Mario Deslauriers

[EmilyM]

@SonnysMom

Interesting article about drug residue in the Charles Town race track ship in stalls.
https://nationalhbpa.com/an-in-depth-look-at-stall-contamination/

I wonder if the stalls at show grounds are just as contaminated and if there is another contamination to cause positives in the next resident of that show stall.

WOW, just WOW

[gottagrey]

@skydy

What many people just don’t understand, because they are not the type to drug their horses, is that some people will try anything if they think it may give them an advantage.

Cocaine may not give a horse an advantage in competition, but some people (especially if they themselves partake of the drug) obviously believe it will, or are just willing to give it a try.

With the minuscule number of riders tested for banned substances by both the FEI and USEF, there is no way of knowing who would test positive along with their horses.

“Environmental contamination” will always be blamed on the groom, until riders are tested. Such testing is under the purview of both USEF and the FEI ,however both seem uninterested in finding the source of the “contamination” by increasing the drug testing of riders.

Again, this is not rocket science. a) Don’t take Meth or Cocaine. (The meth case was from a horse trailer that was previously a meth lab).

b) Don’t hire people who use illegal substances.

If you are going to do either a) or b), for god’s sake don’t anyone pee in the horse’s stall, and do, everyone, wash your hands after snorting your huge amount of powdered illegal drugs, since the minute amounts from your hands or urine are enough to be detectable in your horse.

I can’t believe we are having this conversation again.

that trailer incident was included in that article I was reading. I do just have to wonder who would buy a trailer once used as a meth lab? I would worry about more than drug residue in that thing…

[Foxtrot_s]

At the track, if a horse has a tongue tie that was used by a groom who had used cocaine, it would test.

Be very careful in threads like this that speculative comments do not come across as fact.

[ohsopersuasive]

Does it make the story more interesting that Mario’s brother grooms the horse?

[skydy]

The current FEI suspension is not for cocaine (that was USEF and years ago) but for another banned substance.

Under FEI rules, the rider is person responsible.

To get “off the hook” so to speak, the rider must prove, to the satisfaction of the tribunal, how the substance entered the horse’s system and that no fault or negligence by the rider was present.

That’s a tough row to hoe. If the rider blames the groom for contaminating the horse, by any means, the rider must prove that indeed that was the case and even then is usually held somewhat responsible for not educating their grooms regarding the possibility of contamination and the need to avoid it.

Riders are held to a high level of responsibility including hiring people who take the rules, and the possibility of contamination, seriously. Most riders manage to do this.
Strange things do happen. The FEI tribunal archives make an interesting (and time consuming) read.

[eclipse]

My understanding is that this is for an antidepressant medication…so if say, a Groom is on prescription anti depressants, are they supposed to fill out an exemption form or are they now not allowed to work? Or how does this medication transfer, is probably the bigger question! I don’t imagine it “seeps” through your skin in large enough quantities to “seep” into a horses blood screen, but I’m not a micro chemist or similar! Surely, you’d have to actually put the actual medicine onto or into the horse directly?

[atl_hunter]

@PKP

Are people being sarcastic? I do not know the history of MD’s suspensions, but I don’t think drugs are found in trace amounts in bedding or feed, or transmitted to the horses this way. At least in hunters, cocaine is known to be given by some trainers at shows at night to keep the horse awake so it’s exhausted for show day. Then it gets to be the half-asleep, ammy-friendly, could-take-a-blind-monkey-on-its-back-hunter that makes us all wonder what happened to the hunter divisions.

Wow. People must REALLY want to win if this is true, since the country’s going rate for a half gram is about $50, and one would think you would need significantly more than that to keep a 1200lb horse up all night. I mean, a gram is $100 and is that even enough for the desired result of being up all night? I know people who have had coke habits and they were not up all night. They get a high and crash. Furthermore, if this is done to make the horse “win,” then it will be even more likely to be drug tested since it seems the testers pick winners the most often.

Cocaine - not very cost effective, not very discreet as a calmer that won’t be detected. A few tubes of Perfect Prep would be safer, cheaper, and probably more effective. I’d put my money on the handler and cross contamination and not in outward administration to the horse. It just doesn’t add up.

[skydy]

@eclipse

My understanding is that this is for an antidepressant medication…so if say, a Groom is on prescription anti depressants, are they supposed to fill out an exemption form or are they now not allowed to work? Or how does this medication transfer, is probably the bigger question! I don’t imagine it “seeps” through your skin in large enough quantities to “seep” into a horses blood screen, but I’m not a micro chemist or similar! Surely, you’d have to actually put the actual medicine onto or into the horse directly?

The cross contamination from human to horse is not usually so easy, and the FEI is aware of many of the substances where this is possible. There are previous cases that had to do with topicals that were absorbed and took extraneous substances with them into the horse.

The FEI opinion, being that riders at the FEI level should be aware of these substances, leaves no room for excuses. Anyone that is in contact with a horse at this level, is expected to use proper management practices to keep prohibited substances from entering the horse’s system. IE don’t pee in an FEI horse’s stall if you are taking a medication prohibited in horses, and do wash your hands if you are using illegal drugs.

If you are so sloppy in your management practices that you allow a horse to be contaminated with banned substances, then you shouldn’t be showing at the international level.

It’s not as if there is a dearth of information regarding prohibited substances. The vast majority of FEI level riders are able to manage FEI horses without the human medications from themselves or their connections ending up in the horse…

It really is a case of caring about the rules, actually cheating, or of just not being bothered enough about the rules to make an effort to keep drugs from contaminating your horse. .

[Peggy]

My farrier has a separate set of tools she uses on horses that show FEI. Because Magic Cushion.

[skydy]

@Peggy

My farrier has a separate set of tools she uses on horses that show FEI. Because Magic Cushion.

Yup. It’s not that hard for most folks to tow the FEI no doping line.

It is unfortunate that such stringent rules are necessary, but cheaters make them so.

Thankfully most competitors are able to understand and follow the rules. Others? Well they just don’t seem interested in playing by the rules, and have no compunction regarding the drugs that end up in their horses.

[Foxtrot_s]

Keep going Skydy - for the others let the story play out in its own good time.

[SlamDunk]

I mean this was a case in Australia for the same substance. The scientist involved found that cross-contamination would be pretty unlikely if protocols were followed (it was for urine, not blood in which case I think it would be even more unlikely) http://www.thoroughbrednews.com.au/News/Story/77209