Https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/usef-targets-misuse-of-deadly-substances-with-rule-change-proposal/

[EventerAJ]

@endlessclimb

“The rule change would also prohibit possession of any prescription medication without a label identifying the horse, pharmacy, prescription date and prescribing veterinarian, unless it is in the possession of a veterinarian.”

This is mirroring federal law for veterinary drugs.

But it can be a little bit PITA. I have a full bottle of banamine at home; sold to me by my vet pharmacy, who is required to list the horse, date, and veterinarian (as required above). But does that mean I ONLY use it on that horse? Of course not. I have 20 horses here; one gets colicky, it gets banamine. Another one has an eye ulcer, it gets banamine. A colt gets castrated, it gets banamine. That bottle is used (per veterinarian direction) on whatever horse needs it. Same with a bottle of ace and other sedatives, that I give according to vet directions as needed (clipping, shoeing, rehab turnout, etc).

When I travel out of state to shows, I take a 10cc dose of banamine with me. Because what if my horse gets a minor eye injury in the trailer, or starts acting a little colicky? I also keep some sedatives in the truck for an emergency as well (hauling, loading). I’m not bringing the whole medicine cabinet with me, but chances are good I have a small amount of prescription medication with me to be prepared, and that medication won’t be pre-labeled for the horse it’s used on.

[endlessclimb]

I agree with you whole heartedly. People like yourself aren’t going to use the drugs in an incorrect manner.

The problem is there are a whole lot of people who will.

[vxf111]

As I understand it, as long as the drug is properly labeled you’re ok. The rule doesn’t prohibit you using a drug prescribed to one horse on another, it just prohibits you bringing to a show prescription drugs that aren’t labeled for any specific horse. When my vet prescribes me something I might use for multiple horses (like bute powder) she just puts all their names on the bottle. The rule is aimed at people having weird concoctions that can’t be traced back to any person. I don’t think it’s a problem to have a properly labelled drug that is labeled for multiple horses.

[atr]

Yes, but if you draw up a dose and just take that dose with you to the show, rather than taking the whole labeled bottle, that’s an issue.

[vxf111]

I don’t think you can. Or, if you do, you have to get your vet to give you a proper label for the drawn up dose. Honestly, that might be a small hassle but it doesn’t seem like THAT big of a deal to me to either bring the whole bottle and draw the dose at the show or ask for a label for the single dose.

Maybe this seems like kind of old hat to me because my vet has always, always labeled everything she gives me. And if I tell her I am taking a specific dose out to do something, she will give me a label for that. This is how she’s always operated, whether there was a reason to or not, so I can attest that at least for me it hasn’t been that difficult to work around. Sometimes the banamine labeled for Spot gets given to Spike but there’s never some random unlabeled bottle laying around that you couldn’t trace back to the vet and follow up on when/why it was prescribed.

[jvanrens]

@CBoylen

Formaldehyde used to be a common ingredient in sole paint. Pretty sure you could deaden some feet pretty good with that in a more concentrated form. I don’t know of any other use.

And nail strengthener for humans too. I don’t recall any finger deaden sensations from trying it though.

[Ghazzu]

@vxf111

The rule doesn’t prohibit you using a drug prescribed to one horse on another, it just prohibits you bringing to a show prescription drugs that aren’t labeled for any specific horse.

I’m not so sure about that.
It is technically speaking, a violation of the law.
Is it likely to be enforced?
No.

[cardinale]

@vxf111

But to inject (for performance enhancing reasons) it is a whole other ball of wax.

And, the injectable form is almost certainly much more expensive, because of having to be sterile and meet higher purity standards, so unlikely someone would be using it to paint soles.

[vxf111]

It may be illegal but that’s a different question. The rule doesn’t seem to prohibit it. I’m just speaking to the rule, not to the legality outside the USEF show rule context.

[EmilyM]

Are people using formaldehyde to block feet? And what’s up w the liquid nitrogen? I’ve heard of all the rest being used to make horses quiet. This will have zero teeth imho unless they do random checks which they won’t. All they have to do is enforce the 12 hour rule by walking the aisles before big classes. They don’t.

[mrsgrieves]

I will say I have been to more and more shows, where the stewards walk the aisles, check water, etc. at least once a day.

I know Formaldehyde was being used on the racetrack in place of Lasix, so maybe some similarities for hunter/jumper use? I know Lasix can make they dehydrated, pee more, among some other things, so maybe clearing their system?

Pentobarbital has been used for a while, at least for he rumors have been going around for a while. I’m surprised there isn’t a test for it.

I wonder why injectable Tryptophan wasn’t mentioned? They mentioned everything else…makes me think they have an official test for it now.

[nutmeg]

Re: Tryptophan. It’s there in the article near the bottom of the list. I am going to need some after reading about the creative chemists among us. Just…

[Paint_Party]

@EmilyM

And what’s up w the liquid nitrogen?

Have you ever had a mole, wart or early skin cancer frozen off in the doctor’s office? That’s usually liquid nitrogen. So my guess is that it’s being used to temporarily freeze nerves and thereby deaden pain in a specific area.

Of course, if you use too much it burns like hell and kills the skin but hey, if it’s in pursuit of a ribbon, that’s worth an area of sluffed off hide, right?

/s

[Alterrain]

While I love this in theory, I’m sure it’s just USEF doing what USEF does best --> “see we made a rule to recognize the problem so you can’t sue us when a horse dies” aka for liability reasons only and nothing will change.

I find it hard to believe that stewards are now going to snoop inside trainer’s trunks vehicles etc (esp now since they know to only keep properly labeled stuff in the med trunk) when they can’t even patrol for the 12 hour needle rule accurately. That rule fell flat on it’s face and this one is 1000x harder to enforce.

Even horses flying back from showing in foreign countries- they tell you just to stick the meds inside a tampon box or oreo box or whatever and tuck that into the trunk, they’ll never look inside. And this is the USDA! So I can’t imagine a planet on which your average H/J show is going to look inside the trailer, inside the trunk, inside the tampon box if the USDA doesn’t.

[IPEsq]

My vet usually doesn’t bother labeling a tube of Bute or Banamine, or really anything he dispenses off the truck unless dispensed in a drawn up syringe. I’m sure he’d do it but find it annoying to label some of these just in case/good to have on hand medications.

Another vet practice I used recently dispensed some Sucralfate for one of my horses but mistakenly wrote the other horse’s name on it. I use it at shows for ulcer prevention on the one horse because he seems to do better with it than Ulcergard. But the last show we went to, it was labeled with all the info, but the named horse wasn’t there. I think it would be a rule violation to have it there for the other horse due to a meaningless mistake. That’s not exactly a controversial medication.

For large show / sales barns with rotating horses, also a pain. You are going to list 30 horses on one bottle of Banamine? I’m fine with extra regulation on drugs that have no legitimate therapeutic purpose, but for the rest, I think USEF should expend enforcement efforts elsewhere.

[Arzny]

The barns that will be affected by this rule are the ones that have carte blanche to order whatever they want. I’ve worked for a few places where a vet has given their information and the farm has been able to order and pay with absolutely zero oversight or the vet just signs off on every order without asking which horse it is for.

Even my current, by the book veterinarian writes all of my scripts to the same animal - who doesn’t even live at my farm anymore.