Sniffer Dogs and Anti-Doping: The FEI tests a new tool in equine sports regulation

One of the FEI’s main missions has always been to safeguard horse welfare and ensure fair play in equestrian sport, including through rigorous doping rules. However, as the doping world is rapidly evolving and adapting, laboratories often struggle to keep pace with substances and methods designed to evade detection. In response to these challenges, the FEI is investigating a new initiative for anti-doping testing: sniffer dogs.

What is the sniffer dog programme and why is it needed?

These dogs will be trained to detect trace amounts of prohibited substances in horses’ saliva samples. Field trials were due to begin in July 2025. Broader implementation could follow in future years, if approved.

For now, the FEI plans to deploy this method exclusively in endurance events, due to the discipline’s unique welfare and anti-doping challenges. Indeed, in endurance, a horse’s heart rate must not exceed 64 beats per minute, a measure aimed at protecting the animal’s health. A rate above this limit typically indicates fatigue or unfitness and horses exceeding it are not allowed to continue the race.

However, there have been increasing reports of medications being used to artificially lower horses’ heart rates, allowing them to compete despite being unwell. Pushing a horse to compete under these conditions can lead to dangerous outcomes for the animal, sometimes even death. These drugs are short-acting and often used in micro-doses, making them extremely difficult to detect through standard testing. The use of sniffer dogs aims to solve this issue by offering a non-invasive, quick and highly sensitive screening method.

How does the process work?

A long swab will be placed into the horse’s mouth and left for a few minutes. A range of swabs would then be presented to the dog. If a dog marks a sample, the corresponding horse will immediately undergo blood testing.

Research and trials have shown that dogs are able to detect substances at levels as low as picograms, only 3 minutes after intake (if administered intravenously), making them even more sensitive than current laboratory testing procedures.

Despite this sensitivity and their proven accuracy in detecting relevant samples, their role will be limited to preliminary screening. Only results from subsequent testing by accredited laboratories will be used for legal proceedings.

Potential impact

If successful, this approach could mark a major advancement in equine anti-doping.  It is non-invasive  and so does not cause additional stress or disruption to the horses, which is critical in equine sports.

Sniffer dogs are already widely used in other fields. Their extremely sensitive sense of smell has proven invaluable in contexts ranging from drug detection to explosives and firearm searches, currency smuggling and even medical diagnoses such as detecting certain cancers.

The science behind this impressive capacity lies in dogs’ highly refined olfactory systems. Whilst humans have on average about 5 million scent receptors, dogs can have up to 300 million, making them able to detect complex chemical signatures at incredibly low concentrations.

To our knowledge, the FEI’s sniffer dog programme (if implemented) would be the first structured application of this method in sport. If successful, it could inspire other federations to explore the use of sniffer dogs (perhaps even in the human anti-doping world).

Authored by 

Ellen Kerr
Associate

and

Alice Marcossian
Paralegal