Pelham? Is that what the kids are calling a full cheek these days? 
That’s a full cheek.
The horse is 6 years old, it’s his second show and he’s doing the Big Eq. Maybe more training is in order?
All things considered, I think the horse was fabulous.
I’m kind of totally astounded by the ignorance displayed by the “professional.” On SO MANY FRONTS.
What Zenyatta said. The horse was a little strong but the kid needs to learn to ride him better. The answer isn’t to put something in his body. It’s the fact that it’s the pat answer. Better living through chemistry.
Horses are not people. They have no choice about the job they are asked to do (regardless of suitability in many cases) or whatever goo is squirted in their mouth to give them energy (hello, fitness work) or calm them down (hello unnaturally zombie horses rewarded by judges).
It’s not subtle or complicated.
[QUOTE=ToTheNines;7646471]
Surprised at all the emotion here. The longer I show, the more I realize I have a lot more fun when I don’t care what every one else is doing. Honestly don’t care if people use Perfect Prep, would rather see that than excessive lunging, and a quieter round is still not a winning round.
Those horses that pack around with their own eye and lead changes? They are not Perfect Prep horses believe me, I have three. Takes a lot more than a tube of Perfect Prep.
The problem has always to me been one of disclosure on sale horses. That is where I would get emotional – not disclosing use of calmers to a buyer.[/QUOTE]
I am distressed that a young rider reaching out to a highly respected horseman like Rob Gage, who has taught enough quite high end riders to have a pretty serious toolkit, or so I thought, gets the answer, “Oh, just drug your horse, honey.”
He’s taught two USET medal finals winners and a lot of serious equitation and jumper riders. This is his answer?
This girl asked for tips to improve her riding. It wasn’t even a request for a tip for how to win. He had nothing for her on how to ride better?
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[QUOTE=IPEsq;7646385]
- I don’t see a Pelham anywhere in that video
- He does look like a lot of big horse for her, but it seems like if she could stop standing on her stirrups and follow the motion better (as she asked for advice how to do) then it wouldn’t appear that she is trying to do the water ski type slow down move.
- The trip overall would look better if the horse was allowed to carry more pace so they would have an even pace throughout the trip and so she might be able to find a distance other than the deep spot that makes the horse jump over his front end.
He looks green and wiggly but super cute![/QUOTE]
This was my thought exactly. I really liked the horse. He looked strong because he was stuck in this “going no where” canter and whenever he managed to get himself close to anything resembling a normal pace, it looked much faster and “strong” compared to the pace he was being held at. I am very alarmed that a professional, especially a judge, would recommend a chemical alternative such as perfect prep instead of more experience and training. Like the previous posters. I didn’t see anything in this video that couldn’t be fixed with more time and proper training.
Sigh. Shame a rider pursuing advice couldn’t be told " shorten your stirrups and check you saddle fit, your hands are nice and soft" as her stirrups looked a bit long and her pad is slipping back.
I didn’t see a horse issue as much as a rider, which is what the rider was asking…
NOT making this about the rider in a negative light. Those were my first thoughts (as a non professional) but what the hell- just PP the horse and be on your way.
It’s a combination of not-enough-experience rider with not-enough-experience six year old. For pete’s sake, if I rewound over a decade ago this would be me with my six year old hunter except he didn’t have steering and life was really interesting (I fell off. A lot). What I would have told my 14 year old self back then and I’d advise that rider/horse combo now is to attend local shows for awhile and just do the 3’/3’3’’ hunter and eq classes and get some mileage on the horse. When they’re both more consistent, then head over to the A’s and do the big eq. I thought the six year old did splendidly, all things considered, and the rider was certainly trying to help her horse as much as she knew how and didn’t yank on his face or anything wince-worthy. She’s got nice hands.
I cringe when I think how many thousands of dollars I could have saved if I’d known (and I didn’t; my trainer certainly wasn’t going to tell me) how much cheaper it was to get green horses exposed to local shows and winning before opening your wallet to do the A’s.
ETA I don’t think a pelham would be a bad idea for that rider/horse combo. Obviously good training is in order, too, but he’s a BIG guy by the looks of it. A pelham in the right hands can help make the freight trains look like sleek bullet trains.
The only thing I thought during that round was #1 I want that horse and #2 omg the saddle pad is going to fall off
I don’t necessarily have a giant problem with people using Perfect Prep and it certainly doesn’t factor into things I worry about at a horse show (which is saying a lot - I worry about everything 
). I DO have a problem with a professional recommending it in lieu of training, particularly in a case like this where it is obvious that miles and muscle are what is needed.
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I didn’t think that horse looked all that strong. I’ve seen far more going on during the X-C portion of a horse trial.
It looked like the rider was using a lot of half-halts or trying to and the horse wasn’t really listening. The funny thing is, it looked like she was going really slow. Not that I would have done any better, lol, but I think he needed more pace.
Maybe the person wasn’t comfortable with her horse’s big jump? Perhaps if she rode with more pace and got better distances she would be more comfortable with him.
[QUOTE=BostonHJ;7646313]
Sigh. It is a lot to ask of a horse to do the big eq at their second show, much less expect them to pack around. Some time developing the horse in the 3 foot ring or even with a professional in the open divisions is apparently too much to ask. I actually thought he looked behind her leg for a good part of the trip. When he got heavy, he wasn’t running so much as he was falling on his front end.[/QUOTE]
I was thinking the same thing, I can hear my teenage self’s trainer yelling at me “that canter is going nowhere!”
That canter would be fine if you had an experienced and fit horse who can really collect himself but this young guy looks as though he was getting heavier as he is asked to come back to that super slow canter.
If worst comes to worst I think I could find a home for him he is lovely.
Have lost all respect for this trainer and hope this comes back to haunt him - Like maybe not being able to judge a ride anymore - virtual or real. So many more constructive and helpful opinions on this thread than he gave. This is really sad. And to add - hope he gets to read this
Once I finally saw the video, I saw a rider with too long stirrups, too little pace and a strangle hold on her young, somewhat overwhelmed horse. She’s currently over-horsed and ought to leave him to a trainer before he learns some really nasty habits from the ride he’s currently getting, which is NOT going to teach him to be confident and trustworthy. (and just to be clear, I’m not saying I could give him the ride either, but I wouldn’t be trying. He’d be with a trainer that could until he was ready)
[QUOTE=findeight;7646309]
Doesn’t anybody tell the truth anymore when paid to do so?
.[/QUOTE]
Well, to be fair, he is actually telling the truth…a LOT of people use Perfect Prep. doesn’t make it right, just makes it so. The comment about it being legal is not truth, though.
He’s certainly a little strong and the course was a bit rough in spots but she got him around to a series of perfectly acceptable distances. She’s not doing this horse any lasting harm. I think it is great her trainer is actually having her get out there and learn how to ride her own green horse rather than doing it for her and only letting her on it when it’s done. She’s perfectly capable and appears to be learning decent horsemanship at home, if not on the Internet. Is she a perfect rider? Of course not, but she’s getting the job done on a young strong horse and can smooth out the edges with time. Lovely horse.
[QUOTE=Nickelodian;7646466]
Honest question:
Do you all have the same reaction to the use of energy paste or red cell?[/QUOTE]
I’ve only ever seen Red Cell used on race horses, or on rescue/rehab cases (a friend’s new rescue horse is on it now). It has its uses, just like something like PerfectPrep can have it’s use–on a horse going off the farm for the first time, or to its first few shows, or one who might get nervous shipping. I’ve used it before in those circumstances, and as I said, found it to be counter productive for my personal horse. I don’t like the idea of routine use of it, or using it in place of proper training of horse and/or rider.
My problem with the recommendation is that as others have said, it comes from a well-respected professional who is supposed to be offering a rider advice on how to improve. When I, a lowly 3’ jumping ammy, can pick out 3-4 more productive suggestions for a rider than better living through chemistry, I just think it’s flat out bad advice that’s not really going to teach the rider or the horse anything.
Rob Gage is very involved in our local shows…That said when my current trainer who is from Europe asked about “Hunters” I said “You don’t even want to know…Let’s not, just do jumpers”…
I cannot deal with that crap anymore and refuse to waste my time in the hunters.
[QUOTE=Mara;7646523]
Do the makers of Perfect Prep have sponsorship interests in Judge My Ride???[/QUOTE]
This is exactly what I was wondering.
[QUOTE=stolen virtue;7646755]
Rob Gage is very involved in our local shows…That said when my current trainer who is from Europe asked about “Hunters” I said “You don’t even want to know…Let’s not, just do jumpers”…
I cannot deal with that crap anymore and refuse to waste my time in the hunters.[/QUOTE]
Well, that is certainly one option. You can also try to do it the right way. It may mean you aren’t as successful, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t still goals to reach.
