Sadly there is widespread use of drugs at local shows. It’s rampant and it is dangerous and it is cheating. I find it very sad. I’m pro horse….always.
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Absolutely. When I was bringing my OTTB back from a check ligament injury, my vet told me to Ace him for both our safety’s sake. Also, when he was recovering from Lyme, it was suggested that because he anticipated pain, that a small dose of Ace would help him work through that.
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I’m new to the H/J world and basically don’t have any first hand knowledge, cause I live in Germany and we don’t have H/J at all. I came across this page due to a influencer horse that was sold to USA as H/J horse and that’s how I dove into topics about this discipline. I’m a low level sj/eventer. So please excuse, if I’m getting anything wrong and please excuse any spelling/grammar or other mistakes I might make as a non native english speaker.
The whole concept of drugged horses at shows is so strange to me. Drugs are completely banned at german shows (FN). I would even have to stop feeding gastric supplements, cause they contain Aloe Vera. So the fact, that drugs like Ace or Dorm are used or are even legal at some places/shows really throws me off. We do use such drugs occasionally (I never did) for rehab purposes or unhandled/dangerous horses for farrier visits etc. but never ever for serious training or shows. This is seen as highly unehtical. As always exceptions exist, but I saw some users advocate for drugged horses at shows very open here and this would never ever happen in Germany. If people use such drugs, they don’t walk around and talk about it. It happens, yes, but nobody would ever admit it if asked.
I know, this might not contribute to the topic, but I just wanted to share the view of an uninvolved horse person. Just another perspective from around the world.
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Well, yes - but I wouldn’t take a horse to a show that I was giving a little traq to ride. Nothing wrong with a little help when you’re at home doing rehab.
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