I have 3 more mature horses, who, while doing quite well for now (riding, jumping); the time is coming to provide them with a joint supplement to keep them comfortable as nature and wear and tear take their course. Do any of you have any suggestions for a joint supplement with or without hyaluronic acid for 3 horses within the 1000 lb range?
The research I’ve seen unfortunately suggests that the effectiveness of oral joint.supplements on horses is low to ineffective. The intra muscular injectables like Adequan etc are much more effective. Also more expensive, more of a commitment, and not without some risks. Plus not everyone feels comfortable with doing injections at home. I certainly don’t, though I suppose if the time comes I can learn.
My first step would be a really good overhaul of their diets looking at protein, vitamins, minerals, flax. Optimize all of those first and then think about supplements.
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Best results for me was Lubrisyn/HA. Not cheap but does help a lot for the creaky ones.
the cheaper version of HA did not work as well for my horse nor did pellets w/ glucosamine, etc.
Of the powdered ones, the only one with real documented research showing effectiveness is Cosequin (AFAIK… please correct me if I am wrong). Additionally, in tests with dogs, it was shown to have prophalactic properties - dogs on it recovered from induced inflammation quicker.
Doesn’t prophylactic mean preventative?
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Have you tried powdered or pelleted MSM @20,000 mg per day?
I had a long conversation with my vet last year concerning joint supplements for my senior horse. Her thoughts were as @Scribbler says, there just isn’t any sound proof (as in large, validated, scientific studies) that joint supplements in horses are highly effective. Though I’m sure you can find articles that support their use! My vet added, that feeding them won’t hurt anything, but she felt that money was better spent elsewhere.
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hmmm, probably. Is there another word? thx.
Curative? Or just effective in curing a problem maybe?
I’ve shared this story before: high flax acts as an anti-inflammatory. Omega Horseshine had considerably more omega-3 than others I had used, and I noticed an immediate difference in my horse. That prompted me to take flax oil (7 g = 1 tbs) and I also got relief from aches and pains. The anti-inflammatory effect only happens at higher doses last I looked.
I have also tried different flax products (simply flax, TC Naturals) and FWIW, it seems Horseshine does the most for their coats, even when the omega 3 levels are the same… 0.02!
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I feed a cup of whole flax a day. Can’t be bothered to grind it.
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I am also skeptical about oral supplements for joints but I also sometimes feel like my horse could use something besides MSM. Take a look at your horse’s diet first and try to see if there’s inflammatory factors there. Corn, omega imbalances, etc. will promote inflammation. Feeding flax (or chia?) is high in omega-3s which are anti-inflammatory. I give my old guy a heaping cup of flax meal per day plus 4-5 ozs of flax oil. I think I have noticed a difference. I can’t personally stomach flax in therapeutic doses (makes me beyond nauseous) but I can do chia very easily and notice less pain in myself when on it. But it’s more economical to feed flax to a horse, I’d think.
I think MSM and Cosequin are the only things that have documented studies? I do feed MSM and have also noticed a difference with that. Cosequin is a little $$ for me and I’d rather do Adequan/Legend/etc.
All that said, SmartPak has some joint supplements that look really good, specifically the SmartFlex and SmartStride. Then again, they are really good at marketing 
I am also an Omega Horseshine user. Only supplement my three boys get (18, 24 & 28). They have great, shiny coats and improved hoof condition. All three of them just look better overall. So as supplements go, it is one of the few I would actually recommend.
I’m feeding Equithrive (competition safe) and Smartflex Senior (not competition safe) at the moment. They all get Adequan as well.
In the past I’ve fed Cosequin ASU and Smartflex Ultimate. I’m not sure whether any of it really does anything.
Adequan once a month ends up being about the same or cheaper than many oral supplements, (at least it was when I bought the larger 10-dose vials) except it is much more effective, as has already been noted. IM injections are very easy, I give them in the chest muscle (with 22 gauge needle for my needle wuss gelding). I preferred that when my horse was competing & it has good data behind it. I didn’t use “loading” doses, I remain skeptical that is marketing twist (yes, I am a scientist, I read their papers).
I have used feed throughs, from straight MSM (didn’t help at all) to SmartFlex Sr. The latter did help, but I suspected it was the Devil’s Claw, which is an anti inflammatory herb, as the glucosamine, chondroitin, HA, aren’t very bioavailable in that form. So as a test I switched to just giving the Devil’s Claw on its own & am happy to say that horse is doing great with just that. And it’s cheaper!
Obviously, he no longer competes, so no need to pass tests anymore, so that’s something to keep in mind. I think I switched at least 6 months ago, so he was on that all thru winter. He’s 23 with moderate hock arthritis but I think this was his best of the last 3 years. He also lives out 24/7 bc of course movement is the best therapy!
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I feed Acti-Flex to both my horses and while I don’t notice any difference in my pony I have noticed that my ASB is a lot less “clicky” after a few weeks of Acti-Flex. It’s fairly cheap compared to other supplements and both my girls have no issue with the taste. I did not do a loading dose for either horse and they’ve been fine. My current barn owner has used Acti-Flex for years on her breeding and lesson horses with success. They all move smoothly, for the most part, even her oldies.
They do also get Omega Horseshine and California Trace but that’s because I wanted to encourage healthier coats and hooves, along with balancing their mostly forage diet.
The only Joint supplement I use for my seniors is Equithrive. Amazing change in both horses. My vet uses it on her hunter when she saw how well my two have responded. They have been on it for 3 years.
