Dogs at horse shows...

[moonriverfarm]

I'd rather see a well behaved leashed dog over a kid in a stroller at ANY show. And I love/own both. You can at least tie the dog to the trailer if it whines.

[JazCreekInc.]

This is too funny... and I must add a few things... as a breeding farm owner, and *gasp* a newly minted cyclist.

1) I have three dogs at my breeding farm and not once have I had a rabid afterbirth attack occur (We do foal in stalls, and actually plan to watch in case assistance is needed). Furthermore, my corgi assures me she is helping the young horses by barking at them from birth, I must agree, they are bombproof when they go off to their first shows, and really, my grooms kids running rampant (on foot, bikes, etc) down the barn aisle helps too!

2) I never personally experienced afterbirth anxiety until I got on my bike... then suddenly it was like a 6th sense... I just could feel them everywhere... it made me go faster. Especially the cow placenta (I do live in Sonoma County), maybe we should tell Charlie Sheen about this... might be even more powerful than tiger blood.

3) French Fry- I love all of the detail you have begun to add to your posts, especially the veins!

4) In our area a very well known trainer has a cat that comes to the shows on a "leash" (aka piece of bailing twine), and it can be the prototype for these new performance cats... I can put anyone interested in touch.

[meupatdoes]

(We do foal in stalls, and actually plan to watch in case assistance is needed).

NO WAY.

[HenryisBlaisin']

I actually agreed with the OP on parts of her compliant, but that went out the window with the comment that all dogs should be locked in stalls.

However, if you are going to bring a dog to a horse show, please have the common courtesy to keep it on a leash, whether the rules say so or not. Letting a dog run loose in a public area is extremely dangerous and rude. Your dog is not so special that it should be an exception, no matter how well trained it is.

Yes, horses should be trained to deal with distractions (and OP's placenta argument against it was possibly the funniest thing I've seen in a long time), but even with those that are, accidents happen. If your horse is so rattled by a dog on a leash in a spectator area that you can't show effectively, you are NOT ready to show, green horse or not. On the other hand, a loose dog chasing a horse (a FLIGHT animal) is unacceptable. My horse is generally bombproof; properly handled dogs don't bother him in the least, but one of the SCARIEST spooks I've ridden recently came from him because of a dog. Why? because the dog stalked him so silently and effectively that neither of us knew it was there until it leapt up and tried to hamstring him. He kicked out at the dog and bolted. I stopped him in a few strides and turned to see the dog stalking him again, silently, calculatedly stalking him. I'm sorry, but no WAY am I going to tell my hose to stand there while some loose dog tries to BITE him! We walked slowly away, and luckily I had a dressage whip that kept the dog off him until it gave up and left. This was not at a show, but rather on the trail, but so what? Our town has a leash law, so it's the same principle-there is a difference between a horse spooking at a well-behaved dog on a leash and one spooking because the dog attacked him. The former is a training issue, the latter is a stupid dog owner issue.

I don't have a problem with dogs at shows where they are allowed, if they are on a leash (NOT a flexi!) and under the control of their handler at all times. Just like the riders in the show, dog handlers are subject to the rules, and not above them. If the show flyer says no dogs, then leave them at home. You are not special. If it says they are allowed on leash, keep them on leash. You are not special.

If your dog is a maniacal, placenta-eating attack animal who will stop at nothing to sink his teeth into some afterbirth, including scaling tall stall walls with a single bound, well, you have bigger problems and should probably get a cat.

[MHM]

If your dog is a maniacal, placenta-eating attack animal who will stop at nothing to sink his teeth into some afterbirth, including scaling tall stall walls with a single bound, well, you have bigger problems and should probably get a cat.

I hate to post on this thread at this point, but....

[1516]

I think we found the REAL "it's all about ME" person.

As for phobias, there are a lot of HUMAN things I find unnerving or repulsive. But as we're unfortunately not going back to a Victorian upper-class standard of public behavior any time soon, I have to put up with them. If a tied dog or a dog in a stall who's nowhere near you bothers you, the dog is not the problem.

(And we never took our dog to fair or shows, but then we had a yard and a dog who could be left out in it. The dogs on leashes, wandering by? I never really even noticed them. Dogs getting kicked are just something that if it happens, it happens. I was more worried about kids walking up behind horses.)

What on earth are you talking about? Your post makes no sense whatsoever. Did you read it before you posted? Try it, sometimes that helps.

[1516]

I hate LOOSE dogs at horse shows. Very disrespectful. For those of you who share this pet peeve....

After having a bale of hay by a stall peed on, a food table raided and a tack trunk peed on (three separate incidents), I started a new thing at shows - when a loose dog wanders through our barn's stall area, I'll take the dog a few aisles down to (ideally) an area where the surrounding stalls are vacant, and put the dog in a random unused stall. Never fails - about 1 to 2 hours later, someone is wandering around, searching for their 'wandering' dog. I keep my mouth shut. Eventually they find the dog (if the dog has half a brain to bark when the owner calls it.) Then the irresponsible owner realizes that someone has actually shut their dog up into a distant stall, and in their own self-absorbed moment of anger about it they will usually at least smarten up enough to figure out that the best thing for poopie is to keep him/her close by, because there are 'evil' people around who will lock poopie up in a stall without saying a word and walk away....

The best part is when these people have to go into the show office and admit they lost their dog, when the show rules say either "no dogs" or "leashes only."

ewwwwwww. You sound mean. I hope I never run into you at a horse show.

[1516]

Seriously. It's called a life. Get one.

Amen.

[OveroHunter]

What on earth are you talking about? Your post makes no sense whatsoever. Did you read it before you posted? Try it, sometimes that helps.

I understood what she was saying. She meant that there are a lot of things that people do in public nowadays that they didn't in the Victorian times, but we will never go back in time to when manners actually mattered. I agree with her! I miss when people had manners and cared about how they presented themselves in public.

Then again, I was recently in college where manners and public appearance were an afterthought on those particularly torturous hang over days.

[1516]

SaltyAcres, Every time you post, your narcissism is more apparent.

It's not about feeling entitled to bring my dog. By the RULES of the horse show and the federation, I CAN bring my dog as long as I adhere to the standard set by the show.

If you feel like you're entitled to something else, I suggest you lobby the show managements and federation to change the rules.

I'll reiterate a comment I made before. You don't like it, so no one should do it, even if they adhere to the rules. Your stand on this issue is the very definition of conceit.

AMEN. Salty's posts are the very definition of conceit and arrogance. People like this have no business at a horse show, or in public anywhere with that attitude!

Salty..... Please!! Stay home, look in the mirror, and try a little introspection.

Oh and......Get over yourself.

[foursocks]

I grew up in Wisconsin and every year we spent two weeks at the fairgrounds. The first show was some sort of opener, maybe a local A show? I can't remember- it was 20+ years ago! The second week was the Milwaukee Spring Show- both were sort of the season-openers for Zone VI. Every year the Mother's Day Race was held next to the horse show grounds on the car racetrack. Yes. No lie. A car race. Every single horse there had ear puffs stuffed in their ears, but it was like being next to....well, a car race. With announcers and screaming people and ZOOOOMMMMMMM ZOOOOOMMMMMMMM ZOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!! All.day.long.

We longed every morning out by the tracks, we made sure the horses knew the sounds weren't going to impact them in any way, and everyone dealt with it- it was always a really fun show. The only bad thing I ever remember happening was coming out of the ring and my poor horse getting his shoe caught on a mat, having it flip up and smack him in the face, and then he went up and landed on top of me. The moral of the story is that (loud, obnoxious, ridiculous) stuff happens at shows, horses need to be trained to deal with it, and finally: it isn't just placentas- rubber mats are also out to get you. BE CAREFUL!

[EqTrainer]

Leashed kids?
There are probably some teenage competitors out there who would LOVE to have a leashed/confined parent rule.

My children are extremely well behaved so I dont need to leash mine. The bad ones? Need a crop, not a leash

Seriously... A horse who cant handle being around dogs is not much of a horse show horse.

[naturalequus]

Don't forget the muzzle. I've always said children should be leashed and muzzled.

(don't worry, the SO's DD is never leashed nor muzzled - this only applies to others' children )

[lcw579]

[

Don't forget the muzzle. I've always said children should be leashed and muzzled.

True. Without a muzzle they might be able to get at all those afterbirths laying around. Kids put the darndest things in their mouths.

[HenryisBlaisin']

[

True. Without a muzzle they might be able to get at all those afterbirths laying around. Kids put the darndest things in their mouths.

And we all know what happens once they get a taste for blood...

[amylmac]

This is the most fun thread EVER !!!!!!! When I was in the market for a new dog I did much research to find the breed that would be most suitable to take to horse shows. My wish list included a breed adept at stealing food from others' food tables so I could save $. We perfected the act at home but never had the oportunity to impliment it at a HORSE show because the darn dog keeps getting carsick! Really,OP get over yourself. P.S. FrenchFry - you crack me up!

[jr]

Amyimac, If you were looking for stealthy food thieves, cardigan corgis must have been on your list. Low to the ground for stealth and efficient snarfling, sneaky minds, a flexible definition of edibility, and supreme dedication and persistence in the pursuit of food. The perfect, genetically optimized eating machine.

[OveroHunter]

And we all know what happens once they get a taste for blood...

[Kestrel]

So maybe those of you who want to be able to continue to take your dogs with you could have some influence over the inconsiderate dog owners to may ruin it for everyone.

1. Let said IDO (inconsiderate dog owner) know that their dog isn't welcome to roam the barn aisles, peeing on tack boxes and fighting with correctly restrained dogs.

2. Tell said IDOs to pick up after their pooping beast. (Asking nicely probably won't have any effect).

3. Tell the IDO that it's dangerous to more than just their dog to let it tangle the leash around a horse's legs.

4. Tell the IDO to keep their dog out of the back gate area and warm-up ring.

5. Remove and take to the show office any dog found tied to the area rail or anywhere else that the dog could impede access for horses or people.

Maybe if conciencious(sp?) dog owners helped with keeping the others in line using peer pressure, they wouldn't have to worry about losing the privilege of bringing their dogs.

2 leashed dogs that fought under the bellies of a couple Jr hunters at the back gate a decade ago, caused one of our local facilities to ban dogs from the showgrounds completely.

[Madeline]

Amyimac, If you were looking for stealthy food thieves, cardigan corgis must have been on your list. Low to the ground for stealth and efficient snarfling, sneaky minds, a flexible definition of edibility, and supreme dedication and persistence in the pursuit of food. The perfect, genetically optimized eating machine.

Second that.... Love them, but tehy are sneaky. And hungry. Always.