seriously? do you ever horse show? perhaps not…but if you do, lunging calms them so where do you draw the line?
off to take some chamomille tea- oh wait, is that against your rule too?
President of USHJA (Lynn Jayne) fined $4k. Good lord.
Its quite sad what the hunters have come to, although sometimes I tend to believe an injection is safer than lunging a horse around aimlessly for 2.5h a day to get it calm before its 5 classes, and loading it on triple dosages of PP. Although it isn’t just the hunters, the industry as a whole turns a blind eye to a number of things, walking through FEI at night opens your eyes to a whole new world sometimes, and the officials don’t even care.
1 Like
[QUOTE=COTH2012;8268586]
seriously? do you ever horse show? perhaps not…but if you do, lunging calms them so where do you draw the line?
off to take some chamomille tea- oh wait, is that against your rule too?[/QUOTE]
Actually, YES, chamomile is on the USEF ForbiddenSubstances list.
I don’t see anything on this page about calming a stomach but my eyes don’t work like they used to.
1 Like
First premise is wrong.
USEF (formerly AHSA) was NOT founded by members.
It was founded by the HORSE SHOWS.
[QUOTE=COTH2012;8268586]
seriously? do you ever horse show? perhaps not…but if you do, lunging calms them so where do you draw the line?
off to take some chamomille tea- oh wait, is that against your rule too?[/QUOTE]
Don’t currently, have in the past, likely will in the future.
Exercise and pharmaceuticals are two very different things.
While I find excessive longing to be dismaying, it is legal.
And chamomile is on the prohibited substances list.
You really should pay more attention to these things.
1 Like
[QUOTE=Limerick;8268600]
I don’t see anything on this page about calming a stomach but my eyes don’t work like they used to.
http://www.depaoloequineconcepts.com/products/tranquility[/QUOTE]
But it does say this:
Glutamic Acid, the precursor to Gama Amino Butyric Acid encourages the body to soak up excess adrenaline and support calm and relaxed behavior.
I can’t think why anyone would believe the supplement might test positive for GABA…
In the letter it says it was a formuation prior to the current one available. The prior formulation and indication is no longer on the website with the newer product
Never did understand the reasoning behind long periods of lunging. Not good for their joints and it makes horses more fit.
Thank you COTH2012 for posting the Serio letter so we could read their side of the story. Interesting that no mention was made of litigation against the
person(s) who gave her the free product and said it was ok to use. Or did I miss that…
[QUOTE=COTH2012;8268617]
In the letter it says it was a formuation prior to the current one available. The prior formulation and indication is no longer on the website with the newer product[/QUOTE]
Can you please provide us with a primary source, professor? Thanks!
I am reminded of Mr. Shakespeare’s Queen Gertrude, in Hamlet…
Hi all,
I’ll chime in…GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, available in multiple drug formulations. The more GABA, the “calmer” the brain is. Sleeping pills, like Lunesta, increase GABA function in the brain, as do some anti-seizure medications. Since blood is tested (I’m assuming?), serum levels may not reflect available drug levels in the brain, but still not good.
I agree with Lando…the whole situation is sad. The big issue I have with the hunters is judges want horses to go around in a way that is not natural. Horses swish their tail, pin their ears back after a fence, throw in a little buck or kick every now and then, show a bit of exuberance…but none of this is “kosher” in the hunter ring. But the situation is not unique to hunters, other disciples such as western pleasure or gaited shows also use tricks and meds to get horses to go in a very unnatural way.
The whole culture surrounding the hunter is why I have ABSOLUTELY no desire to show in the hunter ring even now that I could afford something fancy. In the jumpers, I let my horses shine with their unique personalities and style and as long as they get around double clean no one cares. Want to know something? They are so much happier. They also spend all day in turn out…they might have slight nicks from rolling in the pasture…so what they are happy and never drugged.
Imagine if someone was forcing all the hunter riders into obesity and drugging them into monotone robotic monkeys. Honestly what is the point? All the hunters I see on the circuit are so obese the only animal they are capable of “hunting” might be a tortoise.
But alas trainers make so much more money on the hunters and it is so much easier to buy your way to the top, which is why the hunter divisions are exploding. The victims here are the horses that are not allowed to be horses…not the trainers, rich owners and riders whose horses are their latest accessory to their Hermes bag. Barf!
I agree with Lando…the whole situation is sad. The big issue I have with the hunters is judges want horses to go around in a way that is not natural. Horses swish their tail, pin their ears back after a fence, throw in a little buck or kick every now and then, show a bit of exuberance…but none of this is “kosher” in the hunter ring. But the situation is not unique to hunters, other disciples such as western pleasure or gaited shows also use tricks and meds to get horses to go in a very unnatural way.
The whole culture surrounding the hunter is why I have ABSOLUTELY no desire to show in the hunter ring even now that I could afford something fancy. In the jumpers, I let my horses shine with their unique personalities and style and as long as they get around double clean no one cares. Want to know something? They are so much happier. They also spend all day in turn out…they might have slight nicks from rolling in the pasture…so what they are happy and never drugged.
Imagine if someone was forcing all the hunter riders into obesity and drugging them into monotone robotic monkeys. Honestly what is the point? All the hunters I see on the circuit are so obese the only animal they are capable of “hunting” might be a tortoise.
But alas trainers make so much more money on the hunters and it is so much easier to buy your way to the top, which is why the hunter divisions are exploding. The victims here are the horses that are not allowed to be horses…not the trainers, rich owners and riders whose horses are their latest accessory to their Hermes bag. Barf!
[QUOTE=Calico;8268593]
President of USHJA (Lynn Jayne) fined $4k. Good lord.[/QUOTE]
Why was she fined and not suspended?
How will this impact Tori’s ability to show Inclusive?
Is he suspended as well, by association? I wasn’t certain if that was the correct interpretation of the following language or not:
"Any horse or horses owned, leased, or of any partnership, corporation or stable of his or hers, or shown in his or her name or for his or
her reputation, (whether such interest was held at the time of the alleged violation or acquired thereafter), shall also be suspended,
pursuant to Chapter 7, GR703.1c. "
[QUOTE=sixteenhands;8268659]
Why was she fined and not suspended?[/QUOTE]
Lynn got fined previously for too much dex in Benito at WEF 7 in Feb 2013.
This one was gabapentin at Showplace in June 2014. “Given the unusual factual context of this case…ruled a suspension was unwarranted.”
The medicine I know of with GABA is Gabapentin which is used for dogs with seizures. It slows down the neurological activity of brain so that those neuro cells won’t become over excitatory, causing a seizure. Most of these dogs are very mellow and it takes the right dosage to make sure they aren’t completely doped up and can still maintain their personalities.
Now I haven’t had a chance to look at the link, but does USEF look at all those involved with the horse or just the trainer and owner? I can’t imagine that a rider wouldn’t know the immediate difference in disposition in their horse.
The most well known “supplement” with GABA is called Carolina Gold.
The USEF only recently developed a test for it, which is why we now have the rash of suspensions for it.
