HORSES DOPED FOR SALE PURPOSES ETC

poiuytrewq

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You hear so much about horses being doped when people go to try them to buy, What would a horse be given to turn a bucking idiot into a rideable buyable horse for a couple of hours?. Also i wonder is it not ovbious? would the horse go properly?- ie i sedate my horse for certain things...mane pulling etc but would never get on him as he would fall over or stumble around.
Just a random wonder!!!!
 
Really people dehydrate horses to keep them calm? Thats actually disgusting.
I am mainly wondering i suppose as a new horse at the yard is a loon but was perfect during the trying out process.
The buyers said he cant have been drugged because they rode him including jumping and he was normal and alert- but didnt try to kill them!!
 
Even one acp tablet would make a differance to a horse, we had a young irish horse and when my sister hunted him for the first few times he bucked like hell with exitment. In desperation after that he did his first season on 1 acp every time he hunted it was just enough to take the edge off him and stopped the bucking then we weaned him onto half acp the a quarter until he was settled enough to go without. Even with one we still jumped out hunting, he was still very alert and no one would of ever guessed he had it. Also there is an injectable drug that is a calmer called Raiklin and that is very very mild calmer that will work for about 2 weeks.
 
When you bought my first one he had been ACP'd. Mind you though they must have given him about 13 because when the vet ACP'd him to x-ray & ultrasound him at the RVC it ook 12 to get him even vaguely chilled
 
I believe our first pony was drugged before we bought him.
My daughter hacked the said pony around the village and he was great, spent time with him and eventually we bought him.
2 weeks later he was bucking, kicking, carted my daughter down a concrete road
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Every experienced rider tried to ride him at the yard but no one could control him, he was just a very green pony with a horrible nature.
 
Acp is usually used for this,very often in a small amount to take off scatty edge but so they can do their job when being tried!
 
If the buyer had a full soundness done (5 stage) then the bloods should have been taken by their Vet, these are sent off to the Lab to be stored so if the new purchaser feels the horse may have been doped on trial they should ask their Vet that did the soundness to request blood testing to see if anything has been used.
 
I went to a dealer with a friend who was looking to buy a safe cob.

Dealer had a line of stables in his back garden. None of the horses had hay or water in their stables. That made me way suspicious before we even started.
 
A friend went to try a horse and hacked him out quite happily. He was an older horse so didn't have him vetted. He has since proved to be virtually impossible to hack as he's so spooky even with a very experienced rider, and he's also quite 'buzzy' in the school so we're pretty convinced he was doped. The vendor denied it, and no bloods - no comeback.
 
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If the buyer had a full soundness done (5 stage) then the bloods should have been taken by their Vet, these are sent off to the Lab to be stored so if the new purchaser feels the horse may have been doped on trial they should ask their Vet that did the soundness to request blood testing to see if anything has been used.

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Thay didnt unfortunatly, however the vendor was reasonably helpful in that he took the horse on for schooling--sadley it came back worse!!
 
We are now pretty sure that the old Appy had been deprived of water before sister tried her. Mind you that was 25 years ago and we kept the loony tune until last October, when old age finally caught up with her age 33.
 
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I know of two that were doped. Both came from dealers.

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then you should get onto trading standards and get them sent back! you dont have to prove they were doped, just that they arent fit for the purpose they were bought from!

and please note - not all of us dealers are popping acp left right and center! you get what you pay for. go to a reputable dealer, pay a reasonable price and get the warranties that go with it! if it seems to good to be true, it probably is...
 
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go to a reputable dealer, pay a reasonable price and get the warranties that go with it! if it seems to good to be true, it probably is...

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Too true!! It has to be said that horses who behave at the vendor's - when tried - and plays up when brought home may NOT have been doped or 'quietened' by disreputable methods like withholding water (although it's always worth doing a pinch test - a horse who is deprived sufficiently of water to quieten him will almost certainly be showing signs of dehydration!)

It may just be that they have had a regular routine and been worked reasonably solidly. They get to new home, may be given a day or two (or more) to 'settle in', may have been fed inappropriately (even a change from coarse hay to decent haylage can light a horse up in a day or two!) - perhaps without adequate turnout - and just be 'above themselves'. The yard atmosphere may be different (we regularly get comments from owners about how their horse doesn't 'settle' in a new place - they do here!
grin.gif
) We also get horses arrive who supposedly have every trick in the book - from barging to bucking - and we can't get them to do anything wrong!

If a horse you've just bought DOES show signs of being 'different', talk to the vendor right away. If they're genuine, they'll help you sort out what has gone wrong. If they're evasive and don't want to know, be suspicious, and get an opinion from a vet/knowledgeable horseman, who can advise you whether the horse is indeed 'fit for purpose'.
 
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