Arnica!!!!!!!!!!!! Banned substance?!

punk

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I thought Arnica was a natural hoeopathic remedy and not a banned substance?!!!!!!!!!!!
www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/283477.html

Does anyone know? And does it apply to use on the humans as well?!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Have found this on FEI website but not very clear - seems to cover everything except water!!
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VETERINARY REGULATIONS
11th edition 2009
Annex VII
ANNEX VII
HERBAL OR NATURAL MEDICINAL PRODUCTS
1. Riders, trainers, grooms and veterinarians are cautioned against the use of herbal
medications, tonics, oral pastes and products of any kind, the ingredients and quantitative
analysis of which are not known in detail. Many of these products can contain one or more
Prohibited Substances.
2. Persons administering a herbal or so‐called natural product to a horse or pony for health
reasons or to affect its performance, having been informed that the plant origin of its
ingredients do not violate the FEI regulations, may have been misinformed.
3. The use of any herbal or natural product to affect the performance of a horse or pony in a
calming (tranquillising) or an energising (stimulant) manner is expressly forbidden by the FEI
regulations. The use of a calming product during competition may also have important
safety consequences.
4. The FEI does not test or approve herbal or natural products to verify a possible violation of
the FEI rules and regulations. Therefore a claim that the product does not violate the FEI
rules or is undetectable by drug testing is the sole responsibility of the manufacturer or
individual making such a claim.
5. The use of a herbal or natural product may result in a positive test result, contrary to the
claim by the manufacturer or marketing agent. Many Prohibited Substances (e.g. salicylates,
digitalis, reserpine) have their origin in plants and may be regarded as serious rule violations.
6. As the analytical techniques in the testing laboratory become more refined, the fact that
these products have not been detected by testing in the past does not hold any guarantee
for their safe use in competition.
 

Bossanova

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I have absolutely no idea how on earth you could test for arnica seeing as it's essentially nothing
 

lannerch

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I am sure arnica is not a banned substance, otherwise a lot of event riders by now would have been banned!

There is no prohibited substance in it
 

Steph2002

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As far as I know Arnica is not the problem here, Cornet Obolensky had an injection with lactanase and arnica. Lactanase apparently helps with the regeneration of tired and sore muscles. It is not clear yet if lactanase is deemed to be doping but was in any event unauthorized medication.
 

lucretia

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*speaking very slowly* as i said on the other thread arnica itself is not banned it is what it is mixed with. that includes whatever it is suspended in when you use it as a regular pill lotion or cream. That is why you should never use one of these things from anyone that does not have a complete list of ingredients.
And they can test for pretty much anything these days. There wasnt enough capsicum in the tests of most of the olympic horses to dope a mouse for example........
 

TarrSteps

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Just two points to add . .

One, "natural" doesn't mean "not performance enhancing" (which is the whole point of the list). Many, many drugs that are now synthesised were originally natural substances - Asprin is a version of what is in willow, caffeine is a stimulant, Deadly Nightshade is, well, deadly. Just because something comes from a plant or a rock doesn't mean it's okay.
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Two, the list is supposed to address any substance that can be used to affect performance. The litmus test is if it's proven to be effective then it's banned. (This is part of the reason many "natural" remedies don't actually want to shell out for efficacy testing and therefore can't be "proven" to work. It's no win - prove it works and it won't be allowed in competition, prove it doesn't and no one will buy it.
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) So technically using anything you *think* will juice a horse up, or calm a horse down, or mask pain, or otherwise make the horse easier/more successful to ride and compete is against the spirit of the law. Obviously it's more complicated than that and it's a bit of an arms race but the FEI has taken the position that it's better to err on the side of too much restriction than too little. Now, whether or not you agree equine athletes should be denied pain medication etc is a whole other topic . . .
 

punk

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So - does anyone dare to use anything?
ie magnesian calmer such as Magic, or Arnica/ Arnica and witch Hazel, Herbal supplements, Gastrogard, Seaweed, Garlic etc etc etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do we know whether the powers that be will allow them - either singly or in combination?!!!
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Surely there must be a standard, and if the manufacturer says there are no banned substances, surely it is their reponsibility?!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ie could be sued?
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TarrSteps

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I don't think the "powers that be" are trying to make everyone's life difficult or stop people from looking after their horses as they wish, they are trying to "level the playing" field so that people are not trying to gain advantage through medication etc. Now, whether that's how it works out or not, I agree, might be debatable.

First off, not every association/show/discipline uses the FEI list (generally considered to be the most restrictive) and some allow "legal levels" of various substances. There is a list of what is and is not allowed for each set of drug rulings. It's up to COMPETITORS to know what that list is and whether or not the substances they use may be on it.

As far as manufacturers, it depends on what list they're talking about. There are things legal for racing in the US say, that might not be legal for racing here, or not legal for FEI sport. There have been cases where feed has been contaminated with a product NOT listed as an ingredient and yes, the company has been held responsible. But otherwise, at the end of the day, the rule is the rider is responsible for knowing what goes on/in his/her horse and what his/her particular sport allows.

As far as feeding supplements that don't list ingredients . . . well, one might argue that's a risk practice anyway. As above, not everything natural is good and anyway, I'd want to know I was getting what I paid for.
 
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