Tendon talk & Metabolic Syndrome
Few nights ago we went to a vet seminar which talked about tendon injuries, stem cells being used to repair them, tendon health and also metabolic syndrome which is the underlaying cause of laminitis in most cases.
On the tendon side of things it looks like using stem cells is going to have a HUGE impact on how to repair tendons. I can see how the repair is so much better than the usual sort of cold hosing and being on box rest. Using stem cells leaves far less scar tissue which allows the tendon to become pretty much as flexible as it used to be before whereas when you use the normal methods of recovery there will be scar tissue which does not flex as well. Using stem cells (taken from that horse) the recovery is quicker too and over 70% return back to the same level of work as they used to (point - point and national hunt race horses) verses only 30% using traditional other methods.
To me it seem to stem cell use for tendon injuries is the way to go for the future. They did say that you can influence the strength of tendons up until a horse is 2 years old by how you keep them as a youngster. Having heard this, and obviously because we breed horses, we spoke to the vet after about what he meant. Seems that keeping babies out 24/7 and not over-working them (lunging, showing prep, riding etc) is the best way to help strengthen the horses tendons.
The other subject was metabolic syndrome which is EXACTLY the same thing in humans as horses only in humans it causes heart disease but in horses it cases laminitis. It is basically an insulin problem. Curly has it. The interesting thing is that there is a drug they are testing at Liphook Equine Hospital and now using where possible which drastically reduces the likelihood of a pony getting laminitis. There is a simple blood test you can have done on your pony to see if they are likely to suffer from this. Its all to do with insulin levels and how the body regulates it and how it stores energy. We all know little UK natives are far more likely to get lamanitis but now we know the full scientific reason why. You can even predict accurately which ponies/horses will get laminitis. Its a blood test you could have done at a vetting too if looking at buying a new horse/pony!
We had the test done on Curly last year but i didn't full understand what the readings meant, now we are going to have 2 more done and see if this new drug will help him be able to stay out all year and stay with the other horses out in the field all summer.
On the tendon side of things it looks like using stem cells is going to have a HUGE impact on how to repair tendons. I can see how the repair is so much better than the usual sort of cold hosing and being on box rest. Using stem cells leaves far less scar tissue which allows the tendon to become pretty much as flexible as it used to be before whereas when you use the normal methods of recovery there will be scar tissue which does not flex as well. Using stem cells (taken from that horse) the recovery is quicker too and over 70% return back to the same level of work as they used to (point - point and national hunt race horses) verses only 30% using traditional other methods.
To me it seem to stem cell use for tendon injuries is the way to go for the future. They did say that you can influence the strength of tendons up until a horse is 2 years old by how you keep them as a youngster. Having heard this, and obviously because we breed horses, we spoke to the vet after about what he meant. Seems that keeping babies out 24/7 and not over-working them (lunging, showing prep, riding etc) is the best way to help strengthen the horses tendons.
The other subject was metabolic syndrome which is EXACTLY the same thing in humans as horses only in humans it causes heart disease but in horses it cases laminitis. It is basically an insulin problem. Curly has it. The interesting thing is that there is a drug they are testing at Liphook Equine Hospital and now using where possible which drastically reduces the likelihood of a pony getting laminitis. There is a simple blood test you can have done on your pony to see if they are likely to suffer from this. Its all to do with insulin levels and how the body regulates it and how it stores energy. We all know little UK natives are far more likely to get lamanitis but now we know the full scientific reason why. You can even predict accurately which ponies/horses will get laminitis. Its a blood test you could have done at a vetting too if looking at buying a new horse/pony!
We had the test done on Curly last year but i didn't full understand what the readings meant, now we are going to have 2 more done and see if this new drug will help him be able to stay out all year and stay with the other horses out in the field all summer.