Insider
The aim is to ensure a level playing field for all, as the anti-doping laws undergo a full revision this year
OUT-OF-COMPETITION testing could be introduced for FEI-registered horses, with the aim of ensuring a level playing field for all.
A session at the FEI Sports Forum (29–30 April) focused on anti-doping and controlled medication regulations (EACMRs), which will undergo a full revision this year.
Out-of-competition testing was a key talking point, following the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission’s (EEWC) recommendation that the FEI implement a process for ensuring “high standards of welfare and investigating risk practices” for horses when outside of competition.
The aim would be to test for banned substances – not controlled medications.
The EACMRs already allow for out-of-competition testing, but it does not take place. The FEI said this is owing to the challenges around establishing who is responsible; rider, owner, trainer, support personnel or all four. In endurance it was agreed that in most cases the trainer is responsible, but in other disciplines this was less clear.
An EEWC recommendation was to introduce a “testing pool”, similar to the World Anti-Doping Agency system for humans.
“A pool could allow us to put athletes on notice that they [their horses] are subject to out-of-competition testing so they understand their obligations, and maybe it’s a way to potentially then test in private properties,” said the FEI’s legal director Mikael Rentsch, adding that gaining property access is one of the biggest challenges.
“We are a sports federation, not the police. And depending on the country, you are not allowed to enter private properties, so we need to find a way to be able to test anywhere.”
Mr Rentsch said the key to any testing pool is knowing where horses are, and a suggestion was that a daily slot could be declared in the FEI HorseApp when the horse is available for testing.
The floor was opened for discussion and FEI presiden
