Horse sport

The FEI, the world governing body for equestrian sport, lists palmitoylethanolamide on its Equine Prohibited Substances List.

The FEI entry

Name on the list: Palmitoylethanolamid (PEA)
Classification: Prohibited Substance, Controlled Medication
Class: Analgesic
Detection time: none published

The entry was read in the FEI Prohibited Substances Database on 2 September 2026.

What Controlled Medication means

The FEI sorts prohibited substances into two groups.

Banned Substances have no accepted use in a competition horse at any time.
Controlled Medications have accepted uses in equine medicine. They must not be present in the horse at an event.

Palmitoylethanolamide is in the second group. The FEI entry carries its standard welfare note: giving a medication too close to an event can mask signs and may aggravate a clinical condition.

Why the missing detection time matters

A detection time is how long a substance stays detectable after the last dose. Riders and vets use it to plan a withdrawal period. The FEI has not published one for palmitoylethanolamide, so there is no official figure to plan from.

Palmitoylethanolamide is also made by the horse’s own body. How the FEI’s laboratories separate a supplement from the natural level is not described in the public entry.

Under FEI rules, the Person Responsible for the horse answers for any positive test.

Racing and national bodies

Racing authorities and national equestrian federations set their own rules. Many national federations follow the FEI list. This site has not checked each body’s rules for palmitoylethanolamide by name. Ask the relevant body or a vet who works in the sport.

The published research in horses

One paper, a report on four horses with no control group. See Horses.