Is your horse less active than usual? Does your horse find it difficult to get up from a lying position? Do their stiff movements disappear after exercise? Is your horse moving unusually? If you notice any of these symptoms, there is a possibility that your horse is suffering from some kind of joint problem.
This can happen to all horses regardless of age and size. Their joints carry a tremendous amount of weight which creates a lot of stress when a horse is being exercised, especially jumping. Fortunately, there are specially designed joint supplements for horses. These supplements are known to keep their joints well lubricated which helps in preventing strains and tears, and keeps the horse healthy.
One important thing to be aware of with Osteoarthritis or other joint problems is that it is not possible to reverse the cartilage and synovial fluid breakdown. And this is why it is important to prevent it from happening.
Here’s a list of some of the important compounds that are known to be effective for maintaining joint health in horses.
Glucosamine
This is the basic building block that makes up connective tissues such as cartilage. Joint supplements contain Glucosamine in the form of either glucosamine hydrochloride or glucosamine sulphate.
It is a pain reliever and also helps in slowing down the breakdown of cartilage and may also encourage healing. As far as the effective dosage of these supplements is concerned, it ranges from 6,000 to 10,000 mg/day.
Chondroitin
A major part of the bones, cartilage and tough connective tissues is chondroitin sulphate. This is known to be an effective compound for preventing damage to cartilage.
Its effective dosage is usually between 1,250 and 5,000 mg/day. Loss of this compound is considered one of the major causes of osteoarthritis in horses.
Hyaluronic Acid
It is also a part of the joint fluid and cartilage. It is widely available as an oral supplement. It is known to be effective at controlling heat, pain and swelling.
Choosing the Right Horse Joint Supplement
When it comes to choosing a horse joint supplement, it is important for you to be clear about the requirements of your horse. There are many companies that sell products full of bulk fillers such as dextrose, alfalfa or even limestone flour.
You need to pay special attention to the proportion of active ingredients as well as the purity of those ingredients. Several research studies performed to check the purity and proportion of active ingredients in such supplements have found that many companies either do not mention the number of active ingredients or there is a lot of filler in these supplements.
When you are searching supplement brands, you should check their reputation, experience, contents of the supplement, claims made by them, batch number, complete information of the manufacturer, customer reviews, test reports and other such important parameters.
Make sure they offer full product traceability. The brand should also have a quality assurance program. Many reputed manufacturers/brands maintain a quality assurance program to avoid contamination risk with prohibited substances.
Final Thoughts
If you notice that your horse has been showing signs of wear and tear, you need to take action today. Horse joints are covered with cartilage which is an elastic, spongy material covering bones within the joint.
This helps in reducing friction and acts as a shock absorber. Similarly, the synovial fluid inside the joint has to be thick and viscous to keep the joint lubricated and also act as a shock absorber.
Supplements containing collagen, hyaluronic acid, MSM, glucosamine and chondroitin are known to be highly effective at preventing further damage to horse joints. Since there are so many horse supplement brands, you need to make sure that you are choosing a reputed brand known for high-quality products at reasonable prices.
Equine America NZ has been active in New Zealand for more than 20 years and is known for providing the widest and highest quality range of supplements for horses in New Zealand.
Please give us a call today at 0800 440 888 to learn more or leave an enquiry.
