Supplement for Older Equine Question

[AppyLover1996]

Good Morning,

It is my first time posting here, so hopefully I don’t ramble on and bore you guys too much aha!

I am just asking a general question with regards to helping my boy in his twilight years with joint comfort and mobility.

He is 16 years old, but had a bad start to life before I got him, so he has more wear and tear than the average pony his age. He has COPD, Arthritis and also has PSSM Type 1, so I have to be very careful what I feed him (although saying that PSSM Type 1 sufferers should be on a low starch and sugar diet, yet my fussy monkey won’t touch his feeds if they’re like that , so he ends up having a mix that isn’t ideal, but he eats it and has minimal flare ups/symptomatic episodes. Horses eh - they never read the rule book ?).

Anyway - back to the point of my post - I have been up numerous hours over the past 3 weeks looking at joint supplements and my head is totally spinning! I have however come to the conclusion that the following below seem like a good mixture to feed for overall health and joint health, but am unsure as to whether they can all be fed together. The products I am looking at feeding together are below :

Equine America Turmeric Xtra (contains Turmeric, Linseed, Black Pepper, Vitamin E and Calcium)
Equine America Glucosamine 12:10 Plus (contains Green Lipped Mussel,MSM,Hylaronic Acid, Glucosamine)
Boswellia
Garlic (This is mainly for his respiratory health and he loves the stuff - drinks it out the bottle if given the chance?)


As mentioned, I’ve no idea if all of the above can be fed together, or if it is a *slight* overkill and I could potentially do more damage than good. For reference he is fed Bailey’s No 21 (1 Stubbs scoop a day) and Dodson and Harrell Sixteen Plus Mix (1/2 a Stubbs scoop a day), and also gets Fibre-Beet in the winter as he is not a particularly good doer. I’m also open to feed suggestions if there is a healthier mix out there than the 16 + that will still look like a mix and thusly please His Lordship, but also please me with lower sugar and starch levels!

Thanks for reading the above essay - I’ve just re-read it and gosh do I ramble! If you’ve gotten this far cookies and milk are available as refreshments and I’m also open to other ideas with regards to joint supplements if anyone knows of any that have personally worked for them ?

 

[ozpoz]

For PSSM, try agrobs mash which I started mine on one winter for weight loss. Honey chop low calorie chaff is good as a fibre edition. I add oil and currently mega boswellia.

 

[AppyLover1996]

For PSSM, try agrobs mash which I started mine on one winter for weight loss. Honey chop low calorie chaff is good as a fibre edition. I add oil and currently mega boswellia.

Thank you ever so much for your reply Unfortunately my lad won’t touch Honeychop at all (fussy monkey!), but the Agrobs mash sounds nice - where can I get a sample to try from please? X

 

[ester]

Please don't feed garlic, it's a potent antimicrobial and really not suitable for horses.

I am also an agrobs fan.
I'd also feed micronised linseed.

 

[AppyLover1996]

Please don't feed garlic, it's a potent antimicrobial and really not suitable for horses.

I am also an agrobs fan.
I'd also feed micronised linseed.

Thank you for your reply x

Oh crikey - didn’t realise the garlic thing - my vet actually recommended it to me for his lungs as I don’t want him on the steroids 24/7 x

 

[ester]

Speak to them about it sometimes you do have to weigh up risk and benefit and there might be another alternative. The trouble is that it disrupts the gut microbiota which is important when you are a horse. I do know of it being used successfully when a horse has had the opposite problem (chronic gut infection/imbalance)

 

[Melandmary]

I have a 26year old on loan with me as a companion with arthritis in her hocks. I tried a turmeraid product for a while with no positive effect. I have since put her on linseed and although she still rarely lays Dow she looks amazing and moves much more freely, I am certain the linseed has helped. I just feed her linseed, honeychop light and healthy and pro earth vit / mineral supplement. She has 24/7 turnout. I am not a big fan of the mixed although I always feel a bit guilty that she should be getting one just because she is old... It's a good marketing ploy ?

 

[Ellietotz]

I currently use Boswellia on its own but I (sadly) went through as many joint supplement posts on here and several on Facebook as I could and made a little tally of recommendations based on experiences!

Boswellia: 16
BestFlex HA: 14
Science Supplements Flexibility Plus: 11
MSM + Boswellia: 6
Equine Answers Premier Flex: 6
Equine America Cortaflex: 3
Equimins Flexijoint: 3
MSM: 3
Turmeric: 3
4cyte: 3
Devils Claw: 3
Pharmaquin: 3

Omega Flexology, NAF Superflex, Maxaflex Green Lipped Muscle, Riaflex and Glucosamine all had 1 recommendation.

 

[Griffin]

You could try Feedmark's Activet because that has glucosamine, MSM and boswellia in it. I have had good results with Feedmark joint supplements over the years.

I rather like Spiller balancers because they don't contain any iron, mixed with either Honeychop or Thunderbrooks chaff. However, I generally feel with feeds if they seem to be doing well on them, don't change because horses are fusspots!