I heard this on the radio, too. Capsaicin is
nothing more than extract of red pepper, which heats up the skin. You can
buy arthritis balm that has capsaicin in it and it turns hot on the skin and I
suppose the heat penetrates into the joint, muscle or whatever. I once
bought some "foot warmer" to put on while riding an XP ride in Utah in
April. Brrrrr! It had capsaicin in it and it overheated my feet and
hurt. I have very sensitive skin, so it was an overkill.
To describe capsaicin as "improving performance" is
perhaps a bit extreme, but since stimulating drugs are banned in FEI (I think),
even capsaicin would not be acceptable. The point I'm trying to make is
that it is not an internal drug, but an external stimulator. If I'm wrong,
I'd be happy to be corrected.
Beijing Olympics: Four Show jump horses
fail dope test _22/08/2008_ (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/08/22/) Four show jumpers were suspended from the Olympics
yesterday after their horses failed a drugs test. Ireland's
David Lynch and riders from Germany, Norway, and Brazil were ruled
out, putting the team result in doubt. All four horses had traces of
pain reliever capsaicin, which helps improve
performance.
and a later comment from the same
list:
The press interviewed 100 top jumping
horses and when asked if they would take a performance enhancing drug that
would make them win and be undetectable. Only 22 of the horses answered
nay, the rest simply nodded their heads.
