I’m looking for a good quality joint supplement for my 3 year old. My plan was to futurity on her next year, but for her longevity and own good I might wait for her 5 yo year. I like the thought of Silver Lining Herbs, since they are all natural. I was wondering if they actually work or not though, and if anyone has experience with them? I know MVP and Platinum are good brands, but they’re a lot of money for a horse I may not be running for another year or two. Any thoughts or recommendations??
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I am an equine nutritionist, and the only oral joint supplement I currently feed is hyaluronic acid (LubriSyn, to be specific). Another that good equine scientists I know and trust recommend is Equithrive.
I do not use or recommend herbal products due to the lack of research proving their efficacy and safety.
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Several horses in my trainer’s barn are on LubriSyn. That seems to be a reliable, proven oral supplement.
I am not a big believer in herbs for joint supplements, either. Can some herbs have mild anti-inflammatory effects? Perhaps. But if I’m going to spend money and am really committed to preserving the integrity of my horse’s joints, I’d rather stick with something that has some research behind it.
For what it’s worth, my mare gets her Adequan series every June. Spendy, but so far it’s worked great.
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Zycosan (name brand Pentosan) has been a game changer for my gelding when paired with the injections he needed. It’s not badly priced through Vetsource (if your vet uses that online pharmacy for their rxs), and you can usually find a discount here (Virtual pharmacy<monthly promotions) for equine products to lower the price even more. for daily support, MSM (Smartpak Smart and Simple line) is great. It keeps my guy less “creaky”
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My joint supplement of choice is Adequan. This is injected into the muscle and not given by food. Yes, it is expensive but it also works. I have used it both for my “old creaky” horses to keep them moving better, as well as my younger horses who are sound in order to keep them sound.
I have also used Pentosan in the past but in my area, it’s now just as expensive as Adequan (used to be dirt cheap) so I’ve switched over to Adequan.
I choose not to do feed-through because the nutrients need to pass through the digestive tract first and it can be controversial on how much is actually getting into the joints where it needs to go.
I have tried various herbal supplements, and other supplements, over the years for various things and I cannot say with certainly that anything has WORKED without a doubt. I did at one point in time do Platinum Performance CJ and then Total Health Equine. Did it help? No idea.
The only thing I currently have my main horse on is Race Today. She is a bleeder and I also run her on LASIX. Whether or not the Race Today is helping, or if the LASIX is doing it’s job, I guess I can’t be sure. I haven’t tried to run her without LASIX yet since she was diagnosed. She does have some allergies and is a picky eater to begin with, but she likes the Race Today so we’ll keep on with it.
I may put my younger horse on it too but I haven’t decided yet. But that’s more for lung support and not necessarily joint support. When I get close to making runs on her (maybe later this year), then I’ll probably do a loading dose of Adquan for her.
I’ve also got my own PEMF system and I truly believe that is keeping my horses going down the road!! Because I can treat them regularly.
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Does your 3yo need a joint supplement? There is no evidence any of these prevent arthritic changes, only deal with the results of age and use.
Some of the herbals are “proprietary blends” so no disclosure of ingredients and amounts.
Be careful you do not succumb to clever marketing designed to guilt you or scare you into buying their secret sauce.
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The best guide to joint health is not to overwork your horse and damage the joints. No supplement will make up for overwork.
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Horses fed 10,000mg MSM daily have been shown to have fewer inflammatory cells in their joints after work. Unless more recent research has disapproved this.
Anyway, my senior started on MSM when he was three. He was lightly started and ridden as a three year old, lost half his 4yr old year to an injury, followed by a very slow rehab/fitness build for the following six months. I didn’t add glucosamine until he was 13(ish?) and did it as an experiment to see if he would benefit. His walk warm up time went from 11-12 minutes down to 5-6. I couldn’t figure out why for a day or two, until I remembered the glucosamine experiment.
There’s no way of knowing what would have happened without the MSM and glucosamine, but arthritis has only been affecting him for the last couple of years. Recent xrays show only very tiny changes in his joints.
Having seen a similarly dramatic change when I started my second horse on a high chondroitin supplement (despite the study that concluded horses don’t absorb the chondroitin), I have a theory that feed supplements won’t help unless the horse both needs them, and is given one their body can use.
The first time I asked my vet about oral supplements (for my second horse, age 11) he told me to buy one, double dose for two weeks, and if I didn’t see a difference to repeat with a different product. I had him on one product that changed their label, and something about the manufacturing process and it no longer worked for him. I tried a couple of others before landing on the high chondroitin one and seeing a difference after three days.
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My senior got 10,000mg Pureform Glucosamine and a separate MSM (also 10,000mg). I have used several different brands of MSM, all 100% MSM.
The high chondroitin product was a Basic Equine Nutrition product that they don’t make any more, though they do have a pure Chondroitin product. The one my second horse got had 8000mg each of glucosamine and MSM, and 8500mg of chondroitin (the study that concluded horses can’t use oral chondroitin was using 1250mg as their daily dose, and briefly tried 2500mg). Chondroitin is for cartilage, and is expensive enough to avoid unless the horse has cartilage issues.
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More of an FYI in that the OP is specifically asking about a (future) barrel racing horse and there are some folks out there who say feeding MSM will increase the chances of EIPH (exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage) or otherwise known as “bleeding”. Now this is certainly not proven through studies, but it’s just one of those things where you have to decide what’s right for your horse…and every horse is different. Food for thought!
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I have used Lubrisyn , Adequan and Glucosamine/ chondroitin with good results but OP asked about a 3 year old as a preventative, mine were 10-20. It makes them more comfortable temporarily, no evidence they prevent anything.
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