Effective and affordable treatment for mild stiffness.

[cblover]

Hi all, merry crimbo too!
My heavy weight 14 yr old cob is starting to stiffen up a bit and I'd like to give her some support. Any recommendations for effective supplements or treatments would be good. Cheers x

 

[3Beasties]

I have read a lot recently on the benefits of feeding turmeric to horses, it is an anti-inflammatory and is supposed to be highly effective. There's a great group on Fb that has a huge amount of information on it.

Personally though I think your Vet is the first port of call.

 

[Holly Hocks]

Boswellia works for my arthritic TB, combined with glucosamine and MSM

 

[AmyMay]

Danillon.

 

[Tilda]

I use boswellia for my boy too he showed signs of slight stiffness in his hock at 14 he has been on boswellia for a year now and the maintenance dose seems to keep him just right (touch wood). Personally I wouldn't put him on danilon/ bute for mild stiffness unless herbal treatments didn 'to work, but that's just my preference.

 

[mightymammoth]

I give boswellia, suppleaze gold and micronised linseed but more for preventative as he's getting on a bit now.

 

[budley95]

Mine's on glucosamine and msm. Lots of turnout keeps him right. He gets stiff in his stifle. He has fast fibre which has omega 3 in so dont know if that's of any influence?

 

[skint1]

Regular turn out, regular appropriate work and I like Premierflex Plus for my horses (has Devil's Claw in it)

 

[Tilda]

I tried suppleaze gold after seeing people really rated it on here but it wasn't as effective as boswelia as signs of stiffness started to reappear .

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Not had much luck with Boswellia or joint supplements. My horse has a 1/4 tablet of Previcox daily and its made a massive difference.

 

[Magnetic Sparrow]

For the early stages I have found No Bute effective for stiffness and Codlivine seemed good for stopping one of mine laming himself when hooning around on hard ground in the summer. Once the problem becomes more than mild the vet would be my next choice

 

[ladyt25]

My 22 yo and 27 yo are both now on Equine Answers Premier Flex HA and they seem to be doing pretty well on it. I have had them on Feedmark's joint supplement as well before but thought I'd try the Premier Flex instead. I actually have no idea whether it does anything but I *think* my 22yo appears a but stiffer when he's not on it.

However, I would also recommend physio treatments. we have a McTimoney guy to ours maybe twice a year and I have definitely seem improvements in the individual horses after treatments.

In addition, my 27 seemed to go downhill a bit this spring/summer (he normally looks very good for his age). He started exhibiting problems moving (especially downhill) and was very crab-like in how he walked. It was not pleasant to watch. He didn't look great in himself either. He was actually diagnosed with Cushings. However, the vet reckoned he maybe had arthritis I his spine (no real way to actually diagnose this though). I decided to try some acupuncture (I was not 100% convinced by vet's diagnosis). Another vet came (with agreement from our vet) and gave him an acupuncture session. That was back in the summer. The pony has not shown any signs of the same movement issues at all since and is looking better in himself as well. However, I put him on hormonise for his cushings and also changed to the Premier Flex at the same time so I am not entirely sure what's helped him the most!

They are may things to try though. I certainly would not be putting him on painkillers quite yet like amymay has suggested.

 

[hnmisty]

They are may things to try though. I certainly would not be putting him on painkillers quite yet like amymay has suggested.

I agree.

Blue Chip has glucosamine in and made a difference to my 35 y/o.

 

[p87]

I look after a 29 year old mare who is very stiff, and after trying her on NAF jointflex she is much more sprightly! If they have been rugged all day and come in to be stabled overnight I let them have a naked roll in the indoor school while I sort feeds, and after a week of being on jointflex she was cantering around the school like a young thing! She had a wee gleam in her eyes, she was loving it, the others got in on it too and the had a blast hooning around. That was the first time in a year of looking after her that I had seen her do more than a struggled attempt at a trot to keep up with the others.

I was very surprised at the difference it made, and how quickly too.

 

[Mince Pie]

24/7 turn out

 

[p87]

24/7 turn out

24/7 turnout helps but isn't always a magic cure

 

[Mince Pie]

24/7 turnout helps but isn't always a magic cure

OP said mild stiffness so 24/7 turnout would probably be very beneficial in this case

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

For my gelding I make up a mix of cinnamon, turmeric, chaste berry and glucosamine mixed with MSM. All this goes into a big tub together and he gets 15g of this in every feed (2/3 perday) along with 50ml of linseed meal in every feed

He's 23 and has had arthritis since he was 15 and is still found and happy hacking

 

[[100855]]

My cob had the off stiff day when I first got her in winter last year.Now she is out 24/7 with good rugs to keep her warm, she moves around constantly and I never hear her joints clicking anymore. I feed her Boswellia and turmeric, she feels great. If I felt this wasn't doing enough and with vets advice then I wouldn't hesitate to put her on an appropriate dose of bute.I have known 20+ horses I could name that I have met in my grooming career at at riding school be on 1/2 or 1 bute a day for 10 years plus with no ill effects

 

[cblover]

Thanks everyone, really useful ideas. She is usually out 24/7 but its just so horrendously wet that she is coming in at night.

 

[southerncomfort]

What are the recommended feeding rates for turmeric? I've also heard great things about it. My 24 year olds stiffness has become slightly worse this Winter. Up until last year she was fine on Devils Claw but at the end of Winter I ended up putting her on Danilon.

She's on devils claw now and was just about to start with Danilon but would be interested in trying turmeric as I've heard such good things about it. Have no clue how much to give her though. She is a 12.2hh welsh B.

 

[Regandal]

I have tried most of the various supplements on the market. No joy. My boy is 20 now and had a long hard jumping life before I got him. He has arthritis in both hocks. He is now on one Danilon sachet a day and is a different horse. Yes, I could have him nerve blocked and a really accurate diagnosis, but to what avail? He probably has generalised arthritis which the Danilon is easing. He hates vets and needles, so why stress him. He will die of old age before the Danilon fries his liver, so we'll carry on with it.

 

[saddlesore]

Magnetic boots or rugs are great.

 

[Goldenstar]

Best thing for a stiff horse ?
The vet and a digonoses of what's making the horse stiff then you know what you are dealing with.

 

[Soup Dragon]

With the vet's advise with my pony Newmarket Joint Supplement was tried; then Devil's claw; - neither had any affect. MSM & Gloucosumine also had no affect. Magnetic boots worked for a while. Trying to avoid bute unless a last resort, so I tried her on turmeric. I only add 0.5 tablespoon to feed each day and it appears to have worked well. Vet has suggested the next thing to try is boswelia if the turmeric stops working but does recognise that it can be very beneficial. All this is done with vet's knowledge / agreement as my pony is diagnosed with arthritis in her hock as well as having Cushings - therefore keeping her ridden is important for mobility as well as weight control.

 

[Sophstar]

For my cob who started to suffer with arthritic hocks, I used a combination of magnetic bands on both legs, turmeric and linseed meal in his feed and he lived out 24/7 unless it was horrific weather. On cold days, if he had to stay in overnight or he was travelling somewhere I was perfectly happy to give him some danilon to ease with any stiffness. Even if I didn't ride him, I would ensure he was walked out in hand somewhere to loosen off and ironically on sponsored rides where we were going for 8+ miles he felt amazing by the end and looked well for a couple of days after. He always had danilon after though just in case he had pushed himself a bit too much. Didn't jump him, no trotting on the roads and only schooled in the field where there was much more space. Sponsored rides he was always walked for a good half hour before trotting no matter how eager, excited and jogging he did!

 

[Ceriann]

My 21 year old mare has just started to get a touch of arth in one of her back legs (hock). I've tried boswellia (with turmeric) and she really didn't like it (it smells like curry). Vet recommended 24/7 turnout and said the only supps which had been tested and shown to support joints was a combo of mms, gluco and chondroitin so I got her super flex - she is noticeably better after a month or so on this (now picks up her feet and has a run about with my other two). I think it's a case of trial and error and seeing what works for yours.

 

[Nijdypie]

My 19yr old had started getting a bit stiff and slow in a morning on the way to the field after a night in the stable...I'd just become a distributor for an Aloe Vera company called Forever Living and figured I may aswel practise what Im preaching lol....Ive put him on our Forever Freedom drinking gel that contains MSM, glucosamine and Chondrotin, so obviously helps the joints a lot...but as it is aloe vera based the horse gets all the added bonus' of aloe vera - the main one for joints being that aloe is a natural anti-inflammatory - so its sort of a quadrouple whammy, for the joints along with all the other benefits aloe provides!
Hes not been on it long and Ive already noticed a difference with how hes walking out in a morning!
Hope that helps x

 

[paulineh]

I have just put my 2 Mares, one is 23 and the other is 19, the 19 year old has also got Navicular , onto Spillars Senior Fibre, this has Gloucosumine for the joints and live yeast for the digestive system. My 23 year old is moving really well and my 19 year old is moving better than she has for a long time. I am about to put all my others, the boys on to it as well.

 

[wjgtaffy]

I have been researching boswellia and turmeric today...can you tell me what quanity you feed....I have a 16.3 middle weight....this is my first post so please excuse me if this isnt the right way to ask..