@Rnichols I posted info on the California drug laws somewhere WAY upthread.
LSS Horses at nearly every show in California may be drug tested by the state. Independent of following USEF rules or not.
Here’s the link again bc no one needs to slog back through the thread to find it.
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/AHFSS/Animal_Health/EMMP/
Thanks for sharing! I knew it went somewhere! I just looked at the entry form for one of the h/j schooling shows I attend and their fee last year was $5/horse, so it looks like I can expect that to go up (which is fine).
Reviving this thread from a year ago just to point out, AGAIN, that sedating your horse in any sort of competition NO MATTER THE DISCIPLINE or the excuse is CHEATING and you are a cheater. I don’t care if you take home a championship ribbon or claim you put in the work–you are a cheater. You deserve no credit, no accolades and no awards. Gosh how I wish these people would be called out. If you are a BNT or a local ammy you really give horsemanship a BAD NAME and your shortcuts and false fame take away from every legit horseperson who is putting in the time and effort to do things correctly. RANT OVER.
Didn’t reining legalize certain tranqs? Or was it another banned substance?
While I understand the point you’re trying to make, if it’s legal, you(g) aren’t a cheater. Unethical? Yeah probably.
https://aaep.org/news/aaep-encourages-national-reining-horse-association-reconsider-sedative-rule
Sorry but if most vets in the country say this is bad for horses even if they “legalize” you are still a cheater in my book. Sedation in competition is bad for horses and unfair to legit horse people. And in H/J land absolutely illegal.
I agree w you.
I am an eventer, and my background is different, but I was chatting with a competent, aged-out junior H/J/Eq rider today. Our perspectives on ace usage were very different. I feel ace under saddle is only acceptable in rehab situations-- such as the first few rides after stall rest during recovery from a bowed tendon or some other serious surgery.
The H/J rider firmly believes that no horse should ever compete with ace, but based on her upbringing, it’s acceptable for non-competing horses. It’s acceptable use for green/nervous horses to “get a good experience.” It’s acceptable to use if the rider (perhaps a weak kid or anxious adult ammy) doesn’t have the knowledge/skill/strength/mind to handle a tense horse in a show environment. It may even be ok to use at home on rare occasion to give a safe lesson on a cold/windy day. While she doesn’t agree with it, she’s also seen it used daily for certain hot/difficult horses in regular training.
This mentality is miles away from where I came from. I was taught no horse should need ace to be ridden; it needed a different rider or a different program. Maybe the young horse needs to NOT be ridden at the show, but just hang out at the trailer or walk around in a rope halter and see the sights. If the kid can’t ride the horse at shows, it stays home until they are safe, or trainer shows the horse…or kid needs a different horse. “Training” with ace is a wholly unfamiliar concept to me-- the only thing I can kind of relate is the few foxhunters I know who ace a horse it’s first time out in the field (and I don’t particularly agree with that either, but for some it’s standard practice).
I really respect this H/J rider and appreciate listening to her experiences. We just seem to come from vastly different worlds sometimes; riding with ace as a regular thing is completely foreign in my experience.
I knew an old lady who used to say, “Ace and Bute make trainers of us all!” It was really common back in the day.
Id rather they have a couple ccs of Ace than lunge them to death. Id hazard to guess most of the naysayers take all manner of medication…its the American way…why should the horses be any different🤣
maybe because you can decide for yourself. Your horse cannot. they have only you making the decision for them.
Also, I’ve never ridden a horse on Ace who seemed safer when on Ace. They just freed out more slowly and with less coordination.
I agree that LTD is no solution.
Freaked, not freed!
They allow a drug you cannot even get in the US anymore, except for compounded versions.
Europe has separate medication rules from the US portion of NRHA and they still do not allow romifidine.
I’m assuming the timing of this revisit to an old topic was sparked by an end of year competition. The year end points situation in my statewide local association always irks me when I look at the results and see the top horses nearly always have very high numbers of shows they’ve competed in over the season. (Only the “top ten” shows count for points.) Thirty or more shows is not unusual. I’ve proposed rule changes to the governing body but nobody at the top is interested in capping the number of shows allowable.
Trainers make money when their clients go to shows, and trainers largely run the association, either by sitting in the board seats or by influencing those who do.
Yup and as goes a state association, so goes our national association
this is pretty much why I dont really consider horse shows, at the top level, a sport,but rather an industry
There is an alternative to either of those choices. It is called training.
I can’t like this comment enough. You are so right-it is an industry and feels a far cry from “sport”. It so sad.
I just cannot fathom riding a sedated horse for any activity. If you need to sedate your horse to ride, then maybe he needs more training or maybe you do. That is not an acceptable practice in any stretch of the imagination.
way back in the fog that is my brain attic I remember reading a journal article about animal learning under low grade traq, such as Ace. I cannot remember if it was dog or horse, but the upshot was that they dont “learn” efficiently during the experience
The organizations that run shows and depend on show income would also be unhappy with limiting the number of shows a horse/rider could compete at.
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