15 year old pony - should I be giving joint supplements?

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billylula

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We bought our pony last year and over the year he has proved himself to be everything we hoped and more. Beautifully mannered, great out hunting, after a sticky start is jumping 3' show jumping and we've just started dressage with him where the instructor thinks he has really great potential. So naturally I want to take the best care of him that I can especially as I have two younger daughters who he could go down to once my oldest daughter outgrows him (probably next year :()

He lives out but he's not the best doer in the world so we bucket feed him twice a day with a mix of speedibeet, alfa oil chaff and mole valley conditioning cubes. He doesn't have a balancer or anything else. He's rising 15. He doesn't seem stiff at all and is full of beans when ridden.

A friend has been giving her fab 21 year old pony cortaflex since she was 15 and I must say she's a very active mare who is still jumping 2' 9" regularly plus hunting.

What do you think?
 
It cant hurt to do so. My oldie was diagnosed with Arthritis when he was 15. And hes still sound enough for flatwork and hacking at 23 I manage him for it and he gets turmeric and glucosamine twice daily to help keep him moving freely :)
 
yep joint supps are very beneficial for horses in mtheir twilight years especially if you want to keep them 'going' and jumping etc into later life, I feed codlivine joint supplement plus pernamax tabs to my 15 yr old cob light hack..
 
I have actually found feeding micronised linseed has made a big difference to my 'starting to get older' horse. Just half a cup a day has made a difference to him stopping him from stiffening up over night. It's far far cheaper than cortaflex or newmarket joint sup. (but these are the ones which are supposed to be the best out of the joint sups)
 
I've been feeding my mare a joint supplement since she was 10 because she hurt her hock jumping and it used to click. She doesnt have athritis but i know in time she will, it hasnt hurt my mare and her hock no longer clicks. Ive tried all the joint supplements/ linseed and the one that worked for me was from equimins (flexi joint)
 
My boy has been on a supplement for many years since he had foot problems at the age of 12 (he's now 17). My vet said he's done his own small (but fairly scientific in that he's run tests etc on them, it's not just his general opinion) trials using his horses as guinea pigs (he and his wife team chase and show jump so they have quite a few between them) and the one that delivered the best results was Cosequin. It's unfortunately the most expensive too but I order online in bulk from America and it's a lot cheaper over there. It takes a while to arrive so you need to plan ahead to buy more before you run out.
 
It amazes me how many people feed their horses products derived from animals and fish!
Chondroitin = Usually derived from shark cartilage or cattle trachea
Glucosamine = Often sourced from shellfish
Cod Liver Oil = fish, the staple of every healthy horses diet!!
 
I had my 35y/o on Blue Chip and it made a difference. She was pretty free moving, but you could see it helped her that little bit extra. Plus it helped keep her in brilliant condition.
 
I also rate the micronised linseed for joints and it will help with his condition you can just adjust it to how his looking through the year, I am not one for feeding anything that comes from fish or any other animal to my horses it just doesnt seem right to me.
 
Pinkvboots said:
I also rate the micronised linseed for joints and it will help with his condition you can just adjust it to how his looking through the year, I am not one for feeding anything that comes from fish or any other animal to my horses it just doesnt seem right to me.
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Same, linseed = fab stuff; great for coat/hooves/joints, mine are still doing 8 mile hacks at 23 :)
 
There is very little scientific basis to claims that glucosamine or chondroitin keep joints healthy. In any well run, large scale study on glucosamine, results have been found to be no different than a placebo. Any human joint supplement legally cannot be marketed as being a joint supplement due to glucosamine - it is I believe vit e, magnesium and zinc that are legal to claim as maintaining joint health.

The studies that have thrown up any results with glucosamine having affect has been in pain relief in late stage arthritis, and the results are varied. Therefore there is absolutely no scientific basis behind thinking a glucosamine and/or chondroitin supp will maintain joints, although it could possibly help already arthritic horses.

Better off feeding a good, balanced diet in my opinion, certainly if the horse has no previous history of osteoarthritis.
 
Linseed meal, plus a good broad spectrum mineral on a daily basis, his feed may or may not have enough, but as it is winter and he is older, it is better to be sure.
 
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khalswitz said:
There is very little scientific basis to claims that glucosamine or chondroitin keep joints healthy. In any well run, large scale study on glucosamine, results have been found to be no different than a placebo. Any human joint supplement legally cannot be marketed as being a joint supplement due to glucosamine - it is I believe vit e, magnesium and zinc that are legal to claim as maintaining joint health.

The studies that have thrown up any results with glucosamine having affect has been in pain relief in late stage arthritis, and the results are varied. Therefore there is absolutely no scientific basis behind thinking a glucosamine and/or chondroitin supp will maintain joints, although it could possibly help already arthritic horses.

Better off feeding a good, balanced diet in my opinion, certainly if the horse has no previous history of osteoarthritis.
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That is interesting, had a discussion with my NHS consultant about diet etc, he was pretty convinced that glucosamine would not help, but then he was pretty convinced I needed an op on my left knee which later proved not to be required, and also convinced there was nothing much he could do with my right knee, except open up and look around........ so really not much point in having MRI.............. other than delaying things, so I either died or gave up, either way it cuts his waiting list down to the desired level.
 
MrsD123 said:
That is interesting, had a discussion with my NHS consultant about diet etc, he was pretty convinced that glucosamine would not help, but then he was pretty convinced I needed an op on my left knee which later proved not to be required, and also convinced there was nothing much he could do with my right knee, except open up and look around........ so really not much point in having MRI.............. other than delaying things, so I either died or gave up, either way it cuts his waiting list down to the desired level.
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I'll be honest hadn't realised until I chatted to an orthopaedic surgeon about it, because I was taking it as a preventative due to an injury in my knee. He said lots of doctors say to take it as it does no harm, and if it does help then great, however the scientific evidence isn't there. There's a great article in Which about supplement companies and laws regarding what they can claim certain things do... and they play big time on the fact that people think glucosamine works. The only time when glucosamine (+chondroitin) show an effect is in late stage arthritis as a mild anti-inflammatory, but no one knows why. It's pretty universally acknowledged in the medical research field that anyone who can prove glucosamine and chondroitin actually work will win a Nobel.

There's certainly no harm from feeding it, but unless your pony is stiff and arthritic then likely not to be much benefit either... so watch for joint sups that contain things like vit e, vit a, zinc and I think magnesium, as these do work for maintaining joint health.
 
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