Cortaflex or Riaflex?( sorry long )

[Paddy Irish]

I've just started bringing the boy back into being ridden, he's not been sat on since the end of Oct , so i'm taking things pretty slowly as he's stiff on the back end . This isn't unusual as he has suffered in the past from locking stifles , hence the fact that he now lives out 24/7. It's quite usual that when i feed him in the mornings he's quite pottery on his back legs cos he's been lying down and literally has just got up ( his rug is damp round the bottom edge and his hocks are wet and muddy ) By the time he's walked around all day , when i give him his tea he's totally fine. Anyway i've booked up my back lady to come asap , she's due in feb/march but i can't wait that long and in the meantime i was thinking i would put him on a decent suppliment.
He has been ridden in the school twice this week but only for about 20 mins each episode just to get him going , but it's evident that he's not happy , he wont work in any sort of outline and is holding his head high and looks to be all scrunched up instead of stretched out and moving from behind ( hope that bit makes sense!) I've mainly stuck to getting him to walk out nicely with just a little trot to try and get him moving forward , he's usually very willing but seems to have a total lack of impulsion.....anybody got any pearls of wisdom?

 

[unbalanced]

Cortaflex is a waste of money in my experience as it has hardly any active ingredients in it. Riaflex was recommended to me by members of this forum (thank you Janet George) when I was running out of insurance to pay for synequin (hugely expensive vet prescribed joint supplement) and riaflex has the same quantities of active ingredients as synequin for a fraction of the cost. You can also buy it without a prescription.

Other things to help stiff horses:
-lots of turnout
-magnetic therapy eg boots and rugs - they don't have to be placed exactly over the affected area as they boost circulation to the whole region
- in hand work
- long slow hacks - I find hillwork helps mine
- massage pad
- massage and stretching such as carrot stretches
- I have heard that tumeric is good but haven't tried it yet
- cider apple vinegar and linseed

 

[Paddy Irish]

Thanks for the tips , i would have started him out today on a small hack today but our biggest bug bear here is that i have a saturday off and we have shooters right next door , so i didn't want to push my luck when i can get away with a quick spin in the school. You may know the answer to the next question which is ..would it be ok to lunge him - lightly - even though his stifles are weak? i could also drive him on two lines - i kind of want to see what's happening behind whilst he's moving if that makes sense. My friend hopped on just so i could see how stiff he looked in trot , and he was very choppy strided and just coiled like a spring. thanks for the feed back on riaflex , i'll look into it in more depth.

 

[unbalanced]

Personally I don't lunge because I don't find it useful but my understanding would be that you would want your horse to be fit for the circling. If I were you I would give your vet a quick call and talk over with him or her how your horse has been lately - mine was absolutely invaluable when I was bringing my horse back into work with spavins - helping with suitable fitness plan and so on. My horse had a couple of drug treatments to help at one stage with fantastic results - tildren, adequan and steroids into the joint. I don't know if that would be something you and your vet would want to consider, but definitely worth a chat.

 

[Paddy Irish]

I get what your saying re fitness for circles. I will start a hacking plan in the next couple of weeks , thankfully pheasant shooting stops on Feb 1st and i can begin in earnest ( i run my own business so i work all week but can get some cover now the days are lenghtening) Shocking though it sounds , i havent consulted a vet about paddy's stifles as i use Dr Fiona Dod who is an equine chiropractic . When i first got him he was sound and very fit and as his fitness dwindled so the stifles became evident . I'm fairly confident i can get him back to where he should be fitness wise , but if a suppliment like riaflex would make him more comfortable whilst that process begins , then it's definitely something for me to think about.

 

[floradora09]

Can't think of much more to add than plenty of turnout (which you are doing) as I've not had a horse with stifle/back end stiffness problems.

I did have a pony who'd damaged a shoulder ligament though and the best thing for him while it was still weak was gentle straight line hacking, with a little work in the school for a change but nothing strenuous until he had built up again. That way it kept it moving but without doing too much too soon.

You'll get about 50 billion different opinions as to which joint supplement to use, but at the end of the day just try a few and see what works for your horse. I have used cortaflex on my nearly 17 year old since he was 15 and the only soundness issues we've had have been foot related really. So couldn't comment on if it works or not, as I used it for a preventative measure, but he still has a nice long stride and tracks up nicely. The reason it doesn't have actual glucosamine/chondroitin in is that it was formulated on the basis that these are large molecules and not easily absorbed into bloodstream- so it contains the building blocks that are much smaller so an improved absorbtion rate and the horse can utilise these itself. This supports the recent revalation in people that absorbtion rates are low with glucosamine/chondroitin. Plus when trying to persuade dad to fork out £50, it's the only one as far as I am aware which has undergone a clinical, independant, double blind trial which concludes that it has a significant benefit.

ETA- Here's the website with the trial on. http://www.jointsupplementresearch.com/report.html

 

[floradora09]

Oh, and I've recently found out about Cortavet, by the same makers of cortaflex, which is extra concentrated, and usually only available by vet prescription, but you can buy online. It's not much more expensive either.

 

[Paddy Irish]

Thanks flora will have a look at the info , paddy is out 24/7 with a proper shelter where he has feed/hay ( so he probably does stand ' in ' for some part of the day still). Our field is quite hilly in places and i was hoping this would keep him fitter than it actually does , it's nearly 7 acres , to which he has access to about 5.5 so he's got plenty of scope for grazing / walking but still seems to get pretty unfit without any ridden work.

 

[nadinek82]

I would recommend Riaflex over Cortaflex. If you have a look on the Riaflex website it goes into a fair bit of detail re joint supplements and has a comparison chart for other supplements aswell. There was a big thread on supplements on here a year or two ago, don't know if you'd be able to find it if you did a search? I found it very helpful and informative

 

[Paddy Irish]

Thanks nadine , i'll try and do a search on previous threads , someone mentioned Janet George and i see from the website that she ( althought there could be more than one janet george obviously!) gave a customer testimonial on the stuff , so i'll try and see if any of her old threads are still on here about it. A x