Dehydrating for measuring?

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misamisa

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Is this common?
The JMB (I think) people came to measure the horse a girl who works for us owns.
I overheard her bragging to my Mother about she hadn't given him food or water for 48 hours and lunged him for 3hours to make him shrink to 15.2hh even though he's a 16.1hh WB Show Jumping type.

I think it's disgraceful.
I've watched her lunge that horse AND long rein it, and I can safely say how embarrassing. Apart from the fact he never does anything wrong she abuses him so what she's done in terms of getting him measured down doesn't surprise me coming from her.

She now says she's going to travel him in a box for 2 hours so he stresses out and shrinks. It makes me sick what she does to that horse.
She also had his feet cut back so far he couldn't be ridden from extreme lameness, I know cutting down feet is common but what she did is ridiculous.
I want to know if this is a common practice?
 
I think she is just at the wind up, i think she would have a colicked horse if she didn't feed/water him for that long and he wouldn't be able to be lunged for that length of time, the poor boy would be on his knees.
I don't see how it would shrink him anyway. Someone may correct me on theis.
If it is for real, i would be getting WHW involved as that would be total cruelty. Surely the YO or manager or at least someone on the yard would have the bottle to speak to her.
 
Thats absolutley terrible.
If a horse is bigger than 15.2hh I think it should stay that way!
And people say Eventers have to many supplements >=/

I think theres a limit in what people should do with do with horses in the name of competition. Not allowing a horse to fresh water and food is absolutley disgraceful.
 
you would be surprised.. shes not into showing but a livery on the yard im at leaves her 17 yr old pony ina stable with no bedding or food for up to 48 hours and rides her inbetween.

the horse does have access to water though, she then brags about how theres only one poo in the stable for removal! it drives me mad. poor thing.
 
It's true, sorry Chestnuttymare. The reason they shrink is that the shoulders and withers are not attached to the rest of the skeleton except by muscle and ligaments. Tire them out and dehydrate them and they "shrink" as the attachement sags. Another way to do it is 24 hours in a horse walker. Yes it's disgusting. Why don't they insist horses are on the premises for 24 hours for a height certificate??? Or measure them as part of the competition on the day.
 
I would say this is pretty extreme but there are people out there who definitely use below board methods to get a horse to 'measure in.'

Measuring a pony with a sharp pin on the wither bar is one method I've heard of (so they learn to shrink away from wither pressure).
 
good god, i must be really naive. Surely the yard owner should do something about this.
I couldn't bear to be around someone treating a horse like that and wouldn't be able to keep my trap shut.

Why didn't they just buy a horse the height that they wanted.? Not rocket science
 
if you want a JMB on your horse you have to take it to a measuring centre, they do not come to you. not ever! yes they shrink if you with hold water. its all a farce but they re measure at shows and chuck out the overheight so things will change .... change ing now re height classes esp cobs. god help you if they think it is drugged ie acp. annuals only last one season and if they dont measure next time you are out. but its who you know i am afraid
 
I think if she said these things to me, i would tell her out right what i thought of her. Wouldn't bother me if it caused tension between us, as i wouldn't want to know someone like that anyway. Putting her horses welfare first is the only thing she should be doing.
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it's down right cruel and i'd have to say something
 
YO does nothing to my knowledge.
I'd be happy to ring the JMB and tell them what said person is doing to their horse.
WHW doesn't have grounds to take the horse away because it now has water and food.
The abuse she puts that horse through is disgusting.
I offered to buy him off her just to get him away but she wants 8k for him.
He's gone out and one all the 158cm Show Hunter horse classes.
Not surprised he's a stunning horse but his height is illegal in them classes.

I don't get why people do this, If I was going to show (which I never will) I'd go out and buy a horse of that height.
Problem is, it gives the rest of the showing world a bad name.
 
The problem is that as long as judges have the mentality that bigger is better, people will always try to have a horse as big as they can get away with.

In reality, sadly, if you enter a genuine 14hh in a class that is for example for horses exceeding 13.3 but not exceeding 15hh, the judge will not even look at it - because next to all it's "15hh" competitors (who may in reality be closer to 16hh), it will look tiny.

In my opinion as long as a horse is within the height criteria for the class it shouldn't matter whether it's the biggest or the smallest, the best horse should win. But this is not the way it is at the moment. And as long as classes continue to be judged in the way that they are currently, not a lot is going to change.
 
If the measurement is ordered by the JMB as someone has disbuted a horses height then they do come to the yard the horse is kept at, i know this for a fact as my pony years ago was reported as being 'Clocked' in the BSJA she wasn't but i had to fight to prove it, nd yes i'vee seen and heard of these technics being used so a horse/pony measures in, i know of 2 14.2hh that are 15hh but have measured in at 14.2hh and many years ago i knew a pony with a 138cm (13.2hh) life height certificate when in truth she was 14.1hh
 
I have never heard of this and personally find it repulsive,and cruelty to the highest degree
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If you wanna show a 15.2 then fooking well buy one
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People like this want reporting
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If only it was just the showing world - but unfortunately I've seen similar in junior showjumping and pony racing.
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There are reasons for measuring off show grounds etc though - a lot of horses / ponies will "grow" when stressed - they literally stand up more so measuring them in a relaxed environment SHOULD get a more accurate measurement, that doesn't mean that the horse being measured should be treated anything like this though!
 
True, I agree 100%
She's just trying to prove the ex owner of him wrong because they said he'd never make it because of height.
She'll put winning first and the horses welfare means nothing to her.
Everytime I see him I want to cry, and I'm not the crying type trust me.

It would be good to report her but I don't know how it would go down as too weather the horse could be removed permanently. If he could I'd be on the phone straight away.
 
Have heard of that one.people used to pare feet back really far but don't know any farriers that do that now.Also have heard of a tack on height stick - stick tack on the bit that touches pony/horse they then learn to 'drop' when measured with a stick.
Knew a dealer that used to withold water from nutty horses for day or so before they were viewed.Do make a habit now if looking at horses to see if water readily available oh and bloods if vetting.
 
If the JMB order a re-measurement then you have to go to a designated site. The horse is assessed by the vets and blood samples are taken and tested for thimgs like ACP.

I can not see why your froends horse needs a height certificate unless it is being shown at a high level. What difference does a show jumper make if is 15.2 or 16.1

I would wonder if she was telling the truth.
 
this is very common practice i think...don't agree with it myself but its the bloody showing judges/societies etc that need to sort it out- as someone else said, if judges are consistently placing horses that are clearly well over height then people will keep trying to get bigger horses and ponies measured in...there has been a big hoo-ha this year tho hasn't there with some annual certificates being withdrawn etc...so maybe things are on the change...
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Keehl - you mention this girl works for you - does she actually do your horses for you? Think if it were me she'd be out the door quicksmart!
 
She just does general yard duties 3 mornings a week, she doesn't exercise the horses anymore, not after what we saw.
I had a project pony I'd worked my ass off to get into shape so asked her to work it if she ever had time and found that she'd been giving her what the event horses had to make her overweight for showing! Which I already said she'd never do. Thankfully I don't have a horse that needs hard feed anymore.
Also when she was worked one time she'd asked me to film her, well I was disgusted. I wont voice my opinion in case she left then we wouldn't have anyone to help out but she'd been using a schooling whip, baring in mind I'd never used a whip on this pony, all she did was gallop flat out down the long side beating her with the stick.
I was so shocked I just stopped filming and walked away.
I know she does it to her horse all the time, but people have said it's not my business so I shouldn't get involved =/
When we can find someone to cover her hours she'll be out of there stat.

I think they should measure horses before going into the ring.
I'm surprised theres not a petition for it.
15.2hh should mean 15.2hh!
 
I have heard of withholding water, paring feet back etc. When out pony was out on loan the people who had her jumped her affiliated. She is 12.3hh and it was suggested that she would measure 12.2 if the above was carried out. Needless to say we did not let it happen. In actually fact she is a very nervy pony and if anyone approached her with a measuring stick she actually grew about an inch! I suspect it goes on quite regularly though.
 
Busy yards need all the people they can get.
We've cut her back a lot after I investigated (had heard rumors about this and just wanted to see if it were true).
Surprisingly, it's difficult to find people who'll actually do the job they're asked to do.
We;ve only ever had two girls work and do their job properly and not take a half arsed approach to everything.
If I can find someone else I'll be more than happy to let her go, and give her a goodbye kick up the backside along with it.
 
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