Study Evaluates Banned, Controlled Substances in Horse Feed

While tiny quantities of some substances were found in samples, researchers say it’s not necessarily cause for concern.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Study Evaluates Banned, Controlled Substances in Horse Feed
Morphine, codeine, noscapine, papaverine, colchicine, and atropine all appeared in minute quantities in more than half of the 28 feed samples tested in the researchers’ recent study. | Photo: The Horse Staff
The Fédération Equestre Internationale’s (FEI) Clean Sport initiative is designed to do just what the name suggests: promote equestrian events in which horses and humans are free of banned or controlled substances. “The use of substances with the potential to affect equine performance, health, or welfare and/or with a high potential for misuse are contrary to the integrity of equestrian sport and the welfare of horses,” it states.

As part of its efforts to keep sports clean, the FEI uses regular anti-doping testing that can detect small quantities of prohibited and controlled substances, whether administered intentionally or not. Swiss researchers recently determined that at least some of those substances could be getting into horses’ bodies unintentionally via small quantities in commercial feeds, supplements, and other products.

Morphine, codeine, noscapine, papaverine, colchicine, and atropine all appeared in minute quantities in more than half of the 28 feed samples tested in the researchers’ recent study. However, this is not cause for alarm, they stressed. It’s just cause for awareness.

“We found doping-relevant substances in very small concentrations with a sensitive laboratory method (electrospray-ionisation high-pressure-liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry, or ESI-LC-MS/MS) in the feed samples,” said Conny Herholz, PD, DrMedVet, FTA, Dipl. ECEIM, ATA, of the Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, in Zollikofen

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
309 votes · 309 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!