[QUOTE=findeight;6747029]
Popcorn time. Anybody got a good box of wine handy for the hour or so before the lock goes on?[/QUOTE]
I know right! 
No matter what the amount of drugs on that list is just not right. Dex does have harming effects when you use it a lot. We all know that.
And personal accusations and name calling in cyberspace has never really served as much of a defense.
I have a suggestion. Everyone, post The New York Times story on Facebook and ask other people to share it. I know some BNTās who have shared it already. There is power in numbers 
I have unmitigated contempt for someone who uses a young daughter and dead son as shields.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
She has a long history of posting on here accusing others of all sorts of things-and naming them. Pretty much her MO and has been for years. I donāt know if you can search her past posts from before May of 2012 with the new format change butā¦you can see the trend easily if you can.
Lots of drama and hardly new.
Share on Facebookā¦and print and hand out copies at horse shows, tack shops and all horse related events.
No one brought the daughter into it. Using a child as a shield to deflect ones wrong doings is disgusting.
[QUOTE=War Admiral;6745926]
Well, yeah, but letās take an informal poll here: hands up, how many of you have ever actually SEEN a USEF drug tester alive and in person, let alone had a horse tested? How many have had a horse tested more than once?
I have only ever SEEN a USEF drug tester ONE time at ONE show. Iām 54, been riding/showing since age 6. (And remember, Iām multi-disciplinary, so I āget aroundā a LOT: breed shows, carriage driving shows, etc. as well as H/J.) So if you do the math, thatās pretty close to 50 YEARS of USEF shows at which I never saw a tester and could, if so inclined, have cranked whatever I wanted into horsie.
With the multi-day shows, if the USEF testers are on the show grounds on Day 1 you can bet the word gets out within a couple of hours, and those testers are going to be VERY hard pressed to find a positive for the remaining 10 days of the show.
Iām in agreement that the fines and suspensions should HURT (and that the entry blank loophole needs to somehow get closed, stat). I also wonder about making the shows pay to have USEF drug testers on the grounds at all times. If USEF passed that AND simultaneously passed a rule that required all USEF show managers to freeze their fees (ALL fees not just drug testing) for a period of x years, and just made the presence of USEF drug testers part of the show managerās cost of doing business I wonder if that would help?[/QUOTE]
Iāve been showing in NJ for 15 years and before last winter I saw a drug tester maybe once or twice. Since last winter they have been at every single show Iāve been to except 1 or 2, from AAs to random small C shows. Iāve been tested twice in the past year, once in April and once in September. So I donāt know if theyāre sending them all to NJ or what, but they have definitely been here the past year.
[QUOTE=Pennywell Bay;6747106]
No one brought the daughter into it. Using a child as a shield to deflect ones wrong doings is disgusting.[/QUOTE]
This was told to her numerous times the last time she tried to bring her daughter into it. What kind of mother does that, I wonder?
That Times article is pretty good for a non horsey publication. Apparently she has filed a compliant against the USEF head counsel with the Ky State Bar Association (dismissed) and has numerous legal actions pending against many individuals and entities trying to ādefameā her.
[QUOTE=findeight;6747087]
She has a long history of posting on here accusing others of all sorts of things-and naming them. Pretty much her MO and has been for years. I donāt know if you can search her past posts from before May of 2012 with the new format change butā¦you can see the trend easily if you can.
Lots of drama and hardly new.[/QUOTE]
Yes, and what was the username she used to post under here years agoā¦ponymom something? Thatās worth a read too, if you have an afternoon to bang your head on your desk! :no:
I know people similar to this always reason that everyone else is just jealous or out to get them. Sadly, itās just never the case. Most people with any sense of reason or moral compass can smell a rat a mile away. Though, sometimes it seems to take a few years for the ship to finally start sinking and the rats start scrambling to shore. 
I also find that innocent parties or people falsely accused tend to stay fairly quiet and let the truth come out in the courts. Not a good sign when someone starts to ramble on, produce unrelated, trivial facts and start throwing others under the bus. 
[QUOTE=Carolinadreaminā;6747120]
This was told to her numerous times the last time she tried to bring her daughter into it. What kind of mother does that, I wonder?[/QUOTE]
Besides a guilty one?
This is not an isolated case, but certainly dramatic enough to be chronicled in the Times.
This is the problem. The big successful barn use drugs in their programs. How do you account for $500 or more per month on meds?
The less successful trainer afraid that their customers may leave emulate the winning ones and follow with the same practice. It trickles down to amateurs and pony moms wanting to play in the big leagues until they get caught. But the punishment for many is a three month suspension so is worth the punishment. Major riders, and trainers get suspended and have someone else bring their clients to the ring so no big loss. Some have adopted the practice of listing grooms as the trainers in their entry forms. Some of the āsuspendedā trainers go on to win awards six months after their punishment. So this is the example. You can do anything, because all you get is a $500 fine or a three month suspension. And then you come back to judge, and/or win awards.
And as for the judges listed in the article pretending that this is a problem that needs to be addressed is ironic since they are part of the problem. They reward the offenders with the best ribbons time after time.
EM, please define the word drug for me as in āI donāt drug my horses.ā What exactly would you call the drugs listed in plain sight on your board?
Not all barns do it. Some are honest with their clients about what the horse can or cannot doā¦but nobody wants to hear that Pookie is not suitable so they go to where a trainer will lie and overmedicate to keep them happy. Especially if said trainer sold them an overpriced, undertalented and/or unsound horse they canāt ride.
Right now the owners do NOT get suspended, usually a wrist slap and 300 fine. Thats a problem.
I keep hearing rumors that some of the pending cases involving some huge names are going to result in major suspensionsā¦still waiting for conformation on those rumors. But unless they ding the owners too, the ones who fund it all? It will go on.
By declining to be interviewed for The NYT article, Ms. Mandarino forfeited any right to bitch and moan. But the article is far broader than her personal drama (although she seems bound and determined to keep the focus shining on her ābreadthā of issues). Return to the early comments on this thread to consider the real challengesā¦ (I do not consider hers to be anything more than an example of gross greed, stupidity, narcissism and manipulationā¦although it does raise questions of why anyone would trust an animal or child with such a ātrainer.ā) The article and video were excellent on many levels: Most important, challenging the USEF to reconsider how subjective judging sectors of āequestrian sportā should be structured, standardized and managed. This is huge business, both on the table and off of it. After years of feeling frustrated by wanting to trust that trainers had my daughterās and my animalsā interests top of mind, I decided to stop questioning every line item on every bill, better educate myself, take ownership of my own entries (which also saved me tons of $ in unreported scratches because trainers were often too busy to worry about $50 here or there), sign as trainer (although I was NOT a trainer), control all meds and supplements purchased and given to the animals, and then train my daughter to take on these responsibilities in her later junior years. Was this popular? Heck no. Should every horse show parent do this? Of course not. But, they can seek out the most reputable trainers (and, man, if I Googled Ms. M now, Iād run in the other direction as quickly as possible), educate themselves and discuss their expectations openly with those trainers, and continue to pressure those governing the sport and managing the shows to create structures and environments that optimize the safety and well-being of the horses and riders and that discourage and penalize those who try to do otherwise.
[QUOTE=War Admiral;6745926]
Well, yeah, but letās take an informal poll here: hands up, how many of you have ever actually SEEN a USEF drug tester alive and in person, let alone had a horse tested? How many have had a horse tested more than once?[/QUOTE]
I donāt know how many horses Iāve had tested over the years and how many times Iāve seen testers at the shows when I havenāt been tested. They are out there and do the best job they can given the monetary constraints. Once bought a horse in Ocala for a client, had it shipped to Gulfport to show on the winter circuit, and it go tested after the first class she showed it in. Great way for a pre-purchase drug test - too bad weād already paid for one! Had another 1st year horse get tested at 4 shows back to back.
The biggest problem is the sheer number of shows compared to the number of testers available. And when a horse is chosen to test, that tester may be held up from 1/2 an hour up to 2 hours waiting for the horse to urinate so they canāt be testing other horses during that time.
The USEF did a great presentation at the USHJA convention - itās too bad more werenāt there to listen. I specifically stayed 2 extra days in Miami to go to that presentation. (And yes, I know not everyone has that luxury - I really didnāt have the time or money either, but felt it was worth it.) The number of positive tests compared to the number tested is extremely low and most are for excess amounts of a legal drug. Thatās good to hear. However, all the anecdotal evidence about the misuse of drugs leads one to believe otherwise - good news - the USEF is on top of this and is working hard to develop tests for naturally occurring substances that may be misused. I think we need to give them the space to get this right.
Just how does one make a pony sound enough in wind when āthe pathologist stopped and called me and asked me if I knew about it because he had never seen lungs so diseased in an animal of that age.ā?
Seriously, the pony was schooled that day? The day before? Nobody heard anything funky in its diseased lungs, so diseased a pathologist stopped to make a call? How could you not know this pony has lungs that diseased?
Oh, and I think I might be tempted to sue someone who made personal communications public. Just sayin.
Ms. Mandarino posted some really accusatory comments on her Facebook page yesterday, or this morning, regarding the owners of Sparkle Plenty and Blue Cowboy. I see theyāve since been removed. Wonder if someone got a screenshot of that?
Perhaps we and the entire industry might be better served by ignoring the personal comments and focusing instead on the implications for the sport and what can be done to control and regulate inappropriate actions.
he sport must acknowledge and regulate the inappropriate off label use of drugs for calming - dex and magnesium. Make the cost of inappropriate action actions MUCH higher than the benefits. Hold EVERYONE related to the horse accountable - Owner, Rider, Trainer, Groom.
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