Tony Andre Hansen doping news - spray to stop horse biting rugs!

[skewbaldpony]

OK absolutely for the last time.
Because the FEI's job is to promote and protect the sport, not to destroy it.
If there is some monkey business going on with capsaicin, which was not shown by the previous test, and is now (which according to those who seem to know, is unlikely) then fair enough.
But if all they have exposed is a nasty case of rug spraying, they have not done the sport any favours at all.

 

[dieseldog]

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Well quite. If a substance is banned then you don't knowingly use it in any form, no matter how innocent your intentions are.
My friend's Mum will be competing in the paralympics (her 4th). They have to submit a list of all the medications they take and are given a list of what they are allowed to continue taking and the last date they are allowed to take other drugs so that they will be out of their system in time. They are told not to take or use anything else without checking first. It really is that simple - and it is the same applied to the horses. If you think a substance shouldn't be banned as it has a therapeutic use etc then you take that up with the governing body beforehand, ask for a medical exemption or whatever. You don't take the risk of using a known banned substance - in any form - and then moan when you get caught out. Why should the FEI have told the riders that they would be testing for capsaicin - or that they would have a more sensitive test for it - in Hong Kong? It was already banned.

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Well said. If you are riding at the highest level, with access to the sports best vets, having had 1,000s of pounds spent on getting you to the olympics, with billions of people watching you worldwide why would you put yourself in the situation where you might test positive for something? 88% of the horses tested were clean, their riders managed to follow the rules to stop using something that they may have been using in the past. It would be interesting to know if any other horses were tested after the individual final - if they were they must have been clean too.

Maybe the blame should lie with the national federations for not making it clearer that a product that someone has regularing been using for a completly innocent reason would test positive as it contained a banned substance.

If the FEI did start to use thermal imaging cameras how accurate would they be? If a horse bangs it leg it will show up as heat, if the temperature was hot it would show up as heat, it may also be normal for that horse to have hotter than normal legs.

 

[Serenity087]

capsaicin is a performance enhancing drug and is registered by the NHS for treatment of humans.

Does anyone know if it's also banned for human use? Or if the association with chemical rapping is why it's banned in horses.

Presumably if the riders handled rugs and then licked fingers they're also contaminated??

 

[skewbaldpony]

but humans have lawyers, so can take cocaine, but get let off because it was recreational.

 

[sunflower]

Capsaicin has fairly limited use in humans and is only really used for treating specific types of pain - no idea if it's on the banned list for humans or not.
It is banned for use in/on horses as follows (from the FEI website).
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Capsaicin is classified as a« doping » prohibited substance given its hypersensitizing properties, and as a « medication class A » prohibited substance for its pain relieving properties.


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[Serenity087]

It may have limited options, but my Dad seems to use it fairly regularly.

Hence why I wonder about the legality in humans.

 

[Puppy]

I tell you, all this talk about it, I'd rather like to try it on my arthritic knees and ankles now!!

 

[Lobelia_Overhill]

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It would be interesting to know more about the amounts of substances that trigger a positive test. It seems like "has come into contact" is a reasonable defence (although it doesn't change the outcome) which means that the levels detected must now be TINY.

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".. equivalent to a grain of salt in a bowlful of sugar" I recall someone saying, oh 20 odd years ago... feck knows what it is now, in a sackful of sugar?

 

[gloster_image]

Tbh i'm inclined to agree with skewbald here. Although yes it has been on the banned list and riders should have been more aware of this - it is their responsibility after all to check that every single thing that the horse is in contact with is not on the banned list - it is also the job of the FEI to keep the sport clean and safe - not to bring the sport which is already doubtful about its future, into further disrepute, because of a rug spray.