Wow, I guess I have been living under a rock because this got approved last year I believe and is now in action.
I mean… WTAF. Thirty minutes before a class and you can drug your horse. And somehow this is “better for the horse” because now people supposedly won’t lunge them into the ground to tire them out.
I still can’t fathom this.
https://aaep.org/news/aaep-encourages-national-reining-horse-association-reconsider-sedative-rule
Not only that, but only available as a compounded drug.
Hmm, it remains a mystery why reining and FEI couldn’t come to an agreement and why reining is no longer in FEI. 
Wasn’t there also that business about certain “trainers” who purposely ran the horses into the wall and such?
WTF?? As most the horse world takes forward steps on drugs/meds at competitions, this is a step backwards. And this is not some fly-by-night horse association. Big time competitions, big time money to be won…
Yes, and other very minor (excuse me while I cough and choke on my own saliva) differences like age for international competition, etc.
Reining has always bothered me. I love watching a good cutter or working cow horse do its job with cattle, but reining? It’s just pointless to make a horse spin like a tornado and slide on its butt halfway across an arena. Yes, they’re athletic horses and are bred and built to be agile and quick at starting, stopping, and turning, but as with so many other disciplines, humans have turned it into damn near a freakshow that is harmful to the horses. It’s as bad as western pleasure these days, IMO, maybe even worse.
I don’t think people realized just how unethical a lot of the training tactics were in reining until it hit the big time with the FEI recognition. Many of those horses get roughed up quite a bit in order to get them to do that stuff.
Here’s the/a thread on this from last year
Note, I am NOT condoning the use of the sedative at all.
One “good” thing about this is will be REQUIRED to be to be submitted on the medication form (and yes I know, some still don’t do that)
Here is the NRHA response to the outcry, I hope this works, if not, it’s comment 61 in the above thread
https://preview.mailerlite.com/b1c2t2e8v1/2027983856115652424/d5o3/
To the point of this approval/udate, the latest policies had been in place since 2015, and were basically rules without (significant) enforcements
This seems like it was about the only comrpomise that could be had between the side who wanted zero tolerance, and the side that wanted zero rules
Don’t think that Romfidine hasn’t been used. It has. And people have been caught, but their names didn’t have to be published, fines were little to nothing, and any probabation was wiped clean after a year. That’s not how things should be allowed, and this is at least a step in the right direction
look at the improvements in the penalties.
Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. But it appears to be way, way better than it was.
Thanks for that, I hadnt had any luck in My search.
As a reining trainer and breeder….I don’t stand behind the “legal” use of Sedivet however……if you take a look into the other modifications to the drug policy, the policy is no longer smoke and mirrors as it was previously. Heavy duty fines and suspensions are on the table for those that don’t act within the drug policy.
Mandatory medications reporting to the show office before you show. Etc.
I can’t even watch reining anymore. Those horses are robots and subjected to a sad sad life. For that matter so many horses, so much of showing and the breeds is just horrible. It’s not just reining.
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