You don’t need to give them any explanation. A simple “thank you for all the lessons, I won’t be rescheduling” will do.
If a horse needs Ace to be ridden by a student, it should not be ridden by that student.
There’s a very short list of good reasons to ride a horse on Ace and none of them involve an amateur rider in the tack.
I’d find a new barn pronto.
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Thanks for all the responses. Rest assured I have left the barn (with minimal drama–I was just worked up over nothing) and now I’m on to the super fun task of trying to find somewhere else to ride. Is it just me, or are riding instructors/trainers not the most responsive folks out there? I’ve reached out to three and two haven’t responded to multiple attempts through multiple methods to contact them. (The third isn’t taking new students because of COVID.) That was really the one good thing about the barn I was at–they were all super responsive/organised, to the point of posting the lesson schedule online two weeks in advance, with live updates. But obviously that doesn’t make up for the other stuff…so it’s back to the drawing board for me!
Re: ace, just to clarify (not defend)–they never gave the horses a dose large enough that they would stumble/fall or be completely dead. I’m not sure what the exact amount was, but in my time riding there I saw far fewer horses trip than the barn I rode at growing up. That said, I’m glad to know that I am not the only one who has a problem with this! They shouldn’t be drugging their horses for every day work (and also, if they are consistently giving their horses small doses, wouldn’t they develop either a dependence and/or a tolerance to the drug?). Also, I suspect if their reliance on ace made their horses more spooky when in unfamiliar situations, instead of less, because they hadn’t developed the skill to process their feelings in a sensible way.
I think I was doubting my response to the whole ace thing because the four trainers and working student all seemed on board, as did their long term students (including some veterinarian riders, and many of whom had been there for years). I even spoke to one of their long term students about why I was leaving and she said “she hadn’t thought about [the ace] that way…” ??? On my last day there, the working student was bragging about how “you wouldn’t find other places like this” and talking with a lesson student about how “ethical” the program was. I’m not sure if everyone else has just been there so long that they are used to it or if they legitimately would advocate for the frequency of the ace usage, but that program really made me push down my niggling doubts about what they were doing and question my own judgment. I am glad I can move on now to a place that is actually ethical in horse care/management (once I track one down and get them to actually respond to my voicemails…sigh), and I guess it’s lesson learned for me on listening to my gut!
Go try new things. That is how you learn. And your current trainers are so “great” then they should not be worried about your doing this. Because if they are “right” and “great” then you will see that and come back. Sounds like they are a bit too concerned with appearance and popularity rather than substance and progression. Your gut is always right. If it says run, then run. Good luck - I hope you enjoy your new learning experience.
Another thing to think about is what an old trainer of mine said once. “if you meet someone that says they know everything about horses, run away, They don’t.”
I am not entirely against acing a horse that is very up if you are going for a walking hack when rehabbing, or it’s the first time off property and there’s a stiff wind. When I was recovering from a bad accident, I gave my own horse a bit of Ace before hacking out the first time. However, that’s my horse, my decision, a means to a short term goal. If a barn is routinely giving Ace to their school horses, there’s a problem. Especially if the students don’t know. I would never suggest that someone ride a horse that’s been given Ace unless they understood the implications and agreed to it.
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