A Welfare Review of Different Doping Agents in Equine Sports

Abstract

Doping has always been a part of equine sports, which presents a number of challenges regarding the protection of the horse from an animal welfare point of view. This issue goes beyond the health effects of doping agents on horses, as the consequences of such practices can be of importance regarding the image of the sport, the financial investments made, the protection of the rider’s health and the reputation of the horse track. That is why governments are trying to put in place laws to prevent doping from occurring, and developing more and more efficient methods of analysis to control for doping.