Reading the article about the California trainer suspended for medication he provided evidence he never used on his horse is an example of one of the problems with the regulations as they are now.
I don't want horses overmedicated, but there has to be realistic restrictions and acceptance of evidence of contamination out of the trainer's control as long as barns don't have sufficient security to maintain that the medication could only have been administered by the trainer or his staff.
I have to give some merit to what the trainer says here, why would he deliberately give his horse medication he knows is restricted when he does not have a history of medication abuse?
We need to get larger doses of common sense into this issue instead of reacting to social media posts.
I have been a fan of racing for a long time and I see a lot of changes that are for good and some that are just knee-jerk reactions to accusations made from outside without evidence against the industry.
Drug levels that are so low that they would not affect the animal also need better determination. Just because modern drug tests can detect it doesn't mean it has a negative effect or proves abuse. I agree horses should not be medicated to mask injuries so they will run as fast as we want them to, but I believe it is just as harmful to not give treatment to an ailing animal because someone doesn't believe in giving them medication. When my cat gets sick, I give her medicine, and she gets treated to prevent illness.
I don't have a medical degree and I'm not a lawyer. But I do approach problems with common sense and I think more of that needs to be applied to this issue.
Barbara Adams
Little Rock, Ark.
