FLAIR® Strips have horse health benefits for intensively trained horses, as well as for horses that only exert themselves during occasional weekend competitions or trail rides.  Horses that are not in peak physical condition may receive an even greater benefit than horses that are in regular conditioning programs. The Strips provide benefits for horses in all disciplines including flat racing, steeplechasing, stadium jumping, cross-country, barrel racing, reining, roping, endurance racing, polo and others. FLAIR Strips are simple to apply and can be easily integrated into your horse and pony care regimen.

University and Clinical Studies Show that FLAIR Strips:

• Reduce Airway Resistance
  FLAIR Strips support the nasal passages and significantly reduce inspiratory airway resistance and peak tracheal inspiratory pressure. This helps your horse breathe easier.

• Reduce fatigue
  Fatigue contributes to breakdowns including fractures, bowed tendons, and suspensory injuries. FLAIR Strips reduce fatigue.  Thus, using nasal strips may also protect the horse, and rider, from catastrophic injuries resulting from orthopedic breakdown.

• Reduce Lung Stress and Bleeding
  All horses experience exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) -- bleeding in the lungs -- during stressful exercise, though it is rarely visible externally. Repeated episodes of EIPH can lead to permanent lung damage, scarring and inflammation. FLAIR Strips significantly reduce EIPH during heavy exercise.

• Conserve Oxygen and Shorten Recovery Time
  Horses wearing FLAIR Strips don’t consume as much oxygen during heavy exercise and recover quicker after exercise.

FLAIR Strips Protect Horses at All Levels of Competition

Until recently FLAIR Strips have perhaps been viewed by many riders as only being something that a race horse or top level competitor would need. This is not true.

When FLAIR Strips were first introduced, the racing industry immediately saw the benefit of this new invention. It was envisaged that the Strips would reduce the stress of racing on the respiratory system and therefore also have beneficial effects on the body as a whole. This has subsequently been proven through a number of studies published in scientific journals. The use of Strips in the Thoroughbred and Quarter horse racing industry and later by upper level competitors in professional sport horse industry has been rapid and widespread. The use of FLAIR Strips by lower level competitors and trail riders was much less common.

Are FLAIR Nasal Strips suitable and indicated for use by horses competing in lower level hunting, jumping, eventing, reining, barrel racing and other types of competition?

FLAIR Nasal strips work by preventing collapse of the skin over the nasal passages, just above the nostrils, when the horse breathes in. This reduces the stress on the lungs. As a result, horses experience less lung stress and less lung bleeding (exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage). Another advantage is that the reduced effort to move air in and out means less stress on the body as a whole during exercise and a faster recovery after exercise.

Why should FLAIR Nasal Strips be used for horses competing in lower levels of competition?

• Ability - Horses competing at lower levels are often not as athletic as those competing at higher levels of competition. For example, this means a canter for a horse at lower competitive level is harder work than for a horse at a higher competitive level at the same speed of canter
• Fitness - Horses competing at lower levels are often of not as fit as those competing at higher levels of competition. A less fit horse will work relatively harder at the same speed of exercise as a fit horse would and will also take longer to recover afterwards
• Health – Horses competing at higher levels of competition are often seen regularly by veterinarians. This means that low-grade disease is picked up early and treated. Horses at lower levels of competition are usually seen less frequently by veterinarians and as a result may often be trained and compete with undetected low grade disease of the respiratory system
• Exercise stress – There is often a perception that because a horse is not competing at a high level, that it is not working as hard. As mentioned above, horses that are less athletic, less fit and also possibly carrying a low-grade problem are likely to work as hard, if not harder as a horse competing at the highest level. Imagine yourself trying to keep up in a race with an Olympic marathon runner or Olympic sprinter or hurdler. They would be working hard but going fast or performing much better, you would probably be working as hard but going much slower and not performing as well.

When should horses at lower levels of competition use FLAIR Nasal Strips?

Anytime they are undertaking hard work or prolonged exercise or competition. So, if you are going to give your horse a hard training gallop or competing in an event, using a FLAIR nasal strip will reduce the amount of lung damage from bleeding. In competition, using a FLAIR nasal strip will allow your horse to compete with less stress on the respiratory system. This will allow more oxygen to be delivered to the muscles, a later onset of fatigue and a swifter recovery after exercise. Horses that are less fatigued are also less likely to make mistakes, which could lead to fences being knocked down, falls or injury.

Summary

• Horses at lower levels of equestrian competition often work as hard and sometimes harder than those at the higher levels.
• All horses experience bleeding in the lungs if they exercise at more than a canter and the damage to the lungs accumulates over time.
• Using FLAIR Strips during fast canter and gallop work in training and during competition makes more oxygen available to the muscles, delays the onset of fatigue and results in faster recovery following exercise. This may lead to less mistakes, better performance and a lower risk of injury.