The FEI has suspended me immediately, as dictated by the rules of procedure. The fact that only ineffective traces of the drug were found does not matter according to those rules. I deeply regret this incident, but I was convinced that I had acted correctly. I wish the rules were revised as quickly as possible in a way that allows reasonable treatment of sport horses without risking long suspensions because the settling times change constantly with each new method of analysis and become literally “incalculable”.
This is a statement from Isabell that I read on Dressage Daily. It is very much in line with Canyonoak’s quote from the AAEP conference and Fixerupper’s points - administrators are making the rules, not vets or scientists who can see the point that they are catching the wrong folks. If they can find single molecules from a drug that was administered three weeks before and has a therapeutic effect of only one day (bute), it essentially means that no-one can appropriately medicate their horse at any time because minute traces can be found, and punished, long after the drug should be out of the animal’s system. It’s just absurd.
Punish her all you want - yes, she broke the rules. As the person responsible, she has accepted responsibility. But the rules are truly destructive and do not accomplish what they are meant to do - they catch people for virtually meaningless infractions of the rules - they enforce the letter of the law, not the intent. If there are people who are actually drugging their horses for performance enhancement, I don’t recall seeing a case where this has been proven at the elite international level - and yes, people do get caught at the national level on an appallingly regular basis.
Even regarding Cian O’conner, the other big Fluphen case, I don’t recall the amount of the drug in the horse’s system, whether it was still effective or not. His defense was that the horse was given the drug to undergo a medical procedure or examination during or after a short lay-up quite a while before the Olympics, if I remember correctly. If I’m wrong about that, I’m sure someone will correct me. 
So these riders are punished and the press screams about horse-doping and yes it makes the sport look bad.
I wish it would end, but with the FN’s declarations, and the FEI’s apparent inability to re-examine it’s policy, these kinds of sad, absurd cases will continue.
? A member of the German team, would have no reason:no: to go to a foreign NGO, ie. USEF. After all the Germans have the best of everything don’t:lol: they? They hadn’t had any reason to talk to anyone in the US who could clearly point them in the direction of the USEF D&M guidelines.