New research into how tendons age has found that the material between tendon fibre bundles stiffens as it gets older and that this is responsible for older horses being more susceptible to tendon injuries.
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), University of East Anglia, University College London and University of Liverpool, repeatedly stretched samples of horse tendons, which are very similar to human ones, to test their elasticity and ability to recover.
Experiments in the past have shown that stiffening in aging tendons contributes to increased injuries in older tendons and this new research shows that it is specifically the stiffening and decreased resistance to repetitive loading of the tissue which holds tendon fibre bundles in place that is responsible.