3-4 years ago, vet had me put older horse on Lubrisyn HA. Ok, have had horse on Lubrisyn HA since then. Now trainer is suggesting SmartPak Senior Pellets. From what I’m seeing, it is an either or? Or do I give both? I am a bit confused. I looked at the ingredients and it seems that SmartPak Senior Pellets is the way to go . . .right??? Has the same ingredients as Lubrisyn but more other stuff?? I’m confused.
The recommended equine dose of lubrisyn is 15 mL for 75 mg of HA.
The Smart Flex Senior pellets contain 50 mg HA, plus other joint ingredients.
If you’re looking to replace your lubrisyn and add more ingredients, you’re stepping back a little on the HA with the Smart Pak stuff. You can try just going with the Smart Pak stuff, and see what you have–maybe the other stuff in it will help your horse more then just straight up HA.
In your shoes, I’d be tempted to do both for awhile, then half dose the lubrisyn, then off. See if you notice anything negative. If you do, bring it back.
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Why not ask your vet? She’ll have better knowledge than your trainer.
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From what I’ve read on COTH, there are people on the BB who are much more knowledgeable about drugs, chemicals, nutrition, supplements etc than the average vet --I thought of asking here first. I do ask my vet many questions --but this one would involve him doing research (looking stuff up) and then giving me his best opinion. Simkie told me the answer I was looking for and I will follow her advice. I may run it by the vet next time I see him —he was actually kind of lukewarm on the Lubrisyn --said the research was more anecdotal than fact based --but told me to try it. He’s frequently said “any supplement will make your horse ride better because your wallet will be lighter.” But since I’ve been giving it, I wanted to keep doing it —trainer deals with more riding horses than vet --vet has 60 horses, but all are embryo recipient mares and a few good stallions are there too. He does not ride. Trainier does ride and by trade is a retired bio-chemist. I’d almost put him on equal footing with the vet when it comes to knowledge of drugs –
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When it comes to feed-thru joint supplements I would bet most trainers have more experience with more of them, than do most vets. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to start asking questions based on what a trainer has suggested. At least it’s better than blindly taking their suggestion to heart.
HA really does have some value, and while “some is good != more is better”, there is something about HA that does seem to have value when in a large enough amount - what Simkie was alluding to.
Acti Flex 4000 is a product that continually pops up with good results - yes yes I know, anecdotes is not proof. But it’s pretty cheap so isn’t in the group of needing to justify an expensive, trendy supplement either. So, that’s another product you could look into. It also has 125mg HA in a serving.
Guaranteed Analysis Per oz:
- Glucosamine Sulfate 8,000 mg.
- Chondroitin Sulfate 4,000 mg.
- MSM 3,000 mg.
- Ester C (Ascorbic Acid) 1,000 mg.
- Yucca 150 mg.
- Hyaluronic Acid (HA) 125 mg.
