As horse owners, most of us have dealt with a horse's injury at one time or another that was slow to heal or wouldn't heal at all despite the expert care of the best veterinarians and therapy. As medicine advances, there are treatments available now that weren't even a few years ago. One of them, StemPhase, gives hope where other treatments have failed. Based on research conducted for humans, StemPhase's founders, Marc Nicols and Gabriele Sutton, wanted to see how similar methods could be used on horses and dogs. After considerable testing and development, StemPhase was founded in 2010.
Many veterinarians now use stem cell therapy, which involves taking a sample from the horse's fat deposits to grow stem cells in the lab, then re-inject the horse's own stem cells to support the healing process. In recent years, researchers have determined that while stem cells are effective in therapeutic protocols, it is actually the fluid and stem cell factors surrounding the cells that have more effect. StemPhase is created using this fluid and administered as an injection under the skin and combined with nutraceutical supplements for maximum efficacy.
"People come to us because they've tried everything to cure their horse," explains Sutton. "They have usually gone through multiple types of treatments and months of layups and the horse is still lame. To be able to treat that horse with some nutrient-specific products and our injection protocol and see them not only recover, but return to competition, is an amazing thing."
One of the injectable products produced for StemPhase was FDA approved this past March for experimental use. StemPhase has found its product to be most effective in treatment of arthritis; joint deterioration and skeletal disorders; soft connective tissue injuries, lumbar spine problems and neck injuries; tendon, suspensory and ligament injuries; navicular, ring and side bone disease; and faster healing for post-operative patients.
Before making StemPhase available to the public, Sutton, Nicols and a team of veterinarians and research participants conducted clinical trials on 1800 horses. Almost all cases exhibited a high cure rate with no side effects, 90 percent of them after the first injection. "That was very early in the development of the product," Sutton remarks. "Since then we have made even more advances."
Grand Prix jumper rider Jenni McAllister was one who participated in the trials with several of the horses in her care. "When Gabriele Sutton first approached me, she was really excited about the product," McAllister shares. "I'm always looking for new ways to keep our horses going well, so I was excited to try it. I've had horses with problems nothing else could help, so we had nothing to lose."
While McAllister found that StemPhase helped quite a few of her horses that could not be made sound with other means, there were two cases that were particularly compelling. "I have two mares that had suspensory injuries. After following traditional treatments with little to no success, I gave them StemPhase. The older mare, GlaDOS, had the typical enlarged suspensory you see after an injury, even when it's healed and they are sound. Now you can't tell she ever had an injury. GlaDOS is 17 so she is serving as a broodmare, but the younger mare is completely healed and will return to competition next year. It's amazing seeing their progress."
A Healthy Horse Fit
Marian Nilsen, owner of Healthy Horse Boutique, was so impressed with StemPhase she decided to distribute it through her store. "I had a horse suffer a catastrophic injury," she recalls. "After following my vet's protocols for two years, my horse was still lame. Two months after administering StemPhase, my horse was sound enough to have a rider 'tack walk' him. By month three, he was trotting. He is now sound and ridden five-six times a week. I think StemPhase worked so well for my horse because it treated him as a whole. It doesn't just treat the injured site but it helps systemically to fix the entire body, and the supplement program supports him on a daily basis to continue the healing."
There is nothing more heartbreaking than losing a show season—or an entire career—because of an injury that refuses to heal despite exploring all the options. StemPhase is an effective means to return to complete comfort and soundness and get back on track in the ring.
For more information on the product, including StemPhase for dogs, visit the company's website at www.stemphase.com.
Contributed by LEG Up News.