Irish rider Denis Lynch blames ‘Equiblock’ for positive doping test
One of the four show jumpers suspended from the Olympic competition in Hong Kong has blamed his horse’s positive test for a banned substance on a Deep Heat-like ointment used on the horse.
At the tribunal yesterday in Hong Kong the International Equestrian Federation indicated that the banned substance, capsaicin, was an ingredient in some equestrian products in regular use.
Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) has confirmed that it was identified by their rider Denis Lynch as an ingredient in a product called Equiblock used by him on his horse.
An HSI spokesman said : “Equi-block is a product used in similar circumstances to ‘Deep Heat’ used on humans and Denis Lynch explained to the tribunal that he commonly applies Equiblock to the horse’s lower back prior to exercise.”
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.