The Phoenix Filly

Horse joint supplements can help a variety of horses! Is your horse:

Older and still be ridden?
Have joint or ligament issues?
Prone to arthritis?
Recovering from an injury?
In strenuous training or used in competitions?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, your horse might benefit from a joint supplement. But which supplement should you consider? Here is a breakdown of the most common ingredients and what they offer your horse.

Glucosamine

Glucosamine is one of the most popular ingredients in horse joint supplements. It works well with MSM and is said to slow the breakdown of cartilage. Tissue repair is also a super-power of Glucosamine. It provides the basic fundamentals for tissues to produce which helps joints immensely.

ASU

ASU is avocado soybean unsaponifiables. Made from these items, ASU studies done in Colorado State University show that horses showed improvement on cartilage that had been damaged. You can see this in a supplement like Cosequin ASU which has TONS of excellent reviews. ASU is also said to help promote healthy joint function and is an excellent option for older horses as well as horses with a lot of joint trauma.

MSM

MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is known to help with inflammation. Many people choose to feed their horse a combination of glucosamine AND MSM for maximum effectiveness. MSM also can help reduce swelling and help with arthritis. It also helps release excess fluid in the joint and helps strengthen the surrounding tissues. It is relatively inexpensive yet effective for many horses.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C can be seen as an ingredient on many horse joint supplements. It is an essential component to formation of collagen and it also has anti-oxidants. Collagen is needed for healthy joints, tissues and skin for horses. It is not quite powerful enough to help with joint recovery or maintenance on its own, but when combined with other components, it can definitely increase the strength of the supplement.

While these are some of the most common ingredients in horse supplements you may also see other ingredients such as:

magnesium
copper
zinc
hyaluronic acid
chondroitin

All of these are known components that increase joint fluidity, decrease pain and swelling and help repair joints and tissues. They usually work best when combined with other components and not offered by themselves.

My Experience with Horse Joint Supplements

My horse turns 20 this year! He does have arthritis and joint damage, particularly in his hocks, particularly in his left hock (according to my vet). He stands 16.1 hands and approximately 1,300 pounds. His size and weight do put more strain on his joints. This, in combination with his show horse career, (he is retired now) and genetics, have caused the cartilage breakdown.

First try – I tried a Glucosamine and MSM combination first. He gets his hocks injected one a year to help (vet suggested) and I can tell he feels better about two-three weeks after the injections.

I was surprised how inexpensive these two items were. I fed the recommend doses for his weight for approximately 5-6 months. He did not improve. I decided to end that and try Cosequin (I have used before and had good results with him).

The Cosequin is more expensive. My horse does have some significant cartilage breakdown and arthritis. Sometimes you can visibly see the lameness as he moves and other days are much better. After a few weeks being back on Cosequin, I could see a significant difference.

My horse still has bad days, but with  Cosequin he seems to move much better than when he was on the combo of MSM and Glucosamine. I plan on trying the Cosequin ASU next to see if he improves even more.

These results are for my horse. Every horse is different. You can try the combo MSM and Glucosamine first because it IS less expensive and it might work for our horse. Cosequin is obviously the more expensive option, but it worked for my horse. You can always ask a a vet what they would recommend for horse joint supplements too. Keep in mind factors such as:

horse being over weight
genetics
how often your horse is exercised
the intensity of the exercise

All these factors can hep you and your vet determine a plan for your horses joints and what horse joint supplements they should be taking or might need to take in the future.

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