Joint Therapy for an Older Horse

[PonyPenny]

Five months ago, I puchased a 15 year old Dutch Warmblood mare for my daughter to do the 3'6" medals on. This mare had an awesome prepurchase exam and passed her flexions very well. I have been told that she should be on some sort of joint maintenance (ie Adequan and/or Legend) because of her age. She is only jumped twice a week at the most and is ridden or turned out daily. She has never taken an off step or been stiff at all since we have had her. She does perfect lead changes. Should she be on joint therapy as a preventative or should I wait and see if she starts showing stiffness or soreness in her joints? I want to do what is best for her, but do not want to spend money needlessly. Does anyone have any insight or experience that they can share? Thank you very much.

[Pookah]

I would absolutely start on a joint maintenance program now instead of waiting for problems. She is at the age where she doubtless has some arthritis, whether it is symptomatic or not. If you manage it aggressively now, you're likely to have her sound and competing much longer. I'm a big fan of Adequan for this type of situation. Plenty of people have good results with supplements, but for my horses, I've tried both, and I feel like although Adequan is more expensive than most supplements (not all), I know that the horse is getting it, and I think I get more for the money. Also, it sounds like you're already keeping her in a good work program; one thing that I'm a big fan of is a long walk warmup before starting to work. For show horses, I think plenty of time out of the ring, even if just at a walk, keeps them fitter because of the hills, etc, and "mentally" sound.

[joiedevie99]

At that age, I would be tempted to do something for her- but I can't say it would definitively do anything. My top three choices would be Adequan, Cosequin ASU, and MSM. Imho, by the time you see stiffness, there is already damage in the joint, so to the extent you can lubricate the joint and reduce inflammation you are better off. I wish I knew which if any products could do those two things, but who really knows. The first two actually have some research backing them up, and MSM is cheap enough that I settle for anecdotal evidence.

[subk]

Should she be on joint therapy as a preventative or should I wait and see if she starts showing stiffness or soreness in her joints?
My vet insists that the real advantage to adequan and other glucosimine compounds are that the arrest or slow the degeneration of the joint. If you wait until you have a problem you don't really get to take full advantage of the benefits of these drugs. He wants me to begin at the least monthly glucosimine for my 3 year old once he begins jump schooling in another 6 months.

[hollyhorse2000]

I have a 16-year show hunter warmblood mare with hock arthritis. Definitely start something BEFORE you think she needs it. By the time these mares show something, they've been suffering for some time. I like Adequan for many of the reasons stated below: I know she gets it; I know it works; purchased online it's not significantly more expensive than oral sups.

Allivet has it for $290 for seven vials. I give it IM myself. Do the loading dose (seven doses three days apart) and then give it as often as money allows. I do it every three weeks myself. I also give her Legend occasionally and have her hocks done once a year as well.

[aiken4horses]

[QUOTE=PonyPenny;4238541]This mare had an awesome prepurchase exam and passed her flexions very well. [QUOTE]

Perhaps the prepurchase was so good because the previous owners had her on a good joint maintenance program.


Who suggested you put her on a joint program? Trainer? Vet? Previous owner?

I would ask for the vet records on the horse so you could see what, if any, previous joint maintenance the horse has been on.

The age and level of competition you're asking this horse to perform at does indicate that a preventative approach is going to be more cost effective in the long run, not only for your pocketbook but for the soundness and longevity of your horse.

[PonyPenny]

Thanks for all your responses. I will start a preventative program and will check with my vet on the best approach.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Ditto Adequan. I haven't done actual joint injections unless the horse is symptomatic or something shows up on the x-rays that looks like it is going to cause an issue down the road.