The director of the Mitsubishi Badminton Horse Trials has written to the president of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), saying that he would be unhappy to run the three-day event under federation rules after the FEI decided to reintroduce certain anti-inflammatory treatments to its “progressive list” of permitted drugs for horses.
Hugh Thomas said in an open letter to Princess Haya that the changes in rules “seriously damage the integrity of our sport”.
Among the drugs to be permitted is the painkiller phenylbutazone, or “bute”, which many international veterinarians believe is performance enhancing.Thomas expressed his regret at the adoption of the list, carried by a vote of 53-48 after it was raised at the FEI General Assembly in Copenhagen two weeks ago.
“Bute” was banned in international equestrianism 20 years ago. It is used to dull aches and pains in a horse — similar to an aspirin in human beings. Fifteen international veterinarians unsuccessfully lobbied the president for a revote last week. Thomas states that “if a horse needs these drugs to appear sound, he should not take part in the competition”.
The British Equestrian Federation also called on the FEI to defer the introduction of the “progressive list” until after the 2010 World Equestrian Games, or to withdraw altogether the controversial drugs on the list — which include two other anti-inflammatories salicyclic acid and flunixin.
Advertisement
The row, in which all the leading equestrian federations including Germany, Australia and the United States have spoken out against the new rules, has in Thomas’s words, “torpedoed” all the excellent work done by the FEI on Clean Sport.
Princess Haya said that the levels are in line with those applied for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs use in humans by the World Anti-Doping Agency and had been endorsed by national team veterinarians.