It seems the coach has already made their decision – now, it’s up to the OP to make the decision of staying in the program, going to an advisor (will that actually do anything?), and/or leaving the team.
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I doubt going to a regular advisor will do anything, especially if it’s a club sport and not run by the school. Look what happened to Ghazzu when she spoke up, she’s a vet.
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It seems like some of the comments here raise the question of whether IHSA is really a viable or desirable format. It sounds like it has a tendency, at least on some teams, to force a choice between endangering horses (by sedating them) or endangering riders (because sometimes they have to be put on horses who might not be suitable for their level of experience).
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It is not fine. Are the riders being told they are riding a drugged horse? Are the coaches being told their students are getting on a drugged horse?
If this coach is drugging the horses, he/she should be fired. It’s against the rules and it’s not ok.
It’s a disgusting practice and should not be tolerated at any level.
Don’t even talk about leveling the playing field. They are horses and unpredictable.
If the horses need a little something to knock the edge off for the level of riders to be able to ride then either the horse is not suitable for the task or the riders are unsuitable for the ride, end of story. And if that means no show, too bad. Sorry.
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When it comes to taking riding lessons and competing I am 100% “learn to effing ride” but these IEA/IHSA shows are a different beast. When you have strange riders and trainers come into your barn and ride your horses things can get really ugly.
And to anyone who thinks, “well jeez most lesson horses are saints and kick rides” you have no idea how insanely inept not only riders but supposed professionals can be. Not only that but for some of these horses it is a loooooong day, even the saintliest horse in the world is capable of having a meltdown of you push them enough. At my old barn I used to come school horses in the morning for these shows and stick around for a bit and watching some of these people made me have like mini anxiety attacks and real physical visceral pain.
If I was a horse I’d want to be as doped up as possible if I had to do this so idgaf what the rule book says if it makes the experience for the horse even 1% more bearable as long as there’s no masking of some kind of previous lameness. I realize plenty of people who do IEA/IHSA are talented and nice so I’m not trying to dump on them but I really think this format of showing is extremely problematic and encourages people to treat horses like objects/vehicles. I get that it’s supposed to give people opportunities who might not otherwise have them and supposed to be more fair but I just really always value the happiness of the horses over riders and I think if the riders really care that much about showing opportunities there are other ways to go about that, and if you don’t care enough to pursue other ways to show then why are you even here go play checkers or something. Also like ughh why do you have to show, I like to show also but I’ve been through periods of time where I couldn’t afford it it’s not that big of a deal just ride and have fun and make connections with horses. Showing is fun but it’s not that big of a deal.
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I think that neatly sums up the crux of the matter in my mind. The IHSA shows I have been to (few, and not in a strong region) really didn’t leave me with the feeling that I had seen something that was enjoyable to watch as a showcase of riding or horsemanship even if it can be a great opportunity for some of the individual riders. I don’t recall really having any issues with the Western classes as the quality of the horses available seemed to be more uniform, but the over fences classes were really a crap shoot.
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If you think trainers giving a few horses a little ace at the beginning of a long, grueling, day is “the problem with our sport” than you live a very charmed life.
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If you think that drugging horses to make them more suitable for showing isn’t part of the problem with our sport I don’t even know what to say. Stunned.
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Lol IHSA is not real showing. Giving a school horse a little ace is not the same as drugging a horse going into the hunter ring at a rated show.
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^^THIS
I am flabbergasted at some of these comments, but this one really stood out.
If you are supporting something that can make even the saintly-est horse have a melt down, or doing something to the horse that is not medically necessary that requires them to be sedated to endure it, what the hell kind of horseman are you?
This is making me sick to my stomach, honestly. Drugging horses for the sake of a competition is NEVER OK. NEVER. I don’t care what excuse you (collective) are trying to make. Day is too long? Make it shorter. Riders suck and have tantrums? Excuse them and pull them off the horse.
This is (supposed to be) about horsemanship. It was never (supposed to be) about ribbons.
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CORRECTION: I don’t think most posters “are just fine with it” in general. I do think that given the format of the IHSA, one has to question how humane it is for the horse. In many cases, some of the atrocities the horse must endure in a day of IHSA showing simply are not fair or humane. So I look at it this way - if I was a nervous person, would I need some Xanax to make it through this day? If the answer is yes, and it’s not an option to remove the atrocities the horse will endure ( you can’t deny the riders the opportunity just because you don’t like how they ride), then what can a school/trainer do to humanely get their horse through the class? What is more humane at this point? Giving the horse a sedative or letting it carry around the trainwreck of a rider? I would go with the former - it’s less damaging to the horse.
As for IHSA, I would be all for a format change. Perhaps the beginner/lower level riders should be competing on horses from their own school program instead of a catch ride -this would honestly resolve a lot of the issues.
I see some of the trips posted on Facebook and Instagram - some a very solid and the riders are great. These are great examples of the intent of the program and I admire the coaches who have appropriately placed their rides in the correct division.
And then there is the opposite - the posts on SoMe like “found the hunter gap again” with some crazy long distance taken from China. Or a horrific chip where the rider is up the horse’s neck and the kind horse still makes it over even though a basic physics class will tell you that this it shouldn’t be possible given the crawling pace and excessive weight of the rider on its forehand. These posts get all kinds of “likes” and laughing face emoticons from teammates. These kids think it’s funny. It’s not. At least not to the horse.
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What those horses endure is beyond any show horse. The home school practices for hours during the week over that course. The morning of the show, many are lunged or ridden hard again. Once all the schools show up, all the horses are ridden/schooled so that the riders can watch their draws go. Then the show starts. There are usually several classes of each section. The kids are not taught to ride by most coaches. They are taught to sit and look pretty. No where, any where, does the welfare of the horse come in to play unless it goes horrifically lame or has a complete meltdown. There is no horsemanship. The kids get on, do their course (no warm up nothing, and when done, pass the horse off to it’s designated holders. By the end, they are exhausted, sore and sour. I live near several “good” colleges in our area. I would never donate a horse to the program nor would I ever want my child participating.
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For those advocating for ace for the horses welfare. There is no pain relieving component to that drug and little to no anxiety relief. Simply a sedative so they can’t react. You aren’t relieving anxiety like a xanax just making them unable to respond. And it’s not changing any soreness from the riders.
apparently I got lucky in my region as I saw very few cringe worthy rides. For our shows, we had some horses who only did the open and intermediate and then other horses who did the lower levels.
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I feel like some of you guys have an exaggeratedly negative opinion of how IHSA shows work without actually having done it or really been involved with it.
(Disclaimer: I don’t think acing the horses is right under any condition)
I did IHSA in undergrad in a region where we may have had some of the more interesting horses to ride - we’re not an East Coast area that gets really nice animals donated, and some schools had nicer horses than others, but it was pretty tightly regulated how many classes each horse was doing. Certain horses were only for Open, certain horses only did Intermediate and Novice, some only did Novice, etc. I saw it from the competing side, as at the time my school didn’t host any shows, but I also helped prep horses for one of the schools nearby when I wasn’t showing anymore. There was no longeing or riding them hard beforehand - they got hacked around and jumped over the course once or twice for everyone to see, and that was it.
Maybe some of these programs are overworking their horses, and maybe some people aren’t good at managing the horse shows, but don’t throw an entire organization and format under the bus without having experienced it.
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This ^
When I asked for some Ace to use during rehab while walking under tack, my vet made it clear that the horse is as anxious as without the drug—just less able to react as quickly.
If a horse needs Ace to show, he needs a better rider or a new job. Period.
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I don’t support this kind of showing at all as I’ve already stated in a previous comment. I did if for a year in high school like 10 years ago, hated it, and stopped. I used to ride and work at a barn where they had an IEA team and coached a college club team. Sometimes I would school horses in the morning. It was awful.
Its not drugging them them for the sake of competition. It’s drugging them so that these talentless blobs can survive an 18" course. And again I’m obviously not for masking lameness but I’d rather that than the horse have to be lunged or over schooled. I think this type of horse show should be gotten rid of but that’s not going to happen. If you think the types of people who do those shows will just "ride better " you really don’t understand how bad people are and how incapable they are of handling even the slightest problem. I saw a huge fat person at one of these shows be so unbalanced they made the saddle come off the side of the horse when the girth was already cranked waaaaay too tight. The horse didn’t do a thing to provoke this. This kind of showing has never been about horsemanship.
How does giving the horse ace improve this situation in any way or help the horse which is your main point?
As a school when we hosted, we schooled the horses the night before and then the morning of lightly when other schools got to watch. Our horses were hardly the definition of schoolies for the most part but we were in a region that included some good schools. Never participated in IEA so I can’t speak to their talent level.
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I recently became an IHSA coach, which meant studying the rule book and taking a test on the material. There are specific rules against drugging horses, as listed below. The horses that I use for my team go to regular, rated USEF shows, and therefore we do not give so much as bute unless absolutely necessary, but perhaps if this coach solely does ISHA and doesn’t think her horses will be pulled for testing (as per the information below), she doesn’t really care…which in my opinion, is sad.
"4904: It is the responsibility of all parties concerned to consider the welfare of the horse. The administration of central nervous system drugs is prohibited in IHSA competition. See Rule 4302.
Rule 4302: Care and control of horses including any drugs or medications administered shall be the sole prerogative of the horse provider or their designated representative. Administration of drugs and medications shall be limited to therapeutic use only, and used for the well-being of the horse. The administration of central nervous system drugs is prohibited in IHSA competition. See Rule 3501.J.30
At the June meeting, the National Steward will randomly select one IHSA competition in each Zone to be tested for CNS drugs. This would require no more than one horse/random selection to be tested. The IHSA would hire the veterinarian, chosen by the show manager, and would receive the results and hand down the appropriate penalties for violations."
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I think this speaks more to the quality of the barn that allows what you speak of to happen. If the barns are unwilling to host and provide horses due to the issues outlined in this thread then there is no problem.
I can’t figure out if I am more appalled at your snotty remark about shows not being real unless it’s rated, the fact that you excuse acing horses in the name of horsemanship, or the fact that you would be a client/employee of a barn that allows this type of thing to go on.
Ive seen IEA/ISHA done really well WRT horse welfare and I’ve seen it done poorly. I make a point not to have any association with barns and trainers who run a poor program.
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