s not new either, just harder to push under the muck tub with social media and all.
It is just awful and I feel very sad for the horses that unfortunately fall into these people’s hands. I don’t think it has anything to do with the thrill of winning but more about the money involved. This is the type of horse that sells for a lot of money so that is what the trainers aim to create even if the animal must pay the price. Very sad…
And I just finished reading the article. Utterly disgusting. Clear that the author has forgotten that the POINT of this sport is training and self actual actualization, not ribbons. Horsemanship and not a trophy. If you don’t want to deal with the issues that come with training and competing on a live animal, perhaps they’d like to have their riders pose on rocking horses. The POINT of the sport is to learn the lesson that it is about the process not the competition. Yes, a toss of the head can cost you the ribbon and finals. That’s kind of an important life lesson. It’s about the horse, the journey, and the experience, not today’s self gratification. I’m starting to wonder if the lack of horsemanship today is not the fault of the kids, but of the teachers.
The actual point for a teacher/Pro is feeding themselves and their kids. They have to make a living and clients just in it to win it and getting a return on investment seek trainers who can produce those results. It’s a vicious circle and it forces many teachers to make difficult choices or get out leaving the less ethical at the helm.
If Ace is OK, what’s next? And there will be a next…there’s several already out there in line and commonly used when and where they can get away with it. Horse welfare is not on the forefront.
It’s no wonder so many people quit horses after their junior years and they can’t fill the amateur classes half the time anymore. Unless you are a pro or pursuing a specific competitive goal, showing should be a small part of your horse life, not the be all and end all. I get the feeling not too many of these riders are “allowed” to just have fun riding their own horses. Or any kind of freedom at all.
I’m schooling some horses for an absentee owner at a nearby barn atm and the trainer there is now pressuring the owner and me to take lessons and go to shows with her. Primarily because the horses are going well and would do well at the shows. It’s not going to happen for various reasons and she’s a nice enough person but in what world do people feel you owe them money and reflected glory just by virtue of their existing? It’s such a strange dynamic, and I find it extremely uncomfortable. I think a lot of adults do or their SOs do so they just quit riding or showing. Trainer are killing their own business with this ultra-competitive, ultra-serious nonsense. That’s not why most people get their kids into horses and it’s extremely off putting to those of us who work in the real world to be faced with some little dictator who thinks that drugging a 1200lb animal and putting your child on it is a great idea so they can win an obscure competition at the sub-national level in a tiny sport.
As a grown adult who volunteers for Pony Club and 4H a LOT I cannot tell you how many parents think all horse professionals fall somewhere between mildly personality disordered and full blown psychotic. We like to chat about it while they repeat things like “horses have taught Susie so much about responsibility and confidence but we will never show like that because all those people are weird and insane”. THIS IS WHY.
Why is COTH publishing these articles?
I can’t read the article but this topic really saddens me. I agree that its not about the thrill about winning but the money that’s involved. Greed plays a big role. People are willing to do anything for money. Very sad. I look at horses that fall into the hands of these people and feel bad for them. What a life for the horse. Poor things must feel like crap their whole career. I wonder how the people that drug horses would feel if someone drugged them and they were helpless to stop them. Not sure they’d like it. People drugging should have to feel what the horse feels. Not that’ll help, they’ll probably like it.
[QUOTE=vineyridge;8643389]
Why is COTH publishing these articles?[/QUOTE]
This is a very good point and an excellent question. Why is COTH giving these views print space and readership?
[QUOTE=Sunflower;8643407]
This is a very good point and an excellent question. Why is COTH giving these views print space and readership?[/QUOTE]
I’d put in a complaint.
Okay, I feel like I need to interject for a moment.
I’m as horrified by the idea presented in the article as the next person - and I was stunned when I saw who authored it. But I think it’s important to know that while Kip presented that side of the issue, she does not engage in that type of behavior.
As many of you know, I grew up riding with Kip; I started with her when I was 10 and was a working student up until I permanently moved to Minnesota 2 years ago. As the resident barn rat, I saw what went on “behind the scenes,” if you will. Which is to say, nothing. I never even saw a tube of Perfect Prep or any of that woo-woo that people try - that was not done. Horses were hacked/schooled in the mornings (often by me), some got a 10-15 minute longe, and a few of the horses who were getting up there in age got some Adequan or Legend, and perhaps a [legal] dose of an NSAID after a big class. There was nothing nefarious done.
I can’t disagree more with the idea of using Ace for showing. I think it’s absolutely the wrong thing to do, no questions asked, and I’m not going to pretend to understand why Kip wrote that article - because I don’t. It’s not reflective of the trainer I rode with for 13 years. But in any event, I can assure you that when I was riding there, she was one of the people who got horses to the ring the right way… without any training by pharmaceutical, and continues to be.
I don’t understand it. But I can guarantee she does not drug.
Carry on.
