New research conducted by a consortium including the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is set to provide more certainty around the sometimes dicey business of administering therapeutic drugs to horses. QUT Professor of Biosciences Martin Sillence, PhD, said the new research pinpointed the length of time it took for 18 of the most commonly used therapeutic drugs to work their way out of a horse’s system.

"Because horses (in Australia) are prohibited from racing with any trace of drugs in their system, the administration of therapeutic drugs to horses in need of care has been risky business," Sillence said. "It’s been all too easy to unwittingly be caught out with a winning horse on race day, that’s subsequently found to have traces of a drug in its system.

"Most commonly this is from the administration of therapeutic drugs to help a horse overcome an illness or muscular condition, he continued."With no accurate schedule to indicate how long drugs take to work their way out of horses’ systems, a fair amount of guesswork has always been involved. The new schedule should change all this."

He also said the research would set the scene for better healthcare of horses