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Heidi - no where did I suggest using herbs with pharmacological effects- what ever the hell that means. The AERC rule 13 prohibits normally found substances including vitamines and minerals in abnormal levels - whatever the hell that means. Can you tell me what that means and can you tell what the levels are and can you tell me why excpet for maybe vit B1 which is a masking agent.

We have a philosophy- not a rule. It is a good philosophy but a philosophy none the less and a philosophy by its very nature is more akin to a religion than an rule that can be scientifically verified.

There are no double blind studies to establish that most of the herbs used in humans ( much less horses ) even do anything except fleece the consumer of his hard earned cash.

It's time the AERC wrap some science around it's drug rule. If MSM for example which has no therapeutic value (which has been shown in humans and most likely in horses) than why is the AERC making big deal out of it in horses. There are plenty of things out there to worry about without worrying about substances that don't amount to a hill of beans.

Bottom line if it won't test and if it isn't tested then it is not enforceable. There are plenty of things that should not be used in the sport that will test and the focus should be on keeping these substances out of the sport - rather than trying to enforce a "feel good" philosophy which is not enforceable.

Instead of being worried about a few nettles leaves spread on the feed we should be more worried about such things as "designer steriods" which pose a much more serious risk to all sports. And I would be surprised if they are not out there in our sport.

Truman

heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

 Worrying about herbs and
supplements  is IMO a distraction to that goal.
    

Truman, comparing herbs to trace minerals is like comparing apples and
camels.  Herbs are complex plants that can contain MANY compounds.  They
work because they DO contain pharmacologically active substances. 
Originally, most drugs came from plants/herbs, and the forerunners of most
drug classes were distilled from herbs.

Take a simple plant like yucca--it contains the active compound in
aspirin, which is a pretty potent NSAID.  Go smoke some marijuana--for
sure some pharmacological activity there, but heck, it's just an "herb." 
Go drink some poppy juice--gee, it's just herbal, that opium in there
isn't a drug.  Go chew on some bella donna--when your eyes dilate from the
atropine and your gut activity changes, gee, that isn't a drug--it's just
an ol' plant.  Take a bit of foxglove, and see what happens to your heart
rate--golly, just another herb.  Check out those coca leaves--yeehaw, I'm
not high--that's just an herb...

Sorry, but I'd be VERY leery of ANY herbal remedies in a competing horse,
without some very specific knowledge of what is actually in the given
herb.  I personally take an assortment of Chinese herbs for various and
sundry reasons--and when the docs ask me for a list of the drugs I'm
taking, I am careful to list them all, because they can AND DO have
pharmacological effects.  If they didn't, I wouldn't be using them on
myself.  And because of the pharmacological effects of some herbs, the
docs ask that one go off of them prior to surgery, or not to take them in
combination with other specific meds, etc.  They work the same way in your
horse...  We are not talking normal foodstuffs here, or trace minerals.

Heidi



  

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We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only

because in doing so we learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.