Owners of arthritic horses...

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Natassia

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What do you do to keep them sound? My 7 year old horse is arthritic in his pastern, he is fine and in light work, he has a good supplement (MSM, glucosamine, chondroitin), and is out 24/7 now, has anyone else got any advice though, especially since the ground is getting harder?
How do you all manage your horses' conditions?
 
Cortaflex seems to really help my old horse.
Hes always been in at night and worn stable bandages - not sure if this helps with the arthritis though.
Lots of carrot stretches before and after riding, and a good 5 minutes of in-hand walking before I ride.
He has good and bad days, but generally seems okay.
Its not easy, though, is it.
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My 6 year old Maxi cob has arthritis in his coffin joint. Hes sound just now but thats after a course of IRAP treatment in January I now have him on New Market Joint Supplement. I dont trot him on the Road or hard surfaces. Hes back in full work and hes loving it. We have even been popping over small jumps (in the school only) i wouldnt jump him again on grass. Good Luck with your boy.. I hope you can keep him sound and enjoy him..
 
My friend has found devil's claw works a treat on her 25 yr old arthritic mare.
Some people also have reported good results from using magnetic boots.
Also, watch for hard ground over the summer months and avoid trotting on roads etc.
Regular gentle exercise seems to be recommended by vets.
Good luck!
 
Our 9 yrs IDx was diagnosed yesterday with DJD of the coffin joint and is on a vet glucosamine supplement and Adequan injections, next week the vet is coming to do another injection into the joint (can't remember which drug). My older cob was diagnosed with DJD ringbone in 2005, he had the same treatment as the 9 year old inc magnetic boots and he has been on a pure glucosamine supplement with 1/2 a bute a day since. I avoid roads or fast work on hard ground and he has been hunting with no problems. I found keeping him out 24/7 really helps keep stiffness at bay.
I didnt find any boots or pads that made a difference once the condition had stabilised.
 
My TB is on pernamax. It's something to do with green lipids. Type it into google and you'll get details. I don't actually know lots about it, but my mum did hours of research and decided to try him on it. Has it worked? Well all I can say is he's been sound since starting it six months ago.
 
Thank you all for replying, mine is out 24/7 (was from Monday) now and is so happy, keeping his weight down is the problem now! He's moving well, galloping and bucking around the field etc, I take it this means he's feeling good?!
I'm going to get him some magnetic pastern wraps that hopefully he can wear in the field for a limited time or whatever, in the stable he used to wear stable boots on his front legs at night, and he has rubber matting with a full bed on top.
I also don't do anything faster than a walk on hard ground, but we do do roadwork,obviously in walk only. He's hacked out about 4 times a week for no longer than an hour and 15 mins, he seems to be enjoying it and better for it, before I got him 4 months ago he'd been turned away and not ridden for 5 months, so I'm bringing him back into work. Its so hard because on one hand I want to wrap him in cotton wool, but people keep telling me that in the future when he's fit he will probably be able to do more than I think, so I'm just taking it as it comes really.
 
Rather than wraps, why do you try straps that just stay on all the time. Cairo wears these and has done for several years with them being left on - I just check under them weekly to ensure no rubbing has happened (which never has).

They really do help him and on the rare occasion they have been removed, when he had surgery, he went pottery but back to normal within a few days of them going back on.

He has recently had more problems, including a very bowed tendon so I put a set on his hind legs and again there is an improvement and the tendon went down a fair bit in a week of wearing them.
 
Can I ask where you got the straps from? I remember looking at them before, but can't for the life of me think what site it was on!

To OP - I use Newmarket Joint Supplement for mine, made a huge difference.
 
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