Joint therapy plays an incredibly important role in the management of joint health for horses of all kinds, whether they compete on a national show circuit or take on the trails each week, and the use of joint injections has become an increasingly popular form of regenerative and therapeutic veterinary medicine, especially in recent years. As the technology behind joint injections remains elusive to many horse owners, the equine health team at Merial made a strong presence at the 2016 Midwest Horse Fair, offering attendees a lecture on equine joint therapy, different ways their horses’ joints may be degenerating, and how the therapeutic use of joint injections can help their equine partners live long, healthy lives.

Dr. Andy Bennett, DVM, Veterinary Services Manager for Merial, sat down for an interview with AgWired on joint therapy, as well as the different joint therapy products Merial offers their customers.

“For joint therapy to be effective, you truly need a good diagnosis of what’s wrong with your horse; you need to find out if putting something directly in the joint going to benefit it, you need to work with your veterinarian to come up with a multi-approach plan,” said Dr. Bennett. “But joint therapy is continuously evolving, there are products you can put into the joint, there are products you can use intravenously, and even stem cells have become popular to help treat soft tissue, joint, and ligament injuries.”

Last year, Merial acquired Legend, a hyaluronic acid joint injection that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in equine joint therapy, from Bayer Animal Health. The injection features a unique 12-step micro-filtration process to ensure its quality and consistency, and several studies have shown that it is able to provide nutrients to the joint and act as an effective form of joint therapy.

“There are so many therapies on the market, and sometimes the regular horse owner can get confused as to what is best for their horse, they may not always be aware of how these products act, because they’re all similar yet different,” said Dr. Bennett, “But its been a really great opportunity to work with owners at the Midwest Horse Fair, and to educate them in the various products and what we can do for them.”

Listen to my full interview with Dr. Bennett here:
Interview with Dr. Andy Bennett, DVM, Merial