Hyaluronan Essential to Healthy Horse Joints
by Teresa on 16/11/09 at 11:37 am
Illustration by Celia Strain
It’s easy to take healthy equine joints for granted. Thousands of times each day, week after week, year after year, the mobile joints in a horse’s legs bend and flex, bearing his weight and enduring punishing shocks–all without attracting undue attention. After a hard workout, the muscles may be tired but not the joints. With a bit of rest, the horse is galloping around the paddock, good as new.
All of which is especially amazing when you consider that trouble-free joint function hinges on two seemingly mundane substances: water–ordinary H2O–and hyaluronan (HA), one of the simplest, but also most essential, molecules in the animal kingdom. Together, HA and water are the primary components of synovial fluid, the slippery lubricant that fills the spaces between the bones at the joints and enables them to flex without friction.
HA also has an anti-inflammatory effect that minimizes the potentially debilitating consequences of everyday wear and tear.
Keeping the synovial HA healthy–even replenishing it when necessary–is at the heart of maintaining equine soundness. For 30 years HA injections have been used to relieve pain and inflammation in equine and human joints. Details
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