REVUE DE PRESSE

Mai 2003 / May 2003

Jerez WEG 2002 - Fatalities (Source FEI)

ENDURANCE HORSE FATALITIES AT THE 2002 WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES

The Judicial Committee of the FEI has now considered all the facts made available to it by the extensive investigations and an official enquiry into the deaths of the two Endurance horses during the WEG 2002. The cause of death in both horses a multi-systemic failure which appears to have been associated with fatigue and exhaustion. The Judicial Committee concluded that a multiplicity of factors contributed, directly or indirectly, to the fatalities and accordingly, no assessment of conduct was carried out and no individual was sanctioned.

The ride was conducted under the guidelines of the FEI Code of Conduct and the entries of both horses and their riders conformed to the qualification requirements for the event.

The Judicial Committee found that there had been a range of problems with the ride and a number of organisational difficulties.

The Judicial Committee wished to reinforce the concept that, generally, riders must bear the first responsibility for the horse’s well being during competition. Riders should always communicate any signs of fatigue or unfitness of their horse to the event officials at the earliest opportunity.

The Judicial Committee recommended that the FEI and its Endurance Committee should review the current rules for Endurance competitions, improve the communication between all parties involved and strengthen the roles of the veterinary and other officials. All involved must be fully aware of the responsibilities for horse welfare.

The Judicial Committee is heartened that the FEI is now actively engaged in a comprehensive review of its rules and procedures, and that an ad-hoc Endurance Veterinary Advisory Group is being established to provide expert advice.

The full statement of the Judicial Committee will be published in FEI Bulletin 2/03

Valerian

Valerian is considered as a prohibited substance!!! La valériane est interdite en compétition.

Recently the FEI has received several positive test results from horses in which the herbal

tranquiliser Valerian had been detected. These test results underline once more that too many

riders incorrectly assume that herbal medication does not contain any Prohibited Substances.

For all clarity, Valerian is an herbal tranquilliser and if detected at the time of a competition, it is

considered as a rule offence. Not only is the presence of a tranquiliser during competition a rule

offence; with regard to certain disciplines (e.g. Eventing), their use has also been mentioned in

relation to safety issues (ref. Hartington report).

If horses are given herbal feed supplements or herbal medication, it is essential that the

manufacturer is clear on what the ingredients of the product are. The list of Prohibited

Substances relates to an effect of the substance on one of the body systems; in this respect it

makes no difference whether the substance has a synthetic or an herbal origin.

To prevent unnecessary positive test results coming from herbal medication, all riders or stable

managers are strongly advised to check with the manufacturer whether herbal products do not

contain substances which pose a possible risk in medication control programmes (see also

Veterinary Regulations, Annex XIV).