Yyou worked all year to make it to the championship

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1 1 (800) Medications From the Therapeutic Medication Hotline to medication administration guidelines, brush up on A HA s therapeutic medication rules and drug testing procedures before you head to this fall s championship shows. By Tara Matsler 102 S EPTEMBER 2013 THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE JOURNAL

2 show. Pennies were pinched, long hours of practice put in every night, not to mention the miles and miles you hauled to get qualified. Yyou worked all year to make it to the championship So there you are, at the pinnacle event of your year. It s possible that your trusty steed is looking a little body sore after the long trip and late-night practices. Weighing the benefits of medication, that tube of bute is looking awfully tempting. Yet you know there is a definite chance your horse could be drug tested at this event a procedure you ve never been through. So you keep in mind that dosing outside of AQHA rules could mean a devastating end to a promising show season. What to do? The Journal went straight to the authorities for their insight on medicating within AQHA rules. Here to shed light on the issue are Dr. Stephen Schumacher, the chief administration for the U.S. Equestrian Federation Equine Drugs and Medications Program, the organization that AQHA contracts to administer its drug testing, and Rajeana Thompson, AQHA director of amateur activities and show investigation, who processes positive drug tests. While there is always the possibility your horse could be tested at any AQHA-approved show, it s at the championship-level shows where winners are guaranteed a trip to the drug-testing barn, as well as random draws. Read on for more about conditionally permitted therapeutic medications, as well as the ins and outs of drug-testing procedures at events like the AQHA Novice Championship shows and the AQHA World Championship Show. Two Resources when it comes to navigating the waters of medications compliance, AQHA members have two resources readily at their disposal: the AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations and the Therapeutic Medication Hotline. Every member should be knowledgeable about the medication rules that AQHA has, and if they have any questions, they can definitely call to find out, Dr. Schumacher says. Rules VIO in the AQHA Handbook detail regulations for prohibited medications, drugs and substances, as well as the repercussions one might face if he or she is not acting in accordance with AQHA rules. Competitors should also be familiar with VIO , the Therapeutic Medication Addendum, in addition to VIO405, which provides guidelines for administering conditionally permitted therapeutic medications. And for questions regarding whether a non-listed therapeutic medication is accepted, Dr. Schumacher urges horse owners to call 1 (800) , which is staffed Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. Outside of those hours, a USEF official will return voic s as soon as possible, which allows horsemen to have their questions answered as soon as possible. It s a good idea to call the hotline any time your vet prescribes something; you can always call and ask, Dr. Schumacher advises. We want to impress upon people that they have to be knowledgeable about the drug rules and not rely solely on a veterinarian s advice. Frequently, we do have findings that well-intentioned veterinarians don t provide the most accurate information. I would encourage calling the hotline before administering the medication, the reason being that frequently we get THIRTEEN That s how many conditionally permitted therapeutic medications AQHA recognizes. If you ll turn to Rule VIO405 in the AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations, you ll find guidelines for administration of those therapeutic medications. And for most of the 13, quantitative guidelines are provided, complete with dosing amounts and timing intervals. Phenylbutazone (aka bute, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) Diclofenac (Surpass, an NSAID) Flunixin meglumine (Banamine) Ketoprofen (Ketofen, an NSAID) Meclofenamic acid (an NSAID) Naproxen (an NSAID) Firocoxib (Equioxx, an NSAID) Acetazolamide Furosemide or Lasix Isoxsuprine Lidocaine/Mepivicaine Dexamethosone Eltenac (pending FDA and AQHA approval, an NSAID) Be sure to refer to Rules VIO in the AQHA Handbook for an in-depth look at acceptable dosing and administration guidelines. If you don t have your printed rulebook handy, you can always visit for the mobile-optimized online version, or download the free AQHA Handbook app for Apple ios or Android. If the therapeutic medication you may be administering isn t listed above, just call the Therapeutic Medication Hotline at 1 (800) for help. THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE JOURNAL SEPTEMBER

3 calls after the drug has already been administered, and in some cases, it may not be have been used for a therapeutic purpose, he adds. For instance, under VIO403.1, the administration of a conditionally permitted therapeutic medication, such as a sedative, for the purpose of transport, grooming or training nullifies the intention of the substance as a therapeutic medication; meaning its presence in a horse s system could be found illegal. Medication Report Form now that you have referred to your aqha handbook and called the Therapeutic Medication Hotline, what s the next step? If you administer a therapeutic medication for which quantitative guidelines are listed in the rulebook, such as phenybutazone or flunixin meglumine (aka Banamine), be sure to follow the dosing amount and timing intervals suggested the guidelines are applicable to most horses. However, if you are administering a therapeutic medication without quantitative guidelines, or the medication is not listed in the AQHA Handbook, you are encouraged to complete and file a medication report form. If somebody comes into the show office, even at the AQHA World Show, and we re not sure if the medication is allowed, I have the exhibitor call the hotline and file a medication report form, just to be on the safe side, Rajeana says. Yet, even if you had filed the medication report form with us, and the horse tested above our quantitatively restricted level, you would still have a positive drug test, she cautions. We want to impress upon people that they have to be knowledgeable about the drug rules and not rely solely on a veterinarian s advice. In other words, a medication report form is not applicable when you are using quantitatively restricted drugs. Rajeana offers a great example of how a medication report form came to the rescue just a few years ago. In one case, a horse tested positive for furosemide, or Lasix, at the AQHA World Show. Dr. Schumacher called with the number of the positive drug test and asked me to see if a medication report form had been filed and at what time and what day. I went back through the medication report forms, found it and saw the medication was given the day before the horse competed and that the horse was tested at such-and-such time. What helps us at the World Show is that we keep track of start and end times for each class. I went and pulled our start and end times for that day, saw that the time the medication report form listed the medication as administered was four hours prior to the class start time, which is what is required, and when the test was done, the horse was actually more than 24 hours out from when the medication was administered. So the medication report form does help us in those instances where there is a medication that is very legal, but must be administered in a specific time frame, she explains. The report form gives us a place to go back and look at what time the medication was administered. Medication report forms are available in the show office at any event be it an AQHA Novice Championship show, world show or weekend circuit, and you can even download them at When completing the form, you should provide identification of the horse (be sure to include the horse s registered name, not his barn name), and be as detailed as possible when filling out the identification of medication section. Show management will keep the yellow copy and send the white copy to AQHA. The pink copy is for you, and you should keep it in a safe and secure place, just in case it needs to be referenced. Dr. Stephen Schumacher Drug Testing Procedure to keep the playing field level, champions are tested at AQHA s championship shows, such as the Novice Championships and world shows. And while there will be more than enough excitement if you ve been crowned a champion, be prepared for what comes next. As you re walking out the gate, someone is going to stop you and identify themselves as either the technician or the veterinarian, Rajeana explains. At the World Show, they ll 104 S EPTEMBER 2013 THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE JOURNAL

4 THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE JOURNAL S E P T E M B E R

5 walk with you to the photography booth, if you choose to have your win photo taken first that is for world champions. The champion will go to the front of the line to get your picture made, then they will take you into the testing area. However, random draws, meaning those who did not win a championship, will be required to head straight to the testing booth. They will have paperwork for you to fill out, she adds. You will fill out paperwork that includes the horse s name; it ll have a number at the top of the form with sample ID tags for your horse s test tube and urine jar. The veterinarian or vet tech will fill those ID tags out, but you ll need to be there to watch as they draw blood and catch the urine. After that s done, you ll watch them seal the samples and you will sign to verify that you watched. They will give you a number off of the card, which will match the number on your sample ID tags. Then the veterinarian or technician will secure all of that. Everything is sealed, then it goes in an evidence bag, and that s sealed and it goes in the cooler, which is also sealed. The cooler is shipped to the USEF lab in Lexington, where it is opened and tested. For those who are concerned about anonymity, Rajeana assures that everything is done as nameless as possible. The lab has nothing but the numbers on the samples. The actual documentation of who that belongs to goes to USEF in Columbus, Ohio. If the lab has a positive, USEF will send the sample number to Dr. Schumacher; he reviews everything and sends that to us. Names are not with the samples as they are being tested. And drug testing technicians are familiar with all sorts of scenarios, such as when a horse or a rider has to go right back into the next class. If the exhibitor has to go right back into the next class, they can give permission to a trainer or relative who can stand there with the horse while everything s being done, and the person with permission can sign the verification form, Rajeana says. Anytime a horse has to go right back into the next class, the drug-testing veterinarian will assign a tech to watch the horse compete, she adds. They ll stay with that horse until it can be tested. And we try to get the horse tested as soon as possible after the horse is done competing. Emotions can run high at horse shows, and especially so at championship-level events. What really makes the drugtesting process run smoothly is cooperation. There are times when the testing teams do not receive the appropriate cooperation and civility, Rajeana says. The teams are there to enforce our medications policies, which are safeguards of the spirit of competition. AQHA s medication rules and procedures were put into place to protect the horse and the sport, she adds. When you re at an event, please keep in mind the respect owed to the testing teams. And remember the service you owe your horse and the sportsmanship that is owed to your competitors for those times that you choose to medicate. While AQHA provides multiple therapeutic medication resources to exhibitors, ultimately the choice to medicate is up to you. Tara Matsler is Internet editor for AQHA Publications. To comment, write to tmatsler@aqha.org. 106 S EPTEMBER 2013 THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE JOURNAL