# Is there anything else I can do?



## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

I loaned Caleigh my Clydesdale to a close friend to use for a dressage rally for Pony club this weekend. I send specific rules with her and the horse and spoke to the pony club people when we hauled in saying if there are any questions, concerns, problems, anything let me know. I gave them every number I could be reached at. 
I sent Caleigh and K with bit guards for the french link. It's just barely too small and she rides great with bit guards. Not her favorite bit at all but apparently her other bit was illegal. Anyway on Saturday I noticed Caleigh was riding without the Velcro foam bit guards. I didn't think much of it becausethey fall off all the time. Possibly in warm up. I was not allowed to talk to K because they considered my presence "unauthorized" assistance so I couldn't ask where the guards were. I tried and got snapped at to go sit down. 

Skip up to today. I put the bridle on Caleigh and she shy's from the bit, ears pinned and head high. I slowly ease it into her mouth and she continues with her nose pointed at the sky. I said screw this and stopped and checked her mouth. Pinch marks. I put bit butter on the corners of her mouth. 

Now, K doesn't ride any differently than me on Caleigh and every time she's ridden her it's been with bit guards on the french link preparing for this rally. Caleigh has been perfect. At the show I could see they were both struggling but again was told I wasn't allowed to say anything to the rider.
Today I asked her why there were no bit guards. She told me that after I left she was chewed apart by a lady saying they were used to hide marks and weren't allowed. She pulled out pony club rules and snapped she take them off or don't ride. K said to contract the owner and the lady refused and said rules are rules and any argument would count against her team. 
K herself told me she felt helpless because she was forced. 
After hearing this I got the name of the lady and wrote region about it. I would have happily picked up another legal bit and brought it out but nobody told me and I wasn't allowed any verbal or physical contact with K per pony club rules. 
So now I have a show in 20 days. A horse that's mouth sore and bit shy because of a Pony Club lady that didn't do what was in the paperwork. I have work and work to do to fix this in just a few weeks! Is there anything I can do outside of contacting the Region Manager? They've apologized profusely for the rudeness I was given this weekend when I was concerned about my horse. They also said being refused access to my own horse was against pony club rules and when I was rudely snapped at they wanted the name of the lady. I don't know anybody in Pony club and this was my first event attending. All I could do was describe and give a first name. I told them who the rider and horse were and described her "coach" to the best of my ability. 
I don't even know if there's anything to be done. I know how to soften her back into a friendly bit, that's easy enough to do but is there anything I can do about the lady. Even an apology would be nice. ya know "I'm sorry you should have been contacted". 
Maybe I just needed to vent but that really upset me. Especially when checking in they verified if there were any problems I was to be contacted.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Well technically in every show in the whole wide world, it's the exhibitor's responsibility to know the rules. Unusual they wouldn't let you talk to her in the warm up ring. I can see the showpen. But I am pretty sure, that too would have been in the rules. Sorry your horse has a pinched mouth, I would be getting her a bit that doesn't rub, & doesn't need bit guards. She is in no way unrideable if she isn't wearing a bit that isn't pinching her further. I wouldn't be writing & complaining about a ring steward, they are volunteers & she was just doing was she was supposed to do.


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

waresbear said:


> Well technically in every show in the whole wide world, it's the exhibitor's responsibility to know the rules. Unusual they wouldn't let you talk to her in the warm up ring. I can see the showpen. But I am pretty sure, that too would have been in the rules. Sorry your horse has a pinched mouth, I would be getting her a bit that doesn't rub, & doesn't need bit guards. She is in no way unrideable if she isn't wearing a bit that isn't pinching her further. I wouldn't be writing & complaining about a ring steward, they are volunteers & she was just doing was she was supposed to do.


Excuse me if I come off snappy. I'm still upset, cranky, tired, and pmsing. 

I wrote complaining a complaint that isn't unknown apparently. I guess this lady has a history and they've been working on getting her expelled from the shows. So that's apart from the point. My main complaint was being snapped at and told these exact words "sit down and shut up." I also wrote complaining about what I witness this particular person do with a small child and a horse. Very unsafe, unprofessional and extremely rude. And because I'm not associated with pony club my head was chewed off when I attempted to question K on why there were no bit guards. I stepped up to the warm up ring and motioned her over and was greeted by this particular lady with "You're not allowed to talk to the riders." I said I was the horses owner and she replied very rudely "I don't care who you are you have no place here and you're not allowed to talk to the riders." and shooed me away.
The bit she was shown in was the only bit I had that was apparently legal for the show. They wouldn't take her full cheek or her twist. And according the rider there was nothing in the show rules that said anything about bit guards. We checked and double checked and found nothing. 
I know my horse is not unrideable. I put her back in a bit she's familiar with and doesn't pinch but I'm going to let her mouth heal. Again the bit she was in was not her normal bit but on the short notice I was unable to order a French that fit her. She's a 6.5. Not something my local tack store carries and definitely not one I can order for over night shipping so I threw Legacy's 6 inch on her with some bit guards. 
In the rules for bit guards it said plastic bit guards were no allowed. It said nothing about foam or velcro. 
Pony club region lady thanked me for coming to her about the problems and said she would take care of them. That was based on the rude behavior when I was there. Just now have I written her about the bit guards. The stable managers are in charge of contacting owners and they are held to that if there are any problems. This stable lady refused even when she was supposed to per rules and on top of that threatened the rider that any arguments would dock her whole team. :shock:

I know there's nothing they can do about the horse, that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about this happening to others? Apparently I'm not the first to complain about this lady.
I'm just very very ****ed that per rules this lady did not follow the rules. It said if the rider does not own the horse, any questions problems or concerns should be addressed direction to the owner by show staff immediately. Nobody contacted me and her teams appointed stable manager was the lady who threatened her and took the guards away. The same lady who was in charge of contacting any owners should she have questions, concerns, or anything else. Again, the riders aren't allowed outside contact for the two day rally unless they have been cleared by Pony Club first. I think that's absolutely ridiculous.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

She shouldn't be a volunteer then, telling anyone to shut up is just rude. Sometimes a little accommodating goes along way. LOL, no 6.5 bit is not something a local tack store has on it's shelves. So if you knew in the warm up ring, your horse could not show in the guards, would you have pulled her from the competition? I think you really should have had the choice, but it's just the corners of her mouth, with a wider bit, she'll be fine & dandy, no harm done.


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

If I could have had the option to toss a different bit on her I maybe could have pulled something out of my butt? Again though the rules apparently are different in pony club? As far as I know the bits I use on her usually are perfectly acceptable in rated events but pony club said no. 
If I had known I would have explained the use of the bit guards and seen if that would be allowed but I wasn't given the choice for that either. My rider wasn't even allowed to get a hold of me because outside help is not allowed. That frustrated her. 
On the rudeness note, yes unacceptable and I yanked my phone out and emailed the region lady while still at the show. 
My poor pony has a sore mouth now because someone just didn't feel like following rules and my friend feels terrible even though I've stressed she did nothing wrong. Her softer bit she's used to will be fine with her but she was so fresh with the other today. I just wanted to get on and test out a new pad I might borrows for a show so I didn't bother to switch the bit until after she showed discomfort and by that time I had already decided I didn't like the pad. 
I'll be able to ride her in something she's used to tomorrow back into her old bit.


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## thesilverspear (Aug 20, 2009)

Your poor pony. :-( Hopefully her mouth will feel better soon.

Pony club culture seems bizarre. When I was showing dressage in normal rated shows, even big, USDF and AHSA recognised ones, I could talk to whoever I wanted. 

Writing angry emails is the way forward. Perhaps even mention in your angry email that had they discussed this with you and you could not find a happy solution, you would have pulled the horse as it would have been -- and indeed, it was -- detrimental to her welfare to be ridden without the bit guards. So not only were they breaking their rules in not contacting you, this lady's wankery caused your horse needless suffering and also negatively affected the rider and her team, since you implied in your first post that the ride wasn't going that well.


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

I've mentioned that. I got a concerned email back asking why this lady was so involved and I said I had no idea but I believe she was involved with the pony club my friend rides with and there is some bad blood in there. She said she will call me later to get things a bit more straight.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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