Re: [RC] claming agents that won't test positive, know any? - Heidi Smith
>The half life of bute is 12 hours. So in
48 hours if you gave them a gram you would have 1/16th of that remaining. I
suspect that 1/16 of a gram of bute has very little pharmacological value since
when I have to use it (the west nile episode last fall was one) my vet said
every 12 hours. If I can remember the document I downloaded from the AERC web
site recommended 96 hours - just "to be safe."
I agree that the levels at that point are not
pharmacologically significant. But the rule says that equines shall
not have "any evidence" of such substances. A fraction is still
"evidence" that the substance is there.
I think the 96-hour thing is plenty for the
nutroceuticals--the joint supplements, etc.--since you only have to be competing
on the normal levels in feedstuffs. But with drugs like Bute, no, 96 hours
isn't long enough to "not test" at all. And I'd also question why a horse
would have been on bute only 96 hours before a race anyway--if he needed it, he
likely doesn't need to be going back out yet. Sure, the pharmacological
effect is gone--but is the body better enough to do 50+ miles without
exacerbating the original problem? And it is for that reason that I really
appreciate our "no drugs" philosophy in this sport.
I had a personal "confrontation" with the
no-drug concept this past weekend. My horse is sensitive to staph
allergies from nicks and dings. His new splint boots didn't arrive in time
for Steph's 3-day ride. He got some nicks and dings on Day 1. One
leg had edema in it on Day 2, but he was sound, and I knew that riding would
help the edema. It did. But I put some heavy felt splint boots on
him at the vet check, because we were going back into more rocks. Big
mistake--that just helped the smouldering bugs get a better foothold, and caused
a more severe reaction after the boots came off. We could have ionized his
leg, or put a medicated poultice on it, and had a sound horse that could have
safely traveled. But those are not legal options. We tried ice--it
didn't address the problem. So I didn't go on Day 3. Period. I
"treated" my horse during Day 3 instead with a medicated wrap--and solved
the problem in a matter of hours. Sure, I could have cheated and put that
on him right after Day 2, washed it all off in the morning, and I have no doubt
that I could have gotten him through Day 3 sound that way (aside from the
fact that I had <shudder> actually committed the sin-according-to-Howard
and TALKED to the ride vets--God forbid--so they knew exactly what the
score was)--and not have caused any damage to my horse, either. (Never
mind that gee, poultices are just "herbal"--and they don't "enhance" his
performance...) But that not only would have been a rule violation--it
also isn't in the fair nature of this sport or in my personal code of
ethics. If I had to help him in that way, he didn't need to be out there
the next day. Period. There are other weekends, and other multidays,
and we'll be back next time better prepared to prevent the problem to begin
with, instead of trying to find a gimmick to get us past our
error.
