Cortaflex, is it worth it?

Haphazardhacker

Haphazardhacker

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My arthritic ex polo pony is currently doing ok, however I am aware that there are so many supplements out there and there could be one that suits her better.

She is currently on Kentucky joint supplement (msm, glucosamine, bromelain, ha and asu).
Also is on Devils claw and bosweilia.

Am thinking it is time to maybe try cortaflex as have had so many people swear by it. However have seen that cortaflex super fenn contains , ha, super fenn, bromelain and yucca.

Would like to try cortaflex but having read about the benefits of glucosamine and m
 
Sorry sent too soon. Basically am worried about taking her off msm and glucosamine as who knows if those ingredients are helping her. Guess I'm wondering if it's worth the risk to switch from Kentucky joint supplement to cortaflex and if I am that worried can always feed straight msm and glucosamine, although I would worry that I am doubling up unknowingly.

Not the cheapest way to go about it I know but having her uncomfortable is the last thing I want, we have managed to keep her happy without any Bute so far so want to keep it that way.
 
I tried Cortaflex with my mature TB but didn't see any difference really. What did work was Feedmark's Extra Flex HA and I added boswellia to it. It really did seem to help his movement. I think price wise it worked out cheaper than Cortaflex, particularly because Feedmark often do quite good offers.
 
Its a little trial and error I have found, if you definitely want something to add to his feed then I would buy the ingredients seperately, much more cost effective - bulk powders always have deals available. I do think Boswelia is good.

Other than that I find Cartrophen injections the best for joints, I give the the injections myself which keeps the cost down.
 
I find this all very hard I will have spent a fortune joint supplements over the years and it's very hard to know if it's been money well spent .
It's very possible that most of the expensive joint supplements we buy just end up being mucked out without doing anything very much .
I think they did do some trials with cortaflex that did show that it helped some horses .
I have a horse now who once I would have put on a joint supplement but this time I am using cartofen and Danilon when I need it . It's not working out expensive verses supplements because a quality supplement are not a cheap exercise .
I suspect the time supplements might help the most is before the horse has a problem but having all our horses in a joint supplement all their working life is not really practical in financial terms for most people .
And there's also this nagging worry with me can these things be adsorbed by horses in quantities that are therapeutic.
 
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My trouble is also that when she went lame this time last year, I popped her on most of these supplements then and she became sound a couple of months after down the line. Thing is now I don't know if one particular thing is the thing that helped. Of course it could be a combination of all the supplements.
 
Haphazardhacker said:
My trouble is also that when she went lame this time last year, I popped her on most of these supplements then and she became sound a couple of months after down the line. Thing is now I don't know if one particular thing is the thing that helped. Of course it could be a combination of all the supplements.
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Or nature settled the problem all on it own that's the problems you just don't know .
 
Haphazardhacker said:
My trouble is also that when she went lame this time last year, I popped her on most of these supplements then and she became sound a couple of months after down the line. Thing is now I don't know if one particular thing is the thing that helped. Of course it could be a combination of all the supplements.
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Or indeed if any of them did any good!!

Glucosamine does not travel well to the soft tissues due to its molecule size. Cortaflex uses its precursors so that it gets were its needed.
 
Vetvits Equiflex is much the same as Cortaflex and a fraction of the price . I used to use it but now get the NAF glucosamine, as a preventive rather than treatment, all I can say is my horse is still sound at 20 despite pigeon toes. At worst it is a waste of (not a lot of) money, at best it is actually helping boost the joint cartilage
 
I can only relay what happened to dogs I'm afraid, one very elderly JR was put on Cortaflex (Vet grade) and I thought she was another dog within a week, running around like a youngster and so free with her movements, as she didn't know she was taking it I must assume it worked well.
Another elderly dog put on Cortaflex (Vet grade) and not a jot of difference to her at all
 
I don't mind forking out for cortaflex,because I do notice a difference when not using it. It works for my horse, but there are so many cheaper ones that are also good maybe try those first and see what works for your horse.
 
I used Superflex on my ID, on the advice of a colleague, I discontinued this after discussion with the vet who's view was that whilst Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM have benefits in humans and small animals, the dosage needed make a difference was huge given their body mass, and that the specified dosage was too low to make it effective and would make it disproportionately expensive to get a worthwhile dose in to him.
 
I used cortavet on one of my horses a few years back that showed an incredible difference in soundness when on it (when all the more conventional joint supps - synequine and the like made no difference).
So I'd certainly keep it on the list of ones to try
 
A couple years ago I asked my vet if there were any joint supplements he would recommend. The horse was about to turn 22 and while she was (and is) sound, I thought because of her age, she could use something. Vet is very good and keeps up to date on scientific developments in veterinary medicine. He said that the only supplements which have any science indicating their efficacy are Cortaflex and turmeric. Not "this will cure arthritis!" evidence, but enough to suggest it does something for some horses. And the studies (in the case of Cortaflex) weren't done by the company that makes it.

I went with the turmeric because I can buy a kilo of the stuff for a fiver at an Asian supermarket. The horse is still going strong, now a little less than a week from being 24, but who knows if that's helped. My friend's 20-year old Hanoverian, who went onto turmeric at the same time as my Shire-TB, is now having to be semi-retired from dressage because of arthritis in one of his fetlocks. Vet reckons it's because of his size (17.3hh) and conformation (quite badly pigeon toed on that leg). So turmeric doesn't compensate for other factors.
 
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