Selevit Injectable

[McGurk]

One of the things that really bothered me at Upperville this year was the number of unhappy horses I saw compete. The worst was the rated large pony division. I watched ~30 trips, and only 2 of the ponies went in to the ring happily and went forward to their fences. (Their trips scored in the 80s) The rest were ear pinning, tail switching, grumpy about their changes, dwelling at the in gate; pretty much shouting in horse that they were hurting and didn’t like their job. And I’m sure most of those ponies had some combo of Legend, Adequan, Previcoxx, custom shoeing, etc.

The quality of the riding wasn’t great either. I kept asking if I was watching the local division instead of the rated division. My sense was these kids were being propped up on expensive packers rather than being taught to ride.

Junior Hunters were better than the large ponies, with a better percentage of happy, forward horses, but still way too many cranky ones that didn’t like their job.

That this was happening in the main ring at one of the most prestigious shows on the East Coast is very, very sad.

[dags]

lol, we bring a farrier in from 800 miles away for some (not all) of these guys. Good farriers are indeed hard to find.

And yeah, at least one of these older gentlemen was kicked out to pasture for 12 months and is now getting legged back up to enter the rotation. He’s going great and everyone is thrilled super fortunate to have that as an option though.

It’s the age-old problem in that there are always crappy people out there doing it wrong, making it hard for good people using similar tools to do it right.

[MHM]

@fivestrideline

All the drug and abuse rules we have now came because people drugged and abused their horses .

My mother showed in her youth, which was quite a long time ago by now. The rule book back in her day was tiny. Hardly more than a pamphlet.

The rule book has grown to its current state over the years because they have to keep writing new rules as people figure out ways to break or skirt the old ones.

Her father, my grandfather, was the one who introduced the concept of designating the new rules as changes when the new rulebook came out each year, so that you did not have to do a line by line comparison with the old rulebook to see what had changed from the last one.

[NaturallyHappy]

Our farrier comes from 500 miles away. I cannot tell you how lucky we are.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@McGurk

One of the things that really bothered me at Upperville this year was the number of unhappy horses I saw compete. The worst was the rated large pony division. I watched ~30 trips, and only 2 of the ponies went in to the ring happily and went forward to their fences. (Their trips scored in the 80s) The rest were ear pinning, tail switching, grumpy about their changes, dwelling at the in gate; pretty much shouting in horse that they were hurting and didn’t like their job. And I’m sure most of those ponies had some combo of Legend, Adequan, Previcoxx, custom shoeing, etc.

The quality of the riding wasn’t great either. I kept asking if I was watching the local division instead of the rated division. My sense was these kids were being propped up on expensive packers rather than being taught to ride.

Junior Hunters were better than the large ponies, with a better percentage of happy, forward horses, but still way too many cranky ones that didn’t like their job.

That this was happening in the main ring at one of the most prestigious shows on the East Coast is very, very sad.

Different people and different disciplines have different perspectives on what a “sound” horse looks like.

One would hope at the FEI level, that the jog would result in unsound horses not actually making it into the show ring. But someone said earlier on this thread that even at the FEI level with jumpers, the jog isn’t necessarily exceptionally strict.

[dags]

@NaturallyHappy

Our farrier comes from 500 miles away. I cannot tell you how lucky we are.

Seriously. He was originally our local farrier then moved out of state. We are extremely fortunate to have been able to maintain the relationship.

[McGurk]

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?

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@McGurk

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?

[fivestrideline]

@Amberley

A fit horse is pretty adaptable in terms of footing in the short term.

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.

[NaturallyHappy]

^^^^This

[Mardi1]

@Midge

Sadly, her people were using the 'liquid yellow longe line" themselves, without her knowledge.

What is the liquid yellow longe line ?

[Ghazzu]

@Mardi1

What is the liquid yellow longe line ?

I would imagine it comes in a bottle labeled “Acepromazine maleate”

[Ponyplusaninch]

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.

[Djones]

@fivestrideline

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.

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?

[Midge]

Ace.

[MHM]

@Ponyplusaninch

It’s amazing how hard that footing can get if it’s not drug enough and watered enough.

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.

[horsegurl]

@Ghazzu

LOL! Need laugh emoji for that one!!

[Annie10]

lol I guess we know one person who isn’t cheating lol

[Peggy]

@MHM

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.

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.

[poltroon]

@KathyShack

How is it horses 30 plus years ago weren’t getting these injections, yet jumping just as high well into their teens? Just one example, look at Big Ben, a horse who competed at and won top level Grand Prix for a decade, around 8-18 years old in the 80s and 90s. Yes, there may have been off label medications and less testing back then, but why aren’t we seeing horses at top levels now being able to continue competition for that long with supposedly better vet care and general living conditions?

Adequan has been around since mid 1990s, Legend was FDA approved in 2005, for reference.

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.