horse stopping with blocked tail scars

Are Reining Trainers Getting Away with Blocking Tails to Win?

The trainer or non-pro is riding to win, but that dang horse’s tail keeps wringing. It is not a penalty but it detracts from the overall quality of the run, and the score goes down. There is a fix for that; tail blocking or nerving the tail.  If you watch reining classes or are loping around in a warm-up pen, you will see a tail just hanging flat even in spins, slides, back-ups and fast circles.

Under the medications rule it is illegal, but have you ever seen someone being pulled out of a competition for a lifeless tail? Most likely not. Are the horses drug tested – rarely?

SIGN THE PETITION ON CHANGE.ORG TO THE VETERINARIANS AND LAW MAKERS TO OUTLAW TAIL BLOCKING

The tail of a horse indicates its discomfort, pain, frustration or annoyance. The vision of a horse wringing its tail when spinning, lead changing, or backing up could see you lose a ½ point or more in quality on a maneuver. Over a few maneuvers, those points can be slipping away quickly and out of the money. Is the risk of blocking worth it? For some, yes as they know they will not be pulled up by judges and stewards if they have the right friends and influence. You just have to look at the irregular application of fines and penalties.

Tail swishing is often linked to poor training methods, improper use of spurs, or the horse being “ring sour,” i.e. burned out on competition or being hammered day-in-day-out in their training program. If they have a horse that is a top contender, but the horse lets the world know its issues, then the line between ethical and unethical is confronted.

How do some reiners solve the problem; numb or nerve block the sensation of the nerve endings so the horse cannot move the tail.

Now the reining people will start shouting this down as that is how they manage all awareness of cruelty going on in their sport. Intimate, deny and bully. The more they shout, the more likely they have hit a nerve, so to speak.

A horse’s tail is part of its spine and plays an important role in its balance. While there are signals of problems with the horse, prior to blocking, the issues increase ten-fold when they lose the function that is part of their balance to perform.

Tailing blocking is quite controversial because many seem to believe nothing is wrong with the practice and it can be done without a trace (sometimes). Like all cruelty, its justifiable to anyone who is over-trusting, stupid or gullible enough to listen. After all, many think it is only temporary. Wrong.

Trainers can nerve tails without owners even knowing, just to keep the horse in the barn or to win an event. Some get away with it time after time. It is only the physical evidence that tells the owner something is seriously wrong if they visit the horse at the barn. If they care for their horse they will be seeking justice, but the NRHA does not impose fines on anyone outside of a show event. Most tail nerving problems occur back at the barn before a horse gets a show. The barn is where the NRHA hides behind their (un)governed code of ethics for all trainers that is not enforced. Why have a code of ethics if it’s not enforced on those that signed up for it???

What horses suffer from tail blocking

There are many cases where tail blocking is permanent, and more than people may realize. The tail is left damaged, hanging limply with the horse defecating all over itself cause it cannot move the tail to the side. The mare is peeing down herself. The horse cannot flick flies away. The horse becomes an invalid, requiring frequent daily attention to wipe the manure and urine away. Without manual cleaning, the horse can become flyblown. Mares can become infected in the uterus and become problem breeders or barren.

Another complication that may occur is a temporary inability to defecate and/or urinate due to paralysis of the muscles that control the rectum and bladder emptying. This requires veterinary care to assist the animal to defecate and urinate. In extreme cases, especially if the alcohol injected migrates from the tail to nearby muscles and skin, damage can be so severe that necrosis can set in. Another damaging outcome is the development of a form of body paralysis due to nerve damage in the hindquarters.

These can be problems for a few weeks or months, but many have permanent damage with owners sending them to the slaughterhouse.

How is the tail blocked or nerved?

The tail can be blocked by veterinarians, much like nerve-blocking to a leg. However, more often it is done using alcohol for the cheap, untraceable, behind the barn version that no one is to know about. The bad trainers and owners preferred method.

The major nerves of a horse’s tail are injected with alcohol to stop the horse’s ability to lift, or even move its tail. The results of injecting can be the introduction of an infection to the tail. Tail circulation is poor, and injuries are slow to heal, and infections can persist and spread into the leg, into the back, etc. Worst case, you have a dead horse on your hands.

While simple local anesthetics could be used, such medications can show up in drug tests.

Conversely, grain alcohol acts locally and degrades the myelin sheaths of the nerves so that the horse cannot move its tail. Injections are usually applied directly to the tail at a certain point at the base of the dock. If the wrong point is used the problems of infection escalate. Some inject slightly down from the base of the dock so that the horse may appear to carry its tail in a natural manner, but only for the first few inches, and the animal still cannot move the entire tail structure. This is often undetectable, though injections can sometimes leave white spots above the tail dock like the horse in the image or the sliding horse with obvious tail marks in the main image. These are often treated with hair die to cover the evidence at shows.

Needless to say, with an untraceable drug used; tail blocking can, and is, happening more than one cares to believe.

While promoters of the practice claim that most grain alcohol injections eventually wear off, if done carefully, a poorly done injection can cause abscesses or permanent nerve damage. Sometimes normal tail function never returns.

Read the story of Gator, where a trainer convinced an owner it was just the done thing to inject tails. Gator went from a world champion paint contender to a long-suffering, then ultimately a pasture horse.

Next time you see a reining horse flying down the pen with a flat tail – you are most likely looking at a blocked tail. Take note if the judges or stewards do anything about it on the day. Were drug tests being done? Most likely not according to the low number of horses tested. Does the person appear in the suspended list?

Don’t forget to vote on our poll for change to improve the regulations to stop this happening.

 

© 2017 ReiningTrainers.com All Rights Reserved.

Weekend Warriors Could be Silent Abuse

Could this be abuse Big Fella? Lugging excess weight is really putting pressure on the horse, say the scientists. The horse suffers just to satisfy the weekend warrior.

You have to ask “does the warrior consider all the factors of animal welfare or just focus on getting a winning run?”

An owner of a racehorse puts a jockey on the horse. The jockey has weight restrictions on them and thoroughbreds typically run on the basis of 10% weight on their backs, including saddles. They are deemed under heavy stress when they carry more than 143 pounds or 65 kilograms. And only a rare individual can win major races with that weight aboard. That are the rules for racehorses that are working at the top of their game with extreme fitness galloping over distance.

Consider the reining horse. It not only has to gallop, but they also stop hard, spin hard and may well have more stress and strain on them than a racehorse. Some are not even sufficiently prepared in fitness for the weekend runs.

In research presented in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, and published throughout the world as a benchmark and leading research paper, the weight carrying ability of a horse and its effects on them uncovered the degree of stress and soreness they experience.

The average weight of a quarter horse reiner standing 15hh weighs around 1000 pounds or 450 kilograms. Scientists say the correct weight carrying capacity of those horses is 15-20% of their body weight. With a saddle weighing an average of 55 pounds/25 kilograms, this allows for a rider weight of just 143 pounds/75 kilograms at a 20% ratio. The more intense the work required by the horse, the less weight it must carry.

The big heavy reining rider in this photo is an example of what some reiners are expected to carry. You can see the pressure over the horse’s kidneys and back with the downward curve in the horse’s loins. It’s not a photo angle, in fact, it looks worse than this from different angles.

We were informed this person is approximately 6 feet tall, and can potentially weigh 286 pounds/130 kilograms, if not more, plus tack. According to scientists, he should be riding a horse weighing in at 1550 pounds/700 kilograms. That would usually be a horse standing over 16.2hh with a solid build; like a warmblood. Or maybe not on a horse at all.

Should this person be riding futurity horses in a pen?

Big and/or overweight men and women, riding reining horses (and horses in other events) are causing consistent and maybe for some severe pain and suffering according to the researchers. While most healthy horses can easily carry a rider and saddle, they do have their limits, particularly in extreme reining maneuvers and all the time spent in the warm-up pen.

Researchers identified a threshold for when a rider is too heavy for a horse to comfortably carry them in normal riding. These researched horses were tested undertaking just walk-trot-canter, and not extreme moves of the reining pen. The additional stress of spinning, stopping and working at speed adds, even more, stress. The other allowance not considered is the stress on their legs hauling to and from events.

Reining horses are renowned for having the highest levels of hock problems and carrying excessive weight is just adding to this problem.

In the research, the heart rate was monitored, and plasma lactate concentration was determined in jugular blood samples pre-exercise, immediately post-exercise, and 10 minutes post-exercise, with serum creatine kinase activity determined at the same times as plasma lactate concentrations, with additional samples collected at 24 hours and 48 hours post-exercise. Muscle soreness and muscle tightness scores were determined using a subjective scoring system 24 hours before and 24 hours after exercise.

Heart rates remained significantly higher when the horses carried 25 and 30% of their body weight. Plasma lactate concentrations immediately and 10 minutes after exercise differed when horses carried 30% of their body weight compared with 15, 20, and 25% weight carriage.

Horses tended to have a greater change in muscle soreness and muscle tightness when carrying 25% of their body weight, and a significant change in soreness and tightness scores was found in horses carrying 30% of their body weight. Add extreme maneurvers and you have a horse that is suffering in silence, particularly when put back on the trailer for the trip home.

Interestingly, this research from the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute has concluded with the same weight guideline as to the US Calvary Manuals of Horse Management published in 1920.

Should there be a weight limit on those ‘Big Riders’ showing (even riding) reiners that are well over the limit?

Animal welfare or animal abuse is defined as using the horse to perform behaviors that cause physical or mental harm to the horse whether intentionally or not.

The weight a reining horse carries in warm-up pens and competition can greatly affect its health and welfare; there are limits to what a horse can carry.

Next time you look at a ‘big sized’ person aboard a reining horse, consider the stress and silent abuse the horse experiences while these people entertain themselves.

We are polling for change at the NRHA, don’t forget to vote here. Voting Now Closed

 

A late footnote: Overweight English Riders are Asked to Dismount at a Show  – click here to read the article.

 

Reference: Evaluation of Indicators of Weight-Carrying Ability of Riding Horses : Debra M. Powell, MS, PhD Karen Bennett-Wimbush, MS, PhD, Amy Peeples, AAS, BS,  Maria Duthie, BS. Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, Wooster, Ohio

Scar marks on a horses face from being beaten by trainer with spurs on

Reining Trainer Spurs Mare in the Face

These confronting images are how a man finds his horse after being in training with a high profile Australian Reining Trainer. Badly spurred with spur tracks down her sides and shoulders and even a spur tracks near her eye. He reports that the horse also had a torn tongue on both sides. It was reported that the trainer could not get the young mare to do flying lead changes; she was just two and half years of age. A young mare that is just starting out her career under saddle.

Spur Tracks On Shoulder and Sides

A reining enthusiast has been concerned about putting this out in the open until now after seeing how much abuse goes on. Like many, he would consider his case to be unique, but people are quickly learning about other victims of abuse of their horses too.

Seeing the promotion of reining and select trainers, through marketing clinics and events, this man may have felt a degree of comfort from all the marketing, and the high profile individual marketed by the association.

So Who is the Trainer?

We are withholding his name at this time with the expectation it is the Reining Association or other reining trainers responsibility to ‘out’ the person.

However, researching online, the trainer states he is a multiple futurity champion, with many national awards too. Promoted by the association as one of the leading trainers in their country, this trainer travels the country giving clinics on training and horsemanship under the “Reining Trainers Professional” banner. An NRHA member competing in the show ring and a professional trainer. A known abuse offender being openly marketed and endorsed by the associations in that country.

Appearing on an NRHA affiliate website the trainer is endorsed as Professional Trainer with the following statement:

“Reining Professionals is an industry body establishing and governing standards for professional reining trainers in Australia. Members agree to uphold ethical treatment of horses in their training programmes and undertake continued education in the form of clinics, seminars and overseas studies to improve their service to their clients and develop the reining horse industry in general.

 A Reining Professional’s primary responsibility is to provide the highest quality service to their clients. They are to operate in a professional manner and at all times act with the highest degree of integrity. The list of Professionals below hold full financial membership and agree to be bound by the rules of the Reining Professionals ‘Code of Ethics.”

The standards of this Reining Professionals certainly need to be questioned if the person training this mare is one of their best in the land down under. The public in Australia should be careful and prudent if selecting or using a Reining Professional trainer based on the evidence presented to us.

The reining enthusiast says he is expecting threats against him personally by the trainer for posting these images but informs us that he is not concerned. Typical behaviors of trainers and their friends that we wrote about in our article ‘Who is looking after the welfare of reining horses’.

Reining Trainers Enigma has people contacting us that were concerned about the repercussions of speaking out but now are gaining confidence to do so, to stamp out abuse. Their stories are disturbing as to what is really going on. Only when this is out in the open will changes be made to the standards of Professional Reining Trainers and the NRHA Rule Book.

Reining Trainers Enigma is about stopping horse abuse. If you would like to report an incident and photographs or video of the damage, please send them to us via Facebook or our website.

Please do not forget to vote on Polling For Change. Now Closed.

© 2017 ReiningTrainers.com  All Rights Reserved

NRHA’s newest unofficial ambassador: Clinton Anderson

Clinton Anderson describes training techniques for a reining horse and children

NRHA has a new self-appointed ambassador of reining, Clinton Anderson of Downunder Horsemanship, a constant of the North American clinicians circuit in recent years. Anderson is taking his thousands of followers on the journey of training his NRHA reining futurity prospect Titan (aka Telling White Lies) and providing his opinion on training and horse management and all things imaginable for children and people.

He states “if your definition of an asshole is someone who tells the truth, speaks their mind, and is direct, then yes I’m a complete asshole”

Mr Anderson explains in part 4 video of Titan, released in June 2016, that it is right to

‘knock the shit’ out of a male teenager or horse to remind them there is a pecking order; regularly.

He goes on to share his opinion by ridiculing segments of society and showing contempt for other people. All this is delivered in a narcissistic ego-filled video under the guise of him telling it how it really is.

Click here to watch the interview slide to about the 9 minute mark and listen, or read a transcript of the media release.

With over 53,000 views of the video, this is creating a social media storm.

As a member of the NRHA, in their welfare statement, he is expected to

care for and treat [a reining horse] as a member of the family, and that relationship is the essence of a members involvement in Reining. An interesting perspective of family is held by Mr Anderson.

They [NRHA] further state,

the NRHA promotes and stands by the wellbeing of the mind, body and spirit of the horse at all times. We expect our members to consider the welfare of their horses paramount and to always treat them with dignity, respect and compassion.

It is understood by horse people, [and parents] all stallions [horses and children] need boundaries but how you establish them is important. Firm and fair is a horseman’s approach to each individual situation. Is the video of his opinions way over the top to how he actually managed the stallion? After listening to all the videos and/or reading all the transcripts, would you say this is respectful and the way to treat a member of the family?

We can say that some people seeing Mr Anderson out and about, may want to give him a big warm down under holler and say ‘gidday arsehole’ and that is not for his horse management.

Does the NRHA condone Clinton Anderson’s behaviour?

In fact, the NRHA promotes Clinton Anderson as a corporate partner. An interesting partnership on the basis of their welfare statement.

 A late note to this blog:

Seems Clinton Anderson has been taking this approach for some time. Here is a snippet from his newsletter published by deserthorseinc.com. He is not misquoted as some say- he means every single word of it.

http_deserthorseinc.com_blog_category_horse-abuse_page_2

What actions are considered horse abuse? Click here to find out more.

Have some news or video of reining horse abuse? We are building a case for reform on trainers and your contribution can assist. Click here to send us information.

© 2016 ReiningTrainers.com  All Rights Reserved.

Reining Trainer Charged with Horse Abuse

Reining Trainer Mark Arballo Sentenced In Felony Animal Cruelty Case

Written by Stacy Pigott on .

Bella Gunnabe Gifted • Waltenberry photo on May 27, reining trainer Mark Arballo was sentenced to three years probation on one count of felony animal cruelty in the September 2013 death of Bella Gunnabe Gifted. Arballo’s probation includes 180 days of home detention, as well as a stipulation prohibiting him from training horses for three years.

Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Gerard, of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, was present at the San Diego Superior Court, South County Division for sentencing. According to Gerard, approximately 12 “Bella” supporters were in attendance, two of which stood up and read letters to the court. Arballo also read a letter in which he maintained that Bella’s death was an accident.

Bella Gunnabe Gifted (Colonels Smoking Gun [Gunner] x Bay Brim Hat x Hollywood Return) died at age 5 while in training with Arballo at owner Martha Torkington’s River Valley Ranch. Following an investigation by the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services, the district attorney charged Arballo with one count of felony animal cruelty under California Penal Code 597(a) in September 2014. He pled not guilty in October, but in late March, entered a plea of guilty to one charge of felony animal cruelty under PC597(b).

“There was the 597(a), and that essentially included the element of intent – that he intentionally tormented a horse. And 597(b) takes out the element of intent. So it just says that he did torment a horse,” Gerard explained. “It’s kind of a technical difference, but he [Arballo] didn’t want to plead to the intentional. For our purposes, it was still a felony. He admitted to tormenting the horse and torturing the horse and he got the same amount of time, so we were OK with him pleading to that.”

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office asked Judge Garry Haehnle to sentence Arballo to 365 days of custody. The subsequent judgment of three years of formal probation and 180 days home detention will be served in North Carolina, where Arballo currently resides.

Arballo will be monitored in San Diego through a SCRAM house arrest GPS monitoring device. He is only allowed to leave his residence for work, church or medical reasons. The sentence also included a Fourth waiver as a condition of probation, meaning that Arballo’s person, house or effects can be searched at any time without probable cause.

“He’s also not to train horses as a condition of probation,” said Gerard, adding that the issue of horse ownership represented a gray area. “We do know that he owns a horse. He [the judge] basically made it clear that he [Arballo] was not to be training or around horses, but the actual issue of him owning a horse wasn’t specifically addressed.”

While the normal court fees were imposed, Gerard said the issue of restitution was not brought before the court. “Mrs. Torkington said that she had already been made whole from the insurance payout, so we didn’t address it.” Torkington has filed a civil case against Arballo and his girlfriend, Patricia Hohl, that is still pending in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego – Central Division. A tentative civil jury trial date of Jan. 29, 2016 has been set.

The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) handbook addresses court of law convictions and allows the NRHA to discipline a member if there is a conviction of an individual felony, animal abuse or moral turpitude under municipal, county, state or federal law. According to the NRHA publication The Reiner, Arballo’s NRHA membership is currently suspended. The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) previously sent notice to Arballo, who was not an AQHA member at the time, that the association had imposed restrictions on him, including the denial of privileges associated with conducting registration-related transactions with the AQHA and participation in any AQHA event.

“It was a newer case to our office, and I think it was something that was very close to the horse community’s heart,” Gerard said. “We did get a lot of media attention from the equine community and from what I’ve understood, they were very pleased with the outcome that he was not able to train horses. And that was ultimately our goal as well. We wanted to make sure that, for at least the three years that we could, he was not going to be near another horse.”

As a follow-up to this article on September 13th, 2016

– Abusive horse trainer ordered to pay $160,000 settlement 9-13-16

Mark Arballo is paying a price now for his actions and it will set a precedent for all other trainers facing action against them for horse abuse.

What actions are considered horse abuse? Click here to find out more.

Have some news or video of reining horse abuse? We are building a case for reform on trainers and your contribution can assist. Click here to send us information.

NOTE:  It is reported that Mark Arballo is now back as a NRHA Reining Horse Professional Trainer.

 

© 2015 ReiningTrainers.com  All Rights Reserved.

 

Horse trainer fined $4,000 for abusive training methods

On March 27, 2013, the Alberta SPCA received a call from a concerned individual who had seen a trainer injuring a horse through the aggressive use of his spurs and reins.

The caller had photographed the horse’s injuries: numerous deep cuts to the sides of the animal, which resulted in significant bleeding, as well as bleeding from the mouth. The witness also gave our peace officer a video recording of the same trainer injuring a different horse in the same fashion, with the same results, earlier in February 2013.

During the course of the investigation, more people came forward with information. They all described incidents where the trainer was observed injuring and causing distress to horses with training methods that are not acceptable to the riding community. His methods included using spurs intended to cut into the flesh, tying back a horse’s head and withholding feed and water.

Kyle Ronald Weston pleaded guilty in Grande Prairie Provincial Court on February 15, 2014, to four counts relating to section 2(1) of the Animal Protection Act. He was fined a total of $4,000.

February 15, 2014, Grande Prairie

Read about the charges and $160,000 fine Mark Arballo received on September 13th, 2016 for horse abuse.

What actions are considered horse abuse? Click here to find out more.

Have some news or video of reining horse abuse? We are building a case for reform on trainers and your contribution can assist. Click here to send us information.