Interesting point. The footing in the hunter rings at Upperville is old fashioned sand, not one of the newer high tech synthetic footings. I do wonder if they would have looked better at a different venue.
However, when I had students showing on older packers, we selected show venues based on footing. There were places I wouldn’t take a wonderful older horse who objected to jumping on hard footing. Has decision making like that gone by the wayside too?
Maybe it’s just that it’s Upperville… so some people chose to go regardless of whether the footing was optimal for their horse/pony?
Absolutely. I think we will look back one day and see that GGT contributed to an uptick in soft tissue injuries and general wear and tear on horses. I think GGT is hard and doesn’t have much give, especially if it isn’t watered and dragged enough. A horse that schools on multiple surfaces at home (I prefer a sand ring and grass myself) can usually tolerate a week or two on poor footing. But when they are subjected to that poor footing ALL the time - GGT at home and living on the road for months - that adds up.
^^^^This
What is the liquid yellow longe line ?
I would imagine it comes in a bottle labeled “Acepromazine maleate”
it is hard to beat well-maintained GGT.
But the key phrase in there is “well-maintained.” There are two different venues near me that use GGT. One always feels springy and light, and the other we usually have to give my guy something in between weeks so he doesn’t feel ouchy. It’s amazing how hard that footing can get if it’s not drug enough and watered enough.
I think some people–both barn owners and show operations–think you can get good footing and just set it and forget it, but it’s not really the material that makes it “good,” it’s how you treat and maintain it. 
Who was the trainer here on COTH whose back was broken after a horse fell on her on GGT? The lack of cushion or even shifting footing seemed a possible contributing factor. That wasn’t that long ago, maybe last summer?
Ace.
I was just having a discussion with someone on this subject.
I’ve been told that the footing is supposed to be kept much wetter than a lot of people realize. That person told me it is supposed to be so wet that it sounds like the horse is cantering on concrete, which seems counterintuitive to me. But he said that’s the way it is designed for the best surface.
lol I guess we know one person who isn’t cheating lol
Interesting. That’s certainly the way it’s often prepped. And what it sounds like for at least the first few horses. At home, we have our GGT mixed with a higher ratio of sand than is typical (or practical) at shows. With the amount of traffic in a show ring, they’d have to spend way too much time dragging.
Agree with @Amberley about the number of horses going around in the hunters looking sour (or you can see it in a lot of the photos). Not so much the jumpers, even if their ears aren’t always actively pricked forward. I own the horse (the one in my profile photo) that has his ears forward in pretty much every photo, even when we did the hunters.
As is mentioned elsewhere, both these drugs came online in about 1990 and that’s about when elite horses started having high level careers into their late teens, especially in eventing. In the 70s and 80s, as I recall it, it was not very typical to get more than one Olympic cycle out of a jumper or event horse, and even two made that horse a superstar.
There were lots of better care elements that came about in that time frame, better footing, more use of ice, more science and information sharing, so I’m not sure these two drugs get all the credit. But I don’t remember the “good old days” as being that great for horses, a lot of horses just went around unsound, got more alarming drugs/nerving, and/or were disposed of in various ways.
In the 90’s every international horse got meticulously blood tested at home to see how much bute or ban they could tolerate and remain under FEI permitted levels. There was a lot of 5, 5, 7 going on. In retrospect I find that WAY preferable to the nefarious chemistry that seems to be the norm these days, both with painkillers, an inexplicable amount of calmers, blood boosters and the masking drugs.
Also sticking your horse in a whirlpool made of a muck tub, a horse vacuum and a bag of ice was wicked effective. Horses would bound into it like a kid in a swimming hole.
Question: when a horse is treated by the US vets is the owner/rider billed for it? Wouldn’t they know it’s happening because of the invoices or does the US team vets pay for it?
Maybe there is a flat fee that is a comprehensive charge?
I’d assume USEF pays, since they are “leasing” the horse. Sort of. That’s one of those grey areas you’d need to see the contract!
Was there really a contract though? Or was it more of an agreement/waiver?
@Jealoushe
Well, most of the time, we get vet invoices well after the vet has seen our horses, so, no, I don’t think that would have tipped her off.
Also, if you re-read both KC Branscomb’s and Branscomb Farm’s FB pages, her accounting of the situation was that the groom called her from stabling to say that the horse was getting-or was about to get–shots from the vet, and he (the groom, Pepe) was concerned.
So, she had some awareness–and I am not faulting her. All the decisions for the horse’s care fall back on USEF, as per the contract…so the decisions seem to have been made and implemented as such.
@fivestrideline --agreed, as there was other info on the FB posts that suggested USEF paid for travel too. And since the horse was on loan to USEF…makes sense.
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