Ummmm…not sure if you’re being serious or Captain Obvious in a humorous way…but isn’t that exactly why the OP has said she plans to pursue the rule change route?
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I don’t know. For some reason the questions about WHY on this thread continue, and not just from the OP.
If the OP is confused as to why rules regarding shoes (soundness) are not relative to rules regarding ear plugs (temperament) then communication with the PTB (as has been suggested pages ago) is definitely in order. I wouldn’t think shoes or grooming products would be a good premise in which to question them about the ear plug rule, but that is JMHO.
The subject has been examined inside out, in every manner possible and from many different points of view on this thread. Only the PTB can answer for the legitimacy of the rule.
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Because I guess there are more than just me who think that this is a good question to debate. It is good to know that there are other people who wonder about the use of plugs…
You have your opinion, and many others have shared theirs, aint life grand.
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And still the debate will be left to the PTB and those who wish to engage them on the ear plug issue. We all have opinions and that is good. I’m happy that there are other people that wonder about ear plugs along with you.
At the point when ear plugs are compared with shoes and grooming products the “debate” is over for me.
By all means, keep on keepin’ on with the “debate” and I hope that the ear plug fans get their fair hearing with the PTB.
Just suggesting that you may not want to use the grooming product/horse shoe analogy if you want them to take you seriously.
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Lol, and grooming products have been banned (anything changing color of coat, etc.). sky: let it go, you don’t have to police everything.
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Yet here you are debating, or at least being a broken record.
I believe I already said that I do not think that grooming products are a good analogy, so why would I use that?
I DO believe the shoe analogy is valid, but did not include it in my request for a rule change, which is already entered. Will it succeed…nope, not if mine is the only voice, but open forum discussions on the subject might make more people consider if it MAY be a welfare issue.
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I doubt the PTB (in US or Canada) will change the earplug rule, unless the FEI rules change first.
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Hoof boots aren’t allowed even though they serve the same function as shoes. I don’t see the comparison. A barefoot horse may be in pain if it needs shoes and doesn’t get them. Shoes are a lot more comparable to, say, Adequan than they are to earplugs. A horse who can’t cope with noise isn’t in pain, it’s an issue of temperament.
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RHRT gave the reason for grooming products (which you also state you don’t want to use.) However, shoes are also a very false equivalency. Or they are an equivalency for keeping it as-is.
You can now use bonnets, including ones with material which causes muffling, at USEF shows without getting permission. Just like you can choose to use shoes or not.
However, you can’t use hoof boots, weighted shoes, and a host of other limitations on shoes which are seen as performance enhancing rather than horse welfare items. Much like you can’t use ear plugs.
Again, I don’t really care what other people do as long as their horses are safe in the warmup I’m in, but trying to use shoes as your argument is likely to make it so you do not get your rule change.
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i would love to see some research to see what affect noise has on horses. I am not sure it is all temperament, some I believe may be sensitivity.
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It doesn’t matter, though. The temperament is being able to control the reaction to the sensation. That is part of the training - control, submission, cooperation. The horse should be able to set aside the reaction they would like to have and continue in the work. That’s the exercise we are engaging in when we are competing in dressage.
But also, honestly, if your horse spooks at a loud noise and it ruins your entire test, then that is a temperament issue versus a spook and continue which is “horse being a horse.” You take the 3 on the movement and move on. An inability to move on from it is not noise sensitivity.
I dont know how tou could even test this. The horse can’t tell you if it perceives one sound louder than another or whatever you are hoping to test.
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Taking the argument to the angle of horse welfare, mine is noise sensitive, but not in a spooky way. Loud noises generally don’t ever spook or startle her, but in a busy show environment, she’s tense and has a harder time focusing on me. When we put the bonnet on her, she actually displays clear relief, softens, and can relax and concentrate. She’s still quite ridable without the bonnet, but why stress her out (possibly cause ulcers?) if there’s an easy alternative?
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@soloudinhere I don’t think it has ruined a whole test for a while, she is actually a successful competitor, but she is just ‘happier’ with her ears muffled…
I have no idea how you would test their reactions, which is probably why no one has tried it. I guess I have sympathy with this having a son who was discovered to have hearing outside of the normal range, it was our joke that he was part bat…he was bothered by things I couldn’t hear, he finds the noise of electronics on standby intensely annoying…he avoids certain stores because of the ‘noise’ He is getting ‘better’ now he is nearly 40, and his hearing is not as acute as it was.
What with him, and my other son being color blind, it gives me an appreciation that not every person sees or hears the world the same was…LOL, I’m married to a bloodhound, very sensitive nose, I have no sense of smell, total anosmia. If I can accept that people all have different ways of perceiving the world, I can’t help wonder if horses do? I know that when I turn up at the barn Fergie is usually the one with her head up listening…and no, it isn’t that she is looking out for me, wish it was!
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If the noise is just ONCE. But here are just a few examples that I’ve run into. Someone nextdoor to the show facility decided to go rabbit hunting - it lasted less then ten minutes, but it was MY minutes. Gun going off erratically throughout the ride. Someone’s freestyle was techno-pop during my ride - it was AWFUL - had screechy pops in the music. It made me grind my teeth, and made my mare leap - she tolerated most of the music, although she was a bit tight, but when it did the screech pops, she popped too - horrible music, but everyone has different taste in music. A speaker malfunctioned and crackled - intermittently until they could get it fixed - pretty loud erratic crackling (this has happened to us twice). A few years ago, at a smaller (still rated) show - the show manager’s husband decides to take a hammer to the tractor to remove the drag - during my ride. Tractor is right next to the ring - bang, crack, bang, crack for half the ride. So we’ve had more then our share of bad noise events. And they last more then one movement.
I had a really bizarre one several years ago on my stallion - it wasn’t so much that he was noise sensitive, but this one was horrible. Someone parks their trailer right by the end of the ring, then goes to check in at the show office. The horse FALLS DOWN in the trailer and batters it trying to get up. Needless to say, even a sane horse is going to have a problem with that - and again, the judge just doesn’t notice (I was wondering if she was deaf!). Other people are running into the parking lot - the owner shows up after my test is done, and they manage to get the horse out.
Crap happens, and it can last through multiple movements.
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Right, and it happens to everybody at some point or another. Otherwise we’d all have to use earplugs all the time, even if we didn’t want to, because there might be some noise at a horse show and we don’t want someone else to be able to deal with those noises while we can’t.
I personally don’t think earplugs do anything at all except help the rider feel better and stop anticipating noises or a reaction. Those little fluffy balls of fur are akin to stuffing cotton in your ears - I doubt you’d even be able to muffle the sound of your neighbor’s lawnmower with those, never mind the noise of someone clanging in the bleachers or a horse kicking in a trailer or who knows what else. Using them frequently at home just makes your horse sharper to the noises when they can’t wear them.
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I don’t USE ear plugs - never have for exactly that reason. But if they were legal, I would try them. I see no reason that they should be illegal, while so many other things are allowed.
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As I understand it, it is in fact legal to show using a noise canceling bonnet, just not ear plugs. Personally, I don’t exactly see the logic or difference between the two.
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Not legal for my discipline!
included in the not allowed
Any form of blinkers, earmuffs or plugs, hoods.
f) Fly masks/bonnets/veils (may be permitted at the discretion of the judge).
It’s not your discipline but your level.
Fly veils with noise reduction ears are legal at CDI shows under the FEI rules.
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I’m quoting direct from the rule book of my Governing Body, Western Dressage Association of Canada…and the rule stays constant across all levels…
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