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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on August 21, 2008 at 9:15am

I found this more detailed info on the Eurodressage site.
High Tech Hong Kong Doping Lab Catches Doped Show Jumpers

August 21, 2008

Puff the Magic DragonFour Olympic show jumping horses have tested positive to doping in Hong Kong. One German, one Irish and one Brazilian horse were expelled from competition as well as the team bronze medal winning horse of Norwegian Tony Andre Hansen. All horses tested positive to capsaicin.

Capsaicin is classified as a « doping » prohibited substance given its hypersensitizing properties, and as a « medication class A » prohibited substance for its pain relieving properties. Capsaicin is smeared on the horse's front legs as it has first a prickling and then a dulling effect. The substance quickly vaporizes afterwards, which makes this doping very hard to detect.

However, the Hong Kong Jockey Club houses one of the best doping laboratories in the world, run by Dr. Terence Wan, and it is able to detect capsaicin easily and quickly. Capsaicin is a derivative of the chilli pepper plant. Previous to the competition all legs of the show jumper horses were examined, but nothing unusual was found. The blood and urine samples, though, show that the horses test positive to doping.

Paul Farringdon, a member of the veterinary commission, said that although capsaicin has always been banned, it is only in the last two years that the technology has been developed to detect it because it disappears quickly from a horse's system

The most shocking news of all is that so far only 15 show jumping horses have been tested and four of them were positive. That is a little under 1/3 of the horses! The doping tests are carried out randomly but horses ranking high are more quickly tested than others. The FEI has announced that more horses will be tested after the individual finals.

FEI vice president Sven Holmberg stated that, "This is obviously a serious blow to the sport and we are well aware of its implications for the future in the Olympics." He added, "I think there tend to be more positive cases in show jumping because it is a bigger sport with more prize-money at stake."

Of the twenty horses tested both in eventing and dressage, none of them were positive.

Holmberg was also very concerned that all horses tested positive for the same drug, which indicates a trend amongst show jumpers who use this product they believe is undetectable.

The FEI provisionally suspends all competitors who test positive in doping or positive medication cases at the Olympic Games in the interests of the integrity of the sport.

Christian Ahlmann was notified of his suspension yesterday evening (Wednesday, 20 August) further to receipt of the test results by the FEI from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Laboratory yesterday afternoon.

A preliminary hearing was held at 10h00 this morning (21 August) before a member of the FEI Tribunal who confirmed the suspension.

The other riders - Tony Andre Hansen, Bernardo Alves, Denis Lynch - were notified earlier today (21 August) further to receipt of their positive test results this morning. All three of them were provisionally suspended.

Preliminary hearings were held with the respective National Federations in the following order: 14h00 – Brazil; 15h00 – Ireland; 16h00 – Norway. The hearings were held before a member of the FEI Tribunal who confirmed the suspension.

FURTHER STEPS

Confirmatory analysis of the B-samples will be carried out very shortly according to the accelerated procedure in place for the Olympic Games. Upon report of a positive B-sample result, evidence and written submissions will be requested from the rider, and a three member panel of the FEI Tribunal will be appointed. This panel should take a decision as to the applicable sanctions as early as possible further to the accelerated procedure, and providing for a hearing to be held as necessary. The competition results will be amended as indicated in the Tribunal’s final decision.

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Permalink Reply by Carol-Anne on August 21, 2008 at 9:48am

From the province of Alberta's Agriculture Website...

Topical Capsaicin
(Equi-Block®, Equi-Block DT®, Equi-Tite®; EquiFlite Technologies Inc.)

Capsaicin is the active chemical in hot chili peppers. Application to a nerve fiber stimulates the release of substance P, the chemical responsible for transmitting the nervous signal for pain (eg, that burning sensation when you eat a jalepeno pepper). Repeated applications of capsaicin depletes the nerve's stores of substance P, and halts the transmission of the pain signal. Capsaicin ointments have been available as a topical cream for the treatment of painful diabetic nerve disorders in people. The human ointments contain 0.075% capsaicin.

A line of equine products containing capsaicin have been developed and aggressively marketed (Equi-Block®, Equi-Block DT®, and Equi-Tite®). Despite advertising claims, there are no scientific studies that document that these products are useful for the control of pain in horses. While the Equi-Block contains 0.2% capsaicin, there is no evidence that this concentration is adequate to penetrate horse skin (which is much thicker than human skin). EquiBlock DT is indicated for daily therapy, and contains 0.02% capsaicin. The Equi-Tite formulation is indicated as a liniment and contains only 0.012% capsaicin.

As these products are not sold as drugs, there is no requirement that the manufacturer must prove that they actually work. If the capsaicin is absorbed sufficiently to deplete stores of substance P and block the pain sensation, there is still no affect on the original cause of the horse's pain. Therefore, this is very similar to using a local anesthetic block on a lame horse, and could result in severe damage from the horse using an unsound limb because it does not feel pain. In addition, the initial use of capsaicin in people is associated with a painful burning and tingling sensation and can cause serious skin reactions. Care should be taken in applying these products to horses.

...on a seperate note...my horse was off for about 6 weeks a few years ago and after exhausting the blacksmith, the vet and poulticing, someone recommended trying this...after 5 days and seeing no difference I went back to poulticing and patience and it finally cleared up...when using ensure that you do not get it into your eyes!

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Permalink Reply by Carol-Anne on August 21, 2008 at 11:11am

One of the four show jumpers suspended from the Olympic competition in Hong Kong has blamed his horse's positive test for a banned substance on a Deep Heat-like ointment used on the horse.

At the tribunal yesterday in Hong Kong the International Equestrian Federation indicated that the banned substance, capsaicin, was an ingredient in some equestrian products in regular use.

Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) has confirmed that it was identified by their rider Denis Lynch as an ingredient in a product called Equiblock used by him on his horse.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/266011.html

An HSI spokesman said : "Equi-block is a product used in similar circumstances to 'Deep Heat' used on humans and Denis Lynch explained to the tribunal that he commonly applies Equiblock to the horse's lower back prior to exercise."

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on August 21, 2008 at 2:59pm

Wow, I would hate to be on that tribunal. I think it is up to the riders to ensure that nothing that goes into or on their horses has any chance of containing anything from the list of banned substances. But this is still a nightmare - especially for Norway's team who may have their bronze revoked.
It's a little unclear to me though - Is this a numbing agent meant to mask soreness, or a sensitizing agent meant to make hitting a fence sting a bit more?

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Permalink Reply by Carol-Anne on August 21, 2008 at 10:31pm

From the FEI..."Capsaicin is classified as a 'doping' prohibited substance given its hypersensitising properties, and as a 'medication class A' prohibited substance for its pain relieving properties."

Capsaicin can be rubbed onto the front of the legs to make the horse pick up their legs.

Capsaicin selectively binds to a protein known as TRPV1 that resides on the membranes of pain and heat sensing neurons. TRPV1 a heat activated calcium channel, with a threshold to open between 37 and 45 Celsius degrees (37 degrees is normal body temperature). When capsaicin binds to TRPV1, it causes the channel to lower its opening threshold, thereby opening it at temperatures less than the body's temperature, which is why capsaicin is linked to the sensation of heat. Prolonged activation of these neurons by capsaicin depletes presynaptic substance P, one of the body's neurotransmitters for pain and heat. (from wikipedia)

I was also reading that it can be found in feed/ supplements (Gold as Sun has paprika in it.) - it darkens the coat? Some people feed just paprika and take the horses off of it 7-14 days prior to competition, because there is the chance they will test positive for capsaicin.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on August 21, 2008 at 10:35pm

Oh Brother. What we do to these animals is sometimes staggeringly selfish.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on August 29, 2008 at 8:18am

Oh no, What do you mean by more? More Bad? Anything good??

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on August 29, 2008 at 9:29pm

Do you mean with the jumpers? Oh I hope it's nothing with the Canadians - we've just had such a great redemption story.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on August 29, 2008 at 11:56pm

Oh no. Was it a reliable source? Could it just have been gossip?

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on September 1, 2008 at 9:57pm

Hi Glenn,
Yes I saw this this afternoon and it has been posted on the site. For heavens sake, if you are going to the Olympics, doesn't occur to anyone not to put ANYTHING on - or in- your horse that might conceivably be banned???

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