Joint Supplements-Question

[cowgirl1970]

So what is the best bang for the buck when it comes to these? I have a horse that is "clicking" when he walks so I figured starting him on a joint supp. to maybe help. What would everyone recommend?

[magicwoman6]

Majestys Flex Wafers offer everything you need, MSM and Glucosamine, they are cheaper then buying everything seperately and easier to feed, just one treat a day, and can be found in just about any horse catalog, I get mine through Valley Vet....

[cowgirl1970]

I've bought those before and my horses would not eat them, I had to crumble them up in the feed, what a pain. Thanks anyway.

[starlite9804]

I HIGHLY recommend Cosequin. Yes it is expensive, $170 for a 212 day (about 7 months) supply, you can get it at Horse.com or I can get it for the same price thru my vet. You start them on a double dose for 4-6 weeks then move them to the regular dose after that.

I have a TWH that last fall quit gaiting, she wouldn't even gait when she was free in the pasture. We noticed she had a different snap to her right hind leg when we did force her to gait. In January I started her on Cosequin with the double dose for 4 weeks. Within that time she started gaiting again in the pasture. She now gaits everywhere.

The only other thing I changed on her was a switch to a CSI saddle pad when I ride.

I told my vet I had started her on it and she told me the FDA (I think it was) did a study on all the equine joint supplements. Only 2% of them had in them what they claim they do. Cosequin was one of them and that is the only brand they use. I know it will be the only kind I will use from now on!

Carol D.

[BarebackJumper]

I have used Sho-Flx by Manna Pro, its comparable to Cosequin but cheaper and contains vitamins and minerals. Its a crumble so you can put it in their feed easily. My horse also did the clicking thing and he has ringbone. He seemed to be very comfortable and moved better. I get that for 21.99 for 40+ days. I am seriously thinking it lasted 80 days. I have to drive a ways to get that so I put him on Platfrom Joint. I wanted to try something with HA. Thats a little bit more pricey but I think its already made a difference in about 3 days.

[stolzml]

The FDA has not done a study on ORAL equine supplements or any other ORAL animal supplement...The FDA does not regulate these products, they can only regulate INJECTABLE products. A large number of univeristies have conducted various studies which certainly have not encampused every supplement avaiable and often are not double blind in nature. The most accurate & specific studies have NOT tested brand name products for effectiveness, but have focused on individual supplement ingredients and various purity levels of each ingredient for effectiveness. Generally the department of AGs testing thru the Animal Feed division has concluded that the percentages on most lables are accurate 9% of the time - not that they work 9% of the time, but that the % on the label is exact 9% of the time. What does that mean? well, it could mean that a supplement listed it's MSM content at 10%, but in testing the product contained 9% or 5% or 12%...unfortunately they do not test a large enough volume of each product to provide a viable range for accuracy.

There is an organization lobbying for regulation of animal supplements, it's called the National Animal Supplement Concil... this si a group of manufacturer's who have bended together to support regularion within their industry. You can access their website at www.nasc.cc... when shopping for supplements you should be looking for the little gold oval seal which is displayed on the labels of all supplements produced by members.

Also, bear in mind that products containing pharmacutical quailty ingredients are more readily absorbed by a horse than those containing feed quality ingredients... a feed quality ingreedient is cheaper, has a larger molecular weight, and therefore must be provided in a larger dose to acheive the SAME result as pharmacutical quailty ingredients.. pharmacutical quality ingredients have higher purity levels, can be tracted more accurately to the source and have lower molecular weight - smaller partical size which is more quickly and efficently absorbed by equines. So those numbers on the supplement containers don't mean anything if the company fails to tell you WHICH quality their ingredients are or how they were processed - processing can make a huge difference in effectiveness.

An just to make things more complicated, horses are fussy critters, some will eat this, some will eat that, and some have such comprimised digestive tracts that even if they eat the supplement, you don't know if they absorbed it! Age & health play a huge part in gut integrity.

What htis all means is that you need to be an educated consumer. you need to read AND understand the labels, you need to ask questions regarding the QUALITY of the ingredients and the processing of these ingredients. You need to realize that the cheaper container that appear to contain a huge volume may need fed at such a large quaintity that in actuallity you are better off spending more up front for the small container of pharmcutical grade product that will last longer and your horse will be able to absorb more efficently.

also, it can be difficult to compare labels simply becasue of the sheer number of ingredients. if you want i can send you one of our catalogs, it has a comparison chart for ingredients and cost of some of the top 39 equine supplements on the market today... no it doesn't cover them all, but it gives you a good start & helps you figure out which levels you need to be seeking to get the best bang for your buck!

When folks call us with clicking... i recommend the Hy-Flex or 4 in 1 /w HA depending on the demands placed on the horse, or for an older horse, Senior Flex really is the most cost effective.

[BarebackJumper]

The Platform has the little gold oval you are talking about. I think I really like that one.

[sam]

I really like the Platform Joint formula as well....my mare has been on it for 3 yrs and it has really helped her -- she is still going strong on the trails!

[BarebackJumper]

Ok my bad. I meant Dumor joint. I read the ingredients and the 2 are about the same except I think Platfor has only 15mg HA and the Dumor has 20 or something. Dumor does have the NASC label also but is much cheaper than Platform.