Joint supplements

[Halfstep]

Any recommendations for a joint supplement for a horse recently diagnosed with cartilage damage in the upper hock joint? Horse has just had arthroscopic surgery to remove fragments and has some incurable damage to the joint (caused by injury). Vets will inject the joint once the surgery stitches are out, but I want the horse on the best oral supplement I can find. But there are so many out there! Horse currently on basic cortaflex......

Any ideas welcome! And what is best for this sort of damage - glucosamine/chondroitin or MSM, and is HA essential? Aaarrrrggghhhh.

 

[RachelB]

I did a LOT of research on joint supplements when my horse was diagnosed last year with a torn tendon and with cartilage damage in her coffin joint. The one I picked was NAF 5* Superflex, it doesn't have hyaluronic acid in it but it does have glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM. The HA supplements were all significantly more expensive, and the two best ones I found with HA in as well as the other three were Gold Label Glucosamine Ultimate and Feedmark ExtraFlex HA.
Back to the Superflex, I am entirely happy with my choice. My horse is not only sound (well apart from when she tweaked her leg again last week, nothing the supplement could have done about it though!) but she is also moving better than ever, and when Maiden was re-assessed by my vet last month she couldn't actually tell which leg she had been lame on until I turned her. Vet was very impressed and I'm sure the Superflex helped (although obviously that can't be proven). I've heard loads of people reccommending Superflex. I like it better than Cortaflex as it has MSM in as well, which is considered to be very good for joints/tendons/ligaments.
I'm not sure exactly what HA does actually...

 

[MagicMelon]

I love NAF Superflex, brilliant stuff. Cured one of my horses cold backs somehow (dont ask how!) and keeps my 2 veterans mobile as ever.

 

[littlewhittle]

I am looking for one too, and have had suppleaze gold recommended, also if you call them they will send you out a free 2 week sample so worth a try! it has all the key ingredients in it. I'm going to give it a go. It's very good value for money too, they have a buy 2 get third free offer on at the moment!

 

[Halfstep]

Do you have a link for suppleaze gold? Thanks!!

 

[littlewhittle]

Have a look on here!

www.aviform.co.uk

 

[Halfstep]

That looks like very good stuff. Many thanks.

 

[cellie]

I had a long discussion on supplements with vet tonight after post op check up.He said most of them had bulk chalk fillers and didnt do much good if you are buying the cheaper end of the market.I asked about newmarket joint supplement (my regular vet reccommended this)his friend a vet works at newmarket and is involved in the production of this product or its testing and he believes its one of the better and purer supplements on the market.Hope that helps.
The other ing. you listed are not all proven to work they are added to make the product more sellable -his words -not mine lol .He believes there is no proof that anything other than glocosomine helps with joint maintenance

 

[RachelB]

That is true, chondroitin is only added to equine feed supplements because it is proven to be beneficial in humans - it has not been proved even to be absorbed in horses.
Further to my reply earlier, I bought my horse some more Superflex only to discover that they have now added HA to it as well. HA apparently is a component of joint fluid. That's why I wasn't bothered about it before as my mare's problems are cartilage and tendon related, so what I really needed for her was the sulphur. But as far as I'm concerned, they've added an ingredient and not added to the price so I'm happy!

 

[Tempi]

i use liquid mobifor from hyperdrug: Mobifor

Its the only suppliment that works on Bloss. She has fluid build up around her hocks which can make her very stiff and she would never pass a vetting altho she is sound to ride but needs gentle warming up. I tried her on lots of different ones, but mobifor is the only one ive seen a real difference in her with.

 

[Halfstep]

Brilliant, thanks Tempi. I have never heard of that one either, but it looks very good. Now need to speak to vet tomorrow and decide what its to be.

Having said all this, brought horse home from vets yesterday (around 6 days after surgery) and he is most certainly NOT stiff/lame. In fact the little bugger pissed off with me down the driveway at the vets despite having a bridle, lungeline and leadrope over his nose. Nightmare animal.

 

[cellie]

Was your horses op similiar to hock fusion.I have just had 8 week post op check for surgery on the hock and removal of cartilage.

 

[monstermunch]

Glucosamine is the most important compound closely followed by MSM. These are the two compounds that are easily absorbed by the horses gut. Glucosamine also has by far a substantial amount of research to back it. Chondroitin is useful but possibly not as important as the other two compounds. It does have a role to play but not to the same extent as Glucosamine.
HA unless injected into the joints as far as I'm concerned is a marketing ploy. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to suggest it is of any use for joints when fed orally. All the evidence suggests tat the molecuales are fat too big for absorbtion. When broken down it is actually partly composed of Glucosamine, so I wouldn't waste money spending extra on a supplement with HA in it. Invest in one with good levels of Glucosamine.
Be wary of vets reccomendations for products such as Newmarket. Thogh not alwayd true they often earn hefty commission for plugging them. Good amount of research yourself will show you that you can get high strength joint supplements at a good price through your own research.

Good luck!

 

[Halfstep]

Thanks mm - that's pretty much what I had concluded from my internet researches.

Cellie - no, not hock fusion, arthroscopy for bone and cartilage chips caused by injury. There is some cartilage damage in the joint itself which makes it very susceptible to developing arthritis. Its in the upper (tibiotarsal) joint so not a candidate for fusion.

 

[clairencappelli]

I had this with a fetlock injury!!!

My vet and her surgeon ( dr david platt a specialist in arthroscopy ) tols me to put her on the newmarket supplement and she has been on it since her op last july.

Her joint was pretty badly messed up but after a year we are riding again and did our first dressage sunday!.

H ealso suggested green lipped muscle to keep joint inflamtion down and to help delay the onset of arthritus.It being used in clinical trials on horses and is so far proving very sucsessful

I ran out the other week and within 2 days her joint spcae filled up and within a week back on it had gone right back down again.

If you fo to holland and barrett before the 3rd april its half price so only 5.79 instead of 11.79.

I was told to feed 2000 mg a day so i pull the capsules apart and add 2 to both her daily feeds.

Hope this helps.

msn - its not proven either

 

[henryhorn]

I can only tell you what works for our stallion better than anything else, a product called Multiplex HA. It's made by Science with Nature and without it he goes stiff and slightly unsound, partly due to breaking his pelvis and probably some arthritis with age (he's 17).
He was on Cortaflex until someone advised us to try this as it was a reasonable cost, and within a week there was a big difference.
Over the winter he has been let down and when brought into work again was unsound, within five days of this supplement he was absolutely sound again.
I don't know what's in it but it must be good for joints..

 

[SpruceRI]

Hi Henryhorn

Can you tell me how long a 1kg tub of the Multiplex would last? If it's fed at the same ratio as Cortaflex (7g) per day, it's a lot cheaper.

Thanks

 

[Blissy]

I use cortavet from http://www.vetuk.co.uk website - it's the cheapest I could find - they knock 10% off every now and then.

I am not sure if it works for my horse as he hasn't been on it for long enough and he is waiting for scans and xrays at the moment - same type of problem.

Best of luck

 

[groovejet]

Glucosamine works bloody wonders!
Have a horse that had cartilage removed from her knee and the vets thought she wouldnt actually come sound, but (touch wood) she's been ok. For a big tub(4 months or so supply?) its £100 but having spoke to other people, you can apparently get cheap tablets which contain the same thing.

 

[horseyanna]

The best supplements I know of are made by a small firm called HOLISTIC HORSE HEALTH. (www.holistichorsehealth.com ) They are absolutely BRILLIANT.
My much beloved horse had a stifle joint operation at the age of 15. Two months after the opp we thought we would have to have him put down, he was so lame. (He had trouble even getting up off the floor). A friend told me about a product called Cartilage Care that has NO dreaded bulk fillers , just huge amounts of Chondroitin and Glucosamine.

I called Lesley at Holistic Horse Health and she was very helpful and knowledgeable. She suggested their product ‘EQUINE GOLD FLEX' which is one of the only equine joint supplements on the market with the full therapeutic dose of Hyaluronic Acid (H.A.) Apparently, most of the leading brand name H.A. products for horses have up to 20 times less H.A. in them because H.A. is so expensive. (What a con! They just put a bit in so that they can say their product contains H.A.)
Amazingly, ‘Boris’ is now sound and we are back to hacking out. My Vet is both surprised and impressed. I am going to put Boris on Cartilage Care (same product, but no H.A. so less expensive) now that he’s so much better, to see how we get on.