Drugs in International competition

If some international dressage, arena jumping and 3-day trainers and/or riders dope their horses to win, the what the horse does in its class IS NOT REAL.
In a way this all reminds me of the plight of the Tennessee Walking Horse showing practices. Now I know that international riders no longer sore their horses (after all it is a bit obvious), but what they do with drugs helps to hide problems that their training systems cause to their horses: insanity from pain, just plain pain from overwork, muscle sorenesses that just won't work out, message out, chiropractic out, or saddle pad out.
Nobody should emulate these people's riding. No one should emulate these people's training methods. Since the horses were drugged, the show results are not real. If you copy them you could put yourself in real danger. IT IS NOT SAFE TO IMITATE METHODS USED ON DRUGGED HORSES. I would also hesitate to depend on products these riders &/or trainers endorse.
I do know there are true horsemen and women competing in these classes, and they loose because they are not hiding their problems behind drugs.
I would really appreciate some feedback on this.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on June 24, 2009 at 8:33pm

Hi Jackie, this is obviously a major issue and with Isabel Werth now caught doping, I just don't know where things can go from here. It sounds like she was using a long acting tranquilizer, but I'm only saying that from the description of the drug, so I don't really know.

I mean, what can in reality be done to safeguard against doping? Riders at every level find ways to medicate their horses.

This is becoming prevalent in EVERY sport. Remember Lance Armstrong testing positive and then denying that he had taken anything? All the baseball players?

The difference of course is that the human athletes knew they were taking the drugs and did so at their own risk. The horses have no say.

What do you think could/should be done, Jackie? I wouldn't know where to begin. Go barn to barn doing unannounced blood screening? Maybe.

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Cochran on June 25, 2009 at 9:25am

I do not think that much can be done. We do not live in an ideal world.
Due to my MS I have been on several drugs, most for a very short time. It is not safe to go on a drug and cheerfully assume that there is only one desired effect. Usually there are effects on other physical systems, and definite personality changes.
One thing that could help would be to extend the initial training time, concentrating on slow, low impact gaits for several months so that the whole muscle/skeleton system can get strong slowly. This helps in preventing physical problems down the road. Unfortunately this can cost A LOT of money and probably does not fit withing the current equine competition system time lines.

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Permalink Reply by Kinni P on June 30, 2009 at 9:41am

Fluphenazine is not a common treatment for shivers. More importantly, it's effective for up to 4 weeks. I have difficulty believing her vet didn't know this. It's an antipsychotic. I think this says more about her horses frame of mind than it's physical challenges. Too often horses that aren't ready for a high level of competition are forced to perform. The training practices really are over the top and it's not unusual to see one of these horse have a meltdown in the ring, just look at Satchmo.