International Reining

I don't think it stands a chance sorry.

Two and three year olds are competed in futurities and that is younger than FEI rules permit. It was allegedly hard for some nations to find sound enough older (like 6yrs...) horses to compete under FEI rules.

Reining is a huge sport with massive purses already in the States, they dont need FEI and therefore need to change their current practices.

I would argue that endurance needs dropped for welfare reasons but there is a huge amount of money behind it and they DO want to stay in FEI. Money talks apparently when it comes to that "sport".
 
Interesting we have seen reining at many events in the USA and at WEG. Yes I wondered how long some stay sound with the sliding stops but did not feel it was worse than many other things we do with horses. I did not know they competed 2yr olds but we race 2 year olds.

Endurance at higher levels is another matter and some terrible horse abuse has been seen.
 
Having a quick search it seems the main issue is the minimum age criteria set by the FEI regulations meaning that horses have to be 7? to compete at the top level but not many seem to get to that age and still be sound, this presumably means potentially more drug abuse to keep them going and perpetuates issues within the sport, endurance is much the same in some countries but they do not start at such a young age so it would be harder to ban based on the age criteria, that is probably simplifying it as money obviously counts in the endurance world.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TPO
If anyone watched The Last Cowboy series you'll see that there is a totally different attitude to the use of drugs.

The 6 part series followed reiners on their lead up to a new competition- The Million Dollar Run. I like reining, I don't like the physical exertions on such young horses. Within the show certain riders stood out as having better horsemanship skills and others (AF and CS, for me) stood out as being overly harsh.

In one episode Cade Mccutcheon's horse wasnt right...so they ran and spun it a few more times. The horse ended up at the vets where it was diagnosed with muscle damage and the reason was not warming up or cooling down. It was "cured" by jagging the horse and putting it straight back into work. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of horses and warming up/cooling down wasnt even a consideration.

As I said I do like reining. Sitting in a horse that well schooled is an amazing feeling. Spins, sliding stops and roll backs are exhilarating. There's no denying that sliding stops trained and executed incorrectly and/or on bad surfaces is bad for the horse, in particular the SI. However the same is true for everything that we ask of them; collection in dressage, absorb heights show jumping, life endangering questions cross country, racing, polo, hunting and so the list goes on. We damage them. It comes down to good horsemanship to keep them healthy and fit to do the job that we have decided that we require and ensure that they are able to do it safely.

I'm pretty sure that America couldnt care less about FEI reining and at the end of th day they are the biggest reining nation. As has been said above FEI have age limits and while it's a sweeping generalization there is truth that a lot of reiners are done and broken before they reach that age.

Not that it makes it right, far from it, but there are huge purses to be won in competitions. That brings about the pressure to be competing and winning on 2 and 3yr olds. However in this country (UK) there are no such ££££ prizes yet they are still backing and competing 2yr olds.

I've followed the progress of a colt that I was taken by. Hes up for sale as a 3yr old now having competed in a list of events and he looks so different from that vibrant colt. Theres another "just backed" 2yr old listed in western fb pages just now. There's absolutely no need for it at all never mind in this country but the breed society will never take a stand and introduce age limits.

I haven't signed the petition but I am considering it. If competing in FEI events meant that horses were started later and "saved" that's got to be the better option than the current ways? On the other hand I don't think any petition will make any difference with other nations the way that they are and not wanting/needing FEI involvement...
 
Leo Walker said:
Where did you watch The Last Cowboy TPO?
Click to expand...

Well it was on YouTube and then it disappeared right before I managed to watch the last episode. Lots of googling later and you can buy the series or individual episodes from amazon prime but only via amazon.com, .co.uk doesnt have it.

If you have Amazon prime anyway the film Down The Fence is a better watch IMO. It's about reined cow horse competitions...better for the horses than pure reining IMO but not that much fun for cattle...😬
 
Thank you all very much for your support. The petition amongst others was presented to the FEI.
Today all of the FEI member countries voted unanimously to keep reining as an FEI discpline..
Thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top