A young Uruguayan endurance rider has been suspended for two years and fined 3,000 Swiss francs by the FEI Tribunal after her horse tested positive to a substance associated with lowering the heart rate.
Victoria Goni, 22, argued vehemently that the presence of banned substance ergonovine in El Mate’s sample was caused by contaminated feed. Uruguay has a known problem with an arable fungus which can cause a disease called ergotism linked with alkaloids including ergonovine. In worst cases, ergotism leads to gangrene of the limbs.
However the FEI argued that as “one of the side-effects of ergonovine was that it lowered the heart rate” and “it could therefore be abused in endurance.”