Equestrian: Ignorance no defence as FEI beef up war on doping
'Ignorance is no defence' has become the mantra of the governing body for international equestrian sport, the Swiss-based FEI, as it continues to strengthen its handling of the thorny issue of doping and medication control.
When suspending 21-year -old Irish event rider Sam Watson for two months, the Federation's legal arm, the FEI Tribunal last week repeated its warning that the person responsible for a horse, which at senior level is in almost every case the rider, must ensure that their animals have no prohibited substances in their system while competing.
The Tribunal, accepted that there was no deliberate attempt to affect performance when Watson's father, who cares for the horse, treated Ballybolger Bushman with the antibiotic, Procaine, after a fall on the flat while competing at the CNC in Tyrella, Co Down in April 2006.
When tested during the CIC 2-Star International at Ballindenisk in Cork two weeks later, however, the substance was still in the horse's system and the Tribunal highlighted the fact that Procaine Penicillin is the only antibiotic on their prohibited list.
It accepted that Trinity College student Sam Watson had no knowledge of the treatment.
In another year of ups and downs, the cases coming before the FEI Tribunal have ranged from the bizarre to the ridiculous but the theme of personal responsibility has been a constant.
Shockwaves reverberated around the eventing world again in August when it was revealed that Australia's Shane Rose, who was subsequently suspended for four weeks, had competed at the Olympic Test Event in hot and humid Hong Kong with Pentobarbital, a drug used for euthanisia, in his horse's system.
The following month the spotlight fell on American showjumper Alan Waldman, who suggested the prohibited medications found in his horse at the World Breeding Championships in Belgium were present because the animal had ingested the drug after eating his bedding which the rider, who took similar medication himself, had been urinating on. He was stood down for six months.
But the hard luck story of the year must be that of South African show jumper Mike Benjamin.
Having competed in the World Cup qualifier in Cape Town last November, the 46- year-old former professional rider had retired to the bar for a few bevvies when he was approached by two officials demanding a urine sample which, in confusion and panic, he refused to give.
The FEI Tribunal took a dim view of this and handed him a two-year ban for not complying with regulations, a fate which he might have avoided if he had realised that alcohol is not a banned substance in equestrian sport.
- Louise Parkes
