FWIW, when one of the barns here hosts one of these shows, the trainer sends out an email to people she knows are good riders asking if they can school her horses the day before the show - just for that reason. However, that “leg up” happens anytime a lesson/boarding barn hosts a show - whether it be a schooling show or a rated show.
YOu don’t need a vet license to administer Ace - just an Rx from vet for it at least not in Maryland. . IME trainers/coaches/barn managers can give Ace (and other meds) orally or intramuscularly, some IV but most prefer not to unless it was a dire emergency.
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That’s awesome! Love it.
That’s depends on how the show is managed, to some extent. The home horses have been in the ring and over the home jumps, that’s for sure…but they often get upset by the crowds, the judge’s stand, the speakers, the jump decorations…all the unknowns in their previously known environment. Some horses just don’t care, but my first horse who was a bit of a spooky handful, was easier to ride at away shows than at home. Someone had not dared put a chair next to his arena and who said they could move that trash can to over there? 
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totally agree. I used to belong to a local show association - we held our shows at a large lesson barn. Over the years that barn had several different managers, the earlier ones would never allow their riders/horses to school The later managers would send in the riders to school before some of us could get out of the rings - which was annoying as it gave their horses a chance to see/school the jumps and decorations and 2) we would have the jumps all set at the height to start the first division… sometimes the instructors wouldn’t reset the jumps. Argh
I’m going to guess you’ve never been foxhunting. Ace is so commonly used among foxhunters that it is quite openly discussed when describing a horse. Which is not really relevant to this discussion, but I’m always surprised when people think that aced horses automatically present as drugged, stumbling, and half asleep.
Carry on.
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I know this is done but clearly different horses have different reactions to Ace. I wouldn’t have called mine “stumbling” or “half asleep.” More like “slow in his reaction time.” That’s a little scary to me when thinking about a horse that has to get his landing gear up in order not to have a rotational over a fence.
I’ve seen horses Aced for shows (at the barns I mentioned earlier) and they jumped around ok from what I could see. I wasn’t the one riding them so I don’t know how they felt. So clearly some horses go okay on Ace. But what about when they don’t? It only takes one time to have a bad accident and I’m not interested in adding layers of risk onto something that already has inherent risk.
I know people ride and jump Aced horses. I just don’t feel safe doing it and I would be really upset to learn I was exposed to that risk without being told in advance so I could decide if I was comfortable with it or not.
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I think it’s more about people’s comfort level. I personally would like to know if the horse received Ace before climbing aboard so I can make a judgment call for myself. I really don’t care about everyone else’s opinion or practices when it’s ME throwing my leg over not them.
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While it might be acceptable to drug a horse to foxhunt, and I can’t even imagine why someone feels it is, it’s against the rules in IHSA.
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I don’t think I’ve ever jumped an Aced horse. I have ridden quite a number of them (rehabbing, g’ah). The thing that was apparent was that they were not ‘one size fits all’ when it came to the dosage. 1 cc might not touch one horse, where it would knock other on its butt. It can also depend on how it’s administered.
All that said, I would never knowingly compete an Aced horse and I would never want to ride one that I was not aware that it had been Aced.
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Are we forgetting Ace wears off well before the show day is done? Hopefully the horse is tuckered out by the tine it does. It’s not a panacea, not even sure it does much, if anything, after the first hour or so. But pretty sure it gets to be a panacea for humans.
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I’m late to the party here but I rode on an IHSA team in college. One of the teams who hosted a few shows had very obviously drugged several horses. We didn’t need to see the syringes to know. Horses would come out with their genitals hanging out and sluggish and were outright dangerous to jump, hangings legs and tripping I think one might have even fallen. Horses that came out wild and bucking would come back from the barn similarly after a “lunge”.
The good news is every single other team complained. And consequences were had. We formed an ethics committee as is apparently standard in IHSA rules (this was over 10 years ago for me I no longer remember the details, related holy shit where did the time go). Ultimately this team was not permitted to host any shows for a year and may have been barred from Nationals for a year, the specifics I do not recall.
So if you’re ON the team in which the drugging is happening: no good can come of this. I would not stay and pay dues to a team that does this. It’s highly unfortunate this is happening. IHSA shows are hard, horses have to tolerate a wide range of riders and often in the dead of winter when it’s very cold in some places. But properly prepping the horses with turn out and riding and lunging is what should be done, not drugging. I’ve seen plenty of super fresh horses come out in the dead of winter and misbehave and riders quite frankly be rewarded for riding it well, or in some cases the horse was pulled and they gave the rider a new one and that horse went back to the barn for the day (and likely got a very long ride by a high level rider later). There are ethical ways to deal with fresh horses in IHSA, unfortunately they are often time consuming. That’s the nature of the sport. I would be highly uncomfortable staying with a team taking obvious short cuts.
You could also whistle blow to the IHSA on it. That’s the only way to actually stop it.
Also, how incredibly unsafe it is to ask riders who do not know the horses upon which they’re about to sit, and get at best a one sentence description after watching it go for 5 minutes in a warm up, to ride a drugged horse. I’ve ridden aced horses being rehabbed, but with no intention of jumping, no intention of competing that way, and with very small doses. I’d be furious to be given a horse to ride at a show in an IHSA format that’s been drugged, that is intentionally putting me in danger.
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I can’t imagine it is at all safe to hunt a drugged horse. The terrain and activity would make it too dangerous. I’m in a different area, but when I used to foxhunt I worried more about alcohol consumption on the riders’ part! The really hot horses (and I had one) tended to settle after about an hour or so. But the initial ride out could be exciting for some of us. My mare, even pregnant and 19 years old would only canter as we headed out. Luckily she could canter in a teacup, but I never considered drugging her.
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I know a number of foxhunters that either Ace their horses pretty regularly or the first couple of times to introduce a new horse to hunting. I heard stories of one particular vet that part way through a long hunt would stick his horse with more Ace while he was in the saddle once the Ace would start to wear off. Mostly these are smaller recognized hunts or farmers packs where there isn’t much jumping and if there is it is small stuff. However the terrain can be trappy in those areas. You probably know of some of the people and hunts I mean since you know my area. I bet you know the vet even if you probably haven’t used him you likely know who he is.
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But he’s making the decision for himself and he knows the horse has Ace. That to me makes it entirely different. Private adult owner on his own horse that he knows. Whether it’s a smart idea or not, he’s the one making the decision for himself. When we’re talking IHSA these are juniors getting on strange horses that they don’t know-- and no one is telling them they’re riding an Aced horse. That to me is a completely different situation.
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I wasn’t replying to the IHSA situation. I was addressing your post about foxhunting horses that have been aced.
My bet is there are plenty of trainers in our area that drug lesson horses and ponies for clients both adult and children without the riders knowing. I know 3 off the top of my head and heavily suspect another. This includes at local shows. Yes you would know all of them.
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Bet one of them IS the trainer I mentioned upthread 
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I don’t believe in drugging a horse unless it’s a vet prescribed medication given to me by a vet for a short period of time. I rode a mare that had severe hormone problems and was unrideable. My trainer worked with her vet and gave her Regumate for a short amount of time. I believe they did blood work that showed she needed the medication. Although Regumate isn’t ACE it still sedates the horse. I was aware that she was being given the medication, I didn’t like it but I knew it wasn’t forever. I NEVER drugged my horse, EVER. I would NEVER ride a known drugged horse. One barn I boarded at a long time ago drugged their horses for the show ring and at home. I was too young to realize what was going on, looking back I can defiantly see what they were doing. If I had known what was going on I would’ve been looking for a new barn.
Who told you Regumate can sedate a mare?? 
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Just observing how the mare reacted to it, it was like she was sedated.
Well I suppose suppressing heat cycles can be like sedation. 
