I grew up without horses, and have absolutely no knowledge of anything horse related.
My 7 year old daughter is an animal person and wanted to try horseback riding. A few months ago I started taking her to some lessons. The instructor is very kind and patient, and seems to have a good bond with my daughter. Today my daughter went to her first horse show to participate in leadline 8 and under. The show was a little local thing. Before the show began, while everyone was getting their makeup and hair done, a little 8 year old girl came up to me and said that ââ needed to get a shot because he was so tired.â I looked up and saw that the riding instructor was walking away from a stall with a little syringe in her hand. I felt icky, and wanted to ask about it, but felt that with me having no knowledge about what this drug is, what itâs for, and what the possible explanations for it could be, I just kind of shut up and made a note to google after we got home. I donât want to jump to conclusions and be judgemental for nothing, but at the same time donât want to participate in something unethical.
So, what kind of drug would a riding instructor give a lesson horse to âwakeâ it up before a show? Is it normal for a horse to sleep so deeply before a show, or was the horse sedated? Should I run far away?
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Conflict avoidant parent
Local schooling or fun shows can be run with no adherence to any rules.
Mood or performance enhancing drugs are illegal in any rated English performance shows, which includes sedatives (most common for hunters), stimulants (more likely in flat racing horses, including cocaine), and some classes of painkillers. Trainers do break the rules and sometimes get caught and fined or suspended.
The comment about makeup suggests you arenât in an English discipline, maybe Western or saddle seat? Their rated shows will also have rules.
I have no idea what your trainer was doing. Iâd more expect a sedative than a stimulant before a lead line class but as you say she could have overdosed the sedative. No, a horse at a show doesnât get woozy drowsy on his feet without a sedative. Even at home they will spring alert the moment they hear you open the feed room door. They are not deep sleepers especially when they are dozing on their feet.
And yes it is icky. Does she dope the horses regularly for lessons too?
You can try asking trainer but because doping horses is well known to be a dishonest and in some cases illegal activity, I would not expect a straight answer from her and I would suspect other levels of cheating and dishonesty in her business model.
I would never buy a horse from her or keep a horse at her barn.
Whether this is a deal breaker for another 6 months of beginner pony lessons is up to you.
Thank you so much for your response. I originally found the barn as a coupon type deal and thought it would be a fun thing for my daughter to try. Everything that I know about horses and horse shows comes from accompanying my daughter to her lessons, and now the show. I didnât realize that drugs for horses were a thing outside of serious competition, where thereâs a lot at stake. In my kidâs class, everybody got a blue ribbon for being cuteâŠso who cares enough to drug? The show was mostly saddleseat with some western- mostly Saddlebred horses except for a few driving ponies.
As far as doping horses for lessons, I have never seen this but wouldnât know what to look for. When we get there for the lesson, the horse is usually getting tacked up to be ridden.The reason it was a surprise to me was that I had never thought about it being a possibility.
*edit to add that the syringe had clear liquid in it. Any guesses?
The horse was lying down sleeping before the syringe. The instructor carried it around casually like it was normal. Do you think there could be any good explanation for this, and how to go about finding a place for the future that doesnât do things like this?? I donât have friends who ride horses and donât hear any word of mouth kind of recommendations about things like this, it really is not my worldâŠbefore my daughter became interested I envisioned horseback riding as wandering around a trail on a horseâŠdidnât even realize that there were different seats. Iâm an animal person the way most people are-- happy with a dog that is cuddly and doesnât poop in the house.
The liquid in the syringe was clear. Any guesses??
Also, are barns like this the norm or few and far between⊠I donât want to switch to something thatâs the same, just better at hiding. Also, would the sedative (if there was a sedative) be the equivalent of people giving a dog a prescribed xanax before a flight?
Pretty much nothing thatâs given by injection is going to be anything other than clear or maybe very rarely milky white. Doesnât really help narrow it down. Saddleseat explains a lot since they want the horses to be âupâ and bright. I donât know enough about that circle of things to be able to comment what it was.
Mid it made you uncomfortable, you have the right to talk to the trainer about it and either ask her not to medicate horses in front of your daughter unless an emergency, or to explain to you what she gave a horse your daughter was riding. After all, your daughterâs safety is ultimately your responsibility.
However, as a general statement, if you arenât comfortable with a lot of tactics to make horses animated, probably best to find a barn and move away from saddleseat before you get too far into it. Every discipline has their people who donât play by the rules, but the more unnaturally you want a horse to behave, the more youâre going to have to do things to make it behave that way.
You say to look for a more ânaturalâ discipline, so what would that be? What discipline would you think treats the horses best?
Also, about not getting too far into it, I already feel a sense of the âSunk Cost Fallacyââ Iâm pretty working class, and just bought this expensive vest and tie and shirt and pants, spent on lesson packagesâŠit feels like- well, maybe we should stick around so that it was not a waste.
I would also feel bad if what I saw was just something the vet gave for a legit condition like arthritis or something and Iâm blowing things out of proportion because I donât want to bring it up and get clear info. The teacher/barn owner has been so nice to my daughter, and I donât want to throw out accusations and be rude.
OP, I grew up with non horsey parents. They did their best to provide me with a well rounded horse education, and eventually landed on United States Pony Club.
As a fellow parent, I have an issue with a leadline pony being âdrugged,â mostly because WHY would the mount of a small child need to be drugged to be safe OR to make it more animated. Neither makes sense. An appropriate mount wonât need drugs.
There are dark sides to all disciplines, and none are without their secrets. However, I suggest you look for a well rounded horsemanship based program that teaches horse care as well as riding. Grooming/brushing, saddling, etc. Pony Club does those things. Traditionally, pony club includes jumping but now you can specialize and do western, dressage, eventing, etc, all with the focus on being a well rounded horse person.
Why not just ASK?
âkiddo saw you giving pony an injection at the show. What was it and why?â
Ask the trainer what was given to the horse and why. Her response to the question will tell you a lot. Horseback riding is a dangerous activity - as a parent, you should be able to question anything that relates to your daughterâs riding and get an explanation. If the trainer is defensive, tells you that you have no right to be questioning her, etc. then you should find another barn. If she is calm about it and gives you a reasonable explanation, then you may want to stay, although you should keep your eyes open for anything else that makes you uneasy.
Could be something legit (horse was a smidge colic-y and got some banamine and then was fine) or not. Trainer could have been white lying to the kid and the injection could have been for any number of reasons. The only way to know is to ask
Everything we do with horses is âunnaturalâ, but if you look at barns that are less show oriented, less about making a horse go a specific way (aside from broad umbrella of âenglishâ or âwesternâ), and more about teaching kids riding basics and horsemanship (how to handle and groom the horse and tack up yourself, etc), they theoretically have less at stake to go out and make sure the horse performs at shows. So less need for sedatives or stimulants. Usually also not as expensive as show barns.
I would say the good ones tend to emphasize safety (approved helmet, appropriate boots and long pants are really all you need to start out (not sure if western riders have other requirements)) over style/fashion (specific pricey show stuff). You should not be afraid to ask trainer questions and the overall atmosphere of the barn should feel inviting and calm also; see if the other kids and their parents seem happy there, if you donât know if the horses are. In hunter/jumper-land, lesson barns sometimes throw their own schooling (practice/mock) shows to give kids and parents an idea of what showing is like; also low-key and relatively inexpensive, donât need to go all-out with show equipment.
Horses do lie down in the middle of the day, even at busy shows, so that in itself is not an indicator of anything. Clear liquid could be anything also. Some legit medications are for allergies, joint care, anti-inflammatories/pain meds (within reason and not masking lameness to make horse compete). But I donât know why they wouldnât just say that, if that were the case. I donât know the saddlebred world or what they would give as a stimulant or why a leadline horse would need much of anything re sedative or stimulant. If a horse was given banamine for colic (legit use for stomachache), I would not show it that same day.
If you do ask the trainer, I donât think you need to start out accusatory â just say you noticed them giving the horse an injection and wondered what it was. If you donât like the answer, donât continue training with them. If stimulants are standard practice in this discipline and you donât like it, maybe change to something else? (I donât know the western world, but you could ask the BB in another post for recommendations.) If they think youâre rude for being concerned, that might be a yellow/red flag.
ETA: pony club is a good idea. My parents and I lucked into a decent barn when I started out, essentially the closest one to our house, advertising lessons, that we drove past one day. They didnât know anything about horses either â we didnât even know there was such a thing as pony club (I thought was a fictional thing from Saddle Club books). Later found out some of the older kids and young (20s) instructors had gone through pony club.
This. There is no point in fretting about this or jumping to conclusions. Just ask the trainer, in a completely non-accusatory fashion, about the shot. There are perfectly legitimate explanations.
Please do investigate USPony club in your area . Itâs the best way to learn and be part of a group. And itâs all around learning, too
I was under the impression that you need a horse to be part of pony club.
Thanks, Iâll try.
Donât jump to conclusions. It could be something completely innocent with a perfectly good explanation. My horse gets adequan (joint health injections). If the day she is due for her shot coincides with a show day, I give the shot at the show. You may have seen something equally as innocent.
I believe you need access to/use of a horse (or pony), which a lesson barn may provide; I donât think you have to own a horse. Iâm not sure how joining pony club works, but if the barn is part of PC (or thereâs a PC chapter in the barn), they can do the meetings and lessons/tests and stuff?
https://www.ponyclub.org has a lot of information. Your local tack shops may have more information too, about what are good lesson barns or pony club barns.
I find the trainerâs explanation to the kid a bit strange: â[horse] needed to get a shot because he was so tiredâ. Maybe they thought a kid or non-horsey-parent wouldnât question it, I donât know, or maybe that is the real answer (I have no idea what stimulant that would be), but asking directly what it is should get OP a straight answer. Or not, which is an answer in itself.
Although I like the idea of just asking the trainer what she was injecting the pony with, I think I would have some doubt about whether the trainer would tell you the truth. And in general, I donât think itâs a great idea for your daughter to be exposed to a situation where the trainer casually walks around carrying a syringe and injecting ponies because they seem too tired.
In your position, Iâd start researching other lesson barns in the area. You can ask the trainer/instructor at any prospective barn about their program, and about their horses. Made it clear that youâre less interested in your daughter showing right away and more interested in her learning riding, general horsemanship, etc. She should learn how to tack up and groom as well.
Easier to move now, rather than have your daughter make friends at the barn that she doesnât want to leave.
Good luck.
It largely depends on the club. Some assist members in having access to a mount.
If I were in your position, I would call the local leader (called the DC), and explain that you are looking for a horsemanship centered program for your beginner child, and ask them what they recommend-- maybe a pony club affiliated barn.
So what kind of little local show needs 8 year old lead liners in hair and makeup, and requires an expensive purchase of show clothing after just a few months of lessons?
OP, I wanted to add, that if youâre concerned about investment costs, I suggest again a horsemanship based program. The things your child will learn are priceless (both the horse related and general life lessons). They are things she will never outgrow.
You could probably find a program focused more on skills/learning than showing in most disciplines. Donât feel like it HAS to be Pony Club.
