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Troy E. Looper, D.V.M.
EQUINE JOINT HEALTH Arizona Equine Mobile Veterinary Service, Inc. Practice Specializing in Performance and Sport Horses Office: 623-465-5027, Cell 602-558-1155
As a veterinarian, I find most horse owners understand and keep a routine health maintenance program for their horses. This routine usually consists of such things as de-worming, teeth floating and vaccinations. For a performance horse, however, I highly recommend joint health also be a part of this routine maintenance. This article briefly touches on three different ways to maintain and treat equine joints. I will first discuss a simple daily joint health program, then look at a more tailored plan to be done monthly, bi-monthly or weekly, and finally a program to treat inflammatory joint disease or to prepare for an event. To start, a joint health program should consist of simply feeding an oral supplement designed for equine joints on a daily basis. There are many products on the market, so I recommend products containing glucosamine, condrotin sulfate, vitamin C and MSM as a base formula. Also, the product may include herbs and antioxidants for greater effectiveness. Normally most formulas are added directly to a grain, pellet or mash feed daily. These can be purchased over the counter or from a veterinarian. My recommendations are Stride Plus and 1st Step. Feeding these products will help maintain your horse’s normal joint health and are easy to do yourself. The next level of maintenance or preventative joint health is given through injectables prescribe or administered by a veterinarian. Intra-venous or intra-muscular injectables can be given monthly, bi-monthly or weekly as directed by your veterinarian for the horse’s level of need or performance. Legend, Polyglycan, Adequan and N-Acetly D-Glucosomine are some of the available products. All the above will benefit your horse’s joint health and athletic longevity as they aid in stimulating normal joint fluid production. Talking to your equine veterinarian is the best way to determine which of these products will be right for your horse. Cost and overall effectiveness should be part of the decision making process. Finally, I want to discuss the most direct level of joint health treatment. This level consists of using intra-articular joint products, or in laymen’s terms, joint injectables. Hyaluronic acid (IA) and Adequan (IA) are both products designed to help maintain joint lubrication and hydration. These products may be used in conjunction with a corticosteroid to increase anti-inflammatory effects on the joint. Injecting a joint may be necessary to maintain or treat specific joint problems as defined by your veterinarian. For instance, a horse may need to be injected because it shows clinical signs of inflammatory joint disease. This condition may or may not have lameness associated with it. However, by recognizing the problem and injecting the joint, optimal performance for the athlete and continual joint health may be maintained. Designing a joint health care program, with the aid of your veterinarian, may help promote and optimize your horse’s athletic career. These recommendations should be discussed and your horses level of need be determined with your veterinarian.
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