The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has announced two adverse analytical findings involving prohibited substances.

Both cases involve the use of banned substances under the FEI’s Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations.

The cases involve:

Horse: HSM Cornelio
Person Responsible: Pablo Carreño Mora (COL)
Event: CEI1* 80 – Ubate (COL), Aug. 19-20, 2017
Prohibited Substance: Ractopamine (a beta adrenoceptor agonist which, according to the FEI Equine Prohibited Substance Database, has been shown to improve growth in pigs; it is not approved for use in equids)
Date of notification: Nov. 7

Horse: Saura De Fondcombe (SUI)
Person Responsible: Nadja Peter Steiner (SUI)
Event: CSI3*-W – Tetouan (MAR), Oct. 5-8, 2017
Prohibited Substance: O-Desmethyltramadol (a metabolite of the analgesic tramadol)
Date of notification: Nov. 9

The athletes listed have been provisionally suspended from the date of notification until the FEI Tribunal renders a decision. The horses, also listed, have been provisionally suspended for two months. Additional details on these cases are available online. 

The FEI’s Prohibited Substances List is divided into two sections—controlled medications and banned substances. Controlled medications are those that are regularly used to treat horses, but which must have been cleared from the horse’s system by the time of competition. Banned (doping) substances should never be found in the body of the horse.

In the case of an adverse analytical finding for a banned substance, the person responsible is automatically provisionally suspended from the date of notification. The horse is suspended for two months.

The FEI has also introduced the concept of specified substances, which should not in any way be considered less important or less dangerous than other prohibited substances. Rather, they are simply substances which are more likely to have been ingested by horses for a purpose other than the enhancement of sport performance, for example, through a contaminated food substance. In the case of a positive for a specified substance, provisional suspension is not automatic.

Information on all prohibited substances is available on the searchable FEI Equine Prohibited Substances Database.