would never give anywhere near that much to a horse when treating a deficiency and trying to reach normal. We are not trying to get a behavior change as are people who give horses cocaine.” Large doses increase cardiac output and awareness. “Abus-
ers report having the feeling that you can jump over a 50 foot wall. Some people try amazing things on their horses to achieve a little advantage,” Mike bemoans. The FEI has moved pergolide from a banned substance to
a controlled substance, he says. “Banned substances have no reason to be in a horse. Controlled substances are given as therapy. The FEI understands it needs to figure out how to pre- vent someone from using it in a deceptive manner while allow- ing proper treatment of those that truly do need it. The testing needs to catch up with the way people misuse it,” he continues. Testing for this substance is challenging because dopamine
is always in the body and the body regulates the amount. “It’s not the same as when we’re looking for a Bute molecule in the body,” Mike explains. According to the USEF drugs and medications rules, a horse and/or pony given a forbidden substance for therapeutic rea- sons must be withdrawn from a licensed USEF competition for a period of not less than 24 hours after the medication is ad- ministered. If, for example, you rode a dressage test at 9:00 a.m. Friday, you would give your horse his last pill at 8:30 a.m. Thurs- day and his next pill after the Friday ride. This 24-hour rule can be an issue for horses that compete frequently.
A New Lease on Life All in all, both veterinarians I spoke to feel the currently avail- able medication, although expensive, offers amazing results and huge benefits for those of us who own or ride a horse with PPID. As David says about the roping horse mentioned previ- ously and my own horse Novio, “Maybe the horse looks old because he has PPID. You put him on the medicine for $65 a month. The mom thought it was worth it because her daughter was safe and confident on him, and she would grow as a rider. That was also happening with you and your horse. You have a horse you know and enjoy and he was disappearing out of your riding life.” Thanks to that medication, horses may live longer and re- main healthier with PPID even if we don’t know all the “hows” and “whys” of the dysfunction. This is all good news for me and my horse. Instead, at age 18, he’s back in work and we are pro- gressing up the levels of dressage once again. My fingers are crossed and my hopes are high.
28 March/April 2014
Reuel Kaplan
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