Caring for Your Horse's Muscles
In Eclipse Biofarmab's range, there are various feed supplements and care products that offer several beneficial properties for muscles. Muscles benefit from vitamin E, selenium, magnesium, MSM, and liniments. Strong muscles reduce wear on the joints. Strong and flexible muscles are essential not only for good movement but also for supporting the skeleton and relieving the joints.
If the muscles are not sufficiently oxygenated during performance, the horse's performance capability is affected, and muscles become stiff and sore post-training if metabolic waste products are not efficiently removed. Vitamin E, magnesium, selenium, and sulfur (MSM) are crucial for muscle performance.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an antioxidant that plays a vital protective role, especially in horses performing strenuous work. It combats oxidation in the body's cells caused by so-called free radicals—a process that leads to cell damage. Vitamin E works in conjunction with selenium during the effort to protect muscles from free radicals.
Vitamin E is fat-soluble and is stored in the fat tissues, muscles, and liver. The requirement varies with the composition of the feed ration and the horse's performance level. A deficiency of vitamin E in the diet can lead to muscle damage. Vitamin E also contributes to oxygen supply to the muscles and aids in blood vessel formation. It is important for the immune system and fertility. Eclipse Biofarmab's range includes Muscle E and Selo-E, which contain vitamin E.
Selenium
Selenium is a trace element that plays a vital physiological role in horses. It is part of the enzyme that handles free radicals—substances produced by the body's consumption of oxygen. Free radicals have a degrading effect on the body's tissues and contribute to aging. Selenium helps to slow this process. It also plays an important role in the immune system and is necessary for white blood cells to effectively combat bacteria and other microorganisms. Selenium works together with vitamin E, and the two complement and strengthen each other's effects. They can also partially substitute for each other to some extent.
In most places in Sweden, the soils are deficient in natural selenium. Therefore, most Swedish feed raw materials are poor in this element. It must be supplemented, which can be done through separate selenium supplements or through a fortified feed. If a selenium-fortified concentrate feed is used, Eclipse Biofarmab's Muscle-E should be used, which is pure high-quality vitamin E.
If not using selenium-fortified concentrate feed, Eclipse Biofarmab's Selo-E should be used. Selo-E consists of vitamin E and organically bound selenium. It is well documented that organically bound selenium is more readily absorbed by horses because all selenium in the plant kingdom is bound in this manner. With organically bound selenium, the risk of overdosing is also reduced.
MSM
MSM makes cell walls more elastic and permeable, which simplifies the cell's nutrient absorption and oxygenation, while also making it easier for metabolic waste products to be removed. MSM is involved in numerous processes in the body and is essential for many functions. It helps produce the amino acids methionine, cysteine, cystine, and taurine, potent antioxidants that neutralize toxins in the body. The absorption of several B-vitamins is also dependent on MSM. The primary source of MSM for horses is grass. The MSM content significantly decreases when grass is dried into hay and is virtually non-existent in silage.
A horse that grazes for a few hours per day and is fed silage thus receives very little MSM. The requirement for MSM also increases the more the horse is used and the older it gets. MSM can be given to horses without the risk of overdosing, as it is considered a completely non-toxic supplement. In horses, MSM usage is evident in muscle recovery after strenuous work and their flexibility and mobility. Eclipse Biofarmab's MSM100 consists of 100% high-quality MSM and is used when the feed ration needs to be supplemented with sulfur.
Magnesium
Magnesium is one of the body's most important minerals, necessary for several enzymes and essential for nerve and muscle function as well as heart and vascular health. Magnesium cannot be stored in the body and must therefore be included in the daily feed ration. It has been shown that both humans and horses often suffer from a magnesium deficiency. Common deficiency symptoms in horses include nervousness, spookiness, and poor temperament. When there is a magnesium deficiency, the body cannot handle the substances released during stress or fear. The increasing deficiency of magnesium is due to depleted soils and an imbalance in the feed between calcium and magnesium. Eclipse Biofarmab's BioMagnesium contains highly bioavailable magnesium. Soft and supple muscles are the best insurance against injuries and wear.
Liniment
Eclipse Biofarmab's Liniment Blue is a dual-action (first cooling then warming) liniment for the sport horse's muscles, tendons, joints, and ligaments. With its dual action, Liniment Blue is very versatile and used on both soft parts (muscles) and hard parts (tendons, joints, and ligaments). Before training, treating with liniment is an excellent way to prepare and warm up the muscles before physical warming up, and Liniment Blue provides a pleasant warmth that helps the muscles to recover quickly. With its dual action, any internal bleeding that has started is effectively stopped. This is the purpose of the cooling effect. As the cold subsides, the warming action of the product will force fresh blood to the area, helping to heal the injury. Liniment Blue is mild and can therefore be used as often as needed. Note that Liniment Blue contains menthol and therefore has a 96-hour competition wait period.
Eclipse Biofarmab's Ice Gel is a high-quality cooling liniment for the horse's muscles, joints, and tendons. It provides a pleasantly cooling sensation. Easy to use. Apply a generous layer to the affected area. Note that Ice Gel contains menthol and therefore has a 96-hour competition wait period.
Horse people have traditionally cooled horses' legs with water and clays after hard exertions. Eclipse Biofarmab's Swede Clay is a cooling clay for horses. Used after hard work and in daily care of the horse's legs. It steals heat from the legs, providing a deep-acting effective cooling for care of minor tears right after strenuous effort. With cooling, the flow through the blood system is reduced so that minor bleedings in the skin and superficial tissues can heal faster.
Arnica montana, also known as mountain arnica, is a perennial plant that belongs to the family of Asteraceae and has been used as a medicinal plant for a long time. In Eclipse Biofarmab's range, there are Arnica and Arnica Gel. Arnica is used for massage and can ideally be used as a hot moist wrap for the sport horse's tendons, joints, and ligaments. Arnica gel is a high-quality liniment based on genuine arnica tincture for massaging the muscles of the training and competing horse.