Also, OP, I think it’s Kelley Farmer, not Kelly Farmer. So, way late in the game, I googled that up to check. Her name does have 2 Es in it. I think you ought to change the title of the post so as to keep information correct.
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Did they cheat this time? Maybe. Probably. They have been caught cheating before and served their punishments. The fact remains that the USE couldn’t prove that they were cheating this time. They tried to hold them up as an example of how hard they want to be on drug infractions and instead made an example out of how messed up the system they use is. The USE and Murray are the ones that made this case a big deal. They are the ones that put out a big press release when the suspensions first came out. Sure, we all would have talked about it anyway, but they made sure we were all talking about it. I can’t imagine they really thought Kelly and Larry weren’t going to fight against them. The USE are the real bad guys here. They are the ones not protecting their members or the horses. They have also opened themselves up to a lot of trouble.
As someone who actively shows and has been tested many times, I want to feel secure that the testing is reliable. I have never had a positive testing, but I would certainly want due process if I did. I wish that the USE had actually done their job here, but they didn’t. If someone is arrested for doing something bad, they aren’t automatically guilty because they have done it before. We can’t go around fining and suspending people because we all think they are cheating.
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@mvp - I’m really having trouble understanding your post.
I conflate the random person with one possible drug infraction with … what?
Uhhh… pretty sure I’m not defending the USEF. Never condoned what the BNT allegedly does/did with his horses. And positive that I’ve been silent on their sleeping arrangements.
Well that’s the problem with the CoTH Cabal - only able to recognize one aspect of the situation.
ETA: I should restate that. The problem with the CoTH Cabal is that they only see one mountain.
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And this is it in a nutshell for me.
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“And justice to those who can afford it.”
I hope karma takes a huge chunk out of all of them.
Now is the time for us to vote with our money and not attend shows where these &$^%@ attend.
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Positive changes are already being made by the USEF for all competitors:
She is attending the USEF Annual Meeting in Kentucky right now. Hopefully she will have some interesting things to report from there.
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This isn’t about innocence or guilt in this particular instance.
This is about the fact that Mr. Kessler stood in front of people at the annual meeting today, referenced USE’s “burden” of being the one to handle the drug testing program as a reason for upping membership fees, abut failed to mention that the “burden” of controlling this isn’t even being handled correctly, despite the crazy amounts of money flowing through the organization.
This is about incompetence and wasteful spending. I don’t need to watch pricey videos on the USE website. i don’t need a new (crappy) website every other year and I don’t need them to spend money rebranding themselves every other decade. What I need as a member is for them to make sure they are doing what is best for the sport and the animal and make sure they are doing their jobs correctly and efficiently. I need them to be looking out for EVERYONE, not just the elite people.
Regardless of my thoughts about them as horsemen, I am grateful that Larry and Kelley have deep enough pockets and enough of a backbone to stand up to the organization and hopefully, HOPEFULLY get them to make some changes so we can at least TRUST that the money we are spending is going to good use.
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AMEN!
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I’m willing to give Kessler some leeway here. He’s only been president for a year, he can’t change the entire cluster the organization is overnight. Pulling USEF’s lab from doing B sample testing and conducting an audit is a step in the right direction. I guess we have to remember that under old leadership we wouldn’t have even gotten to this point because they would have just given the offenders a slap on the wrist.
They’ll get caught again. And hopefully all the ducks will be in a row.
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Definitely a step in the right direction, although I kind of feel like I’m watching the Icarus documentary again with how this has played out.
I think one interesting aspect of that article though is where Bill Moroney is quoted as as saying
“The first thing that’s happening is a comprehensive audit of the processes that go on in the lab and what happens with those samples to make sure we don’t have problems,” he said. "We have no idea why this mistake occurred, but we’re going to put in place the checks and balances and take whatever corrective measures we need to."
I hope this is just a reporting timeline issue on what was said when. It appears to be all at once, but maybe it was spread out? If it was all at once, it makes the whole thing a bit odd on top of everything else. Anyone who knows how to do Corrective Action, knows you have to understand what the root cause is in order to have an effective corrective action. Otherwise it’s just guessing game a wasting efforts.
That being said, I do think the immediate switch to outside testing and outside audit is a good one.
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If I understand this article correctly , Sample A came back positive, L & K opted for sample B to be tested by the USEF lab which is unusual and not an independent lab , Sample B was corrupted in a manner which has never happened before ??? So the USEF throws out the suspension even though the first sample was positive ??? interesting
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A somewhat deliberately naive question–will all of this brouhaha have any negative effect on their business in the short term? At all? If for no other reason some clients might want to avoid all the drama?
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No. Nothing has changed up to this point, nothing will change going forward. People have already welcomed them back to the ring and are congratulating them on beating the USEF.
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Yes because the rules say the accused has the right to have the B sample tested. And if the results aren’t the same or the sample is compromised, they can’t uphold their ruling.
Well…looks like they inspired another change, revamping the testing process. They got the ball rolling on a revamp of the Green rules a few years back.
Hurt their business ? Why now? It never has in the past.
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Does anyone know off hand, or have the data as to how many drug positives these two have had in the most recent (say 2 year) past?
THIS TIMES A BAZILLION!!!
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