Sponsored by Achieve Equine LLC, makers of FLAIR Strips
Unlike humans, horses can only breathe through their nose during intensive exercise.
The horse’s respiratory system is essentially a long tube that extends from the nostrils to the lungs. The respiratory system is divided into the upper airway (nostrils, nasal passages, larynx and trachea) and the lower airway (lungs).
Deep in the lungs in the alveoli, the oxygen in air diffuses into the pulmonary capillaries to be transported throughout the body to provide energy for exercise. The waste product of energy is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is transported out of the body by taking the reverse pathway as the oxygen. Blood carries carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs, where it passes through the pulmonary capillaries, into the alveoli and is exhaled out of the body.
When a horse breathes in during exercise, over 50% of the resistance to airflow is in the nasal passages.
During exercise, resistance to moving air into the lungs increases. 90% of the resistance to airflow occurs in the upper airways, and over half of the resistance occurs in the nasal passages1. One reason for this is that a significant portion of the soft tissue overlying the nasal passages is unsupported by bone or cartilage, including the narrowest part of the upper airway: the nasal valve. As breathing intensity increases, this unsupported tissue collapses during inhalation, reducing the size of the airway and greatly increasing resistance to airflow.
FLAIR Strips reduce airway resistance during exercise to make breathing easier.
The physics principle of Poiseuille’s law tells us that for each incremental increase in the size of a tube, resistance to flow improves by 16-fold. FLAIR Strips improve airflow by supporting the nasal passages to reduce the soft tissue collapse that occurs in all horses during inhalation. Using a FLAIR Strip can be compared to drinking from a large, thick straw rather than a regular straw…it’s much easier to get what you need.
Clinical studies prove FLAIR Strips reduce airway resistance.
Clinical studies at leading research institutions show that by reducing airway resistance, FLAIR Strips make breathing easier, reduce fatigue, reduce lung bleeding, conserve energy, and quicken recovery. See the science at flairstrips.com/learn
1Art, T. et al. “Effect exercise on the partitioning of equine respiratory resistance.” Equine Veterinary Journal. Volume 20: Number 4. 268-273. 1988.
2Holcumb, Susan J. VMD, PhD. et al. “Effect of Commercially Available Nasal Strips on Airway Resistance in Exercising Horses.” American Journal of Veterinary Research. Volume 63: Number 8. 1101-1105, August 2002.
