At Tendonall, we don't just formulate a supplement to keep your horse sound, we obsess over tendon health. As veterinarians and horse owners, we know that your horse's performance, soundness, and long-term well-being hinge on one thing: strong, resilient soft tissues. Whether you're in the jumper ring, on a cross-country course, or rounding barrels at top speed, your horse's tendons and ligaments are doing the heavy lifting.
Despite how critical they are, soft tissues remain one of the most overlooked (and misunderstood) aspects of equine care.
Why Soft Tissue Injuries Are Different
Unlike bones or muscles, tendons and ligaments have limited blood flow. That makes them slower to heal and more vulnerable to long-term damage. They're built to handle load, stretch, and recoil but when that stretch goes beyond their limits or happens too frequently without recovery, microtears form.
Over time, these small points of damage can lead to major injury. And unlike an obvious fracture or acute trauma, soft tissue breakdown can be subtle and easy to miss, until it's too late.
The Invisible Stress of Performance
Repetitive motion, fatigue, overstretching, and even overheating during exercise can all contribute to microdamage. At peak exertion, studies show that core tendons temperatures can reach levels high enough to begin damaging the cells that keep tendons healthy.
That means it's not just about what happens when a horse takes a bad step, it's also about the quiet accumulation of stress that builds up with every stride.
What Riders Can Do
The best defense is a well-informed approached to soft tissue care. That includes:
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Understanding workload and recovery. Training programs should give tissues time to rebuild between high-intensity efforts.
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Monitoring heat and swelling. Early signs of soft tissue strain are often felt before they’re seen.
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Using evidence-backed support. Nutrition, therapies, and training techniques should all work together to promote resilience and reduce the risk of injury.
No supplement, boot, or routine can eliminate all risk, but the right strategy can make a big difference in a horse's longevity and quality of life.
Tendon injuries don't happen out of nowhere. They follow patterns, and the more we understand about these patterns (biologically and mechanically), the more we can do to protect our horses from them.
Whether you're rehabbing a previous injury or trying to prevent one in the future, soft tissue health deserves more attention than it often gets. The horses who last are the ones whose bodies were protected as carefully as they were trained.
Rethinking Tendon Care: What Every Rider Needs to Know About Soft Tissue Health
At Tendonall, we don't just formulate a supplement to keep your horse sound, we obsess over tendon health. As veterinarians and horse owners, we know that your horse's performance, soundness, and long-term well-being hinge on one thing: strong, resilient soft tissues. Whether you're in the jumper ring, on a cross-country course, or rounding barrels at top speed, your horse's tendons and ligaments are doing the heavy lifting.
Despite how critical they are, soft tissues remain one of the most overlooked (and misunderstood) aspects of equine care.
Why Soft Tissue Injuries Are Different
Unlike bones or muscles, tendons and ligaments have limited blood flow. That makes them slower to heal and more vulnerable to long-term damage. They're built to handle load, stretch, and recoil but when that stretch goes beyond their limits or happens too frequently without recovery, microtears form.
Over time, these small points of damage can lead to major injury. And unlike an obvious fracture or acute trauma, soft tissue breakdown can be subtle and easy to miss, until it's too late.
The Invisible Stress of Performance
Repetitive motion, fatigue, overstretching, and even overheating during exercise can all contribute to microdamage. At peak exertion, studies show that core tendons temperatures can reach levels high enough to begin damaging the cells that keep tendons healthy.
That means it's not just about what happens when a horse takes a bad step, it's also about the quiet accumulation of stress that builds up with every stride.
What Riders Can Do
The best defense is a well-informed approached to soft tissue care. That includes:
Understanding workload and recovery. Training programs should give tissues time to rebuild between high-intensity efforts.
Monitoring heat and swelling. Early signs of soft tissue strain are often felt before they’re seen.
Using evidence-backed support. Nutrition, therapies, and training techniques should all work together to promote resilience and reduce the risk of injury.
No supplement, boot, or routine can eliminate all risk, but the right strategy can make a big difference in a horse's longevity and quality of life.
Tendon injuries don't happen out of nowhere. They follow patterns, and the more we understand about these patterns (biologically and mechanically), the more we can do to protect our horses from them.
Whether you're rehabbing a previous injury or trying to prevent one in the future, soft tissue health deserves more attention than it often gets. The horses who last are the ones whose bodies were protected as carefully as they were trained.