One of the most common conditions affecting soundness and performance lifespan of horses is osteoarthritis (OA), with some reports suggesting 60 percent of lameness issues in horses is attributable to OA(1). OA is known across animal and human populations to cause stiff and creaky joint movement. It can make getting up in the morning difficult or slow you down the day after a long run.

Joint (intra-articular or IA) injections are often performed to treat joint inflammation and injury. This delivers treatment directly into the joint, ensuring the therapeutics are present where they are most needed, as opposed to systemic treatments (i.e., given intravenously, orally, or intramuscularly) that have to travel through the body to the site of injury or disease.

For the first time, researchers have unveiled an intervention that appears to slow down the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). A clinical study conducted jointly by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and the University of Gothenburg (UGOT), Sweden, has yielded remarkable results. Horses afflicted with OA, treated with a novel drug combination, not only achieved freedom from lameness but also experienced a simultaneous inhibition of joint tissue degradation.

Keeping horses sound is one of the most difficult and important aspects of horse sport. Given that horses have an uncanny ability to injure themselves, at some point every rider or horse owner will need their veterinarian to conduct a lameness evaluation.