I only saw part of this ticker tape. Anyone know the details ??
Wire story
By MARGARET FREEMAN Ž
Associated Press Writer Ž
HONG KONG (AP) — Four horses in the Olympic equestrian team jumping competition, including one from Norway's bronze-medal team, have been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned pain reliever.
The drug test results — positive for capsaicin in each case — were announced Thursday afternoon by the sport's international governing body.
The horse Camiro, ridden by Tony Andre Hansen, was part of Norway's bronze-medal team, and the team could lose its medal. The other three horses are Ireland's Lantinus, ridden by Dennis Lynch; Brazil's Chupa Chup, ridden by Bernardo Alves; and Germany's Coster, ridden by Christian Ahlmann.
Hansen, Lynch and Alves will not be allowed to ride in Thursday night's individual competition. Ahlmann wasn't entered in the event.
A second blood sample for each horse will be tested in an "accelerated procedure," in the next two days, said FEI secretary general Alexander McLin.
Capsaicin, a derivative of chili peppers, is prohibited for its pain-relieving properties.
"I can't tell how it was applied," Paul Farrington of the FEI's veterinary commission said. "It's usually in a topical lotion or a paste. It's not administered by mouth."
He said 15 of 49 horses in the competition were randomly chosen for testing, including one from each team that won medals.Calling capsaicin “doping” is just too much! It’s a topical substance usually used to bring relief to tired muscles, a liniment, for goodness’ sake. It’s “hot”. We used to use it on racehorses after warmup but before racing to keep the muscles warm and joints loose. It’s a rub. I personally would feel it on my skin so I had to always put it on with rubber gloves. But other liniments didn’t bother me as much so I knew it was the Capsaicin. I imagine it’s used on the jumpers to get them to pick up their feet, since it’s a heating rub – it will get a horse to snapping its knees and hocks! Gotta be careful where you rub it! But doping, come on. Not hardly. It’s just a liniment. About same as Bigeloil or something!
[QUOTE=retreadeventer;3462486]
But doping, come on. Not hardly. It’s just a liniment. About same as Bigeloil or something![/QUOTE]
Or maybe exactly the same, since apparently capsaican is in bigeloil.
There is an indepth discussion on this forum about this “What is Capsacian?” (and soem usual mudslinging going on in there as well!). However, THis whole “doping” and drug testing stuff is getting WAY out of hand in my opinion. The problem is that many “banned substances” are in so MANY things that, if you go by FEI “no tolerance” rules, you would not be able to put nearly ANY topical product on your horse and not be able to feed him many of the supplements available today! I think there needs to be a compromise made somewhere at some point in this. Testing is becomign more and more sofisticated and more and more sensitive, so that very minute amounts of a substance can be detected. Although I doubt that this is what happened it is VERY possible that a groom could have handled a hrose, and have used a topical product such as ben-gay on himself and the horse licked his hand for crying out loud! I’m sorry but all of this has gone WAY over the top and it has gotten laughable what they will throw a horse out of competition for!
I respectfully disagree.
IF_____ they used this product to increase the horses sensitivity to hitting rails, well… that sucks. It needs investigating.
How can the same substance be banned for both ‘pain relieving properties’ and ‘hypersensitization’… just saying
[QUOTE=shea’smom;3462958]
I respectfully disagree.
IF_____ they used this product to increase the horses sensitivity to hitting rails, well… that sucks. It needs investigating.[/QUOTE]
I am not talking about this aprticular substance, except to say that this substance could ahve inadvertently shown up in a blood test and been adminstered some other way. No one has actually ADMITTED to putting it on their legs. My point is that yes, some thigns ARE used to enhance performance, but sometimes things are innocently in another product, i.e. bigeloil contains capsacian. My point is that perhaps we need to be more specific in testing, looking at AMOUNTS of a substance and trying to determine WHERE the substance has been administered. It is hard for me to believe that someone would knowingly put this on a horses legs (much less four horses from different teams) KNOWING it is a banned substance and will be tested for. I really feel that it is more likely that four horses had some sort of a product used on them that was unknowingly producing these results. Of course, there are people who will do anything, but honestly there is NO WAY that most riders are going to knowingly allow a substance to be used that is going to test positive.
Because depending on how you use it, it can do both things.
If the people know a substance is banned, why do they use it?
[QUOTE=Wellspotted;3463262]
If the people know a substance is banned, why do they use it?[/QUOTE]
Most of the time, they don’t. Or, in Lynch’s case, having been drug tested numerous times before while using the ointment, blood tests have always come back negative. Only this time, either they were specifically looking for capsaicin or there was enough capsaicin in Latinus’ blood stream to test positive. I’m personally of the opinion that the FEI (as well as USEF) really need to collaborate more with the int’l riders to come up with a better solution for “banned substances” and drug testing. There’s still too much confusion and fuzziness. Gosh knows I barely understand it at times and have to take the trainer’s word for it.
You people are amazing! When it is a Tennessee Walking Horse being tested with a sniffer for foreign substances, many of you say, hooray. When the shoe is on the other foot, well, well, well.
There is press all over the United States about the horrible practices of the TWH trainers, using caustic chemicals to enhance the gait of the horses. But when jumpers are “enhanced” with something to magnify the pain of a hit, that’s different?
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is going on as we speak. The trainers KNOW that every horse entered in competition will be examined, palpated, sniffed and now infrared analysis tested. Yet many still accuse the trainers of using chemical agents to sore the horses, carte blanche. Come on, give me a break. The 97% compliance rate going into the Celebration is not good enough for some folks. What is the compliance rate with the Olympic horses?
If a substance is banned, it is banned. If it is in a product commonly used, that is no excuse for its use, period. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Capsacian is in Black as Knight and Paprika. It is also in many linaments. It doesn’t stop them from hitting rails, make them pick up their legs higher, or anything else. It’s 180 degrees different than what the TWH crowd sores with.
My understanding of FEI show jumping rules is that NOTHING can be used as a pain reliever or outside substance. No bute, banamine, etc - so nothing that can change the internal chemistry of the horse. Same at Young Riders. That’s why it’s so hard to do that level of competition. There are VERY few horses in the world that can jump those tracks for days on end and have NOTHING to offset the stress on their bodies other than ice, massage and some electro therapy treatments. If these people are at that level of competition - they (or members of their support teams) know what substances are banned - and it’s their responsibility to stay away from them. Sorry…but I’m continually amazed at the amount of “chemistry” that’s applied to our sport on a daily basis.
[QUOTE=MissIndependence;3463576]
There are VERY few horses in the world that can jump those tracks for days on end and have NOTHING to offset the stress on their bodies other than ice, massage and some electro therapy treatments. [/QUOTE]
Hmmm. Slightly OT, but I think that if it’s true that many horses get sore from competitions like those without the aid of bute or other medications, that is a MAJOR problem. Of course horses randomly can get sore whenever, but I think it is inethical to ask a horse to do something that has a relatively high chance of making them sore/lame/in pain as a result.
[QUOTE=Siswai;3463602]
Hmmm. Slightly OT, but I think that if it’s true that many horses get sore from competitions like those without the aid of bute or other medications, that is a MAJOR problem. Of course horses randomly can get sore whenever, but I think it is inethical to ask a horse to do something that has a relatively high chance of making them sore/lame/in pain as a result.[/QUOTE]
My take on it (as well as my veterinarian’s) is that EVERYTHING we ask a horse to do is not “natural” and going to cause wear and tear, stress and ultimately some discomfort. How many times have you worked out and had enough discomfort that you took ibuprofen, tylenol, aspirin or alleve??? Over time, jumping, dressage, reining etc, all of which are EXTREME sports on a horses body will have a detrimental effect to their joints and soft tissue. It is how we MANAGE these effects that determines (in my opionion) how “ethical” or how pain free our horses remain. I do not feel that JUDISCIOUS and LIMITED use of antiinflammatories, topical steroids like Surpass, adequan, joint injections and the like are a “MAJOR problem”. They assist our horses in being able to perform to the optimum without discomfort. There is a LEVEL at which the use of such substances DOES become abusive, and in my opinion, THAT is the level at which we should be screening these equine atheletes. However, as long as the FEI continues a zero tolerance policy, they will fidn more and more substances to ban and it will become an increasingly complex issue for grooms, riders etc. to have to monitor
ttruely performanceenhancing!
This not just a bit too much:no: bute, but, truly performance enhancing:yes: especially in jumpers!, no different than spiked poles or boots:o:mad:
ttruely performance enhancing!
This not just a bit too much:no: bute, but, truly performance enhancing:yes: especially in jumpers!, no different than spiked poles or boots:o:mad:
[QUOTE=jdmcg;3463329]
You people are amazing! When it is a Tennessee Walking Horse being tested with a sniffer for foreign substances, many of you say, hooray. When the shoe is on the other foot, well, well, well.
There is press all over the United States about the horrible practices of the TWH trainers, using caustic chemicals to enhance the gait of the horses. But when jumpers are “enhanced” with something to magnify the pain of a hit, that’s different?
The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is going on as we speak. The trainers KNOW that every horse entered in competition will be examined, palpated, sniffed and now infrared analysis tested. Yet many still accuse the trainers of using chemical agents to sore the horses, carte blanche. Come on, give me a break. The 97% compliance rate going into the Celebration is not good enough for some folks. What is the compliance rate with the Olympic horses?
If a substance is banned, it is banned. If it is in a product commonly used, that is no excuse for its use, period. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.[/QUOTE]
Well, but my goodness, TWHs aren’t shown in the Olympics (at least not in TWH classes)! They’re shown with artificially enhanced hooves/fancy padded shoes, etc.! Whereas here the discussion is about international-calibre, upper-level Olympic horses! A completely different species than the lowly local (read “US”) TWH! When one is competing for one’s country on the international stage, one is above mere competitors in breed shows.
(I hope you can pick up on my sarcasm here, jdmcg. 
) You are absolutely right. What’s good for the goose ought to be good for the gander (or rather, what’s bad for one is bad for all …)
Pony + an inch (does that equal 14.3hh?)-- Thanks for your response. The situation does make more sense now to me, on one level, that is, if people don’t know what is banned, or how much, how can they know what not to use? I had thought it was more clear cut, i.e., a published list of banned substances and amounts. As in drinking and driving over the limit vs half a beer at a party, or, one knows cocaine is illegal so don’t use it at all.
On the other hand, a horse in pain shouldn’t be competing anyway, so I agree with Siswai about that.
