Picture credit: Wayne Marks (cropped photograph)
The NHA have sent out a press release about the use of bisphosphonates in horses (see the bottom of this article).
Studies show bisphosphonates are effective at reducing lameness and returning affected horses to their previous levels of performance. Horses receiving bisphosphonates should be closely monitored for any side effects and long-term use should be approached cautiously.
Bisphosphonates are also used to treat degenerative bone diseases like navicular syndrome, a painful disease whereby the navicular bone in the heel of the horse loses its bone density.
However, bisphosphonates can also be abused.
The below extract about bisphosphonate usage was taken from an article in Thoroughbredracing.com in 2017.
Like all drugs, bisphosphonates are a proven fillip when administered to treat specific conditions in accordance with official guidelines. But like all drugs, bisphosphonates can be misused and abused.
And it’s the potential consequences from misuse in racehorses — especially in young racehorses — that’s causing mounting concern among a growing number of respected veterinarians and regulators in the industry.
“There’s no checks and balances on this,” said Mary Scollay, equine medical director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, about a group of drugs that are currently unregulated.
“If the risk is as real as we perceive it to be, we can be facing a real problem in terms of racing injuries and racing fractures if we don’t as a community come together to decide how to responsibly manage this,” she added.
Opposite effect
There’s still so much unknown about the way bisphosphonates affect the physiology of the racehorse, with the bulk of the drug research done on humans and on animals other than horses. But many experts point to studies suggesting that, if bisphosphonates are used to treat bone problems in young horses — those being prepared for the sales, for example — that, rather than strengthen the bone, bisphosphonates might actually have the opposite effect.
What’s more, bisphosphonates can be challenging to detect and can remain in the bone for months, even years at a time, making the regulation of them an even greater obstacle.
“It’s a big concern industry wide,” said Jeff Blea, a Santa Anita-based veterinarian, one of a number of prominent veterinarians in recent years to have dug into the effects of bisphosphonates in racehorses.
“I don’t think they belong on the racetrack,” he added. “The biggest reason why I take that position is that bisphosphonates potentially have potent pain-modifying abilities, and that bothers me.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
An article in 2021 on the Paulick Report site confirmed that research had proved that bisphosphonates can linger in the horses’ bones for years.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE PAULICK REPORT ARTICLE
NHA Press Release (August 26, 2024)
Please note this notice supersedes and replace a similar, previous NHA notice on Bisphosphonates, dated 2019.
Bisphosphonates is a class of drug which prevents the loss of bone density in the racehorse.
These substances are prohibited substances within the Rules of the NHA:
73.4.1 Substances capable at any time of causing an action or effect, or both an action and effect:
… 73.4.1.6 the musculoskeletal system;
The formal International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) statement within Article 6 of the International Agreement on Breeding, Racing and Wagering is as below, and this is being adopted by the NHA.
Certain special radiolabelled bisphosphonates (which are structurally different from the bisphosphonates available for use therapeutically) are required to be administered to horses for diagnostic nuclear imaging purposes. As such, their legitimate use should be exempted from those controls. This is noted below in brackets.
Specific requirements regarding bisphosphonates:
Any bisphosphonate (except those radiolabelled bisphosphonates used for diagnostic nuclear imaging in horses) is NOT to be administered to a racehorse:
- under the age of three years and six months as determined by its recorded date of birth;
and
- on the day of the race or on any of the 30 days before the day of the race in which the horse is declared to run.
The bisphosphonate product administered must be licensed for use in horses in this country, and be administered in strict accordance with the label instructions.
There must be a diagnosis determined by a veterinary surgeon that supports the use of a bisphosphonate as an appropriate treatment. Such treatment must be administered by a veterinary surgeon and this must be recorded in the corresponding NHA Veterinary Treatment Register (VTR).
