On April 3, the U.S. Equestrian Federation published two administrative penalty rulings regarding positive tests for benzoylecgonine—the main metabolite of cocaine. Valerie Renihan and Amanda Lyerly were both fined $5,000 after horses they exhibited tested positive for the forbidden substance.

Calumpi, a horse Renihan trained last year when he was owned and campaigned in the junior jumpers by Eliza Month, tested positive at the Washington International Horse Show (D.C.), Oct. 25-30, 2016. Renihan is the owner and head trainer at Findlay’s Ridge in North Salem, N.Y., and Wellington, Fla.

Fredrick, a horse Lyerly trained last year when he was shown in the junior hunters by Emma Kurtz and owned by David Gochman, tested positive at the Capital Challenge Horse Show (Md.), held on Oct. 3-9, 2016. Lyerly runs Madison Hills Farm, in Gates Mills, Ohio, and Wellington, Fla., with Michael Rheinheimer.

Both trainers must also return all trophies, prizes, ribbons and money, if any, won by the two horses at the competitions where they tested positive.

Renihan denied administering the drug to Calumpi.

“It was a contamination thing, and this is so far from anything I would ever have anything to do with,” she said. “I don’t even know how you’d administer [cocaine].

“It’s proven that it has no effect on the horses, so you don’t just give them that,” Renihan continued. “Basically horses do not metabolize cocaine in the same way as people, and it has no performance-enhancing effect on them. There would be no reason for someone to give a horse that.”

She joked that “a little tap with the stick at the in-gate is the same, and that’s free—that’s why it doesn’t make any sense.”

Renihan said the contamination could have come from anything, particularly at the Washington International, a show that takes place in downtown D.C. and stables horses on the city streets as well as at the nearby Prince George’s Equestrian Center (Md.).

“Washington is a special horse show—it’s very different,” she said. “The horses leave from New York at about 4 in the morning, get to [PGEC], go to holding stalls, and a bunch of guys help you unload all your stuff and take it to stalls. We’re going in stalls that someone has just been in, get the stall assignment when they vacate stalls in the order that the horses come in—so you know, you don’t know who has been in them. The grooms ahead of us have had long days, been in those stalls before us. Did they need to ship their horses home and did some [cocaine] in the stall, and maybe some dropped out in hay or in the stall? It could have been anyone—we don’t know.

“Horses are very susceptible for it to go through their bloodstream to test,” she added. “Plus, it was Halloween, so many people are on the streets and coming home from parties. They ask to pet the horses, and that’s how easy it is for it to test. It can show up in their system through casual contact but isn’t going to do anything.”

Nothing like this has ever happened to Renihan.

“My parents bought their farm in 1952, and there hasn’t been one single drug infraction on my parents, sister or me in 65 years,” she said.

Lyerly was equally baffled by the positive test. “To be honest, I have no idea how it possibly happened,” she said. “The horses got drug tested like normal, but I was literally shocked when [the USEF] sent me a letter. I had to look up the substance. However, he got it, it was some kind of contamination.

“All that we can figure is that the horse was petted by someone with it on their hands,” she added.

Lyerly said she had six or seven other horses tested at the show, and they all came back clean.

“It’s a little scary to prevent when you don’t know how it happened in the first place,” she said.

Lyerly admitted she’s exhausted all resources to find out how this happened and that she’s done a lot of research, which led her to the conclusion that it was probably environmental contamination.

“Like any horse show, [Capital Challenge] has no security,” she said. “Anybody can walk through the barn at night and pet the horses. I think it’s hard to know, because you can’t control the environment at all. It’s also scary, because it’s like this every time I go to a show.”

In the USEF’s published findings, both penalty listings included this qualifier: “In some circumstances, certain substances may fall outside of the Drugs & Medications Penalty Guidelines. It should not in any way be considered less important or less dangerous than other Forbidden substances. Rather, it is simply a substance which is more likely to have been ingested by horses for a purpose other than the enhancement of sport performance, for example, through inadvertent exposure. Following a review of this matter, it was determined that the facts and mitigating factors in this case supported the following penalty even though it is below the suggested range for Category IV Violations outlined in the Drugs and Medications Penalty Guidelines.”

In this case it meant that while Renihan and Lyerly received a substantial fine, neither was suspended from showing.

Julian McPeak, USEF director of marketing and communication, explained that the USEF hasn’t changed its position on prohibited substances but is committed to investigating all aspects of alleged rule violations.

“The Federation has been reviewing and adjusting penalties for all rule violations to make certain they are consistent with the changing environment and continue to support the safety and welfare of horses and humans,” said McPeak. “The establishment of penalty guidelines for drug and medication violations is representative of this type of analysis and adjustment. Recognizing that cocaine has become more prevalent in society, the federation broadened the range of penalty for this substance to take into account that there may be situations when a horse could be inadvertently exposed to the substance.

“Fairness and impartiality dictate that each case be reviewed on its individual merits, and no two cases are the same,” she continued. “Many factors can influence the outcome of a case, including differing circumstances. The federation has not eliminated the ability to suspend and/or fine responsible person(s) in any case. The circumstances of each case are examined.”

The chair of the Equine Drugs and Medications Committee has the discretion “to recommend the issuance of charges by the federation, administrative penalty or no action at all,” according to McPeak. “The administrative penalty recommendations must then be reviewed and approved by the co-chairs of the Hearing Committee.”

Renihan wrote a letter to the USEF outlining what she thought might have happened, but she did not attend a hearing. She said she understood why she received a fine.

“It is on the forbidden substance list, so I knew I was going to get some sort of penalty,” she said. “[The USEF officials] were understanding, but it’s still an illegal substance. They were very nice to deal with, and it didn’t feel like a ‘them against me’ type of thing. I understood their reasoning, and they understood my point, which is basically that at a show like Washington, it’s hard to protect yourself so that this doesn’t happen.

“USEF is trying to make a fair, clean sport,” she acknowledged.

Lyerly also wrote a letter to USEF and said she had no idea how the horse was administered the drug.

“I was hoping this would become such a public issue because it wasn’t something we actually did,” she said.