Niall McCague reporting for Sport 360 in an article entitled, “The science behind cryotherapy and why Dubai company is using recovery technique on racehorses” writes:
A Dubai-based start-up company has been putting special focus on full-body cryotherapy cabins for horses and the results are already being seen.
Based in Downtown Dubai, Revive offers a full range of professional cryotherapy equipment across the sports and wellness industries.
A world’s first, the research and development work for this equestrian cryotherapy equipment was carried out by specialist engineers at the manufacturer’s facilities in Finland.
Now, with several cabins operating for racehorses and endurance horses in the UAE and across the world, the company continues to go from strength to strength.
In a highly competitive sport like horse racing, where the advantage of a few seconds could be worth millions of dollars, the return on investment is potentially huge.
Former professional racing car engineer, Luka Jurkovic, now Revive General Manager, used regular cryotherapy as part of his fitness routine to support recovery after physical activity and races.
Along with his team at Revive, he figured the same technique could work for horses and has been developing equestrian cryotherapy ever since.
“Horses and humans are both mammals, so they share a lot of the same physiology. Everyone knows about using ice packs on bumps and bruises to reduce swelling – it’s the same principle,” Jurkovic told Sport360.
“If you train really hard, or you play a 90-minute football match, lactic acid builds up in the muscles and that’s what gives you muscle ache or cramps. It’s the same with horses.”
Interestingly, with the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, Revive is also starting to see spiking interest in their Cryo Cabins as they help boost human antibody production and increase levels of immunity.
“Imagine a fully-grown thoroughbred racehorse weighs around 600 kilograms, that’s a lot of muscle to get sore. During this global COVID-19 pandemic, it’s our human cryotherapy cabins that are actually getting a lot more interest,” he said.
“Cryotherapy is a great way to ramp up the flow of oxygenated blood throughout the body and increase hormone and antibody production to boost the immune system. More immunity is just what the doctor ordered for us right now.”
“The best thing is, the horses actually enjoy it.”
Racehorses react well to the treatment and Zabeel Stables in Dubai is starting to see game-changing results after only the first year of regular use.
And if recent results are anything to go by then the horses, trained by Satish Seemar, are certainly bearing fruits of its stunning technology. Read more »
Tuesday's Horse 