A group of Japanese researchers have suggested a particular form of vitamin K could be a potential candidate for increasing equine bone density while decreasing breakdown, thus improving overall bone health. However, veterinarians caution that this is not a viable supplementation route to pursue until further research on the effects of vitamin K on horses is completed.

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in blood clotting, bone metabolism, and vascular health.

"Although no direct studies on the effect of vitamin K on bone health in horses have been conducted, studies in humans and rodents indicate that vitamin K can increase bone formation and decrease bone resorption (breakdown)," said Tohru Matsui, PhD, who led a research team at Kyoto University’s Division of Applied Biosciences that examined vitamin K in the bloodstream of horses.

Based on the studies in other species, the researchers suspect that vitamin K regulates bone metabolism to presumably assist in the formation of strong bones