Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

So could someone remind me why the AERC is still supporting the USEF? 
It's seems very hypothetical to be trying to formulate a drug rule that 
both protected the playing field of the competition and protects the 
horse from practices - like drugging it and racing it - of over zealous 
individuals and at the same time support an organization that legalizes 
drugs that allow riders to do just that.

Truman

Bruce Weary wrote:
> Equioxx, (firocoxib) is a COX-2 inhibitor. COX-2 inhibitors are newly 
> developed drugs for inflammation that selectively block the COX-2 
> enzyme. Blocking this enzyme impedes the production of the chemical 
> messengers (prostaglandins) that cause the pain and swelling of 
> arthritis 
> <http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7776> 
> inflammation. Cox-2 inhibitors are a new class of nonsteroidal 
> anti-inflammatory drugs 
> <http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9520> 
> (NSAIDs). Because they selectively block the COX-2 enzyme and not the 
> COX-1 enzyme, these drugs are uniquely different from traditional NSAIDs.
> So now, USEF is saying it's okay in their venue to compete horses with 
> swollen AND painful arthritic joints. This is my field of expertise. 
> Exercising (loading and unloading) arthritic, inflamed, and swollen 
> joints actually perpetuates the entire cascade of the joint 
> degeneration syndrome. It pushes the horse faster and harder down the 
> road of disability and retirement. Please don't be fooled, folks. It 
> is well documented that many of these drugs actually impair healing, 
> especially the NSASIDS. Some drugs can impair the body's sequential 
> chemical defense pathways, temporarily and artificially. Sometimes, 
> *for a resting and rehabilitiating horse* this is beneficial, and a 
> part of a rational treatment plan designed to return the horse to 
> work. NOT as a crutch to return the horse to work on. It is a recipe 
> for disaster for endurance horses, and for other horses as well.
> How many of us would take an acutely inflamed knee, known to be 
> arthritic, drug it with a COX-2 inhibitor, and go run the Boston 
> Marathon? Even if you were in great shape, and a world class 
> competitor, Mother Nature has set up some strict rules about the price 
> you (or the horse) will pay when you push beyond what is called the 
> "limitation of tissue." She is a jealous lover and will make you, or 
> somebody, pay in the long run. Bruce Weary


--

“It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how 
smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong” Richard 
Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics


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