I'm looking at oral joint supplements and getting so confused. What brand/kind? Do you noticed a difference or should I just go with joint injections? How many use one as part of there usual feed plan?

MSM?

HA?

Glucosamine?

Chochondroitin?

combo?

Thank you!

Hell, I'm having trouble getting injections and pentosan to work right now.  I do feed MSM but think I'm wasting my money as I really don't know that there is any difference.

no

My 15yo gelding is much more comfortable and freed up when he is on a joint supplement. I can tell a noticeable difference just in our every day riding. We do a lot of long trotting and I can feel a difference in his reach. The product I use contains glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, HA, as well as Yucca for anti-inflammatory and Natural E, Magnesium, and Lysine for muscle recovery. 

well people say they don't work but I can tell you when I take MSM or joint supplements I feel a differnce. When I give it to my dog I see a difference. When I give it to my horse I see and feel a difference so I don't care what the studies say, I say they work lol 

Now that being said. You have to find the one that works for that particular horse. Which that is a pita but otherwise I like supplements. It takes more research/time but thats ok with me. I feel like injections are pretty invasive plus I dont go to the vet but once or twice a year so that is very out of the way for me. 

I love MSM.

The others are good too but need to know what your dealing with to address it.

I'm in the middle of choosing a joint supplement for two horses right now with two different things going on so it is for sure confusing at first.

I think some can help but I think the help is marginal.  I wouldn't hang my hat on oral supplements to make a serious dent in your joint pain or joint health, but they may help a little bit. 

I had two separate vets recommend Equithrive to one of my horses. They both said it was the only joint supplement with research that shows it works. 

After the second vet mentioned it and I was making no headway with my horse, I tried it. I started him on it when his hocks were injected in January, and I think it helped the injections to last longer. 

Yesterday was the first time he felt SLIGHTLY stiff since January. I had tried adequan and another prescribed oral, but I believe the Equithrive actually helps my horse. 

If your horse can metabolize the particualar supplement you are using, then yes. Otherwise, no.

And you have to make sure there is enough ingredients to actually help. I read a really good article years ago that explained the minimums of each (glucosomine, msm, HA, etc) that needed to be included in order to be effective.

Is this the article?

https://aaep.org/horsehealth/joint-health-supplements-information-and-how-read-product-label

If your horse is to the point it needs joint injections, oral supplements are not going to help enough to take the pains away enough to keep him/her at optimal performance.

If you are just trail or pleasure riding, oral are fine. All IMO.

I truly have seen noticeable differences when feeding a joint supplement. When I began feeding GLC 5500 my mare quickly went from clocking 2D/3D to 1D consistenly. She just felt so much smoother and softer. My only gripe and why I quit feeding it is my mares tend to eat somewhat agressively. They will fling their noses around in their bucket, drop feed, etc. Not to the point of it being a problem but enough that I couldnt help wonder how much of that precious and expensive supplement was falling to the ground everyday... 

Now if they could make it in a pill form I would be sold! I ended up just using previcox Thursday-Sunday on barrel racing weekends and injecting for soreness as needed. Its easy for me to slip a small previcox pill into an apple slice and that way I know what shes getting for sure. 

I certainly think oral supplements can work! 

Did your horses stay in the 1D on Previcox???

I just started my horse on Myristol Pro about 4 months ago, and I could tell a difference in 2 weeks... I have NEVER felt a difference before with any other supplement.  Thing that sold me on it was a gal I didn't know, had never met I asked about it and she told me she injects less now with it... so I figured it was worth a try. 

Im sold on it

No............

I truly believe this... its just a matter of finding which one works.

I take vitamins daily, and I know when I miss mine supplements. 

This is a very interesting topic. Some horse owners swear that they see a real difference. Others say that feed throughs are a ripoff. There is a valid reason that both camps can claim to be right. I formulated a product for Absorbine years ago called Flex+(they do not sell that original formulation anymore). Dr Gary Kaufman in Scottsdale AZ and I did a 55 horse clinical trial that included over 40,000 indivdual measurements with that formulation. The result was that the formulation made measurable, and sometimes profound range of motion improvements, inflamation reduction, and hoof placement improvements in horses that had clinically chronic issues in those catigories. Not many trials like that have ever been done, because a lot of feed throughs sell without having to prove themselves. So, at first glance the answer would be yes, they work. However, there can be joint generated lamness issues that feed through supplements do not help. This is where the group that says they don't work is right. The simple fact is that a horse that is not traveling sound does so for a number of different reasons. If thickening and increasing synovial fluid (the lubrication) in a joint reduces inflamation in that area, a horse will travel better because pain is eased. If cartilage, bone or ligaments are damaged, increasing synovial fluid may not make enough difference to see or feel. I had a cutting horse gelding that fractured a carpal joint. You could feed an oral joint supplement to him until it came out the other end in kilo packages and not help his situation. Performance horses that suffer from normal wear and tear but no real structural damage may very well get relief from a properly formulated feed through. If the horse does not travel sound for other reasons resulting from structural damage, a feed through may not be the best choice. 

excellent explanation!

What are you using?

Zan is on oral Hyalogic HA. Before it his trot had shortened some and was a tad choppy. After a bit he was reaching out again and, other than the natural up and down motion of a long trot, had smoothed out again.

I did add Adequan last year and between the two he's been very smooth still. He enjoys his routine of walking up to the fence for his HA and getting a cookie so as long as I can afford it I'll probaby leave it in place. 

I didn't read the whole thread but I have had awesome luck with OCD Pellets. 

Nope. But me taking a year off and having another baby probably had more to do with it than anything.