Officials have long relied on blood and urine testing to detect drugs aimed at calming horses for competition, but that technology offers only a fleeting glimpse into a horse’s chemistry. With rumors swirling about dangerous drugs now being used at hunter/jumper shows, the U.S. Equestrian Federation has added a new weapon to its anti-doping arsenal: hair testing.

At its mid-year meeting, held June 16–17 in Lexington, Kentucky, the USEF board of directors passed an extraordinary rule change to allow hair testing for prohibited substances beginning July 1. Hair testing complements the existing blood and urine tests because it is sensitive to some chemicals that won’t show up in the existing tests and can indicate whether they were administered across a longer timeline.

“Hair [testing] would be reserved for substances that should never be in a horse” USEF Chief Veterinary Officer Stephen Schumacher said. “They would never be in a horse due to contamination or inadvertent exposure. These are things that had to be intentionally administered and are absolutely inappropriate.”  

Among other things, the hair test can detect pentobarbital, a barbiturate used for euthanasia, a drug that was included in a list of prohibited substances no longer allowed on the grounds of USEF-recognized shows as of April 1. USEF approved the rule change in response to what officials said are credible reports that some owners and trainers misuse barbiturates that can evade detection in urine and blood tests. The new rule takes aim at these banned substances with more precise testing technology, with the goal of discouraging the use of dangerous barbiturates. USEF plans to release an expanded list of banned substances ahead of the July 1 implementation date.

Schumacher, who also serves as the chief administrator for the USEF Drugs and Medications Program, calls adding the testing “a natural progression.”

“Hair [testing] has been around quite a while,” Schumacher said. “This is just intended to bolster our existing program. You can find potentially different substances, or a good timeline of different substances.”

He added that hair testing wouldn’t be used to look for therapeutic substances and appropriate medications, but for banned chemicals such as euthanasia drugs.

Hair testing is well-established in the horse racing industry, which has been using it to combat doping for the past three decades. Schumacher said that USEF didn’t follow suit sooner because of discrepancies in what substances were prohibited between racing and other horse sports. Some of the drugs detected by hair testing, such as certain classes of steroids, could act as performance enhancers in young race horses but would be considered medically appropriate in older competition horses. 

Now, with harmful barbiturates rumored to be in use as preparation for the show ring, regulators needed a way to determine whether a horse has been improperly dosed with an illegal substance. 

“Hair may potentially allow us to look for those substances, or exposures to those substances, that this horse may have had in the weeks leading up to competition,” Schumacher said.

Once hair testing goes into effect next week, officials plan to collect both random and targeted hair samples, along with urine and blood samples per current protocols. Hair samples must be sent to a laboratory, so those tests may take several weeks to return results. That, combined with the added expense, will limit its widespread application for now. As officials roll out the new testing, multiple factors will inform which horses are chosen for hair samples, including winning horses and information suggesting potential violations.

“Hair testing will be guided based on a combination of factors, including random or intelligence-based selection and may be driven by placing in competition,” a USEF spokesperson said in a statement to the Chronicle.

Schumacher said that while testing does provide access to a longer medical history, the test does not give a precise answer about when exposure happened, a limitation of the testing technology compounded by the natural variability in hair growth.

“There are some techniques to try and determine either chronicity or the rough estimate of exposure, but each horse is going to be individual and variable because of the length of the mane and how fast they grow their hair,” he said. “Some other independent variables can throw that off.”

In cases where the timeframe of a horse’s exposure to a substance could be relevant, such as in cases where ownership has changed, Schumacher said USEF will lean on its existing investigation structures as a safeguard. 

“It’s not a new issue,” he said. “We have certain drugs that we routinely test for now that can persist in the horse and in the blood sample for months,” he said. “We regularly already deal with that in the adjudication process. 

“We are aware that horses change hands, either by trainer or by owner,” he added. “Definitely, all of that is taken into consideration. This is not a new problem for us; this is something we already have to deal with, and we already have tools in place.”

The emphasis of the new testing is protecting horses’ well-being, he added.

“Certain substances should never be in the horse when they’re alive—period,” Schumacher said. “We’re not out to get people; we’re out to protect horses. That’s what we’re looking to do, and this provides another tool for us to do that.”

Stricter Rules For Horse Falls And Collapse

At the mid-year meeting, USEF also ratified changes to the definition of a horse fall or collapse, and the requirements for returning those animals into competition. In a press release, USEF wrote that the rule change had been made in response to concerns from the hunter/jumper community about horses collapsing at competitions due to the administration of prohibited substances intended to quiet them. As with hair testing, these changes go into effect July 1.

According to the new rule, “any horse/pony who collapses is barred from competing for a minimum of seven days afterward, and is not permitted on the grounds of a Federation-licensed competition during that time.” After that timeframe, the horse must also be examined by a veterinarian who submits a statement that the horse is fit to return to competition.

“The goal of this presidential modification is to ensure horses and ponies suffering unexplained collapses receive appropriate veterinary care before returning to competition,” the press release stated. “It is not designed to penalize horses who may choose to roll, or those who have clearly tripped.”

USEF refined the language used to describe a collapse to differentiate unexplained collapses from a roll or trip in the ring. The rule change states that in hunter-jumper competitions, “a horse is considered to have fallen when, while it is not being ridden, any part of the horse’s body, except for the hooves, unintentionally touches the ground or an obstacle and the ground, even if the horse stands back up afterward.” 

For more information and frequently asked questions about these rule modifications, click here. 

USEF also asks that readers email with any questions or feedback about these rule changes at feedback@usef.org.