Dear FEI. I am confused.

Posted by Beryl on Sep 17, 2009 • (8)

Firstly, let me tell you that I am an absolute fan of drug free sport. For two reasons:

  1. Some drugs give you an unfair advantage over your competitors. Steroids, for example, make you stronger – with bigger muscles than you’d ever get without using them.
  2. Some drugs mask pain, allowing you, for example, to run a marathon with a damaged muscle. Hello! This is not good!

In horse sport, this is even more important. Your horse is your responsibility. He trusts you to make decisions about his health, his feeding, his exercise. By drugging your horse you are, in my opinion, taking advantage of this trust.

That said, there are substances on the FEI’s Prohibited List that I just do not think should be there. Thiamine. No. This shouldn’t be on this list.

Thiamine is also known as Vitamin B1. One of the water-soluble B vitamins, it is essential for the healthy functioning of nerve cells as well as the digestion of fats and carbohydrates. It is found in a lot of cereals and yeasts, including those used in horse feeds. Indeed, many horse feeds are fortified with Thiamine. Your horse needs it – without Thiamine he would eventually die.

I am told that sometimes, massive doses of Thiamine are injected in order to produce a calming effect on horses. Obviously this is not right. Just because a substance is natural does not make it safe in huge doses. I have no doubt that this should not be allowed.

Usually, in cases like this, where a naturally occuring substance is open to abuse by horse owners, a threshold level is established. This is the level of the substance which can be expected to naturally occur in the horse’s body. Only when this level is exceeded, is it considered to be a problem. But it does not seem to me as if they have included Thiamine in this group.

What do I, as a responsible supplement manufacturer do in this case?

Do I remove the Thiamine from the Calm mix and Endurance mix? Even though the levels are low – definitely in the normal nutritional range? And even though they have a valid nutritional role in these products?

Or do I allow the Thiamine to stay? Its not harmful, its not giving the horse an unfair advantage, it is not, by anyone’s definition, a  drug.

Please let me know what you think on the comments below.

Tagged as , , , , + Categorized as Competing, News

8 Comments

  1. Sarah Kennedy says:
    September 17th, 2009 at5:18 pm

    I would leave it in. You will need to make people aware that the FEI have banned it, which just makes no sense to me, in order that people are informed but it’s natural and the majority of people use your products as they trust you have their animals health in your heart.

  2. Dawn Gray says:
    September 17th, 2009 at5:58 pm

    I agree with Sarah.
    Leave it in. Just inform the people using it.
    Sometimes I think the FEI gets a little carried away.
    What kind of dose would they consider ‘illegal’?

  3. Sandy Weber says:
    September 18th, 2009 at7:15 am

    I agree, it should be left in, it is necessary. Maybe you should contact the FEI and find out what their motivation is for this, and what prompted their decission. Maybe you can also bring up your points and see if a compromise can be reached, maybe they can stipulate at which levels they determine it illegal.

  4. Grant Store says:
    September 20th, 2009 at6:55 pm

    I agree with the others. Leave it in and just add a note in or on the container with the FEI regulations. What about Devils Claw isn’t that also prohibited??

  5. Beryl says:
    September 21st, 2009 at6:21 am

    Devils Claw is illegal in the US, but not banned by the FEI at this stage. If anyone is concerned about Devils Claw, stop the supplement three days before competing.

  6. alison says:
    September 27th, 2009 at3:03 pm

    Leave it in. Thiamine is an essential vitamin. So surely FEI must have determined an acceptable maximum level first? If not they are reacting before thinking clearly.
    As long as the recommended dose is on the container, and FEI’s recommendations are also there, that is fine.

  7. Doreen Theys says:
    November 3rd, 2009 at12:42 pm

    I’d bring this up with FEI and the Horse societies in SA…If u leave it in and make people aware that it’s there can they still use the product effectively before a show without risking being banned from competing?
    If a horse is tested pre-show will the amount of Thiamine in the product show up in samples thereby disqualifying the horse from competing..an acceptable level sounds like a good idea.
    Surely a calm horse with a low dose of Thiamine is better than a crazy horse without..whether at a show or not?

  8. Beryl says:
    November 3rd, 2009 at1:11 pm

    Doreen, any horse, whether it is on Calm mix or not, will test “positive” for thiamine. That is my point – it is silly to put an essential foodstuff on the banned list. Oh well….

Leave a Comment

Your name (required):
Your email address (required):
Your message (required):