Cornell University in Ithaca, New York has one of the oldest and most storied intercollegiate polo teams in the country. Unlike outdoor polo, which is played on a 10-acre field, arena polo is played in an enclosed space measuring 300 feet by 150 feet. With three riders on each team using long-handled mallets to strike the ball and score, arena polo requires frequent stops, starts and tight turns, demanding more from the horses than outdoor polo.
“I see a major difference in horses treated with biologics—and their ability to compete, return to competition much sooner and remain in competition for much longer,” said Anthony (Tony) Condo, the Peter B. Orthwein ’68 Head Coach of Polo at Cornell.
“Polo horses are hardcore competitive athletes who have to be resilient and tough to thrive in this game,” said Tony.
Although as many as 16 horses are rotated throughout a single polo match to ensure they have time rest and recover, injuries are still common.
Products like the ACP Max™ system (autologous conditioned plasma) and the Arthrex IRAP ProEAS system can make all the difference in equine healing. Every year, Arthrex donates up to two dozen ACP Max kits to Cornell to aid in the care of these athletes.
The ACP Max system creates platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from the horse’s own blood. The PRP is injected back into the injured area to promote healing. The IRAP ProEAS™ system produces a serum that helps reduce pain and inflammation in the joints.
“We don’t want to put a Band-Aid on an injury, and the ACP Max system is very helpful,” said Aimee Colbath, VMD, PhD, DACVS-LA, Assistant Professor of Large Animal Surgery at Cornell. “It’s a stall-side treatment. That means that we can diagnose an injury and inject it later that day, as opposed to treatments like stem cell therapy that require three weeks to prepare.”
Unlike other treatments that can require multiple injections, ACP is typically administered in a single dose. This minimizes the risk of injection-related complications—a benefit that is invaluable to both polo horses and their riders.
Tony shared, “Intercollegiate polo is a really special opportunity. We are a tight-knit community, and we are committed to making the most of the time we have together and taking the best care of our horses.”
Visit ArthrexVetSystems.com for more information.
