Glucosamine/Chondroitin for horses????????

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Dipro

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Hi All, I am just about to get my first horse-horse (had ponies) an amazing and beautiful 16hh 3/4 ID dapple grey mare, 5yo and really green (so excited) and have been reading up on feeding etc. I am super confused to see that lots of joint supplements have glucosamine and chondroitin in their formulations. WHY??????? Last time i checked equines were herbivores...
 
We can give them cod liver oil as well, and have you ever seen a horse fishing? :wink3:

Those substances are supposed to support good joint health. The natural sources are animal-based afaik. I'm sure you want to do your best for your horse, but isn't 5 a bit early to be feeding joint supplements?

I hope your new horse is everything you want her to be.
 
Joint supplements are designed to maintain the prolongevity of the joints. Theory being that the earlier the joint health is supplemented the lesser 'wear and tear' later in life.

Unfortunately cartilage does not receive a blood supply sufficient to repair damage (unlike bone, connective tissue etc), so once the cartilage is 'spent' so to speak, arthritic changes will appear within the joint.

As to when any arthritic change will occur depends on many factors but old age gets to us all in the end.

If you choose to provide joint supplements it can be for a variety of reasons, conformation, workload, breeding or just to abide by the old adage that 'prevention is better than cure'.

Not aware of any evidence that joint supplementation is, or has been, detrimental regardless of whether the source components are animal based.
 
Illusion100 said:
Not aware of any evidence that joint supplementation is, or has been, detrimental regardless of whether the source components are animal based.
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Hmm, agree there's no evidence to suggest that they might be detrimental but are there any studies demonstrating that orally administered chondroitin and glucosamine are efficacious (or even absorbed from the GI tract) in horses??
 
Having had real problems with my ID mare which I now think resulted from feeding her glucosamine as she had windgalls, I will now never use it again. I will look into rosehips when I think I need a joint supplement in future.

We are very careful these days to feed only those substances which the horse might eat in the wild
 
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I give my 21 year old super flex - gluc, chondroitin and mms. She's got early signs of arthritis in one of her back legs and the vet (who I trust) suggested that the only supplement with any proven benefit for joints was this combination (he didn't sell super flex just the combo). It does work for my mare, she's easier to have her feet picked and is generally livelier (she doesn't get left behind when the rest have a hooley). She's not 100% but sufficiently improved that I'm sold. I may ease off it in summer and I'm looking into turmeric (I couldn't get her to eat boswellia). I also feed her yea sacc and occasionally milk thistle to help the hind gut and cleanse. She looks good and is happy.
 
Buddy'sMum said:
Really? Can you provide references for those, genuinely interested. Weren't any absorption studies in horses last time I looked.
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I'm really not sure what specific info you want but I hope these help!

Effects of Oral Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfates Supplementation on Frequency of
Intra-articular Therapy of the Horse Tarsus
Intern J Appl Res Vet Med • Vol. 4, No. 2, 2006
Martha R. Rodgers, VMD

Evidence of the Oral Absorption of Chondroitin Sulfate as Determined by Total Disaccharide
Content After Oral and Intravenous Administration to Horses
Natalie D. Eddington, PhD; Jianping Du, PhD; Nathaniel White, DVM, Diplomate ACVS
2001 / Vol. 47 / AAEP PROCEEDINGS

Double-Blind Study of the Effects of an Oral Supplement Intended to Support Joint Health in Horses with Tarsal Degenerative Joint Disease
Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS; Patricia E. Almeida, MS, DVM; Marta Prades, DVM, Diplomate ACVS, Diplomate ECVS; Jennifer Brown, DVM; Caroline Tessier, DVM; and Joel L. Lanovaz, BS, MS
2002 /Vol. 48 /AAEP PROCEEDINGS

Oral Treatment With a Glucosamine-Chondroitin Sulfate Compound for Degenerative Joint Disease in Horses: 25 Cases
R. Reid Hanson, DVM, Lowell R. Smalley, DVM, Gerald K. Huff, DVM, S. White, DVM, Tarek A. Hammad, MD, PhD, Msc, MS
16 Equine Practice, VOL. 19. NO. 9, October 1997

Oral hyaluronan gel reduces post operative tarsocrural effusion in the yearling Thoroughbred.
Bergin BJ, Pierce SW, Bramlage LR, Stromberg A.
Equine Vet J. 2006 Jul;38(4):375-8
 
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