Yes, its the one thing which all horse owners/keepers seem to look in to at some point along their way. I am sure you have all looked on Facebook and searched the internet for the best joint supplements to support our horses individual needs, ‘individual’ that’s exactly it!… each of our horses is an individual in their own right and with that it means they all have different needs. So, why feed a joint supplement?

• General support for our horses/ponies even if they are not in work.

• Support for maintaining/improving performance.

• Support for a horse/pony with arthritis/joint changes.

• Support for a horse/pony which has undergone an operation or has had an injury/trauma to a joint.

• General stiffness.

A supplement isn’t going to fix your horse if your farrier is poor and your horse isn’t getting the support he/she needs from shoes or your barefoot trimmer is not balancing the foot correctly (more on this subject in another blog..). If your saddle/bridle/bit isn’t fitted correctly or if your horse needs more help than a supplement, always go to the professionals first as a supplement is only ever there to support.

Your trainer should be also advising if they think your horse may need some additional support or if he/she sees changes in your horse. None of our horses have 100% perfect confirmation, work with what you have and don’t be scared of asking questions. If you think something isn’t right then ask for a second opinion. We should all be supporting each other and be kind if someone asks you a question about your horse, they may just want a little advice…

Wow where do we start… glucosamine HCI/Sulphate? MSM ? Tumeric? Green lipped mussell? Plant based/mushrooms? Hyaluronic Acid? Chondroitin ? Devils Claw? Rosehips? Cod liver oil? Boswellia? Linseed? competition legal or not? the list is endless and everyone will tell you different

I have spent a lot of time researching and looking in to joint supplements for my own horse, I mean lets face it the majority of the above mentioned ingredients are in joint capsules for humans too!. Its so confusing and everyone will tell you their own opinion of what’s good and what’s not, what they think you ‘should’ feed your horse/pony as maybe they are sponsored by a brand?. A famous show-jumper or dressage rider uses a particular product.. but do they? do we think they would give us an honest review if the product that their sponsor is supplying didn’t work?.. I will reserve judgement on that. In no way am I accusing anyone of lying but it is questionable as we are trusting people to give us honest reviews. Lets face it if there was one proven joint supplement that did it all, fixed it all and built new cartilage and helped create fresh synovial fluid then we would all be buying it (I would be buying it for myself too never mind my own horses) but our horses are individuals just like us!. Yes we are built up of similar mechanics but some horses have had far more wear and tear than others and injuries etc too

I am not supported by a Brand, I have the freedom to feed what I do because it has worked for us. This is not to say that I wouldn’t try something else if I found a product was no longer helping.

However, don’t fix what isn’t broken… hmm easy to say sometimes but initially I didn’t know my own horse was ‘broken’.. which is what caused some of our issues to start with.

My own horses X-rays from 2016 where you can see the ‘fluff’ as I like to call it, especially on the outside of his left fetlock joint..

My own horse has tried various supplements as the vets who operated on him advised he would need to have this additional support to help his joints for the rest of his life, these are just some of the ones we have used over the years and I respect that ingredients/marketing etc will have changed over this time too

• Glucosamine 10,000

• Bettalife

• Vets own products (used when he had his operation)

• Feedmark Products – Boswellia and their own joint supplement

• Animalife Products – Vetrofen Intense and Original

• Topsec 10:10

• Equimins

• Cortaflex

There are so many marketing campaigns, reviews on Facebook, boffins/scientists and pages to look on to read about joint supplements and I found these helpful but also mind-blowing. I wrote down the information and taking the ingredients from the vets own brand. I figured it must be good if the vets are selling it? and I was getting it paid for on insurance, I didn’t think of the long term use at the time. When I found out how much it was to buy I wanted the best for my horse but this also had to agree with my bank balance!

Feeding straights is a good way to get supplements in to your horse, we don’t want fillers as we want to pay for the good stuff !. The issue I find with feeding straights is getting quantities right, also some supplements manufacturers say that the way their product is ‘created/prepared’ is what makes it good. Also normally feeding X will mean you need to feed ‘Y’ to help the body absorb ‘X’..

Our bodies are made up of the same things, if we got on all fours we would (apart from the most obvious – neck, tail and head and leg/arm length) would be the same as our fellow four legged steads.

So in a nutshell, don’t get carried away with fancy marketing, do your own research and ask the manufacturers questions and ask yourself what you really need from feeding a supplement. I have seen other products I would like to try but ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’!!

Remember, the little things also make a big difference, ask yourself if you can feed your horse off the floor and avoid nets? can your horse move around more, can you hack more, do more groundwork. Preventative is very much better than cure, thinking outside the box

#horsetherapy #horses #horsecare #supplementsforhorses