LISTEN NOW!
To listen to the Plaidcast, you can use the player below, Stitcher, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play Music, or your other favorite podcasting app!
Brought to you by National Steeplechase Association, Stableguard, Plaid Horse Magazine and Sales Paddock, Springtime Supplements, TPH Show Strides, Equestrian Voices Writing Contest, National Steeplechase Association, Stonewall Ponies, and Tokaruk Show Stables.
January 12th, 2019
The future of equestrian sport and how we can help our horses achieve their best. Elizabeth from Equine Elixirs on the best ways to support our horses, and with Lindsay Maxwell and Bill Rube from the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund about what’s in store for the horse showing world. Hosted by Piper Klemm and Sissy Wickes. Listen in!
GUESTS AND LINKS:
- Link to Sound File for Sight Impaired: Click Here
- Hosts: Piper Klemm, Publisher of The Plaid Horse Magazine and Sissy Wickes
- Photo source The Plaid Horse
- Guest: Elizabeth Ehrlich, Equine Elixirs, Equine Elixirs Instagram, Equine Elixirs Facebook
- Guest: Bill Rube & Lindsay Maxwell, Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund
- Sponsors: Stableguard, Plaid Horse Magazine, Sales Paddock, Springtime Supplements, Equestrian Voices Writing Contest, Tokaruk Show Stables
- Contact: If you’d like to give us feedback, suggestions, or ask questions, you can email us at plaidcast@theplaidhorse.com. We love to hear from you!
Here are some snippets of our great conversations:
Elizabeth Ehrlich: Equine Elixirs
Elizabeth: Positude is something that we’ve been working on for a little under a year. It started, in my mind, right around the time there was a lot of discussion about whether Depo would become a banned substance. And Depo was something I have used on my mare, and on prior horses, for years, and it’s always been very successful for me. And I know that some people have had mixed results with it, but I’ve always liked it.
Sissy: So just let me break in for a minute to remind our listeners, Depo-Provera is medroxy-progesterone and it is a substance which the USEF has still not made a decision on in terms of allowing it for use in our hunter jumper disciplines. Currently, you have to file a report to every time you use Depo-Provera, medroxy-progesterone, on your show horse. So go ahead.
Elizabeth: Right, so Depo is banned at the FEI level.
Sissy: Right.
Elizabeth: So if you’re competing at FEI levels, you can’t use it. And it’s true that currently you can still use it if you’re competing at the USEF levels, if you fill out med report forms. I’ve always been interested in all-natural alternatives as a way to accomplish similar sort of goal as a drug can often do. And as with Ulceraser, I started doing the research to figure out what substances I could put together that would be all-natural and horse show safe that would potentially have the same effects as Depo. And so in doing the research, I came up with really just three ingredients that we were focused on: chase berry extract, raspberry leaf extract, and dong quai root extract, and putting them together. And seeing if we could be successful in using that lieu of Depo. And after having tested it on a number of different horses over quite a long period of time, the answer was yes. And that is how Positude came to be.
Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund:
Sissy: What do you and Bill see as the most pressing issues that face our sport? And do you have any ideas of how we tackle these issues?
Lindsay: So this is a fantastic question and I’m really glad that we’re discussing this today. I like to think of myself as an optimist, and more than challenges, I like to think that I see opportunities. And I think our biggest opportunities for our sport right now relate to access and inclusion. I know that that’s been a big conversation piece recently for a lot of people in our sport. And the future of our sport really depends on constantly engaging the next generation of equestrians. I think that finding opportunities or starting towards solutions for issues relies heavily on continually evaluating the sport and asking questions. I’ve been really heartened that there are a lot of wonderful people asking great questions.
I think it’s important to remember that our sport is not immune to prevailing morals, factors, and conditions. As the income gap widens, are we doing enough to create affordable access opportunities for people to participate and grow in our sport? As the world becomes more globalized and diverse, are we supporting a culture of inclusion, where everyone feels safe and welcome?
I don’t think there’s any one answer to these questions, there’s no magic bullet, but it’s also important to remember that there isn’t a single entity tasked with their resolution, and in my view that is a good thing. I think it’s an opportunity for all of us, collectively and individually, who love and care about this sport to consider what we can do to support access and inclusion. And if you accept that these opportunities require these multifaceted solutions, then I think that we can start by exploring the current show structure.
If you want to hear more about Equine Elixirs and how best to incorporate Positude into your supplement program, the future of the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund, and to hear about Lindsay talk about her new adventures in the jumper ring, listen in!
