The rule is clear. It doesn’t allow any substances meant to affect their performance to be given to a horse.
It’s a slippery slope. The fact that people feel OK with breaking the rules by giving “calming” paste is unfortunate. Just because people give more terrible things than “calming” paste to a horse to affect behavior, doesn’t excuse breaking the rules with something believed to be less harmful to them.
Giggling at the “if the people who make the rules told you it’s wrong, then they are misinformed” take here. I’m not a USEF fan, but getting a no from them directly is a pretty solid answer 
I found this amusing, as well.^^^^
Is giving a horse UlcerGard at a show also considered a calming supplement? Technically it does enhance their performance and calm them if they’re prone to stomach upset at shows.
Where do you draw the line?
(Context: I give Ulcergard at shows and think about this a lot. Is it really different from other calming supplements?)
But genocide is worse than horses being injected with formaldehyde so, uh, checkmate? And I guess we should ignore anything unethical because there’s always something worse to focus on instead? /s
For the record, I am with you in part. I don’t think OTC calming supplements are the worst thing happening in the equestrian world right now. I think I probably would be ok with the USEF “legalizing” them to some degree. But that’s not really the topic at issue in this thread. The question is whether this product is legal. The rule says no. Apparently USEF said so to the company! But the rep came on here and said it is. That’s pretty shady. Period. Which does not mean that there aren’t other problems out there in the world. But we all have to be capable of holding multiple thoughts in our head at once, including whether rulebreaking/dishonesty is OK even if there are other problems in the equestrian world.
Ulcerguard ie omeprazole works in no way as a depressant on the central nervous system. It is not a calming agent. It blocks the secretion of acid from parietal cells and has zero to do with the cns. This action decreases the risk a stressed horse will develop ulcers. It does not calm horses. Perfect Prep and other products are marketed as calming agents because they depress the horse’s CNS. This is specifically prohibited.
ETA as someone who deals in all manner of sedatives tranquilizers and CNS depressants professionally I can attest there is nothing in Ulcerguard that acts as a calming agent. And calming pastes have ingredients that do act as CNS depressants. Maintaining a horses demeanor because they are not in pain due to ulcers due to an acid blocker is a vast difference than administering a CNS depressant to overcome nervousness, pain, tension or excitement due to a novel environment. Two completely different mechanisms of action, one which is prohibited. Ulcerguard does nothing to dull a horse’s senses or reflexes.
You’re not giving Ulcergard in an effort to modify your horse’s natural demeanor; you’re giving it to prevent or treat a medical problem that can be exacerbated by travel and showing. In doing so, your horse might end up more relaxed simply because they’re no longer in pain.
Calming supplements are not given to treat a medical problem and any stress/pain behaviours that go along with that medical problem.
I would argue that I am giving it to maintain his natural demeanor. It seems to me that many people give calming supplements for the same reason.
Quoting to repeat this. And to say THANK YOU for spelling it out so succinctly.
Trying to dance around the rule with such a red herring as this, only goes to show how pervasive “calming” supplements are and how people desperately want to excuse depending on them to have their horse show well.
There is no world in which ulcer meds and “calming supplements” are used to the same end in competition.
Multiple people in this thread have said that the spirit of the rule is not to give the horse anything that improves its performance. Technically I think things like Ulcergard do that! It’s not meant to be a red herring, it’s something I’ve genuinely thought about for years. Especially since I learned about the Perfect Prep debate. Ulcers are a medical issue but they are related to anxiety. I’ve thought a lot about how treating that symptom of anxiety is different from treating other symptoms with a calming agent.
Totally understand that Ulcergard has no actual calming agents. That said, we all know that a stressed horse can give itself ulcers and ulcers can cause more stress, so in a way, treating ulcers and gut pain treats anxiety. For some horses, that improves their performance in an otherwise stressful environment even if it’s not marketed that way.
I guess there’s no good way to manage whether something like Perfect Prep is bringing the horse back to their at-home baseline or below that level.
I don’t get why the difference is difficult to understand for you.
Treating a horse for ulcers is important because whether they are trail horses or show horses or pasture pets, they are in pain. It is in no way the same issue as giving sedation to calm a horse that doesn’t conform to what judges want to pin in the hunter ring.
Yes, that’s a different case, of course. But sedation to stop a hunter flipping its tail versus a properly dosed herbal calming supplement for an anxious horse who isn’t used to being off property yet are in different categories to me.
The point being, that if the horse doesn’t have enough experience, you don’t show it. You gradually introduce it to the increased stimulation of the horse show before taking it in the ring.
I guess that’s true. And if someone did want to use the calming supplements to help an inexperienced horse gain positive experience off property, they could do that without going to an actual show.
I think this thread is just illustrating perfectly why cheating is so prevalent in the hunters and the thought processes behind it.
I’ve never used supplements that way, but I do get laughing gas when I go to the dentist or take anti-anxiety meds on planes so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
[Tone: not defending it]
Unfortunately true of all or most sport with lots of $$$ at stake, no?
Nitrous oxide gas at the dentist is your choice and doesn’t break any rules. The horse is not involved in the decision to “calm” it against the rules, for the riders benefit.
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