For quite some time now, horse owners and riders alike have been faced with the insecurity in terms of the doping relevance of feed. There is a risk of falling into the doping trap through no fault of their own simply by using the wrong kind of feed.  Fact of the matter is that in the past, quite often have "natural medicines" led to doping traps in horse sport.

The random testing of feed has revealed that certain doping-relevant substances can be contained in the final product without the manufacturer even knowing. In the years 2005 to 2009, these feed contaminants have been the cause of 12% of all positive doping test results in horse sports (Source: Institute of Biochemistry, German Sport University Cologne). Literature: Marc Machnik, Ina Schenk, Wilhelm Schänzer, Dopinganalytik von Phytopkarmaka im Pferdesport, in: B. Meier (Ed.), Ars Medici, Phytotherapie 1 (2010), 38 – 40.

Substances ubiquitous to our region and those consisting of herbal substances, preparations and extracts used in the production are animal feed are particularly critical.

An international workgroup of the European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC) has compiled a list of these substances, which contains e.g. methylxanthine (caffeine, theobromine, theophylline), hordenine and morphine.

ZePräDo is a member of the EHSLC and takes an active part in the international harmonization process of feed analysis. Any new information on doping relevant issues of feed will contribute to the development of new analytical methods to provide a high degree of safety of the tested feed product.