Senior Showing rule question

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Orangehorse

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I have just noticed that our local County Show has Senior Showing classes. I have read through the rules, but there is one subject that hasn't really been addressed.

What about Bute or other painkillers? In the SS rules it only mentions that the show may have rules, but doesn't state whether it is OK for members' animals to be on painkiller or not.

There must be thousands of older animals that are leading a good and active life thanks to being on some medication, but I always understood that for showing it was not allowed.
 
When I asked about Prascend (for Cushings) as it is a prohibited substance for doping rules that most shows abide by, they were vague in that they said they had to abide by the shows rules so therefore no not allowed, but followed it up with but our classes never get tested :eek3:. This was a few years ago now, but I wasn't comfortable enough to take the chance!
 
Bute - and the other prescription alternatives - is a prohibited substance and you should not compete with it in the animal's system. Devils claw is also prohibited - but there may be other herbal supplements which are not. It is quite possible that you would not be tested - but competing knowing that your horse is taking a banned substance is really cheating.

Pony Club is the only affiliated group where prascend is not banned. Pain killers are though!
 
Fair enough. I know that it is against the rules for competitions including showing.

For the Senior Showing I thought it would be made clear in the rules.
 
The rules are not any different I'm afraid. I know some older horses / ponies do need a bit of support for age related aches and pains - but not all do. Veteran showing starts as young as 15 now - it only seems fair to ensure that the animals still shown are not being dosed to mark pain - or anything else. Not saying that you would do that for a moment OP. But there are those who will. Mind you they also probably compete anyway....
 
I think it's a shame they can't change the rules regarding prascend..it's not masking pain and my horse is going better now than he has done in 5 years..is a true veteran at 19 years old!
 
Given that part of the judging is going to be on how well a horse is going for its age I don't see why Bute should be permitted. The argument being if it then isn't sound enough it prob shouldn't be showing at that level.
I say this as the owner of an increasingly creaky 24 yo who may do a couple of local fun classes with over the summer for his entertainment but although we have SS qualifiers within 20 min hack too I've decided that he'd have been good to do them last year when fit and in full work (hunted that winter schooling regularly etc) he isn't any more. He doesn't yet require Bute currently either (though there are other reasons we need to avoid it for him)
 
I suppose that's the mark of a 'good horse', not needing pain meds to keep it going in later life
 
Micky said:
I think it's a shame they can't change the rules regarding prascend..it's not masking pain and my horse is going better now than he has done in 5 years..is a true veteran at 19 years old!
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That's a fair point. Our of curiosity, are human athletes who are on insulin for diabetes eligible to compete in human athletic events? To me a horse on prascend is similar to a human on insulin.
 
LeneHorse said:
That's a fair point. Our of curiosity, are human athletes who are on insulin for diabetes eligible to compete in human athletic events? To me a horse on prascend is similar to a human on insulin.
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Sir Steve Redgrave won an Olympic gold whilst on insulin - it is an absolutely incredible achievement for a diabetic to succeed in such a tough sport at that level.
 
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