Combating contamination in the racing yard

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There is so much more to the Clean Sport initiative than the FEI Prohibited Substances List. Building relationships with local feed suppliers and developing a code of practice with staff will ensure your racehorse has a clean and clear system. Horse…

By Melissa Volpi

There is so much more to the Clean Sport initiative than the FEI Prohibited Substances List. Building relationships with local feed suppliers and developing a code of practice with staff will ensure your racehorse has a clean and clear system.

Horseracing is an inclusive sport. It was this ‘spirit of the sport’ that the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) wanted to preserve when it formed the Clean Sport commission on the 9th October 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

But what is ‘Clean Sport’ and why is it necessary? According to the FEI, Clean Sport is about being honest and being true. It’s about having integrity and not letting our lust for winning cloud our judgement and respect for rules and laws. It’s about aiming for success, but accepting failure if it cannot be won fairly. The FEI believe that doping is contrary to the spirit of the sport and it has put together an initiative to ensure the end of positive drug testing for horses and their human athletes. Clean Sport is about being aware of prohibited substances, to include banned substances and controlled medication. It’s about being vigilant in feed management, medication management and stable management.

“In terms of applying the clean sport principles to racing yards, trainers need to be vigilant as it is so easy for prohibited substances to sneak in,” says Kate Hore, senior nutritionist at NAF (Natural Animal Feeds). “An obvious example may be an owner or staff member having a cup of coffee (source of caffeine) and a chocolate bar (source of theobromine) in the feed room, which then creates a potential risk of contamination and then for a positive drug test. The best advice is to avoid eating or drinking in the feed room or stable.”

The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) set up a Naturally Occurring Prohibited Substances (NOPS) scheme in 2009 that identifies the main NOPS and their sources, as well as providing a list of approved feed suppliers (companies that have signed up to be audited under the schemes new codes). “The BETA NOPS scheme is the only one of its kind and has cooperation from all corners of the world,” says Hore. “Contamination by NOPS is easier than people think, morphine being a good example. White poppies are grown commercially to produce morphine and the poppy seeds can be blown from one field to another, into a field of oats for example, which could then create a contamination issue further down the processing chain.”

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Brexit - How high are the stakes?

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Brexit – how high are the stakes?When Britain submitted its notice to withdraw from the EU in March 2017, one of the biggest issues became border control and movement of horses, particularly between the EU Republic of Ireland and its bordering Briti…

By Lissa Oliver

When Britain submitted its notice to withdraw from the EU in March 2017, one of the biggest issues became border control and movement of horses, particularly between the EU Republic of Ireland and its bordering British Northern Ireland. A hard border between the adjoining counties of Ireland presents its own physical and political difficulties, but any restriction on the movement of horses between Ireland, Britain, and mainland Europe gives rise to problems that affect us all.

The uncertainty of border control also impacts on the safety of the national herd and disease control. The main principle of the Tripartite Agreement was to prevent the spread of disease and that, as Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s chief veterinary officer Dr Lynn Hillyer reminds us, is crucial and arguably the biggest issue when it comes to Brexit negotiations.

Dr Lynn Hillyer

Currently, 10,000 horses move freely between the UK and Ireland every year. Seven thousand horses move overland between the Republic of Ireland (EU) and Northern Ireland (GB); 5,100 horses move between Ireland and France, the majority using Britain as a land bridge; and 5,000 horses move between Britain and France, according to Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) figures. Such freedom of movement is dependent upon the Tripartite Agreement, which will no longer be valid after 30th March 2019.

The Tripartite Agreement simplified the travel of horses between France, Britain, and Ireland and reduced the cost of moving horses between the three countries, allowing racehorses to be shipped without pre-movement veterinary checks and certification, and without the requirement for isolation and quarantine periods at their destinations.

“It’s not just about movement, it’s the protection of the herd against disease, and it’s absolutely critical that’s protected,” warns Dr Hillyer, who has been working with her French counterparts in ensuring that safeguards are in place in advance of the end of the Tripartite Agreement. “There has been added pressure on us because of the enormity of movement involved.”

Adding to the difficulty in resolving issues has been the British government’s reluctance to commit to decisions and state definite demands. MEP Mairead McGuinness has been advocating on behalf of Ireland and warned in January at the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association (ITBA) National Symposium, “We hope when we sit down to negotiate, common sense will prevail, but the EU is not prepared to tweak its principles to accommodate the UK. If we cannot overcome our problems, there will be real difficulties for your industry.”

Fortunately, there has been a concerted team effort between all sectors of the thoroughbred industry in France and Ireland as they united to draw up a proposal to replace the Tripartite Agreement. Rather than sit back and wait, they decided to put together a draft for an improved alternative to the Agreement, the High Health Status (HHS) document for horses. “What is lovely is how the racing bodies and breeding associations have all pulled together, and that’s something that has come through the talks really strongly,” Dr Hillyer says.

Working with the Turf Club were HRI, the ITBA, Horse Sport Ireland – the representative body for the sport horse sector of show jumpers, dressage, and eventers – and France Galop. Paul Marie Gadot, head of the horses and control department at France Galop, explains, “The EU Commission draft doesn’t fulfil all our wishes as the breeding stock isn’t included in their proposal. A lot of work is still to be done. To be clear, we are working on an expedited movement system for high health horses.

“Currently, we are going to suggest a solution to the European Commission, which is working on the new legislation regarding movements of horses in the European Community and with the third countries. Actually, we are trying to address the modification of the European Law regarding horse movement, which isn’t linked to the Brexit negotiations. This way is more technical and also safer. I will be happy when a new system allowing easy horse movements will be in place.”

Both Dr Hillyer and Gadot have been happy with the level of awareness and support from their respective governments. “Our contacts in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have been fantastic and their response to our queries have come back by return,” says Dr Hillyer.

“The public information seminars here are probably less frequent than in Ireland,” agrees Gadot. “The preparatory work is done with the representatives of the equine industry, especially at racing and breeding levels, and we are in permanent contact with the hard core in charge of preparing the future of racing and breeding in Ireland and UK.

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Equine Herpesvirus-1 : An Elusive Target

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Equine herpesvirus -1; an elusive targetInfectious diseases are not uncommon in racehorses in training, breeding stock, and pleasure horses. Some of the more serious diseases can be financially devastating to the animal’s owners and to the equine in…

By Neil Bryant 

Infectious diseases are not uncommon in racehorses in training, breeding stock, and pleasure horses. Some of the more serious diseases can be financially devastating to the animal’s owners and to the equine industry on the whole. Viruses belonging to the herpesvirus family cause some of the most well characterized equine infectious diseases, and the most problematic of these is equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1; species Equid alphaherpesvirus 1). EHV-1 is ubiquitous in most horse populations in the world. It is responsible for major economic and welfare problems causing respiratory disease, neurological disease (mainly seen in adult horses), and abortion and neonatal foal death in pregnant mares.

This was most notably highlighted by the multiple abortion outbreak recorded in Hertfordshire, England, between February and April 2016 in fully vaccinated animals (http://www.aht.org.uk/cms-display/interim-report16-april2.html). Studies have determined that EHV-1 is a common cause of abortion. Occasional cases have also been linked to EHV-4 infection, but this is much rarer and doesn’t account for episodes of multiple abortion, as is seen occasionally with EHV-1.

The virus

EHV-1 was first isolated from an equine abortion in the U.S. in the 1930s. At the time of first isolation the vets weren’t sure what it was, but they knew it was infectious. Subsequent genetic analysis much later led to the classification of the virus in the genus Varicellovirus (family Herpesviridae), together with its close relatives equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4; species Equid alphaherpesvirus 4) and equine herpesvirus 8 (EHV-8; species Equid alphaherpesvirus 8). Interestingly it is grouped with, and is therefore genetically similar to, the human herpesvirus responsible for chickenpox, the Varicella Zoster virus. Initial infection of horses was thought to occur around weaning, when virus-neutralizing antibodies transferred to the foal from the mare’s colostrum had declined enough to make them susceptible to infection. However, virus has been isolated from foals as young as seven days old with high antibody levels but without any significant clinical signs. Immunity to re-infection after primary infection is relatively short-lived, lasting between three-six months, but it is rare for naturally infected mares to abort in consecutive pregnancies.

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