Celebration to step up drug tests

Besides having their hooves and hocks palpitated for signs of scarring, their fetlocks swabbed for chemical agents, and their gaits studied for signs of abuse, Tennessee walking horses will be facing another sort of test in coming years. The random drug tests taken at the last two Celebrations were just the groundwork for another way to fight the war on soring.

"The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration included random drug testing of animals in an overall plan to protect the health and safety of the horses, the integrity of the event, and enforcement of the Horse Protection Act," stated a press release issued Tuesday by Calsonic Arena manager Jimmy Burton.

Test horses were selected at random each night for a total of 30 samples, the release stated. Ten of the 30 samples detected a variety of medications from local anesthetics, anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, and bronchodilators.

"Last year, we had two out of 28 test for bute (phenylbutozone, an anti-inflammatory drug)," said Dr. Doyle Meadows, who took over as CEO of the Celebration after that testing. "The other numbers were probably about the same (as this year's.)

Meadows did not know if any of the 10 horses that tested positive for drugs were disqualified for other reasons during the Celebration.

Dr. Mike Harry, the official Celebration veterinarian, said no horses tested for bute this year, and most of the drugs found in blood tests were local anesthetics, the majority used for horses uncomfortable in a tail set.

But when it comes to determining if the local anesthetic was used to ease the discomfort of a tail set or to hide pain resulting from soring, Harry said, "There's no way to tell.

"We're going to have a real serious set down to talk about what drugs will be acceptable."

For now, the National Horse Show Commission has no protocol when it comes to drug testing the animals -- but that's what Harry and several others are in the process of changing.

"There's no protocol, no penalty process," said Meadows. "This was just a screen for us to see what was going on. In order for there to be any kind of a penalty phase, there have got to be rules and regulations set up for this. Until there's a penalty protocol, they wouldn't know what they could or couldn't use. This was just to see if we needed to do anything."

This information gathered during the last two Celebrations is a very important guideline for future testing and subsequent violations, the release stated. Harry, working on recommendations from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, selected Industrial Laboratories, of Wheat Ridge, Colo., to perform drug screening analysis.

Meadows said he trusted the judgment of the veterinarians involved and the NHSC to decide if a protocol was needed.

"The whole commission is interested in doing drug testing," he said. "Most of the other breeds have drug testing, the thoroughbreds, the equitation federation, AQHA. But it's got to be fair and we've got to know what they can and can't use."

Harry is a part of a task force put in place to compile a list of medications that will be permitted, restricted, or forbidden. United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) medication guidelines will be compared to facilitate this list.

"They have a protocol set up already and vets contracted," the Fayetteville veterinarian said. "We're going to try to pattern after them, and maybe even use their vets and labs."

Harry said the protocol would not be ready for some time, and at his most optimistic, he said, it would be by the 2009 Celebration.

"I appreciate Dr. Harry's work in obtaining the samples at The Celebration and his interpretation of the blood test results. This is just another tool to allow for fair play and honest competition at The Celebration," said Meadows.

"I would like to thank the trainers, owners and exhibitors of all horses that I tested at the 2008 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration," said Harry. "Everyone was courteous and cooperative while allowing me to perform blood testing procedures on their horses."