Best supplement for arthritis

[MuddyMonster]

I've tried Cortaflex and NAF joint supplements but seen a big difference from Equine Answers Premier Flex. I do feed Turmeric too.

Vet was very impressed with him when he was seen for a check up recently, she couldn't believe he was looking and moving so well.

We use other stuff like magnetic boots too which I think have a big impact too.

 

[Peglo]

PurBee, I have ordered flexi joint but will admit I didn’t know about the shark cartilage. But I have since had a quick look up about it and it says it comes from the sharks skeleton being made into powder. If this is the case surely cutting fins off sharks has no relevance to collecting shark cartilage as having the whole skeleton would be more beneficial to collecting shark cartilage? As far as I knew the fin collection (which is absolutely terrible, I agree) was for human consumption but I haven’t watched the documentary so please let me know if I’m wrong.

 

[HashRouge]

True, there’s a lot of unnecessary animal cruelty happening, and one we become aware of it we can make informed ethical decisions to reject an industry. Or not, it depends on personal ethical/moral barometer of each individual.

These industries exist because of demand from consumers - if consumer demand drops, the product supply chain is reduced, therefore reducing cruelty.
Supply and demand IS the epicentre of all business - if the demand isnt there, they have no-one to sell to so vastly reduces these cruel practices.
People think they cant do anything to change animal cruelty practices but its us the people that have ALL the power, via our money. All industries want our money, and if we dont give it to those that carry out animal cruelty practices, they simply stop supplying that ‘product’ and move to another product to sell to us to get our money.
What we buy and who we give our money to is a very powerful method of saying to cruelty-based industries “No!”

I’m aware there’s a lot of ignorance about how many ingredients are obtained, its not like they advertise their corrupt practices! I had no idea about cartilage products being so cruelty-based until very recently and could easily have been supplementing my horses or myself on it.
There’s always plenty of alternative foods/ingredients to choose from, so its not like we’ve got no choice but to support cruelty.

Plenty of folk on the th*ndRbr*oks feed thread aborted buying from them due to a worker of the business being a sexual perv - nothing to do with faulty cruelty obtained products - thats the freedom and power WE have as consumers - it can sink or swim a company - we can also together sink an industry based on cruelty practices - because we have choices, we can always support with our buying choices great cruelty-free ingredients and businesses.

Thanks PB, I shall be giving the Equimins product a miss. I'd really rather not support shark fishing in any way shape or form, whether it is for the fins or for the whole skeleton.

 

[SO1]

If there is such an awful problem with shark cartilage and cruelty I wonder if worth contacting equimins and forwarding GR video and asking about their product it maybe they have no idea of what has happened in order to get that ingredient. ?

Thanks PB, I shall be giving the Equimins product a miss. I'd really rather not support shark fishing in any way shape or form, whether it is for the fins or for the whole skeleton.

 

[Auslander]

Can I ask what one you found to work previously please?

Science Supplements Flexability Professional.

 

[Lammy]

Another vote for Equine Answers Premier Flex. It’s hard to tell if it’s working on the horse as he’s recently had hock injections but I also bought the dog version for my 8 year old large breed dog. He’d stopped running about and was starting to struggle getting up the stairs. It’s been 4 weeks on it and he’s running around like a blue arsed fly, jumping up and down again and generally looking a lot better. Saw a change after only 1 week of being on it so definitely recommend. Should think it’s working just as well for the horse too!

 

[GrassChop]

Science Supplements Flexability Professional.

Thank you!

 

[PurBee]

If there is such an awful problem with shark cartilage and cruelty I wonder if worth contacting equimins and forwarding GR video and asking about their product it maybe they have no idea of what has happened in order to get that ingredient. ?

They probably dont know about the high level of corruption in the industry - as on the face of it, marketing for shark products are laced with words like ‘sustainably harvested’ etc…..which to be honest are just buzz words and bare no relevance legally to make such a statement about a product. I could say the same about anything i procure and wish to sell, without needing to be legally accountable for using such marketing terms.

Many supplements are violating EU regulations by stating ‘anti-cancer’ ‘anti-arthritic’ - and making the health claims they do. ONLY if there are positive medical studies (of decent study pool parameters)showing positive results, can that be included in literature, IF also on the EU list of approvals (a vast document) - yet even then with many ingredients we simply are not allowed to say on the label. Labelling laws are a nightmare, very overly strict - yet many many companies make wild claims about ingredients when the clinical proof is very thin on the ground.

Due to the clinically uncertified belief that shark cartilage can cure cancer - the supplement industry has been going crazy for shark products, especially the last decade, causing the global shark population to decline in alaming numbers.
There was a belief sharks dont get cancer, and they thought it was due to their high cartilage content of their whole body, fuelling the shark/anti-cancer supplement industry and eating them for food. Yet sharks do get cancer, even cancer within their cartilage-laden parts.
There’s no clinical proof that shark cartilage is superior to cow cartilage, yet it is often marketed as being superior.

I’ve just found out that many CHONDROITIN SULPHATE PRODUCTS ARE MADE FROM SHARKS TOO!
I thought it was synthetically made as thats not advertised generally as a shark product on labels.

Gah! Its a minefield….yet the shark and whale industry are devastating the oceans via over-fishing and it absolutely must be affecting the ecological balance of all species to take out 60-90% of the primary predators. We are over-run with rabbits, deer etc due to the loss of natural land predators, the oceans equally require its natural balance of species, as they ALL perform a function for the health of the entire oceanic ecology.

I’ll be writing to equimins regarding their shark product forwarding info for them to make an informed choice. I use their products and had hoped their ingredient selection was impeccable. But we did have the natural vit E saga about them, with many boycotting their products due to that marketing ruse, so maybe they’re not a company carrying the integrity we would hope, and need boycotting altogether.
Many comapnies operate on the slogan ‘profit before health’ - surprisingly and ironically, that includes many in the ’health supplement’ industry!

 

[PurBee]

PurBee, I have ordered flexi joint but will admit I didn’t know about the shark cartilage. But I have since had a quick look up about it and it says it comes from the sharks skeleton being made into powder. If this is the case surely cutting fins off sharks has no relevance to collecting shark cartilage as having the whole skeleton would be more beneficial to collecting shark cartilage? As far as I knew the fin collection (which is absolutely terrible, I agree) was for human consumption but I haven’t watched the documentary so please let me know if I’m wrong.

A minor proportion of shark cartilage products are from the skeletal parts yet also cartilage is often sold as ‘shark fin cartilage’.

Here’s a shark company selling shark products - under their shark cartilage products link you’ll find them offering various shark fins, due to the bony inner of the fin containing cartilage.

http://www.shark-cartilage.com/sharks-cartilage.html

They have just 1 link out of 8 cartilage products for shark spine for use as cartilage, the other links are all fins.
These are called ‘shark bones’ by many in the industry, whether from the fins or from the body - its the inner bones. Shark meat is vastly less popular in asian cuisine than shark fins - shark fins can cost around 300 dollar for half a kilo. Fisherman will not have 500kg shark meat body on board their boats that sells for 500 dollars, if they can have 500kg of shark fins on their boat which they can sell for 30k. They fish for income. Money often pushes the boundaries of ethics and morality far and wide. Money is often the cause of cruelty in the first place, in many animals industries.

Shark fins are seen as a delicacy and for its ‘health properties’ due to the inner bone containing cartilage.

Here’s the inner ‘bones’ of the fins for sale on their site:





Sorry OP elfonashelf for multiple posts on this subject in your thread, not my intention to be writing about the shark industry on HH forum ever!…shouldnt be surprised its infiltrated equine supplements too…. but hopefully the information helps you and others make informed choices.

It’s rather sick of the animal supplements industry to be marketing products at animal lovers, made with ingredients from animals treated cruelly.

 

[Scarlett]

We've two exracers on Vetrofen and have been really pleased with it.

 

[Regandal]

Some of these joint supplements are eye-watering prices!

 

[Peglo]

Thank you very much PurBee for all the information. (Sorry for the hijack OP) it’s good to know and make an informed decision as there are many other suggestions here to use instead.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Don't be sorry for the hi-jack at all! I would far rather know what I am putting into my horse as I am sure most other horse owners would! It has been an interesting and eye-opening discussion!

 

[HashRouge]

Ditto Elf - I'm very glad you posted PurBee! I love sharks and would probably not have even looked at the ingredients had you not listed them!

 

[lynz88]

I put mine on green lipped muscle from Maxivita and noticed a difference VERY quickly. He was still sore but was much, much better when I put him on it. I've been afraid to take him off however I think I am going to let it run out and see what happens. Have told the yard not to tell me when he runs out to see if I notice anything. I am instead now using MSM (as well as Cartophen though when I started the GLM he wasnt on the Cartophen) which also makes a marked difference - the girls on the yard forgot to feed it to him for a couple of days and he became incredibly slow, pokey, and very obviously lame (vs when it was being shoveled into him). I didn't know at the time he wasn't getting the MSM and had made a comment only to find out he had missed a few days. Put him back on and he was much more comfortable. I have now removed shoes and he is even more comfortable and moving better than I've ever seen him though I know we still have some lameness that won't get better until his feet get better (he has his days but I think that is more about the "work" I am asking him to do to sort out his feet).

 

[vhf]

They probably dont know about the high level of corruption in the industry - as on the face of it, marketing for shark products are laced with words like ‘sustainably harvested’ etc…..which to be honest are just buzz words and bare no relevance legally to make such a statement about a product. I could say the same about anything i procure and wish to sell, without needing to be legally accountable for using such marketing terms.

I’ll be writing to equimins regarding their shark product forwarding info for them to make an informed choice. I use their products and had hoped their ingredient selection was impeccable. But we did have the natural vit E saga about them, with many boycotting their products due to that marketing ruse, so maybe they’re not a company carrying the integrity we would hope, and need boycotting altogether.
Many comapnies operate on the slogan ‘profit before health’ - surprisingly and ironically, that includes many in the ’health supplement’ industry!

I have used the human version of flexijoint for many years (probably kept me riding) and used to know DW quite well professionally. I had a frank conversation with him about the shark cartilage, and he assured me his supply was a guaranteed byproduct of the fishing industry. At that time I believed him (20 years ago!), but after the Vitamin E disaster I am no longer convinced he would actually know that was still the case, nor could I trust him to tell me honestly, so I have stopped buying it. Pity, as it worked better than anything else I have found on my dodgy(est) joints.

Edit to add back on original topic, my slightly arthritic mare is a different person on Boswellia!

 

[spotty_pony]

Having read all of this I have just bought some pure Boswellia try now and excited to see if it makes a difference. Do I need to feed double dose to start with for ten days still?

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Do I need to feed double dose to start with for ten days still?

I think the instructions tell you to build up slowly. I know I did.

 

[J&S]

I have just started my veteran mare on the Premier Flex HA, really just want to maintain her soundness for as long as possible.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Thing is what ever peoples views are, their is harvesting across the board. Sadly people won't change, so many here use cod livery oil for their horses and themselves. We have to do what ever feels right and has the maximum effect for our horses, as if a product keeps a horse active and happy and prolongs it's life then many will still buy the product.
Look at all the elephants and Rhinos being killed
Calves taken from mothers.
crocodile harvesting for handbags and boots like snakes
animals kept in tanks for human consumptions
Rabbits killed for fur

Its a minefield, nothings will stop it despite petitions etc, if we feel that strongly about a product we have to let others decide for themselves, not force people by making them feel guilty for their choices. Just like meat eaters teasing or getting at vegetarians for their choices and visa versa.

I think Equimins are well aware of their product and what is in it and how it's purchased. They don't hide the fact it is in there, so everyone can make their own choices to buy or not to buy.

The only reason I still buy it is I have seen the results of feeding it to my mare, after trying many other products which made little or no difference. I mean horses are vegetarian and we still feed them cod liver oil

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I have tried a variety of different joint supplements and I find boswelia has the best results I also feed it alongside Pro earth hoof platinum so he is also getting msm which I think also makes a difference and its also got magnesium oxide in it along with all the other vitamins and minerals, and I find this combination makes him more supple his only got low grade changes in the hocks and I find a change in weather or any extreme weather can affect stiffness but he will look better after a walk.

In very cold damp weather I will put his thermatex wraps on overnight if his in and a few hours before his ridden if I can and I think that helps as well.

 

[spotty_pony]

I have tried a variety of different joint supplements and I find boswelia has the best results I also feed it alongside Pro earth hoof platinum so he is also getting msm which I think also makes a difference and its also got magnesium oxide in it along with all the other vitamins and minerals, and I find this combination makes him more supple his only got low grade changes in the hocks and I find a change in weather or any extreme weather can affect stiffness but he will look better after a walk.

In very cold damp weather I will put his thermatex wraps on overnight if his in and a few hours before his ridden if I can and I think that helps as well.

how much Boswellia do you feed please? Mine has arrived and I am not sure how best to introduce - it says 15ml scoop for a horse but should I do a loading dose first?

 

[Equi]

Science Supplements Flexability Professional.

I know ive already said it on this thread but just incase its got lost lol it really is great stuff. Two of my horses (the only two who needed this) really transformed on it and not just in my "i bought it so i want to see the result" way, the vet also commented on the improvement.

 

[HashRouge]

Thing is what ever peoples views are, their is harvesting across the board. Sadly people won't change, so many here use cod livery oil for their horses and themselves. We have to do what ever feels right and has the maximum effect for our horses, as if a product keeps a horse active and happy and prolongs it's life then many will still buy the product.
Look at all the elephants and Rhinos being killed
Calves taken from mothers.
crocodile harvesting for handbags and boots like snakes
animals kept in tanks for human consumptions
Rabbits killed for fur

Its a minefield, nothings will stop it despite petitions etc, if we feel that strongly about a product we have to let others decide for themselves, not force people by making them feel guilty for their choices. Just like meat eaters teasing or getting at vegetarians for their choices and visa versa.

I think Equimins are well aware of their product and what is in it and how it's purchased. They don't hide the fact it is in there, so everyone can make their own choices to buy or not to buy.

The only reason I still buy it is I have seen the results of feeding it to my mare, after trying many other products which made little or no difference. I mean horses are vegetarian and we still feed them cod liver oil

This is such a depressing post. "People won't change...we might as well just keep up the cruelty". No, people CAN make conscious life choices to try and make the world a better place. Not feeding your horse (or yourself) shark cartilage is one of those.

 

[paddy555]

Thing is what ever peoples views are, their is harvesting across the board. Sadly people won't change, so many here use cod livery oil for their horses and themselves. We have to do what ever feels right and has the maximum effect for our horses, as if a product keeps a horse active and happy and prolongs it's life then many will still buy the product.
Look at all the elephants and Rhinos being killed
Calves taken from mothers.
crocodile harvesting for handbags and boots like snakes
animals kept in tanks for human consumptions
Rabbits killed for fur

Its a minefield, nothings will stop it despite petitions etc, if we feel that strongly about a product we have to let others decide for themselves, not force people by making them feel guilty for their choices. Just like meat eaters teasing or getting at vegetarians for their choices and visa versa.

I think Equimins are well aware of their product and what is in it and how it's purchased. They don't hide the fact it is in there, so everyone can make their own choices to buy or not to buy.

The only reason I still buy it is I have seen the results of feeding it to my mare, after trying many other products which made little or no difference. I mean horses are vegetarian and we still feed them cod liver oil

I've just bought some after the recommendation here. My aim is to reduce bute to half so if that happens it will have been successful.
Both my vit e oil and my supplement are from equimins so I don't have any problem with them.

Do you have any idea how long one would feed it before expecting a result? thanks

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I've just bought some after the recommendation here. My aim is to reduce bute to half so if that happens it will have been successful.
Both my vit e oil and my supplement are from equimins so I don't have any problem with them.

Do you have any idea how long one would feed it before expecting a result? thanks

I think I started to notice in the 2 weeks I noticed less stiffness in my late mare. My donkey could not step off her step out the stable, and it took her 5 days to walk down normally she used to get all 4 legs to the edge then step down. My mare has navicular so upped hers back up to 25 grms, the other two I left them on 15grms. I would say in answer to your question, 2- 3 weeks. I reduced my mares bute by half every 4 days I think it was. till she only had half of a morning then stopped it all together. obviously every horse is different, their reviews are encouraging to say the least, I cannot give my mare Boswellia as she reacts to herbs

 

[paddy555]

I think I started to notice in the 2 weeks I noticed less stiffness in my late mare. My donkey could not step off her step out the stable, and it took her 5 days to walk down normally she used to get all 4 legs to the edge then step down. My mare has navicular so upped hers back up to 25 grms, the other two I left them on 15grms. I would say in answer to your question, 2- 3 weeks. I reduced my mares bute by half every 4 days I think it was. till she only had half of a morning then stopped it all together. obviously every horse is different, their reviews are encouraging to say the least, I cannot give my mare Boswellia as she reacts to herbs

thank you

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

how much Boswellia do you feed please? Mine has arrived and I am not sure how best to introduce - it says 15ml scoop for a horse but should I do a loading dose first?

It says 15g for a horse on my bag but I think I weighed mine as I didn't have a scoop, I don't think you need a loading dose I think I fed 15g gradually as I didn't know if he would eat it.

 

[spotty_pony]

It says 15g for a horse on my bag but I think I weighed mine as I didn't have a scoop, I don't think you need a loading dose I think I fed 15g gradually as I didn't know if he would eat it.

Thanks, that’s what I have decided to do. ? He is having about 1/4 of the little 15mg scoops at the moment as it smells so strong and I want him to get used to it gradually. I remember having to introduce turmeric in the same way when I tried him on that.

 

[Peglo]

This is such a depressing post. "People won't change...we might as well just keep up the cruelty". No, people CAN make conscious life choices to try and make the world a better place. Not feeding your horse (or yourself) shark cartilage is one of those.

i think that’s unfair. For example most of us use leather on our horses. But we also know some cattle are mistreated in the abattoirs or even on the farms. How do we know the animal didn’t suffer before it was turned into our leather riding boots and bridle? We have to hope it had a good life. (Fair enough if you use all synthetic)
For the sake of the horses health, ILCP is probably hoping the same until known definitely that misconduct has been practiced by the brands suppliers.