You can’t talk about showing without discussing crooked trainers and judges. We know they exist. Just looking back at our past Olympic stars, like Barney Ward, shows you to what lengths a person will go to make money in the horse industry. My concern is with the more regional shows, since few of us reach Olympic heights.
I know of several prominent ApHC, APHA and AQHA trainers and judges that have been suspended for everything from drugging horses, to abuse and other rule violations. What amazes me is that horse owners still hire these pieces of shit knowing they are crooks. I’m not talking about a trainer that gets busted on a bute violation. I’m talking about a trainer that has used reserpine or other illegal drugs. I’m talking about a trainer that gets suspended on an abuse charge. WTF is someone thinking that would put their kid or horse under the care and supervision of someone that sees nothing wrong with giving a horse an anti-psychotic drug? Is winning worth the possible injury to your horse or child?
To take it one step further: some of these same trainers are also carded judges and they still retain their cards. WTF is the organization thinking letting them still judge? I don’t give a shit if the violation did happen ten years ago; if you’re a judge then you’re supposed to be above reproach. It’s bad enough to know Big Brown’s trainer was a multiple offender with drug use, but to find out our top WP and halter trainers/judges are also abusing the needle is unbelievable.
And what is the deal with the judge/trainer back scratching? I’ve seen judges place their trainer/judge friends that are showing horses that have serious soundness issues. Don’t they realize how sorry assed this makes them look? Giving your buddy’s post legged halter horse first place, just because you want the same treatment at the next show is just inexcusable. Judges, more than anyone in a breed, influence how a breed looks. They can alter public perception just by a few shoddy placings. They can create crappy trends and encourage defects just by placing their friends over more deserving horses.
How do people interested in showing combat these trends? The first way is to not show under shithead judges. Then write the organization that carded them and tell them you won’t show under that judge and why. Also let show management know that you won’t show under that judge. Since most shows are multi-judge shows your refusal to show under a judge means a show is losing multi-judge entry fees.
As for the crooked trainers: don’t hire them. If you do hire them you are a piece of shit too. You are hiring an animal abuser. If I see that your horse was shown by a piece of shit trainer I will not use any of your farm’s services. I will not use your stallion, buy your foals, board my horse or engage in any manner of business with you. Why? Because you are an abuse enabler and therefore a shithead supreme.
If a trainer previously suspended for drugs showed your stallion then I know your horse’s show record will always be suspect.
Nothing you do will ever remove the stain of having Mr. Drug Abuser on the end of the lead or in the saddle.
Get with the program and quit condoning and enabling the people that are ruining the horse show industry.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Reining, raining, reigning
I love a good “bridled” horse. There is nothing prettier than a horse that stays within the bridle and works as lightly as a hummingbird. I love nice controlled spins, dynamic slides and lead changes that seem to come about because someone stroked the horse with a thought.
Sadly, these horses rarely exist nowadays. What I see in the reining ring are young horses, ridden by huge men, and popping their hocks on every stride. I see absolute shit shoeing jobs, bits that should be banned and evidence of drug abuse.
Of course these statements will drive the reiners crazy and they will deny, deny, deny. Too bad for them that the videos showing reining on youtube bear my statements out. When is it acceptable for some 250 pound man, on a 60 pound reining saddle, to be galloping a 14 hand reiner around? There are videos of reining horses so small that all you can see sticking out are the horse’s ears and his tail.
Drug use? It’s prevalent. I’d go so far as to say it’s condoned and encouraged. You can walk through the barns after a reining show and find syringes laying in the aisles. The dumpsters are filled with drug paraphernalia after every show. How’d those syringes get there? Little drug fairies must have brought them in the night just to give the reining people a bad name. That stuff falling from the sky itsn't rain, it's dexamethosone condensing and forming drug clouds over the NRHA.
The reigning problem in reining is the use of shit bits and blocked tails. Reining is supposed to be a dance between horse and rider. It should not be an inquisition where the torturer uses some Myler jaw cracker to get a hard slide. Yes I know about bridleless reining. I’m as impressed as anyone by Stacey Westfall. She’s a good trainer. But there is only one of her. There is an industry full of big redneck guys on little bitty horses jerking them all over the place and trying to hide it with drugs and blocked tails.
And what is with the screwed up riding style? Is there some unwritten rule that if you show reining that you can’t use the slightest bit of equitation? I have a word for the riding style the big reiner men use:Drequitation. I’ve seen 4 H kids with better seats. And what the hell is the deal with pushing your legs in front of the horse’s shoulder? Does having a balanced seat elude people? If you’re such a hot trainer shouldn’t you also be a hot rider?
I’m sad about the state reining has reached. You’d think with their own national organization they’d do better than anyone else.
Sadly, these horses rarely exist nowadays. What I see in the reining ring are young horses, ridden by huge men, and popping their hocks on every stride. I see absolute shit shoeing jobs, bits that should be banned and evidence of drug abuse.
Of course these statements will drive the reiners crazy and they will deny, deny, deny. Too bad for them that the videos showing reining on youtube bear my statements out. When is it acceptable for some 250 pound man, on a 60 pound reining saddle, to be galloping a 14 hand reiner around? There are videos of reining horses so small that all you can see sticking out are the horse’s ears and his tail.
Drug use? It’s prevalent. I’d go so far as to say it’s condoned and encouraged. You can walk through the barns after a reining show and find syringes laying in the aisles. The dumpsters are filled with drug paraphernalia after every show. How’d those syringes get there? Little drug fairies must have brought them in the night just to give the reining people a bad name. That stuff falling from the sky itsn't rain, it's dexamethosone condensing and forming drug clouds over the NRHA.
The reigning problem in reining is the use of shit bits and blocked tails. Reining is supposed to be a dance between horse and rider. It should not be an inquisition where the torturer uses some Myler jaw cracker to get a hard slide. Yes I know about bridleless reining. I’m as impressed as anyone by Stacey Westfall. She’s a good trainer. But there is only one of her. There is an industry full of big redneck guys on little bitty horses jerking them all over the place and trying to hide it with drugs and blocked tails.
And what is with the screwed up riding style? Is there some unwritten rule that if you show reining that you can’t use the slightest bit of equitation? I have a word for the riding style the big reiner men use:Drequitation. I’ve seen 4 H kids with better seats. And what the hell is the deal with pushing your legs in front of the horse’s shoulder? Does having a balanced seat elude people? If you’re such a hot trainer shouldn’t you also be a hot rider?
I’m sad about the state reining has reached. You’d think with their own national organization they’d do better than anyone else.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Western pleasure or torture, you be the judge..
I've tried to come up with something good to say about Western Pleasure and I just can't. I don't like the age of the horses being ridden, it don't like the stiff movement, canted posture, low heads, dead tails or miserable faces.
I deplore the lack of equitation that the trainers seem to promote. When did this stupid leaning back posture come into being? It looks ridiculous and makes the trainer look like he's being blown off the horse. I don't see it in non-stock breeds, so it has to be something the Qh/App/Paint people came up with.
Ok people, tell me your WP stories, past and present, and maybe we can track down why this sport is the joke of the stock horse industry.
I deplore the lack of equitation that the trainers seem to promote. When did this stupid leaning back posture come into being? It looks ridiculous and makes the trainer look like he's being blown off the horse. I don't see it in non-stock breeds, so it has to be something the Qh/App/Paint people came up with.
Ok people, tell me your WP stories, past and present, and maybe we can track down why this sport is the joke of the stock horse industry.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
That horse won't hunt....
Foxhunting conjures up images of noble thoroughbreds, ridden by red coated squires, galloping across verdant fields, following tri-colored hounds and a sly red fox.
My guess is that these same squires would split their red coats laughing at the sight of what passes for a hunter in the ring today. When did the down turn happen?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9LZNA7Y5jA&feature=related
I realize that the stock horse industry has altered and corrupted the entire concept of what a “bridled” horse is, but now it’s come over into the hunter ring and taking it down the same downhill trotting, head-dragging, stiff legged path. Where have all the good hunters gone?
A hunter is supposed to have movement based on what a cross-country jumping horse would need. Long sweepy strides, nice up hill movement, lots of impulsion, alert and focused demeanor. I’ve only seen a few real fox hunts, but I don’t recall seeing a single horse go past with his head at his knees, stiff hind legs popping and locking at the hocks, tiny front stride, and that hideous hunch/release movement that the stock horse breeds do at a canter. Watching the AQHA hunter under saddle classes is like watching a herd of caterpillars hunch along trying to reach the choicest leaf. It boggles the imagination to watch it. The rictus grins on the faces of the riders tell observers that the gait is neither smooth, nor enjoyable. These horses couldn’t out jump Fritz the Wonder Mini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M87fYgir2oc
How did this come about? I know that those nasty Myler bits that pretend to be snaffles, but are actually bastardized curbs bits, are partially to blame. You can’t get good movement when your horse is over-flexed because his cathedral ported, and curb chained, dee-ring is digging into his mouth at every bumpy stride. Since when did putting English tack on a Western horse make a hunter? If that theory worked in every other discipline then there would be some big ol’ warmbloods in sliders winning reining, which will happen just as soon as the sport gets dumbed down to suit the horses and people that can’t really do those types of maneuvers.
Aren’t the stock horse exhibitors and judges embarrassed by how they look? I admit I’ve seen worse things, after all, I will watch American Idol on occasion, but this whole scale perversion of a sport in order to accommodate poor conformations and poor trainers is just unacceptable. It’s not like a good QH/Paint/App can’t move like a hunter. In their natural state, prior to being tucked up, jerked on and spur stopped into oblivion, they can trot and canter like a horse after the hounds. They round up, use their butts, and show the verve and joy that a good foxhunter does.
Maybe it’s the start of a new sport, Hunting by Hysteria, wherein the fox turns around, sees a herd of horses following him like a bunch of oversized inchworms and he falls over dead after laughing himself into an attack. No hounds are needed.
Why do the judges place this kind of crap? Don’t they realize that it simply points out their own ignorance of what a good hunter is? I know the argument will come up that they have to judge the horse in front of them, but I have personally seen a class full of head dragging, stump thumpers get placed and the one good true moving hunter get dumped. Why do judges do it? Is it fear, peer pressure, ignorance or stupidity? Is it worth playing favorites and appearing an unknowledgeable dork, in order to actually dump the good moving horse, that is in all likelihood ridden by an unknown (or uncorrupted non-professional) just so some poor riding professional can pimp his shoddy wares?
Help me out here people, tell me that I’m not the only one that thinks that stock breed hunters are a disgrace!
My guess is that these same squires would split their red coats laughing at the sight of what passes for a hunter in the ring today. When did the down turn happen?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9LZNA7Y5jA&feature=related
I realize that the stock horse industry has altered and corrupted the entire concept of what a “bridled” horse is, but now it’s come over into the hunter ring and taking it down the same downhill trotting, head-dragging, stiff legged path. Where have all the good hunters gone?
A hunter is supposed to have movement based on what a cross-country jumping horse would need. Long sweepy strides, nice up hill movement, lots of impulsion, alert and focused demeanor. I’ve only seen a few real fox hunts, but I don’t recall seeing a single horse go past with his head at his knees, stiff hind legs popping and locking at the hocks, tiny front stride, and that hideous hunch/release movement that the stock horse breeds do at a canter. Watching the AQHA hunter under saddle classes is like watching a herd of caterpillars hunch along trying to reach the choicest leaf. It boggles the imagination to watch it. The rictus grins on the faces of the riders tell observers that the gait is neither smooth, nor enjoyable. These horses couldn’t out jump Fritz the Wonder Mini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M87fYgir2oc
How did this come about? I know that those nasty Myler bits that pretend to be snaffles, but are actually bastardized curbs bits, are partially to blame. You can’t get good movement when your horse is over-flexed because his cathedral ported, and curb chained, dee-ring is digging into his mouth at every bumpy stride. Since when did putting English tack on a Western horse make a hunter? If that theory worked in every other discipline then there would be some big ol’ warmbloods in sliders winning reining, which will happen just as soon as the sport gets dumbed down to suit the horses and people that can’t really do those types of maneuvers.
Aren’t the stock horse exhibitors and judges embarrassed by how they look? I admit I’ve seen worse things, after all, I will watch American Idol on occasion, but this whole scale perversion of a sport in order to accommodate poor conformations and poor trainers is just unacceptable. It’s not like a good QH/Paint/App can’t move like a hunter. In their natural state, prior to being tucked up, jerked on and spur stopped into oblivion, they can trot and canter like a horse after the hounds. They round up, use their butts, and show the verve and joy that a good foxhunter does.
Maybe it’s the start of a new sport, Hunting by Hysteria, wherein the fox turns around, sees a herd of horses following him like a bunch of oversized inchworms and he falls over dead after laughing himself into an attack. No hounds are needed.
Why do the judges place this kind of crap? Don’t they realize that it simply points out their own ignorance of what a good hunter is? I know the argument will come up that they have to judge the horse in front of them, but I have personally seen a class full of head dragging, stump thumpers get placed and the one good true moving hunter get dumped. Why do judges do it? Is it fear, peer pressure, ignorance or stupidity? Is it worth playing favorites and appearing an unknowledgeable dork, in order to actually dump the good moving horse, that is in all likelihood ridden by an unknown (or uncorrupted non-professional) just so some poor riding professional can pimp his shoddy wares?
Help me out here people, tell me that I’m not the only one that thinks that stock breed hunters are a disgrace!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Tails up or tails down?
One thing I’ve noticed in the last 20 years is the problem with the horse’s tail. Seems like ti would be a rather moot point. All horses have tails. Flies are a problem. Tails are pretty and reflect the horse’s mood. Some breeds want it up, like Saddlebred and Tennessee Walker and some want it down, like AQHA and the rest of the stock breeds. WTF is the problem with letting the horse carry it naturally? And what is going on with still docking draft horses and some pony breeds’ tails?
Let’s take a look at the tail up issue first. Seriously, what is the appeal? It looks fake, it looks like shit and it has got to be painful to wear that metal thing stuck up your ass when you’re not in the showring. http://www.american-saddlebred.com/equipment/tailset.jpg Does that look comfortable? Hell no! It looks like the horse can’t even crap without wrenching his spine. Just how early do they start this torturous stuff? Here’s a young horse that has obviously had her tail done and it’s just a baby.
http://www.meadowwoodstables.com/photos_and_sale/photo_detail.php?horse_id=
Sorry, but this isn’t okay. It isn’t cute and it isn’t something any good horseman would do to a horse. If you want a nice floaty, airy tail then take a tack from the Arab horse world and let it flow naturally. Here’s another thing that pisses me off about the whole tail nicking/setting thing: It’s permanent, but those horses don’t stay permanently in the show ring. One day they retire and then they are stuck with a tail that doesn’t function normally. Thankfully this stupid, and cruel, shit is restricted to the gaited horse world, which seems to earn first place in cruel and ignorant horse treatment.
Now for docking. Didn’t you idiots that practice this crap read Black Beauty? Docking is not a good idea. I don’t want to hear all the stupid arguments about it keeping the tail out of harness. Bullshit! I watch Standardbred racing and those horses have long tails. If you can’t figure out how to braid, or tie a decent mud knot, in order to keep a horse’s tail contained, then you have no business owning a harness horse. It is ridiculous that we have reached the Millennium and people are still finding excuses to cut off horses’ tails. WTF is wrong with you people? There doesn’t need to be a hackney pony out there with a docked tail. And shame on those damn beer pimping pigs the Budweiser people for still docking their iconic Clydesdales’ tails. http://www.sunnyfortuna.com/festivals/clydesdales_apr_03/DCP_8588_small.JPG.
Once again this is something done for a period of a horse’s life that is relatively short, yet the effects are long lasting and permanently damaging. I think we need to dock the balls of the people that still do this crap to horses.
Tails down. Blocked tails are a touchy subject. Pros love them, people that actually know how to train, and care for a horse, hate them. Say what you like about the Arab show world, you’ll never walk the grounds and find a blocked or dead tail. For some reason the stock horse industry has embraced this harmful practice like rednecks have embraced Nascar. Tail blocking hides the poor training practices that are epidemic in western pleasure, reining, cutting and halter. Tail blocking covers up spur stops, over cuing, exhaustion, bad tempers, being lip chained until your gums bleed and reactions to abuse. Unfortunately it can also add to real problems; creating spinal displacement, impactions, fecal dribbling and problems with foaling. It does not always “wear off” correctly and repeated injections can cause long-term damage. I have seen some severe wry tails created by improper injections.
Seems like this stupid practice has even spread to the sport of dressage, which used to be about harmony and is now about brute force. Once more it is an indicator of poor training and abuse. It’s disgraceful that it has found it’s way into the USEF world. You sorry assed bunch of no-training idiots should be kicked out.
On the surface AQHA does have a no tail blocking policy, but we all know that it is not enforced at a regional level. It sure as hell isn’t enforced in NSBA or the Congress. I have no idea what the policy is for APHA, but looking at show photos pretty much says that tail blocking is done, a lot. ApHC has a no blocking policy, but it has never been enforced at any show that I know of. I know that some of their BOD have spoken out against it, but nothing is done because the show manager and CEO don’t want to ruffle feathers. So go show ApHC with a blocked tail, because you’ll never be punished. They seem to like adding injections to the show game and just recently welcomed a lot of drug rules. Way to go guys!
NRHA and NCHA don’t appear to do anything about it either. Tail blocking a reining horse is the absolute cruelest thing you can do. Horses do use their tails to balance and flex. Asking a horse to spin, slide and rollback with a dead tail is like asking someone to run a race with a damaged tailbone. It fucks with your perceptions of what is happening in your rear end.
I know the little reiner trainer brutes are going to be outraged and scream that I have no idea what I’m talking about. Like all assholes, they try to shout down anyone that points out their cruelty. If they think that blocking a tail covers up the fact they suck as trainers and have no idea how to actually get the best of an animal they are wrong. A reiner with a dead tail is a big advertisement for your incompetence. By doing nothing about it NRHA, ApHC, NCHA and USEF are telling the public just how loaded with jerk-offs their organizations are.
Let’s take a look at the tail up issue first. Seriously, what is the appeal? It looks fake, it looks like shit and it has got to be painful to wear that metal thing stuck up your ass when you’re not in the showring. http://www.american-saddlebred.com/equipment/tailset.jpg Does that look comfortable? Hell no! It looks like the horse can’t even crap without wrenching his spine. Just how early do they start this torturous stuff? Here’s a young horse that has obviously had her tail done and it’s just a baby.
http://www.meadowwoodstables.com/photos_and_sale/photo_detail.php?horse_id=
Sorry, but this isn’t okay. It isn’t cute and it isn’t something any good horseman would do to a horse. If you want a nice floaty, airy tail then take a tack from the Arab horse world and let it flow naturally. Here’s another thing that pisses me off about the whole tail nicking/setting thing: It’s permanent, but those horses don’t stay permanently in the show ring. One day they retire and then they are stuck with a tail that doesn’t function normally. Thankfully this stupid, and cruel, shit is restricted to the gaited horse world, which seems to earn first place in cruel and ignorant horse treatment.
Now for docking. Didn’t you idiots that practice this crap read Black Beauty? Docking is not a good idea. I don’t want to hear all the stupid arguments about it keeping the tail out of harness. Bullshit! I watch Standardbred racing and those horses have long tails. If you can’t figure out how to braid, or tie a decent mud knot, in order to keep a horse’s tail contained, then you have no business owning a harness horse. It is ridiculous that we have reached the Millennium and people are still finding excuses to cut off horses’ tails. WTF is wrong with you people? There doesn’t need to be a hackney pony out there with a docked tail. And shame on those damn beer pimping pigs the Budweiser people for still docking their iconic Clydesdales’ tails. http://www.sunnyfortuna.com/festivals/clydesdales_apr_03/DCP_8588_small.JPG.
Once again this is something done for a period of a horse’s life that is relatively short, yet the effects are long lasting and permanently damaging. I think we need to dock the balls of the people that still do this crap to horses.
Tails down. Blocked tails are a touchy subject. Pros love them, people that actually know how to train, and care for a horse, hate them. Say what you like about the Arab show world, you’ll never walk the grounds and find a blocked or dead tail. For some reason the stock horse industry has embraced this harmful practice like rednecks have embraced Nascar. Tail blocking hides the poor training practices that are epidemic in western pleasure, reining, cutting and halter. Tail blocking covers up spur stops, over cuing, exhaustion, bad tempers, being lip chained until your gums bleed and reactions to abuse. Unfortunately it can also add to real problems; creating spinal displacement, impactions, fecal dribbling and problems with foaling. It does not always “wear off” correctly and repeated injections can cause long-term damage. I have seen some severe wry tails created by improper injections.
Seems like this stupid practice has even spread to the sport of dressage, which used to be about harmony and is now about brute force. Once more it is an indicator of poor training and abuse. It’s disgraceful that it has found it’s way into the USEF world. You sorry assed bunch of no-training idiots should be kicked out.
On the surface AQHA does have a no tail blocking policy, but we all know that it is not enforced at a regional level. It sure as hell isn’t enforced in NSBA or the Congress. I have no idea what the policy is for APHA, but looking at show photos pretty much says that tail blocking is done, a lot. ApHC has a no blocking policy, but it has never been enforced at any show that I know of. I know that some of their BOD have spoken out against it, but nothing is done because the show manager and CEO don’t want to ruffle feathers. So go show ApHC with a blocked tail, because you’ll never be punished. They seem to like adding injections to the show game and just recently welcomed a lot of drug rules. Way to go guys!
NRHA and NCHA don’t appear to do anything about it either. Tail blocking a reining horse is the absolute cruelest thing you can do. Horses do use their tails to balance and flex. Asking a horse to spin, slide and rollback with a dead tail is like asking someone to run a race with a damaged tailbone. It fucks with your perceptions of what is happening in your rear end.
I know the little reiner trainer brutes are going to be outraged and scream that I have no idea what I’m talking about. Like all assholes, they try to shout down anyone that points out their cruelty. If they think that blocking a tail covers up the fact they suck as trainers and have no idea how to actually get the best of an animal they are wrong. A reiner with a dead tail is a big advertisement for your incompetence. By doing nothing about it NRHA, ApHC, NCHA and USEF are telling the public just how loaded with jerk-offs their organizations are.
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