Technical information for veterinarians

Improving Athletic performance in horses

The fit horse

Peak fitness and athletic performance depend on a combination of factors including genetics, quality and intensity of training, injury prevention, proper nutrition and specialized veterinary care.

Adequate hydration, oxygenation, nourishment and drainage of the tissues are crucial to fitness and performance. Without these factors, the tissues are more susceptible to injury (and an injured horse cannot train at peak levels and so cannot reach peak performance potential).

Action of Recovery®EQ

The ultimate goal of the performance supplementRecovery®EQis to improve performance, health and fitness.Recovery®EQdecreases catabolism (tissue breakdown) and increases healthy anabolism (growth and repair) of connective, epithelial and muscle tissue.

Immune provocation by antigens (foreign substances in the air or food) leads to decreased energy, oxygen and nutrients available for optimal health and fitness and sports performance. The equine performance supplementRecovery®EQalso improves performance and fitness by decreasing the absorption of antigens.

Increasing equine fitness

Athletic injury and age-related decline is generally associated with failure/decline of connective tissue structures such as ligaments, tendons, aponeuroses, fascia, bone, blood vessels and other joint structures.

The muscle tissue itself is not affected as often as believed. If you picture the cross section of your horse’s leg muscle group, it would be similar to the cross section of a large industrial copper cable. A rubberized coating covers the entire cable. Inside the outer coat are sub groups of copper cables that are also covered with rubberized sheaths and so on, until you get down to individual copper strands.

The leg itself has many insulating sheaths (connective tissue) that reinforce and protect the muscle fibers (copper wires) from stress and trauma. The protective sheaths receive all the transference of force that occurs during training. In other words, the tissue that receives the bulk of the stress associated with exercise is the connective tissue associated with the muscle groups.

These connective tissues tend to dry and become less flexible with age due mainly to:

  • Decreased production of fluid maintaining long-chain glycosaminoglycan structures
  • Decreased stability of cell membrane and extracellular collagen fibers
  • Decreased production of glycosaminoglycan structures also results in decreased muscle group size

Recovery®EQ, increases the structural integrity of connective tissue structures and maintains optimum tissue hydration.Recovery®EQ:

  • Decreases susceptibility to injury
  • Decreases tissue breakdown
  • Improves quality and speed of recovery
  • Decreases lactic acid buildup
  • Decreases pain and inflammation
  • Increases overall training capacity

When tissue resilience is increased, and susceptibility to injury decreased, your horse is able to train to his/her full potential, increasing the chance of victory. In other words,Recovery®EQhelps your horse maximize peak genetic potential.

Recovery®EQ

Recovery®EQ with Nutricol®, is a proprietary performance and wellness supplement that can enhance your horse’s quality of life.* Recovery®EQ is developed to improve circulation to tissues, speed repair and slow or halt tissue damage. It may be used on its own or in combination with prescribed medications.

Recovery®EQ has been reviewed in the prestigious Horse Journal in October and December 2003 and rated as Best Performer Overall as a pain-relieving supplement for joint pain, back pain and tendonitis.

Recovery®EQ has been reviewed in the prestigious Horse Journal inJune 2006 as a performance enhnacing supplement stating in reference to Recovery®EQ “…you get what you pay for”.

Improving a horse’s health

Improving a horse’s health

  • Maintain some type of periodic daily movement of your horse to improve muscle tone, circulation and lymphatic tissues.
  • Consistently monitor your horse for any signs of lameness.
  • Maintain regular veterinary check ups.
  • Avoid excessive use of common pain medications as they actually promote tissue degeneration when used on a chronic basis. (If chronic use of pain medications is maintained, your horse will have fewer years of health and performance.)
  • Avoid performance sport when your horse is lame. (Simply masking pain with drugs when your horse is lame will increase the risk of more severe injury).
  • Make sure your horse is properly shoed.

Exercise and Diet

  • Exercise helps reduce pain and prevents further joint damage. Exercise will also help your horse maintain a healthy weight, which puts less strain on the joints.
  • Disuse of a sore joint will cause the muscles around it to weaken, resulting in pain.
  • Make sure to ask your veterinarian for advice on the proper nutrition for your horse.

Proper Shoeing

  • Improper shoeing can cause severe joint and muscle problems and is a significant factor in the progression of degenerative disease.
  • Consult a well-respected farrier for corrective shoeing.

How does Recovery®EQ work?

1.Reinforces membrane and matrix structures by increasing aldimine reducible cross-linking of collagen fibers; this acts to reinforce the strength and elasticity of connective tissue structures such as cartilage, synovium, ligaments, tendons, fascia, bone, blood vessel walls, hooves, coat and the dermis of the skin (26,27)

2.Neutralizes reactive oxygen species (ROS) and catabolic enzymes before they can negatively impact cellular and extracellular structure and function; this results in increased membrane receptivity to growth factors such as insulin, somatomedins and thyroxin that are required for anabolic repair and cellular maintenance (4,10,13,28-30,35,49)

3.Decreases catabolism of membrane and matrix collagen and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) structures via decreasing the pathological production of catabolic enzymes and other biochemicals such as collagenase, elastase, hyaluronidase, tumor necrosis factor, nitric oxide synthase and xanthine oxidase*; these biochemicals are released from immune, microbial and damaged cells and cause further damage to connective and epithelial tissue structures, resulting in joint pain, inflammation, decreased performance, capillary fragility, bleeding into the lungs and other soft-tissue damage (4,25,31-35)

4.Stabilizes cellular membranes, preventing the release of compounds that promote inflammation and breathing difficulty such as histamine, serine proteases, prostaglandins and leukotrienes, by non-competitively inhibiting the release of associated inflammatory enzymes such as cyclo-oxygenase, lipoxygenase and phosphodiesterase (33,36)

5.Increases the stability and production of protective epithelial mucosal surfaces in the digestive, respiratory and genitourinary tract to decrease the absorption of antigens (environmental compounds that may initiate performance diminishing immune or non-immune mediated inflammation, spasm and damage) (37-40)

Recovery®EQ

Recovery®EQwith Nutricol®, is a proprietary performance and wellness supplement that can enhance your horse’s quality of life.* Recovery®EQ is developed to improve circulation to tissues, speed repair and slow or halt tissue damage. It may be used on its own or in combination with prescribed medications.

Recovery®EQ has been reviewed in the prestigious Horse Journal in October and December 2003 and rated as Best Performer Overall as a pain-relieving supplement for joint pain, back pain and tendonitis.

Recovery®EQ has been reviewed in the prestigious Horse Journal in June 2006 as a performance enhnacing supplement stating in reference to Recovery®EQ “…you get what you pay for”.