Horse Joint Supplement

Horse joint supplements do work and they have many functions. Joint supplements for horses can be highly effective at helping to manage a horse who has a diagnosed joint condition such as arthritis. However, more commonly, they are used as a preventative to stop horses from developing joint problems. It is inevitable that your horse will experience wear and tear in their joints as they age. You can use a joint supplement to help them stay, mobile, supple, active and healthy.

All horses should need a joint supplement if they are to stay active, working and mobile. It is recommended to start feeding a joint supplement to a horse once it has been broken in and throughout their lives to help to maintain good joint health and to support the joints as they age. This will help your horse live their best, healthiest life for as long as possible.

Linseed has a high level of omega fatty acids, and they are present in linseed/ flaxseed in a particularly ideal ratio. Linseed is therefore very good at protecting joints and easing discomfort in joints which are stiff and tired. Linseed can be fed as an oil, poured directly over the feed as milled seeds/meal sprinkled over your horse’s food. In some cases you can provide linseed to your horse through another product in which it is an ingredients, such as Alpha Gold.

If your horse has been diagnosed with arthritis, it is important to follow veterinary advice. Pain killers, anti-inflammatories and potentially steroid medications will be very useful for your horse suffering with arthritis. It is important to try to keep them active and exercising, as much as they can tolerate. Gentle exercise, ensuring that the horse is adequately warmed up before doing anything too strenuous or demanding is important. You will also want to consider feeding a joint supplement to help to support and maintain the health of the affected joints.

Glucosamine is a widely used ingredients in horse joint supplements. The evidence on its effectiveness is not entirely clear yet, but it’s unlikely to do any harm. The main concern with glucosamine for horses is its source. Glucosamine is almost all produced from ground shellfish. Given that horses are strict herbivores, glucosamine sourced from shellfish is not appropriate for them or their digestive system. Glucosamine can be derived from plant based sources but that is not the norm at this stage. It is important if feeding glucosamine to your horse that you ensure it is not from a shellfish or marine derived source.

There is a long standing myth that turmeric is only effective for joint health if it has freshly ground black pepper added to it. This is false. In fact, freshly ground black pepper can irritate the lining of your horse’s stomach and upper intestinal tract. We have written a blog with the finer details of the absorption and digestive process of turmeric which you can read here. They takeaway though is that turmeric does not need to have pepper added to It to be effective and we recommend against adding pepper to your horse’s diet.