very mild arthritic changes - help - advice

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debbielinder

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Will try not to make this to long!

I have a 16.1 tb x new forest hes quite a chunky lad tho more muscle than fat these days. Hes ridden 6x a week a mixture of hacking and schooling, including one dressage lesson, working at elementary level at home, and is lunged once a week in a pessoa. He has always liked to have a long warm up before hes worked and moves. Better once hes had this warm up ad a good canter otherwise he cant get lazy.

Had the physio out tuesday rode first as he always has a few days off after physios been out. Trotted him up for the physio who said she thought he was slightly stiff in his hocks but as i was trotting him up he stood on a stone and went lame in front! Pain in the backside! Physio decided to leave treating him till next week incase he has bruised his foot and he may have been a bit sore after being treated. I checked him later that day and he was sound.

The vet was at the yard whilst i was riding this mornin so i asked her to take a quick look at him. She said in walk and trot hes 100% sound tracking up well with both hinds. But he looked a little siff in canter so she asked me to jump off and put him on the lunge again 100% in walk and trot and very occasionally slightly stiff in his hocks in canter. We had a good chat about it, and she said i have 2 options we either start x raying and treat the hocks but she said as its not a lameness as such more of a gait change the likelyhood is we will find very small changes going on in his hocks. Or we try and manage it and keep an eye on any changes so i've decided to do the latter. Hes already on a glucosamine suppliment that all the horses are on but its just a cheap one, so my vet has advised me to put him on a better good quality suppliment and try some magnetic boots. Next time shes out she will check him again.

I really need some recomendations of a good quality joint suppliment, i have used cosequin on my previous mare and it worked a treat however she was stiff through an injury so not sure it will have the same effect on current pony. Also has anyone used magnetic boots? Are they any good worth investment?

Any advice greatley appreciated well done if you got this far! .
 
Hi I have a boy with chronic DJD. He has synequin, be warned thou its a but of a bank breaker!! But we are permenately on the loading dose so may not work out too bad if ur on a lower dosage. You can buy it off the Internet slightly cheaper too. I have to say I've noticed a marked improvement using this, not sure I'd try anything else now. I've never tried magnetic boots, I asked advice from my physio about these she told me there's no scientific evidence that these work but has had owners saying they do so would recommend trying a friends before buying as they are pretty expensive!!! Good luck I'm sure you'll find something that helps ur boy. Sometimes it's a bit of trial n error as what works for some doesn't always work for others x
 
Maxavita Maxaflex (made from green lipped mussel) is a great supplement and in my experience magnetic boots worn whilst hacking/schooling really do help.

Be wary of surfaces - too deep or too hard, too muddy or too slippy and it can put extra pressure on the joint. Try to avoid trotting on roads where possible, ditto jumping.

If stabled at night try to put bandages/wraps on to keep the legs warm as cold really makes the stiffness worse.

My old boy is currently on Danilon for his arthritis :) good luck xxx
 
My horse has similar problem to yours by the sound of it and I have had some good success with boswellia. I have actually just reduced him down to half the recommended dose to see if we can maintain him on this. I buy the 2.5kg tub which is £64.00 for 100 days on the recommended dose. Well worth it though as my boy now moves much more freely in general and his canter transitions have improved no end.
 
Sorry would help if I said where I bought it from! I get it from pegasus health online their brand is natures bute.
 
Hi

My 6 yr old has mild arthritis ( ex racer). I use magnetic boots on him at night in winter. The N.E.W. equine ones which I think help his stiffness. Supplement wise he was on cortaflex but have recently changed to http://www.hackup.co.uk/ for a bespoke supplement ( only been on it a week so cant really comment yet) but the guy Alex is really knowledgeable so hoping for good results.
 
Synequin is very good, its more pure than the off the shelf products hence the price. However, once your past the loading dose it works out quite cheap if you break it down. If you are investigating your horse's problem and go through your Insurance you may well be able to get it through that.

Magnetic boots are good, they helped my mare when she had a tendon injury.
 
Thanks for all you help, and sorry about the long essay. I will look into all the suppliments mentioned. And sounds like magnetic boots would be a good investment.

Hes only 9 so dont want to go down the root of x raying and injecting the hocks as its only going to get worse with age, so by the time he hits his teens i will have exhausted all my options. I used to have a magnetic rug actually for my old mare she was 21 plus, cant say it worked or not to be honest but the horse i have now shredded the rug, still have the magnets somewhere do you think they would still be usuable? The rug must be 8 years old if not more? I could put them on under bandages in the mornin before exercising.
 
Hiya,

My now almost 15yo has arthritic changes. I found out when he was 13 when I had him vetted (already had him on loan so bought him anyway). We didn't do anything right away apart from put him on a vet vits joint supplement. My physio commented on how much his range of motion had improved on that within a month so really recomend it. Its also only like 15 pound a month so not horrendous.

He had a period of stopping last summer (I event him, up to Novice level) and we straight away had his hocks x-rayed and found it had progressed so he had the injections. Vets said he could carry on as he was and that it would be unusual for a horse his age not to need a little 'help'.

He has his back legs wrapped at night when he's in, and needs a little longer to warm up but still fine, jumping decent fences ect.

Just put the above so you know its not the end of the world!
 
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