After German Olympic show jumper Marco Kutscher made statements to the media claiming that his horse, Cornet Obolensky, had been given medication under questionable circumstances, the Federation Equestre International has begun assembling a high-level Presidential ethics panel to investigate the claims.
In a report by the German sports agency Sports Information Dienst, appearing in the German magazine Der Spiegel, Kutscher stated that Cornet Obolensky was treated with syringes containing lactanase, a metabolic enhancer, and arnica, while competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. “It is correct, my horse was treated with arnica and lactanase. Whether that was declared, I do not know,” Kutscher was quoted in the SID report.
Allegedly, the German team veterinarian at the Games, Dr. Bjorn Nolting, injected Cornet Obolensky with arnica and lactanse after Round 1 of the Nations Cup team competition. The horse collapsed after the injection, but recovered quickly. The German team finished fifth in the team competition.
The German Federation’s current veterinarian, Dr. Michael Duee, said the German Federation is investigating the case.
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Given the reports, the FEI initiated the Presidential ethics panel. “This action is a step in an investigation being conducted further to information that has recently been made available to the FEI, supplemented with recent media reports including admissions by Marco Kutscher, a German jumping rider, and Björn Nolting, the former team veterinarian,” stated an FEI press release.
“The formation of this panel is in line with the FEI’s ongoing and comprehensive efforts on ensuring clean sport and horse welfare. It is an exceptional measure which reflects the potential involvement of representatives of a National Federation in behavior that could constitute violations of the FEI drug rules.”
If the panel discovers that Dr. Nolting administered lactanase and arnica without reporting the treatment, further administrative penalties could result.
Kutscher’s teammate at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong, Christian Ahlmann, has just completed an eight-month suspension by the FEI in response to his horse, Coster, testing positive for the banned substance capsaicin. The original FEI suspension was for four months, but the German Federation appealed the decision, asking for a longer suspension. The Court of Arbitration for Sport then increased Ahlmann’s ban to eight months.
