Horse Show - forms of cheating/abuse?

Question

By some other questions on here, that were replied to for other classes, lets make this a more general question.

"What forms of "cheating" have you ever witnessed at a horse show? What class?"

"What forms of "absue" have you ever witnessed at a horse show? What class?"

By class i mean discipline or "riding type" as in western, english, hunter jumper, dressage, endurance, racing, cutting, reining, speed events, etc.

Answer 1

Hmm... in the children's costume class I've seen people have their parents or older sisters decorate the horse for them. I saw someone stick a burr under someone else's saddle pad.

The worst things people have done to cheat: In the show rings there are viewing areas with glass in the front (raised off the ground by about 6 feet), but there are bleachers in front. People sit on the bleachers in the forward corners and use cigarette lighters to spook the competing horses (in all classes) so their friend/family has a better chance.

Once I saw someone pour a bottle of fly spray into a horse's water bucket (I got the horse clean water once the person left). After I cleaned the water and left, she dumped shampoo and rubbing alcohol in it (she got caught because they found the empty bottles in her trunk). The horse was sick but recovered, unfortunately the horse and his owner couldn't compete in the big show happening that week. I was so mad when I found out - she hurt a horse because she wanted to win the show! She got kicked out of our barn for it.

Abuse happens sometimes at my barn - I've seen people kick their horses HARD when they're jumping. There are people who ride with huge spurs and leave spur marks. Some people don't take care of their horses - not mucking out stalls a lot, forgetting to feed them, not bathing them on hat days. Me and some of my friends check on EVERY horse at our barn - 118 horses! We take care of a lot of them because their owners don't. I hate when people are mean to their horses

Answer 2

Innocent stuff like a kick from the rider's outside leg in a pleasure class, or rein pulls etc. when the judge looks away.  I hear of worse, but haven't seen it myself.

Many people routinely do things that I wouldn't, and that I think is abusive like kicking, whipping, tieing up the head, yanking on the bit...and if they do it at shows, I figure it's that much worse at home.

Answer 3

I don't think I've ever witnessed a real form of cheating or abuse at a show.  I've done mostly eventing, with some local schooling h/j shows, dressage, endurance rides, gaming, etc.

I've seen frustrated riders take it out on their horses after bad rides.  I've seen little girls entered in the leadline division just because they were under the age limit but obviously good enough riders to show in the short stirrup division (and other people riding in easier divisions just so they could win).

I once lied about my horse's age, so I could compete her in my last year of pony club.  She was 4 and their official minimum horse age is 5.  If anything this would have put me at a disadvantage, so it's probably not really cheating.

Answer 4

Well at a palomino show a horse enter with a fake pedigree and papers that it was obviously a chestnut horse. At Arabian shows I have seen trainers get off of their horses and kick them in the stomach hard. Horses in the western shows have spur marks but I think that it is more accidental that malicious with the huge spurs they use. Racing is the worst some jockeys can get away with weighing 160 or more by standing on the scales weird. Race horse trainers sometimes use electric crops of course you can tell by the way the horse reacts by flipping his tail up and on his back when he gets hit.

Answer 5

well what i consider "abuse" may or not be the same as someone else's views on the topic (same as with cheating).

what i've seen that i consider abuse (but it's not illegal) /some are also considered cheating are:

chains on the back feet of national show horses that show saddle seat (arabs/saddlebreds)

tossing fire crackers lite under the horse to give the look their going for.(again in the saddleseat show arena, and not all people dealing with these horses do any of these, just a few  do)

docking the tail. national show horse/arab shows

people who go to shows with their horse over night, and show their horse hard and then go out and party while their horse sits in the stall still hot from riding/not being taking care of fully. (i've seen my friends do this and they got an ear full from our trainer).this was at an arab show, english/western more or less breed shows.

seen people run their horse into another horse(my horse while we were trying to leave the ring.) idk if that's abuse per say, but it wasnt safe and it was scary having a horse rammed into yours. this was at a fun show, and it was a barrel racing class when it happen, i was comming out she was going in full speed and the horse hit mine.

someone tried to posion my horse b/c they thought i'd win over their girl and horse.(that creeped me out to the point i begged my parents to leave and wanted to withdraw from my classes) this was general classes, english

drugs for show horse, i've know a trainer/pro that got banned from the shows in our area for a year for that. i think that's cheating and abuse.(he rode english, saddleseat... showed arabs)

the "fake" tails people attach to their horse's tails are considered cheating, and i do believe at the arab shows you get kicked out for the day if they catch you.(least in my area)

most the time when i do see things happening at shows most the time (not all the time)are cause  A. just for shows(not normally done everyday), or B. people not totally thinking. i think that if a person chooses to dress their gendling in pink clothing is the nicest form of abuse i've heard of at shows.

Answer 6

When saddlebred riders put ginger up the saddlebred's butt so it sticks its tail up, when they put weights on it's feet to make it lift them up, and when they put small firecrackers in the horses stall to make them hyper

In the warmup ring when a rider beats the horse with his/her crop or whip

Oh yeah and in hunter jumper, if the horse doesnt go over the jump they practically rip the horses mouth off...

Answer 7

in dressage when the rider talked to the horse

Answer 8

The worst example of cheating I've ever seen was a pony who had won its class at the Horse of the Year show (the pinnacle of showing in the UK) come out as a novice the following year. The pony had a new rider and the owners tried to play dumb, but it was the same owners who had had the pony to HOYS and they knew they were cheating by entering a novice class.

I don't think it's worth losing the respect of all other competitors and being talked about up and down the country for the sake of winning a ribbon at a local show - but apparently they did! And they weren't even placed, because the new rider wasn't a patch on the old one and didn't ride it properly.

Answer 9

There's always abuse going on at horse shows. In some (Arabian?) shows, they put a rag soaked with pepper spray up the horse's rear end, and it BURNS, so they keep their tails up. In breed shows, some people put little clips on the horse's "parts" (sheath in geldings / stallions and v***a in mares) so that the horse is in so much pain that it won't even move, which makes the horse pass the inspection for any illegal "aids". The judges poke and prod the horses in a way that if the owner was using an illegal "aid", the horse would flinch. But with the clips, the horses are in too much pain to do even that. In (Saddlebred?) shows, the horses wear light chains around their legs. At home, they wear heavy chains. The heavy chains cause pain and bruising. At the shows, the light chains rub and bounce on the sore spots from the heavy chains, causing the horse pain enough to lift it's feet as high as possible. The day before the show, some "trainers" (using the term loosely) take out their client's horses and kick their legs so hard (without the client knowing) that their legs go sore, and again, they lift their feet higher. A variation of this is that the so-called "trainer" floods a riding ring, so it's filled with water, lead the horses into it, and hook up a thing that lets out electric shocks into the water, and thus shocking the horses legs. They did an article about tail alteration in the January 2008 issue of HORSE & RIDER. It's so sad. This is what the organizations do about it:

Common procedures, rules in place, rule specifics, enforcement, penalties:

AQHA - Alcohol blocks; yes; Horse must maintain "normal tail function," defined as "being able to raise the tail to or above the horizontal plane in response to anal stimulation by an AQHA approved veterinarian." A surgical procedure or injection of any foreign substance or drug that could affect a horse's performance or alter it's natural conformation or appearence is prohibited, except for those procedures performed by a duly licensed veteranarian for the sole purpose of protecting the health of the horse. Hair - to - hair tail attachments are permitted.; AQHA World Show finalists are tested. Any AQHA competitor may be randomly tested at any competition.; Prizes are revoked, fines to the owner and exhibitor may be assessed. Papers are stamped "ineligible for competition" for a minimum of 1 year, until normal tail function has been regained.

APHA - Alcohol blocks; yes; Any surgical procedure or injection of any foreign substance or drug that could affect a horse's performance or alter it's natural conformation or appearance is prohibited, except for those surgical procedures performed by a duly licensed veteranarian for the sole purpose of protecting the health of the horse.; random testing may be performed by APHA representatives if a horse is entered in any event held in conjunction with an APHA-approved show, whether or not the event is approved by APHA.; Prizes are revoked, fines to the owner and exhibitor may be assessed. Papers are stamped "ineligible for competition" for a period of time determined appropriate by the APHA, until normal tail function has returned.

ApHC - Alcohol blocks; yes; Any surgical procedure or injection of any foreign substance or drug which could affect the horse's performance or alter it's natural conformation or appearance (with the exception of surgical procedures performed for the purpose of protecting the health of the horse) is forbidden. Attachment of any item or appliance that restricts movement or circulation of the tail is also forbidden.; Veteranarian is always on the grounds. Testing is random, and is also done if judge or ring steward suspects a horse's tail has been altered.; Suspension of membership, fines determined by a hearing of the ApHC.

AHA - Ginger, alcohol blocks, wrapping; yes; Horses must wear a natural, unset, ungingered tail.; Enforcement is dependent on show management, and testing is uncommon due to expense.; Unoted States Equine Federation guidelines apply. Following a hearing, suspensions, fines, and revocation of prizes may occur.

NCHA - Alcohol blocks, tying.; yes; The horse's tail may not be tied in any manner to restrict movement.; No testing is performed to enforce this rule. It should be brought to the attention of officials for evaluation if suspected.; Disqualification.

NRHA - Alcohol blocks; no; The NRHA position statement reads: "The NRHA supports the rights of horse owners to manage their personal property and trainers to manage the horses entrusted in their care in their best interests with the caveat that their horses are always treated humanely and with dignity, respect and compassion. To that end, the NRHA does not condone the application or administration of any drug, chemical, foreign substance, surgical procedure or trauma, which results in, or could result in, the alteration of normal tail function or carriage."; none; none.

***From the January 2008 issue of HORSE & RIDER***

Wow, right? The AQHA is doing really well with rules, enforcement, and penalties, but look at the NRHA - no rules, no enforcement, no testing, no penalties...horrible.

***ETA***: Sovereign7: your'e so right...that just ISN'T natural.

Answer 10

Deliberately filling classes with horses that are not pleasure horses, i.e., paying the entry fee for someone to come in and ride the class with a horse that is not a pleasure horse, which in turn may increase the number of points to be obtained from a breed/state organization if you win that class.   That is not allowed now and if anyone is caught doing it, any other points they may have collected during the specific show will be taken away.

Abuse, covers a wide range of offenses, everything from "hanging" a horse, tying up his head so the neck muscles become so tired the horse has no choice but to travel with his head "on the floor" so to speak during a WP class.  

Drugging a horse,  tying a horses mouth shut, alcohol blocks on the horse's tail so the horse doesn't carry it in an arched position..just packs his tail tight to his body, easy to spot, lifeless tail; a fresh "block" is easy to spot as the horse's tail "flops" as he moves along at the lope.  

I've also seen altered tails at cow horse events....everyone wants their horse to pack it's tail close to its body.  

No doubt there are other abuses...just a few from my world, AQHA.

Ahhh, one more, the soring of "big l**k" Tennessee Walking Horses...the organization is trying to get on top of this abuse practice by many owners/trainers....and I think they're having some luck in doing so.

TWH are marvelous show horses and I do love a "big l**k" horse...but I'm also very aware of the abuse the horses have endured in the past.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=t3UeGJT_WOg

http://youtube.com/watch?v=s37NJC7dphA&f...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kKKMwee8jE4&f...

Answer 11

The worst i've seen was in a western pleasure class.

the horse broke its nice little head set and then girl looks at the judge to make sure shes not looking then she does 3 or 4 REALLY REALLY hard checks, doesnt seem that bad but she had like 234234 inch shanks. then she looks back at the judge to make sure shes still not looking.

Answer 12

i once say a girl knock a barrel over and the horse kicked it back up but it didn't hit the ground....so would that be cheating?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 13

i do this sometimes too, but a form of "cheating" in western gaming is to push a pole back up if it is falling. kinda cheap and unfair, but it's legal!

abuse... hmmm. maybe making a horse look like a barbie doll. especially the geldings with all the pink tack, glittery faces and butts and hooves, ... that would be torture to me. not really abuse but, you get the idea. again gaming at the fair with all the little girls, mostly at fair.