I don’t think anyone disagrees, least of all @TWilson. It’s just that saying you’re doing it for a ribbon is, well, totally, wildly inaccurate.
It’s like saying racehorse trainers cheat for a winner’s circle photo.
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I mean, the connotation of that is wrong, but ultimately the premise isn’t. “Forcing to cheat” is ridiculous, but one can’t deny that if Ace was an option no one would be reaching for more dangerous options. The reiners went ahead and took that route on the sedivet, but I don’t know how that worked out for them.
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Yeahbut it is a long way from sedivet to phenobarbitol. Do think therapeutic use under vet guidance is acceptable but the overuse, misuse and overuse is out of control.
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The argument that drug use should become acceptable is insane. Using ace or euthanasia drugs is still drugging a creature that cannot consent to the drug. No, I’m not saying that ace has no place in horse medicine but it certainly has no place in competitions. The “enhanced games” concept is just an excuse to allow people to abuse substances that ultimately damage their bodies. It perverts the idea of being the fastest, strongest, quickest ideal of athletics. It is even more reprehensible when considered in the use in horse sport. We are facing enough backlash from animal rights groups without making any kind of drugging in competition acceptable. If USEF were really serious about ‘cleaning up the hunters’, it would make an emergency rule that required drug testing of the first 3 placing horses in every hunter class at every recognized show. It would also make a lifetime ban against trainers, riders and owners who have repeat positives. If you want to clean up the sport, then do it. These measures just keep the cheaters looking for new ways to cheat. I am astonished that anyone would actually suggest that we allow for any sedatives’ use in competition. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the so called “natural” calming should be allowed either. Why? Because the horse does not have the capacity to say no, I don’t want that in my body. But then that’s just my view.
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I disagree. If you let people show on ace, or romifidine, or detomidine, or whatever, and you give them an allowable amount and a timeframe, all that does is reset the standard. You will still have people with a horse they paid a lot of money for, who needs more drug than that or a different drug. They will still cheat.
The solution to this (no pun intended) lies in changing the judging to allow expression, a tail swish, and not reward a robot.
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Unfortunately there will never be enough testers to make the first sentence possible. There just aren’t enough vets with enough assistants to make that a reality.
The second part is what needs to happen but before they become repeat offenders. One strike and you’re out. That will clean up the sport.
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Yes, thank you.
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Wasn’t there a rule change/addition a few years ago that allowed judges to ignore expression in the hunter ring? Has anybody who goes to shows regularly seen this happen, or are they all still dinging horses that show some signs of being a real live horse? (I think I know the answer)
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How can you get away from that if the judging is on the whole package? Two horses who jump with knees to eyeballs, get all their distances. One tossed his head a few times.
Who is the winner? Who will consider drugging to get that horse to be just that much more quiet next time?
Im with the one strike and you’re out concept - it costs no more money or resources to increase the penalty when caught. And instead of testing top 3 let’s just test the winner of the class, if the former is unfeasible. Doesn’t even have to be every class, but it’s no longer random horses. And a person who scratches when they realize the testers are on site, is automatically on the testing list, if they dont comply they get suspended.
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Sounds good in theory but how do prove they scratched because they know testers were there? That one has too many wiggly holes for folks to crawl through. Testing every winner would work assuming you have more than one tester on site. I’m thinking of T bird where there are 7 rings now? I assume other shows have lots also.
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You are confusing stride length with speed here, which is a good part of the problem. Impulsion is what’s missing when speed only equals longer flatter strides.
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Doesn’t matter why they scratched. They’re being tested.
Doesn’t have to be every class. Just stop with the random tests and only test top placing horses.
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And yet, if there were allowable levels of ace, there would be endless protestations that “I only used the permissible amount, I don’t understand why the test came back so high”.
(Maybe they’d try the excuse that the horse was inadvertantly dosed by 2 different people by mistake, I suppose.)
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Automatic testing of the winners in classes with a certain threshold of prize $, or height or whatever. Keep random testing for the lower levels. Maybe there are slightly fewer random tests, but it would catch a lot more of the truly terrible actors. Higher stakes and increased incentive to win = enhanced testing.
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I bet you could come up with a substantial amount of funding if you crowdsourced it and also asked for qualified volunteers.
I know, it’s just a fantasy, but still…
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I think random testing is important for all the horses who are not out there to win, but to cart their riders around the ring safely.
Those horses deserve to be protected from unsavory methods just as much as the winners do.
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I have been involved in sports my whole life. The most drugging I have ever even heard of was local bike racing in an affluent area that involved people who got into sports later in life. They all had special doctors and every one of them was on trt, hgh, thyroid meds and stimulants. All those suddenly tan and buff tech CEOs with tight shiny skin? are doing the exact same thing. So are a ton of military btw.
The “enhanced games” is that demographic “what about meeeeee-ing” their missed opportunity to have been meaningfully good at sports and set all the records they are sure they’d have set if they started younger. They’ll probably make a rule that you have to be 35 to compete when they realize they still can’t win.
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I met a bunch of Tour-de-France level bicyclists back when Lance was winning. They all knew his team was cheating. It was laughable how he kept winning. They all said one day it will crash and they were correct.
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I’m sure that’s true in the upper levels of hunters as well, everybody knows who is cheating and how they’re doing it. But you’re not going to out somebody who might be the purchasing agent for your next six figure derby prospect.
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Oh these people were strictly local racers, I doubt they ever met anyone approaching pro level.
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