Yup. I believe you could find a whole bunch of non-DVMs in hunter jumper world feeding their horses magnesium… then maybe more… then being sure that it (among other things like Depo or Dexamethazone (“for hives”) or some Perfect Prep or Carolina Gold) might be keeping their horses quiet. From there, it might not be such a rhetorical stretch to see someone doing that IV, and even with a drip, so long as it was the same stuff and you were doing it to correct a deficiency. I can’t imagine an owner walking into the barn, seeing that and not being shocked. Remember that the Humble pony OD’d in a stall at 7 am at Devon. I assume the extreme use of Magnesium was “good” because it cleared the blood stream fast? Faster than testers could show up? I don’t know.
Hot off the press…I just received this email from NRHA
An Open Letter to the NRHA Membership
In view of all the comments on social media regarding the recently approved updates to the NRHA Animal Welfare and Medications Policy, I felt that it is time for me, as NRHA President, to clear the air and give a factual account of how this decision came to be and why.
In May of 2021, the NRHA Executive Committee identified animal welfare and the need to update our Animal Welfare and Medications Policy as a top priority for the Association following an increased number of positive medications results at NRHA-owned events.
Over the past 14 months, there has been thoughtful conversation and deliberation coupled with diligent, thorough research and consultation, including with legal counsel and leading industry experts.
The executive committee worked alongside the NRHA Board of Directors and other advisory committees to develop several drafts of the updated policy which went to a roll call vote last week.
The current policy for penalties, which took almost six years of work until it was approved in 2015, was essentially a policy that contained rules but no consequences for those who knowingly broke those rules. The only penalties were letters and fines, most of which were entirely insignificant. Even worse, after a year, the probationary phase reset, so everyone’s slate was wiped clean.
Since then, there have been zero updates to the policy. Zero.
This was never the intention. There was always supposed to be a transition to increased penalties and testing to align with our industry peers.
Instead, we had exhibitors who repeatedly broke our rules because they could with no repercussions. If a horse tested positive, their name was never publicized, and they got to keep their title, purse money, and prizes. They essentially got away with a slap on the wrist, and no one would know.
Additionally, when you do not raise the medications testing fee for seven years despite rising inflation and a booming industry that has seen an explosion of entries and events, you cannot raise the funds needed to test properly. As our testing is funded today, the fees only provide enough funding to test about 15–20 events in North America annually. I think we’d all agree we’d like to do more.
The question now faced by our leadership was “how do we get these drugs eliminated from our industry for the welfare of our horses and for the integrity and fairness of our competitions?”
It was clear it was the right thing to do to try to come up with stricter guidelines. In the long run, that would be best for our industry.
It is also important to understand that the industry was totally split on this from the beginning—from the extreme of those who wanted no medications policy at all—to those who wanted zero tolerance.
I’m not trying to change minds here. Everyone has their own opinions and views. I am trying to get the membership to understand that this was not a simple decision and not a matter of a simple vote. Any change required a 67% supermajority approval.
Like the industry, the board was split between the people who wanted the policy and those that were against it.
We did not have the support to go to no allowance for Romifidine (Sedivet) at this time. It is as simple as that. We were faced with some unfortunate but very likely scenarios if we did not get the support we needed to enact some changes.
One being that no changes would be approved. Again.
If we did not get any changes approved, the Association would be taking significant steps backward, and we would be right back at square one.
Let me make this clear: the goal of the Association is to eventually get to an animal welfare and medications policy that has no allowance for sedatives or tranquilizers.
But, sometimes you have to take little steps to get to the big steps. Sometimes, those first steps are the hardest.
In order to get any changes approved, we had to compromise. That compromise came in the form of allowing a small dosage of Romifidine.
Personally, I own a lot of horses and currently have over 30 in training with eight different NRHA Professionals. I will not be signing permission for the use of the drug on any of my horses. The decision to use it will be between the exhibitor, owner, and veterinarian, all of whom are required to sign off on its use.
Going forward, the Animal Welfare and Medications Policy will be reviewed annually so we hopefully never find ourselves in such a dire situation again. We will also see a huge uptick in testing at our owned events, NAAC, and AA Events. We know this process will take time, but we know we are on the right path to an appropriate policy.
As you can clearly see, there are significant improvements made to the penalty portion of the policy when you compare the “old” policy to the “new” policy. I encourage every member to study this closely and educate themselves on the charts.
Current Penalty Chart:
New Penalty Chart:
I just cannot stress enough the importance of understanding that this decision was not easy, but we truly feel it is best for the industry to start holding people accountable for their actions.
Sincerely yours,
Rick Clark
NRHA President
NRHA
3021 West Reno Ave
Oklahoma City OK 73107
Cyrus is/was a big eq horse. The other two were ponies.
For anyone saying dex is harmless or isn’t that bad, hopefully you know it can cause laminitis in IR horses.
When my IR had laminitis (not from dex), I talked to a friend knowing she had a horse w laminitis that got back to competing. She worked for a BNT and reassured me he will be ok. She said she saw it a lot in the barn because (I’m paraphrasing ) you know they all get dex to show.
Obviously, there are sound medical reasons to give dex. I won’t give it to any fatties, known IR or cushinoid horses
It may be worth noting that dexamethasone has 30 x the potency of cortisol.
Other consequences of chronic corticosteroid administration in addition to laminitis include a decreased immune response, slower healing of wounds and disruption of the normal feedback mechanisms of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
Glucocorticoids are extremely useful pharmaceuticals, but they are, like most drugs, a double-edged sword, and their use should be restricted to genuine therapeutic needs.
NRHA has a huge problem with the unethical use of drugs during competition by some of its influential members, who are dictating to the board what the drug policy should be. At a minimum one could say at least its a small step in the right direction, seeing that there were no enforceable drug policy or penalties in place before.
Agreed
I don’t know diddly squat about reining, but I did see that previously it competitors were hardly ever going to be DQd for failing a drug test. The new policy does seem like it has actual consequences.
It’s a small step in the right direction of hopefully banning all performance enhancing drugs one day. Correct training not chemical masking of training problems where the horse is forced to comply is the issue. This goes for all horsesports, not just reining. Want to compete, then do it drug free.
Gotta start somewhere it seems
Yes, and stop breeding/raising horses that only a pro can ride sans drugs.
I am horrified that the reining horse drug policy seems to be controlled by those who benefit from the lack of having a drug policy.
thanks for posting that. It actually horrifies me more. They are saying, “yeah, we have a horrible drug problem in the NHRA, but look, we are cleaning it up by making consequences, but we can’t do it all, so we’ll just let them keep using sedatives to perform”
That the people at the top aren’t willing to let go of it IS a big problem.
You at least have to give USEF credit for not going that route when pressed to historically.
yes, it actually can be done right
If the option is to make this step, with a HUGE increase in penalties, or keep the status quo, then I’ll take this. It reads to me like the penalty changes wouldn’t have been approved if Sedivet wasn’t made legal at this amount.
The real problem seems to be the Board. 6 years to put into effect the old/current penalty policy is ridiculous, not just the 6 years, but the lack of meat to it. “Rules” without consequences are just suggestions.
Then letting that all sit for the last 7 years, is pouring salt on a giant gaping wound.
Having a board who lets half of the industry keep them from doing the right thing for the animals is ridiculous. I mean, I understand the situation, this isn’t the only industry who lets the loudest and richest part run things behind the scenes, even when the board knows it’s not in the best interest of the industry as a whole. But it’s still ridiculous.
If those on the board who actually care about the absolute welfare of the horses need to compromise with baby steps, so be it, as long as they’re willing to keep standing up for the horses and keep pushing hard for changes for their benefit.
I don’t know how the board members are chosen. If it’s membership voting, then I would HOPE that the majority of members start voting out those who don’t’ want to see these drugs moved out of legal status.
I think we are in agreement, it’s a good example of not letting perfect be the enemy of good.
But I’m still horrified by it.
I hope the membership speaks out!
If they need sedivet to compete, I wonder if they’re using it at home too in far higher doses. I don’t know many horses who tolerate that “kind” of riding (spurring, jerking, abrupt) without blowing their lid eventually.
Just watch a reining warm up. If they’re willing to do that stuff in public, can you imagine how ugly it gets at home?
I’d like to see a clause in the rule mandating that all competitors declare when they’re using Sedivet.
Sort of like the “Lasix list” for TB racing.
That would give the judges and spectators a clearer view of the actual performance.
Ohhhh, someone else who loves that phrase! And yes, I too am still 
by it, but am 
that the chronic offenders of a lot of other drugs will (allegedly) now actually pay the price and/or stop doing it
