Swedish pony rider banned for using banned substance on her horse
Swedish dressage rider Elin Aspnas has claimed a campaign of harassment against her led to the positive dope test that cost her a bronze medal.
The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has stripped 16-year-old Miss Aspnas of the individual bronze medal she won at the 2008 European Pony Championships after her pony tested positive for a prohibited substance.
The rider has also been suspended from competition for two months and fined CHF 1,000 (£602).
Miss Aspnas’ pony Tim tested positive for the local anaesthetic lidocaine, a medication Class A substance under International Equestrian Federation (FEI) rules.
At the hearing on 25 November 2008 Miss Aspnas claimed that a tub or arnica gel used on her horse must have been tampered with at the event.
And she alleged a campaign of harassment and threats against her by other riders.
But the FEI has said that while the evidence provided by Miss Aspnas “may suggest that someone might have tampered with the rider’s bottle of arnica gel, the tribunal cannot accept this as decisive proof”.
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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.