Isabell Werth fined €2,000 but avoids ban

German dressage rider Isabell Werth has been fined after her horse tested positive for a drug banned by the German Equestrian Federation.

A long running legal battle between the Olympic dressage rider and the German Equestrian Federation was brought to a close by the German Federation’s arbitral tribunal yesterday (Monday 17 March).

The tribunal found Werth guilty of a “minor” violation of the anti-medication regulation with her horse El Santo in 2012. She was ordered her to pay a €2,000 fine and cover all legal costs.

Isabell’s horse El Santo tested positive for cimetidine — a drug that is used to treat stomach ulcers — at the Rhineland Championships in Langenfeld in June 2012.

Isabell was initially handed a 6-month ban for the offence in November 2013 but always argued that the horse had been contaminated by her watering system via stablemate Warum Nicht, who was on the medication.

The tribunal agreed with the German disciplinary committee that there had been a breach in the rules, but gave her a “milder” sentence.

Cimetidine is on the forbidden substances and prohibited medication in competition list for the German Equestrian Federation, but is not considered to be a doping substance. The drug is not banned by the FEI and is allowed in international competition providing certain procedures are followed.

Isabell told a German newspaper that she was “relieved” that the case is over. She also called for the “harmonisation” between national and international rules.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now