17
EQUINE MATTERS
ANT I - DOP ING
Anti-doping
and
controlled medication
in
competition
David Rowlands BVSc CertEM(StudMed) MRCVS,
Penbode Equine
Do you know that horses can be dope tested
at British Horseracing Authority (BHA), British
Eventing (BE), British Dressage (BD), British
Show-jumping (BS) and Fédération Equestre
Internationale (FEI) competitions
?
Dope testing
refers to diagnostic sampling used to detect
prohibited substances that have the potential
to enhance performance. Commonly used
equine medications are on the FEI Prohibited
Substance list. It’s important that owners,
riders, grooms and their home vets are
familiar with the regulations and procedures.
Rule violations will be penalised and could
potentially result in a ban.
So why does the FEI dope test
?
The answer is
simple; to maintain fair competition. It does
this by enforcing regulations requiring horses
to be free from certain performance
enhancing substances; these are known as
prohibited substances.
In most cases, those horses that are
competing should follow the withdrawal times
for the particular medication administered to
the horse by your veterinary surgeon. There are
however instances where in emergency
situations the welfare of a horse close to
competing may be at risk and treatment may
need to be administered. In these cases, under
FEI regulations a special form must be filled out
and presented for retrospective authorisation
and for determination, where appropriate,
whether the horse can continue to compete at
the event. There is no guarantee that these
forms will be authorised.
●
Banned substances
- have no legitimate
use in the competition horse and/or
have a high potential for abuse e.g.
anabolic steroids or human anti-psychotic
medication.
●
Controlled substances
- have
therapeutic value and/or are commonly
used in equine medicine. However, they
may also affect performance, and/or
be a welfare risk to the horse. E.g.
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
such as phenylbutazone ‘bute’.
Prohibited substances are
classified as either:
●
Use separate feed and water buckets
for each horse in the yard. This should
help reduce the chance of cross
contamination.
●
If a horse in the yard is receiving a
controlled substance in its feed,
prepare this last, wear disposable
rubber gloves to prepare the feed,
wash your hands and the buckets
thoroughly afterwards.
●
Only use feeds that are certified as free
from prohibited substances and from
reputable companies. Make a note of
batch numbers whenever possible.
●
Be cautious with supplements. Do not
use ‘home prepared’ remedies.
●
Communicate well with your vet. This is
particularly important with regard to the
dates of your upcoming competitions
and whether these are governed by FEI,
BHA, BE, BD or BS regulations.
●
Never accept feed or supplements from
other riders/grooms/teams.
A few general principles of
good practice to reduce the
chance of a positive dope
test include:
Remember the FEI’s philosophy is that
horses must be clean at the time of
competition. With this in mind, if in any
doubt don't compete.
For the most up-to-date information, the
FEI Equine anti-doping and controlled
medication regulations can be
downloaded from
regulations/veterinary or for the BHA
these can be downloaded from
.
Veterinary surgeon
David Rowlands
XLEquine practice
Penbode Equine
