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Tranquilizer use at "local" shows

I appreciate your constructive comment. I want to stay by saying that.

I do reject the idea that the average young horse needs drugs to have a good experience. The same can be achieved for most horses by having appropriate expectations of them at their first shows, which may mean not actually showing a couple times.

The main argument underlying these discussions seems to be an assumption that there NEEDS to be a way of getting horses and riders to do things they aren’t actually capable of doing (yet). There doesn’t. It is a completely optional horse show.

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I do not believe that the average young horse needs drugs to have a good experience. I do believe that there is a non-negligible minority that will not have a good experience at their first show without Ace or similar. Those horses generally have a rough start and take time to come around; a few never do - if those few are lucky, they are mares with good bloodlines or obvious talent and get bred. If they are not so lucky - life is hard and possibly quite short.

I see judicious use of Ace and similar, at small horse shows where such is allowed (and not just in the 'we don’t test" sense) as a way of getting that minority over a hump that might otherwise be insurmountable, and setting them up for a better life.

Yes, in one sense horse shows are optional. But the sad fact is that there is little room in our society for a horse that doesn’t serve some function. And a horse that is relaxed and comfortable at horse shows is much more likely to have a long and happy life.

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As I read this post, I felt I could actually watch you slide down the slippery slope in real time.

If the horse truly cannot be acclimated to showing without drugs, it needs a different job. And there ARE other jobs, the problem is more that the owner may take a loss selling it to another, less expensive job or more tolerant owner. Either that, or it needs a different rider or trainer.

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I agree with Mr. Oare, who says he is talking about the highest level of hunters. At this point in the indoors season, a good number of the hunters are looking sore. Our barn has had to cut the season short for a couple of our hunters and put them out in the field. One of these is a 12 year old horse who would normallly jump around a Target store filled with jumps without hesitation, usually un-phased by anything. But he was very nervous in the warmup areas at a recent show and required more prep than usual. This was not longing, however, but cantering for long periods with a highly skilled rider. All this to say is that many barns at the level to which Mr. Oare is referring do not longe very much, but the horses can still get injured with fast and heavy prep, especially with consecutive shows.

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I don’t support sedatives like Ace/Dorm use specifically for the show ring. Let me start with that.

HOWEVER I think there is great value in local unrated shows that don’t test. Besides the fact that testing adds $$$ to the show bill, there are plenty of perfectly useful horses - thinking of schoolies here mainly - that live with help from drugs and supps that do test for reasons other than sedation or covering a lameness.

In fact, I have a horse who is extremely claustrophobic and we are working through loading issues. It is valuable to me to have a little Ace on board for trailer trips - and yes it’ll test at the one or two day shows I take him to in order to put good experiences in the bank. I skip the warmup if it’s crazy and just go hop around something little and get back on the trailer to go home. Would he test? Yes. Which is why we go to unaffiliated shows and won’t touch anything following USEF rules until he can haul reasonably without drugs.

Do I think drugging a greenie or a beginner’s horse to get around the warmup or ring is reasonable? No. That’s a case for a scratch or teaching a person how to warmup by hacking around and just go right in the ring. Do I think there’s other reasons to have some Ace or Dorm on board, and thus reasons to choose a non-testing show? Also yes.

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Wow–thanks for all the candid and thoughtful responses. It seems there are plenty of perspectives on this topic. A couple thoughts–reading through some of these responses it seems we have an expectation within our culture that the horses almost function as machines, never allowed to have a feeling, expression or an off day. Our competitive nature seems to mean the horse is really just a tool to reach whatever the end goal is, not a living being to be in tune with, learned from and adapted to. In teaching younger riders perhaps showing should not be the primary goal, and the older hunter campaigner may need more down time to not get sour or sore. My personal feeling is that using sedation to SHOW is still cheating, poor horsemanship and reflects goals that are not always aligned with good education of riders and well being of animals. Poverty is not something really existent in the horse show world; is there a financial NEED to make Suzy’s walk trot pony sedate so it does not spook in the corner? IMO Suzy should ride well enough at home so she can sit a little pony spook before showing. Perhaps trainers are under huge pressure to get kids and horses in the ring showing prematurely, not sure. Everyone seems to be in a hurry these days. Perhaps a better education of owners and parents is what is needed. The bottom line is that we definitely seem to have an acceptable drug culture to some extent. Is this fair to those that do without?

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If you feel you need to tranquilize a young horse for training purposes to give it a positive experience, then you could flip your number up/ ride HC. If you are choosing to ride for a ribbon it’s not really about training.

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I agree 100%. I do think that show management at some local shows could be more mindful about giving beginner classes more positive experiences (stuff like not dragging the ring next to the short stirrup warmup, what I said before about perhaps having two warmups with limited numbers), even if it can be logistically awkward. But ultimately, “just this once” easily spirals into always. There’s always a “reason” to do it and bend the rules. I mean, how many days is it cold/windy/an unusually spooky jump/an unusually spooky horse in the class? But the excuse “well, I need to save my horse’s legs from over-lunging so I’m going to drug the horse instead” is a weird response. Maybe the horse needs to be shown less, or the standards for “an ideal trip” need to be reassessed instead.

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Fair enough, except for this point:

I’m not advocating that people break the rules that are in place. If you can’t show a horse on Ace, then you can’t show a horse on Ace, and you are cheating if you do so, no matter how good a reason you have. However, I am advocating for a modification in the rules. That’s my stake in the ground of the slippery slope.

I guess it’s because I don’t see anything unethical per se in the use of conventional tranquilizers when needed for the horse’s welfare. Have you never sedated a horse that needed stall rest or handwalking only? Or a horse for the very first ride back after a long time off?

When we are talking about things like Ace, Reserpine, etc, there is a place and a time for them - they are not fundamentally bad for horses when used in a thoughtful way. Indeed, there may be situations where using them is in the horse’s best interest. And I would argue that one of those situations is a certain subset of horses at their first shows.

Now absolutely, rules are rules, and if the rules ban these medications, then showing on them is not an option and is indeed cheating. But again, I think having a subset of shows that allow these medications is pro-equine welfare.

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I’m curious if you replaced “horse” with “person”, or even, “nervous child” if you would still be so ethically cavalier about helping them “have a good experience”…

Just as a coach has to advocate for their students who are starting to compete in big environments under insane pressure and help them work through the nerves/anxiety/excitement, we also have to advocate for our horses. Perhaps even more so, since they have no voice and cannot consent. In fact, a nervous horse having a meltdown at its first show is NOT consenting and IMO drugging them to make them compliant seems ethically gray at best.

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Actually, yes. One real life example - colonoscopies. There is no medical requirement that people be sedated into twilight for colonoscopies (and very rarely people do get colonoscopies without sedation), but most GI doctors require sedation because it makes the process much easier and quicker for the doctor, and much more pleasant for the patient. Twilight sedation (and the risks that accompany it) is not necessary for the procedure, but it makes for a much better patient experience, and so many doctors will not proceed without it. Is that ethically cavalier? To condition a necessary and potentially life saving procedure on the patient’s willingness to be sedated, even though the sedation isn’t required?

And of course there are also many parents who will give their small children benadryl before a long flight, to make life easier on everyone. (that is controversial too)

[and yes, there are distinctions between colonoscopies and horse shows, with one arguably being much more necessary than the other.]

Now part of your point is that as adults we make the decisions for ourselves (including skipping the colonoscopy if we don’t want to be sedated), while children and animals have the decision made for them. And yes, that means that extra care needs to be taken when choosing what actions to take, to ensure those choices are in the best interest of the child or animal.

A nervous horse having a meltdown when 3 months of stall rest are needed is also NOT consenting at all. Do you see sedation in that scenario as ethically gray?

Again, I don’t see using Ace at a horse show as the standard, and I definitely do not support it being used if it is not allowed. When it is used, it should be used in a legal way, and no more than absolutely needed. But I do think there is a time and a place where it may help. Just as it would be lovely if all horses went happily in D ring snaffles, but some do need more than that.

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In the Olden Days, people Trained horses to be comfortable with travel. They took them to shows as field trips. They entered a class if they had to in order to be there, and scratched, so they could get in the warmup ring. They walked and walked and walked the horse all over the show grounds. They did this as much as the horses needed.

Would you give your kid Benadryl to keep them quiet during a movie?

Being okay with sedation under certain competitive circumstances is a slippery slope.

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There is a much better case for this scenario and I agree, it would be kindest to the horse to sedate them for such a situation in which there is no other alternative. I would also give my kid benadryl if they were sick and needed help sleeping because its necessary to heal.

But whereas stall rest is necessary for the welfare of the horse, showing most certainly is not. There is nothing inherently necessary about horse shows that is truly for the welfare of the horse - only for the owner’s wallet. I don’t think I will ever be convinced that the ethical decision is to drug a horse, only so they can perform for humans. I can think of a hundred other things to try first. And if I’ve tried a hundred other things and none of them worked, maybe it’s time to accept that the horse just doesn’t want to show.

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These things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Loading and shipping calmly are both critically important life skills. A horse who won’t get on the trailer, or who will panic and scramble once on, is a horse I can’t get to the vet clinic at 9PM when it has a potentially surgical colic. That’s a life skill I want my horses to get as quickly as is prudent, so, yes, if I have a horse who is traumatized by getting on the trailer, I will use a little ace in the course of the little baby steps that are involved in getting a horse comfortable with trailering, if that helps the horse have a productive experience.

I’m also not against using it as part of the little baby steps that are involved in getting a horse comfortable being off-property, provided the horse isn’t showing. It can be part of a scaffolded desensitizing protocol. If the horse is working itself into a panic at the idea of walking around unfamiliar grounds, start with a little ace and an unflappable buddy, graduate to just the buddy, graduate to walking in sight of the buddy, etc.

I don’t believe in using medication to get a horse into the show ring at any horse show. That’s for fun. I do believe that it can be used ethically as part of a training progression to develop a horse’s life skills- the skills that the horse needs to be safe in the world. It’s not the tool you start with, but it can be a part of the journey.

And yes, I did once give my preteen sister an anxiolytic when she had a panic attack at the idea of getting on a plane, at a time when she really needed to get on the plane. I knew I actually had given her a placebo pill, but she thought she was taking my prescription (and it worked.) She did take it by her own choice, but as she was young, you could say I’d drugged her to travel without her consent. Would I have given her anything to go to a movie- hell no. Am I okay with giving a horse anything in order to go into a show ring- also hell no, and that includes short stirrup animals. If they aren’t safe to be in the ring with a child they’re in the wrong job.

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Colonoscopies to drugging horses for shows is not a valid comparison. A colonoscopy is a medical procedure and can be necessary for maintaining good health in humans. Horses also require comparable procedures, such as endoscopy, teeth floating, and so on. I do sedate my horse for medical procedures as I deem this beneficial for his overall health and soundness. It’s safer and more humane to sedate for these procedures.

Showing a horse is not a medical necessity. When sedating a horse for the show ring, we are only looking at our own best interest. It is not medically necessary for a horse to pack a beginner rider around a show ring. It’s great when we find a horse that is quiet enough (and these horses and ponies do exist without having chemicals on board!), but creating a quiet horse with drugs is, IMO, unethical.

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In the olden days people also drugged the crap out of horses to make them calmer, less calm, more sound, etc. That is the reason we have so many drug rules now. I remember those days- I was just moving into the juniors when they were coming to an end.

I don’t think ace is appropriate for most situations at even an unrated show, and I do not like riding a horse who is aced myself. But it’s certainly a useful thing to have in special circumstances.

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No where did I say that I had a problem with using tranquilizers to help Horses in certain situations. I use them myself so that nobody gets hurt when you’re bringing a horse back from an injury, I’ve use them to help Horses for clipping etc. I just don’t like them in the context of showing, at all.

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In the olden days, it didn’t cost $200+ just to set foot on a showground either, so…

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Also when I was a kid in the 1970s, you and your horse needed to be quite advanced before anyone would haul you off to a high stakes show. We had local gymkhana playdays where you could bumble around for cheap. But even there the jumps were higher than cross rails. There wasn’t a showing venue or expectations for beginner riders.

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For a green horse, you need to put miles on to get a seasoned animal. Not drugs.

For adults/children on horses - if the rider can handle nothing but a robot type ride, and any deviation from that elicits a total melt down, I suggest they find another sport that doesn’t involve a living animal.

For the ever present problem of rider who have unsuitable horses, the answer is obvious - get something suited to the rider.

For the problem of the lit horse who absolutely will not calm down at a show, no matter how much practice they get - time for a new career.

Showing is not a necessity. Getting a horse settled on show grounds SHOULD be more involved than taking them off the trailer and throwing them in a stall. It’s too bad the owners don’t want to or don’t have the skills to walk a nervy horse all over the place when they first arrive.

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