Seems expensive and does it really work. Anyone had any luck with any other oral supplements? What about grain?
My vet actually just recommended this for post-hock injection treatment. Here’s the link to the article that I found but there seems to be some peer review literature as well. http://www.thehorse.com/articles/38317/resveratrol-supplement-can-help-reduce-hock-lameness
I wish it wasn’t so expensive
Is there a grain that has a lot of joint support? Anything similar to equithrive that makes a difference ?
By definition, a grain is going to be formulated to be more or less general use and not contain more than the daily required amount of nutrients for normal horses if fed at the recommended weight, which can be quite high.
A vitamin supplement or a ration balancer will give you the nutrients but with far fewer calories.
A supplement will give you an “overdose” of a particular nutritent for a particular reason, such as a calming supplement with magnesium or a hoof supplement with basic amino acids.
From Googling, I see that Equithrive is using a proprietary reservatrol delivery system for reducing inflammation.
That’s just not something you would toss in a basic grain.
I would make sure that my basic feed, grain plus hay, had enough protein in it.
Sometimes people put their horses on low protein diets during rehab, and they never get better. Surprise surprise.
As to whether Equithrive works, there are several older threads on COTH asking the same question.
I would also have a look at what you can find in the way of research on humans. is reservatrol going to fix arthrisits in humans? If so, sign me up! 
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Article say " there is little clinical evidence resveratrol provides any joint benefit". It might if injected in a high enough concentration but, if it’s like in humans, we have to drink gallons of red wine or grape juice to reach the level where it might be beneficial so there’s a pill. Plead ignorance on its joint benefits, supposed to be good for the circulatory system in humans.
If it is in any grains horses are proven to tolerate well? Can’t imagine it would be in a large enough dose to specifically effect joint health.
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So nothing compares to the equithrive ?
Using Reveratrol in Equines is a new application. If it gets proven results, you might see more products containing it. But imagine they won’t be cheaper as it takes a big dose in a big animal. IF it does anything at all in horses.
That’s not a question anyone can answer for you. There are lots of supplements out there that purport to support joints. There are even others that contain resveratrol, like Smartflex Ultimate IV (I think). Research on these products is limited. There are products with other ingredients they they claim will support joint health - like Cosequin, Glucosamine, HA, MSM, ASU, and probably many more. There is little more than anecdotal evidence behind many of these. All you can do is read the research that does exist, and the anecdotes, and make the best choice you can with the existing information.
If you are concerned about keeping currently healthy joints in a healthy state, your first step is making sure you are doing the big things right: properly balanced feet trimmed/shod on a regular cycle, maintain a consistent healthy body weight, a properly balanced diet that meets the horses protein and vitamin/mineral needs (supplementing your hay with grain or a rational balancer to make up an deficit), condition the horse for the work you expect him to do and never ask more of him than his body can provide without reaching fatigue, and warm-up/cool-down slowly every ride.
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I have two on it. Yes it is expensive. I think there is published, bona fide research on it that shows that it works.
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I just ordered it from the equithrive website. If you put it on autoship you get 30% off the first bucket which comes down to $69. At the double dose that’s a month’s worth. At a maintenance dose that’s 2 months. The customer service at Equithrive said that there’s no contract on the autoship so you could theoretically order it once and cancel. They have coupons on their facebook page too it seems.
Links to bona fide research reveratrol has a positive effect on the joints of Equines?
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[h=4]Ameliorative Effects of Resveratrol on Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Horses[/h] Journal of Equine Veterinary Science
Volume 35 , Issue 6 , 518 - 523
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2015.02.006
A randomized, controlled trial of the effects of resveratrol administration in performance horses with lameness localized to the distal tarsal joints
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
September 15, 2016, Vol. 249, No. 6, Pages 650-659
https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.249.6.650
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It is $2.00/day/horse. I can think of a number of supplements far more expensive that serve no real function. The science behind EquiThrive is robust and the evidence in both human and veterinary medicine is excellent. I have all of my riding horses on it and one of my retirees. I can absolutely tell the difference when they’re getting it versus when I’ve run out. I see as big an improvement with EquiThrive as I do with Adequan (which they also all receive) and at ~$40/dose, that’s much more painful to swallow! I might be forgetful about certain things, but I’m extremely regimented when it comes to joint injections/EquiThrive/Adequan/esterone because I know they all make such a huge difference in the comfort and longevity of the performance horse.
That’s a bit of an overstatement. There is slightly more promising data on resveratrol compared to most supplements, but even the two studies you linked to provided lukewarm endorsements at best. The first indicated the potential for some minor reduction in inflammation. In the second study, the riders/owners of the treated horses reported slightly more improvement than the riders/owners of the placebo horses, but there was no difference in lameness scores between the two groups. The jury is still out on this one, but at least it appears more likely to have a positive effect than traditional oral joint supplements.
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Resveratrol decreases inflammation and increases utrophin gene expression in the mdx mouse model of duchenne muscular dystrophy
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2012.06.003
Resveratrol and inflammation: Challenges in translating pre-clinical findings to improved patient outcomes
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2014.12.024
Resveratrol modulates murine collagen-induced arthritis by inhibiting Th17 and B-cell function
http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/201…1.149831.short
Regulation of inflammation signalling by resveratrol in human chondrocytes in vitro
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2007.09.014
Intra-articular resveratrol injection prevents osteoarthritis progression in a mouse model by activating SIRT1 and thereby silencing HIF-2α
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1…jor.22859/full
Biological effects of the plant-derived polyphenol resveratrol in human articular cartilage and chondrosarcoma cells
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1…jcp.24049/full
The key take home message is that resveratrol is a well-established non-analgesic anti inflammatory and the research is quite strong and supportive. I chose the first two articles because they directly addressed reveratrol and horses and even more specifically addressed the affect of resveratrol on horses with joint inflammation.
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so there aren’t any other supplements that are as good as equithrive?
In the opinion of this research scientist and employee of a well-known sports med vet, no, there is nothing else that comes remotely close. But ultimately it is up to you and your vet to decide what you feel is best for your horse(s)!
