Excellent. Given that he’s still so young, 8 in April, I want to really be on top of that as much as I can.
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I would too!
FWIW - plenty of horses live happily for ages on a bit of equioxx. Heck, we used to use bute with reckless abandon (as a preventative for… idk something) and most of the horses were fine! Happy, shiny, working well. Now we know better about risks, so talk to your vet and ask about monitoring him for long term use.
Good luck. Sounds like something creaky is bothering him without the extra help. As long as he’s comfortable, a little equioxx is perfectly acceptable to me personally - especially since you’re an owner that’s going to keep an eye on him and pay such close attention to his comfort!
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Hopefully the full pill will give him some relief for a while 
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I would check liver and kidneys just to be on the safe side. My old gelding had liver issues after about 2 years on it, the vets said they thought it was unrelated, but I still wonder if it may have been.
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Has anyone thought about using Tylenol? I’m not sure how well it would work to replace Equioxx, but we’ve used it in place of bute and banamine. I’m just wondering if it would be helpful in the case of vaccinations when horses are on Equioxx and need banamine. It might be something to inquire about w your vet.
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I think my mare was on Equioxx for 12 years, with a couple of breaks. She had had mild ulcers at times, but giving her Outlast 2 to 3 times a day has helped. Liver and kidney values are done at least once a year.
About a year ago, she wasn’t responding as well, and the vet suggested trying Meloxicam. It’s not approved for horses in the USA, but is apparently used in Europe. She responded pretty well to it. It’s supposed to be good for bone pain, which, well, if you saw her knee and hock X-rays, you’d understand why the vet suggested it. It’s also much less expensive than Equioxx.
She does get Banamine before vaccinations and we haven’t tapered whatever NSAID she’s been on. TBH, she is almost 27 and has been retired for almost 3 years, so I’m a bit more willing to take chances like stacking NSAIDs, because I’m not looking to “cure” anything. She’s had a very good life, and I’m more interested in keeping her quality of life good than prolonging her life.
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When my senior, who is on Previcox, got into it over the fence with the escaped stallion and got the worst of the scuffle, I asked the vet about giving him Bute or banamine when he’s on Previcox. They advised skipping the Previcox for the day(s) he got the others.
I had already given Previcox before consulting the vet, and my horse was able to reach his feedpan on the ground by the next day so I just kept going with Previcox as usual.
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