Herbs that are not competition Legal

[onemoretime]

Does anyone know which herbs are NOT allowed in competition. I tried to google this and quite a few common herbs were banned according to a particular supplement company. However a further herbal supplement company says they are not banned.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Devil's claw (which I knew about) and meadowsweet (which I didn't) are both banned according to Feedmark. Both are in their product Zerobute.

 

[SEL]

Valerian I think

 

[cauda equina]

Valerian is banned too

 

[little_critter]

Those are the 3 I’m aware of too.

 

[onemoretime]

Valerian I think

Yes, Valerian has been banned for a long time.

 

[onemoretime]

When I googled this came up its been put up by Equifeast.

What herbs are banned by the FEI?


The ingredients and properties of products to be classified as prohibited are valerian, kava kava, passionflower, skullcap, chamomile, vervain, leopard's bane, night shade, capsaicin, comfrey, devil's claw, hops, laurel, lavender, red poppy and rawuolfia.”

 

[cauda equina]

I'm surprised about some of those eg chamomile and hops - I know they're supposed to relax humans but always thought any effectiveness was likely to be purely placebo
Capsaicin rings a bell though, I think SJers have been caught putting it under horse's boots to increase skin sensitivity

 

[onemoretime]

I'm surprised about some of those eg chamomile and hops - I know they're supposed to relax humans but always thought any effectiveness was likely to be purely placebo
Capsaicin rings a bell though, I think SJers have been caught putting it under horse's boots to increase skin sensitivity

Im not certain that chamomile and hops are actually banned its just what Equifeast have put up. Capsaicin definitely is banned, as you say, SJ's have been caught rubbing it on horses legs, it burns the skin. Equinutrive say their No More Nerves is competition legal and that has camomile, vervain. Honestly its a minefield!

 

[AandK]

There is a searchable list on the FEI website: http://prohibitedsubstancesdatabase.feicleansport.org/ I can see valerian, capsaicin and devils claw on there, but not meadowsweet.

 

[Tiddlypom]

That’s interesting.
According to Feedmark and others Meadowsweet contains salicylic acid (aspirin).

 

[ihatework]

The salicylic acid is a big one to watch out for in anything that claims anti inflammatory properties

 

[MagicMelon]

Unless you're doing high level / FEI stuff I wouldnt worry. Ive never been tested in all the time Ive been competing (including a short stint at FEI). I dont use anything prohibited, however if its something basic like chamomile which you think helps your horse then I dont see why not. I give my horses a big bucket of garden herbs sometimes for them to pick and choose, dont see the issue! Its hardly going to give you a competitive benefit because your horse ate some chamomile flowers a few days before.

 

[TGM]

Unless you're doing high level / FEI stuff I wouldnt worry. Ive never been tested in all the time Ive been competing (including a short stint at FEI).

I think it is wise to be cautious - when daughter's horse was eventing he was tested twice, and one time was when he was doing a BE Novice, so not an international class. British Riding Clubs also test at their championships and I recall a winning team was once eliminated when it was found one of the horses was on bute.

When our horse was tested at BE Novice, at the same time we had a horse in our yard who was on bute for an injury. We tried to impress on my husband how important it was not to get any cross contamination between feeds but he just scoffed and said it was unlikely that the competing horse would be tested. It then turned out that he was tested just a few days later! Thankfully we had been very careful doing the feeds and not let husband anywhere near the feed shed!

 

[palo1]

Some really surprising things are not competition legal! I am probably out of date but I think sudocreme was one of them and menthol is another; both very common things found and used regularly topically. A number of herbs that are not banned could potentially contain a compound that might trigger a positive test so if you are competing, really the best thing to do is ensure that all feeds and supplements are tested to be competition safe. Ironically I understand (I could be wrong on this lol) that prascend is a banned substance but may be impossible to detect in any case. I know the PC debated it and I think allowed it to be a certificated medication...

 

[onemoretime]

There is Camomile in Dengie Meadow Grass chaff and some other herbs I believe.

 

[rabatsa]

Do not forget chocolate.

My lot would gain bans due to there being meadowsweet growing in my fields and getting into the lovely meadow hay that we make.

 

[ihatework]

Do not forget chocolate.

My lot would gain bans due to there being meadowsweet growing in my fields and getting into the lovely meadow hay that we make.

This is often the cause of contaminations! Whatever is growing in fields!

I’ve got a friend who is high up with one of the big feed companies and I was questioning why their feeds didn’t contain linseed. It was because they couldn’t get a reliable enough supply that met their quality standards - the issue was the proximity of poppies being grown near linseed crops

 

[palo1]

As a side issue it is interesting to consider what competition horses (that are abiding by all of the anti-doping regs) could be missing out on! Meadow sweet, willow (salicylic acid) linseed etc are generally appreciated and considered helpful for many horses and that is just some really basic things! My horses love snacking on willow, I wouldn't want them to avoid meadow or hedgerow herbs and linseed certainly has helped my horses in the past. Thought provoking really...!!

 

[cauda equina]

I expect a lot of horses are missing out on things if all they eat is sprayed grazing, sprayed hay and bagged feed

 

[MagicMelon]

Sad really when so many horses could benefit from herbs and ultimately it should all come down to their welfare. Crazy banning those sorts of things IMO.

 

[onemoretime]

Sad really when so many horses could benefit from herbs and ultimately it should all come down to their welfare. Crazy banning those sorts of things IMO.

Yes, it does get a bit ridiculous really when you think herbs are natural and what a horse would choose to eat if he was wandering out on moors etc.