Toronto Company Launching First-Ever Cannabis Products for Horse Health
You’ve heard of CBD products for pets — but now a Toronto-based company is launching the world’s first-ever legal cannabis brand dedicated to horse health.
CannaHorse said Wednesday it will be providing a “plant-based solution to traditional pharmaceuticals” with four different product lines using key cannabinoids and terpenes that are aimed to treat a variety of different issues, including pain and inflammation, surgical recovery and overall wellness.
While there will be skepticism behind the effectiveness of using cannabis on horses, CannaHorse has a leading nutritional science expert that will help it test the products and conduct clinical trials. Dr. Michael Lindinger is a former University of Guelphprofessor with more than 25 years of experience in the field of nutrition leading 130 peer-reviewed clinical trials.
“Cannabis is about to become the world’s most widely used medical substance for both people and animals,” Dr. Michael Lindnger said.
“CannaHorse is taking a measured and scientific approach to their product development, something that is vital for any legitimate medical product.”
More peer-reviewed, scientific testing is needed to win over government regulators and the general public with cannabis, especially while opposition remains among some medical professionals with new research still emerging. In order for horse owners to be willing to use cannabis-derived products on their animals, they’re going to need hard data to help convince them that it is safe to use.
Getting the dosage right will be one part of the issue in keeping horses safe, and understanding how cannabis will react with a horse differently than it does a dog or a human will also be necessary.
Assuming that the products are beneficial to horses, the company is excited about the prospects for growth in the global market.
“With more than 15 million horses in North America and Europe, the equine healthcare market is a growing billion dollar industry. We recognize the opportunity to bring the transformative power of cannabis and cannabinoids we see working in humans and other animals to life for horses.”
Why the strategy could work
Horses are expensive to maintain and it’s a segment of the market that could definitely mean big business for CannaHorse. It’s also an area for the time being there would be limited, or no other competition for the company.
Acceptance around the world for cannabis as a health alternative is growing rather than being pegged as a mind-altering substance only. It is just going to take some more sound research and clinical tests to help get wellness products, including for horses, further into the mainstream. And if that happens, CannaHorse may have carved itself out a significant market share in an uncontested market.
