West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 178 - Racing Commission › Title 178 - LEGISLATIVE RULE RACING COMMISSION › Series 178-01 - Thoroughbred Racing › Part 8 - EQUINE VETERINARY PRACTICES, HEALTH AND MEDICATION › Section 178-1-51 - Trainer Responsibility

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
51.1. The
				  following provisions apply to the responsibilities of the trainer as they
				  specifically relate to the health and well being of horses in his or her care,
				  custody or control:
51.1.a. The trainer is the
				  absolute insurer of and responsible for the condition of the horses he or she
				  enters in an official workout or a race, regardless of the acts of third
				  parties. If testing or analysis of urine, blood or other bodily substances or
				  tissues prove positive showing the presence of any prohibited drug, medication
				  or substance, the trainer of the horse may be fined, suspended, have his or her
				  occupational permit revoked, be prohibited access to all grounds under the
				  jurisdiction of the Racing Commission, or may be otherwise disciplined. In
				  addition, the owner of the horse, the foreman in charge of the horse, the groom
				  and any other person shown to have had the care, or attendance of the horse may
				  be fined, suspended, have his or her occupational permit revoked, be prohibited
				  access to all grounds under the jurisdiction of the Racing Commission, or may
				  be otherwise disciplined.
51.1.b.
				  The trainer is responsible for:
51.1.b.1.
				  maintaining the assigned stable area in a clean, neat and sanitary condition at
				  all times;
51.1.b.2. keeping all
				  hay, grain and other feed covered and in a sanitary manner;
51.1.b.3. ensuring that fire prevention rules
				  are strictly observed in the assigned stable area;
51.1.b.4. the proper identity, custody, care,
				  health, condition and safety of horses in his or her charge;
51.1.b.5. ensuring that at the time of
				  arrival at locations under the jurisdiction of the Commission a valid health
				  certificate and a valid negative Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) test
				  certificate accompany each horse and which, where applicable, shall be filed
				  with the association's racing secretary;
51.1.b.6. having each horse in his or her
				  care that is racing, or is stabled on association grounds, tested for Equine
				  Infectious Anemia (EIA) in accordance with state law and for filing evidence of
				  the negative test results with the association's racing secretary;
51.1.b.7. using the services of those
				  veterinarians holding an occupational permit issued by the Racing Commission to
				  attend horses that are on association grounds;
51.1.b.8. immediately reporting the
				  alteration of the sex of a horse to the horse identifier and the association's
				  racing secretary no later than at the time of entry so that the information may
				  recorded on the foal certificate;
51.1.b.9. promptly reporting to the
				  association's racing secretary and a Racing Commission veterinarian when a
				  posterior digital neurectomy (heel nerving) is performed and ensuring that such
				  fact is designated on its certificate of registration;
51.1.b.10. promptly notifying a Racing
				  Commission veterinarian of any reportable disease and any unusual incidence of
				  a communicable illness in any horse in his or her charge;
51.1.b.11. promptly reporting the serious
				  injury and/or death of any horse at locations under the jurisdiction of the
				  Racing Commission to the stewards and a Racing Commission veterinarian and
				  compliance with subsection 52.2. of this rule governing racing soundness
				  examinations;
51.1.b.12.
				  maintaining a knowledge of the medication record and status of all horses in
				  his or her care;
51.1.b.13.
				  immediately reporting to the stewards and a Racing Commission veterinarian if
				  he or she knows, or has cause to believe, that a horse in his or her custody,
				  care or control has received any prohibited drugs or medication;
51.1.b.14. ensuring the fitness of a horse to
				  perform creditably at the distance entered;
51.1.b.15. ensuring that every horse he/she
				  has entered to race is present at its assigned stall for a pre-race soundness
				  inspection;
51.1.b.16. ensuring
				  that his or her horses are properly shod, bandaged and equipped;
51.1.b.17. attending the collection of a
				  specimen of urine, blood or other bodily substances or tissue or delegating
				  such responsibility to an employee holding an occupational permit or to the
				  owner; and
51.1.b.18. maintaining
				  accurate records, or expressly delegating the maintenance of accurate records
				  to a practicing veterinarian, of all corticosteroid joint injections to horses
				  trained by him or her, and making such records available to a Racing Commission
				  veterinarian upon request.