As many horse people may know, there are many different expenses that go along with owning and showing a horse. One of these expenses may be a drug. A horse's discomfort will definitely show in the show arena. There are many drugs that are legal for use to aid a horse's comfort. Some of these may have the effect on horses that an aspirin does for humans. One drug that is legal but often used illegally is adrenocorticotropic hormone or ACTH. Many people are able to use this drug illegally because of a horse's natural ability to produce ACTH. There is no way to test or determine if the ACTH was injected or naturally produced. In the Arabian horse industry, or any other horse industry for that matter, a western pleasure horse must look like it is enjoying the experience. This is where ACTH comes into play. ACTH slows the mentality down and causes a horse to give the appearance of what the judge is looking for. Although ACTH has some therapeutic uses, ACTH causes many health threatening diseases, therefore it should be banned in the horse industry. .
ACTH is a drug that will suppress the immune system and may alter a horse's disposition (IAHA Drugs and Medication Study-Table 1). It is not only a drug, but also a hormone that is naturally produced in the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. The hormone stimulates the outer layer, or cortex, of the adrenal gland (Petrakis). ACTH is known as cortisol; every living thing has various levels of cortisol that must be produced naturally to survive (Flores). There is not a set amount of ACTH that should be in a horse's system at one time. ACTH is produced in burst on an average of every thirty seconds. This is why there is no way for a veterinarian to test if ACTH was injected. Another name for ACTH is corticotrophin ("Primary Effects of ACTH"). ACTH is released naturally, often as a stress manager. Horse trainers may use ACTH when a horse has a climate change or is dealing with stress, but more often trainers will use ACTH as an aid to slow their horses down.
