Study: Curly Horses promote immune tolerance in allergic individuals

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 American Bashkir Curly Horses are claimed to be hypoallergenic, but this has not been clinically proven. 

The origin of these horses remains uncertain, with their additional name "Bashkir" stemming from the misconception that they were originally imported from Russia to America. Some theories suggest a Spanish immigrant origin in South America.

Established in 2010, Curly Farm Klappholz combines Dr. Wolfgang Mitlehner's medical practice specialising in internal medicine, allergology, pulmonary, and bronchial medicine with a holiday home and riding school featuring Curly horses. This facility provides a safe environment for allergic riders to interact with and ride Curly Horses.

 

Dr. Mitlehner has conducted studies on allergic patients who have ridden Curly horses to investigate their allergic responses to these animals.The work culminated in a report published in the journal Pneumologie

 

This collaborative study involved Susanne Mitlehner from Curly Farm Klappholz, Dr. Wolfgang Mitlehner, Alexandra Mitlehner, Hans Caspar Mitlehner, Peter Stoll, and Ines Swoboda from the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna, along with Monika Reissmann from Humboldt-University of Berlin.

 

The team examined the impact of exposure to Curly Horses on 141 patients allergic to horses by assessing their lung function and nasal patency during interactions with the animals. They discovered that repeated engagement with Curly Horses, including activities such as riding and grooming, resulted in a reduction in allergic riders' reactivity. This improvement was evidenced by enhancements in FEV1, PEF, and PNIF measurements.

 

PNIF, FEV1, and PEF are standard measures used to evaluate nasal obstruction, allergic rhinitis, and lung function, particularly in conditions like asthma.

 

Repeated interactions with Curly Horses, including riding and grooming, resulted in decreased reactivity among allergic riders, as evidenced by improvements in FEV1, PEF, and PNIF measurements.

 

Further visits, involving extended periods of riding totalling up to 40 hours or more, continued to reduce reactivity to Curly Horses. It's noteworthy that allergic reactions to horses occurred in only 72 out of 1312 riding hours, with the majority occurring within the initial ten hours of riding.

 

In a subset of 41 out of the 141 patients, additional investigation explored whether repeated exposure to Curly Horses could induce tolerance to other horses. These patients participated in a tolerance induction study and underwent annual testing for horse allergy using a nasal provocation test. The results revealed that exposure to Curly Horses led to immune tolerance to other horses in 88% of patients who completed the study.

 

Dr Mitlehner elaborates “To understand the mechanism causing hypoallergenicity, we performed IgE immunoblots to determine whether Curly Horse hairs contain IgE binding proteins.” 

 

IgE immunoblots play a significant role in allergy diagnostics. By examining the pattern of IgE antibodies adhering to various allergens on the membrane, clinicians can identify the specific allergens to which a patient is sensitized. This information is vital for diagnosing allergies and formulating suitable treatment plans, such as allergen-specific immunotherapy (allergy shots) or recommendations for allergen avoidance.

 

The study revealed no differences in IgE reactivity between Curly and non-Curly Horses. Additionally, patients participating in the immune tolerance induction study did not exhibit reduced IgE reactivity to hairs from Curly or non-Curly Horses, despite having developed tolerance.

 

“However, we did find increasing levels of anti-horse IgG antibodies in the study patients.” Dr Mitleehner added.

 

“Overall, our data strongly suggests that continuous exposure to Curly Horses can induce immune tolerance, rendering these patients non-reactive to horses. The reason for the reduced clinical allergenicity of Curly Horses remains unclear, but the data suggest that blocking IgG antibodies may be of importance for immune tolerance development.”

 

For more details, see:

 

Horse allergy: Curly Horses can mediate immune tolerance

Alexandra Mitlehner, Caspar Mitlehner, Monika Reißmann, Peter Stoll, Ines Swoboda, Wolfgang Mitlehner

Pneumologie (2024); 78(01): 47-57
https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2101-9533

 

https://www.curlyfarm.de

 

Does equine facilitated therapy help chronic low back pain?

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Equine-facilitated therapy (EFT) could help patients dealing with chronic low back pain, according to a
recent study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland.

 

In Finland, equine-facilitated therapy as a form of medical rehabilitation has been subsidised by the country’s Social Insurance Institution since 2019. In the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders, however, equine-facilitated therapy is less well established.

 

The research, published recently in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, found that individuals who participated in EFT for 12 weeks experienced a decrease in perceived pain and an improvement in their ability to carry out daily tasks. 

 

The study, which included 22 participants dealing with low back pain, assessed the impact of EFT on physical performance, pain levels, pain acceptance, anxiety, depression, and overall quality of life. Lead researcher was Sanna Mattila-Rautiainen, who has more than 20 years of experience of using EFT in the rehabilitation of patients with back pain, working in close collaboration with regional social welfare and healthcare authorities in the Kainuu region, Finland.

 

The intervention consisted of 12 weekly EFT sessions. The first four sessions lasted 10 minutes each. They increased to 20 minutes for the next four weeks and 30 minutes for the final four weeks.

 

Through the 12-week study, the researchers observed that EFT had the potential to enhance individuals' daily lives. Significant improvements were noted in several activities, including the ability to sleep, reach and bend forward, and stand for extended periods of time. 

They also noted that EFT could help reduce the amount of pain perceived by the patients, increase their participation in social activities, and improve their psychological well-being. 

During a six-month follow-up, only two of the chronic pain patients returned to the clinic due to pain. 

 

In follow-up interviews, patients highlighted physical, psychological and social effects of EFT, showing that the intervention had a comprehensive impact on their rehabilitation.

The researchers also observed significant improvement in mental health. During the intervention, they found that patients’ social functioning improved and their depression decreased – something that was also emphasised in the interviews: “The created group effect was a positive experience.”  

 

Sitting on a horse to 100 walk-like movements per minute was found to be beneficial. Comments from participants included:“The movement felt good - the horse moved me correctly” and “There is no other way to exercise like this.”

 

However, matching the patient to the horse was important: “One horse felt good and other made my pain worse.” 

 

“Chronic back pain is a multidimensional experience involving not only physical pain but also learned thinking patterns and emotional reactions” says Mattila-Rautiainen.

 

  “Traditionally, physical therapy has been recommended for the rehabilitation of patients with chronic pain, as physical exercise has been found to be the most effective way to treat spinal pain.”

 

She points out that Equine-facilitated therapy brought relief to patients with chronic pain who had been incapable for work for several years.

 

Incorrect movement maintains a vicious circle of pain and affects people’s physical, psychological and social well-being. The compatibility of the patient with the horse’s movements, along with a suitable exercise load, played a key role in the intervention. The exercise load was gradually increased, within the limits of pain. Patients’ opinions were also considered regarding the choice of their horse and equipment.

 

“Patients with chronic pain tend to avoid the sensation of pain that comes from moving the affected part of their body. However, when sitting on a moving horse, a person with low back pain will end up moving to the gait of the horse, which encourages the right kind of lumbar movement,” Mattila-Rautiainen says.

 

These findings suggest that EFT could be a valuable therapeutic option for those experiencing difficulties due to chronic low back pain.

 

 

For more details, see:

The impact on physical performance, pain and psychological wellbeing of chronic low back pain patients during 12-weeks of equine-facilitated therapy intervention.

Sanna Mattila-Rautiainen, Mika Venojärvi, Heta Rautiainen and Alice Keski-Valkama

Front. Vet. Sci., (2023) vol 10

 https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1085768