Consistent with the USEF Veterinary Committee’s mission of addressing horse welfare issues, the Veterinary Committee passed a motion at their mid-year meeting in support of restricting the use of NSAIDs in horses at USEF licensed competitions. The motion supports the use of only one NSAID at a time and was forwarded to the Chair of the Drugs and Medications Committee for review.

Under the current USEF rules, no more than two of the seven approved and quantitatively restricted NSAIDs are permitted in a horse at the time of a USEF licensed competition. The one exception to this rule is that currently phenylbutazone (“bute”) and flunixin (Banamine®) are a forbidden combination, and are never permitted together in the horse at the time of competition.

The Drugs and Medications Committee reviewed the motion and put forth a rule change proposal to restrict the use to just one of the seven approved NSAIDs in a horse at a USEF licensed competition. The rule change proposal will be considered at the USEF Annual Meeting in January.

For information regarding this proposal, scientific articles including a piece by Dr. Brad Root, DVM, and the position of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, please visit www.usef.org/_IFrames/Drugs/NSAID.aspx.