Q. Can nutrition play a role in keeping horses joints healthy?
A. Yes, good nutrition paired with good management can benefit our horses joints.
Horses are naturally on the move much of the time and this constant wandering as they find food ensures good circulation of blood in the limbs and hooves. A stabled horse may have just 10% of the blood circulating to the feet compared with an out kept horse. Movement also helps to lubricate the joints and keep them “pumped up”. So, you can see our first line in supporting feet and joints is to enable the horse as much freedom to move as possible. It also means when working our horses, if we are working them after a period of being stabled that we should allow enough time in our warm up to promote good blood flow to the lower extremities and, lubrication of the joints, before asking too much of them.
Nutrition can also play an important role in keeping horses joints healthy. Free living horses are able to browse on a wide variety of plants and will to some extent, self-medicate. The plants on which the horse survives in the natural environment are rich in vitamins, minerals and trace elements as well as essential omega oils. Although the overall oil level is not high, the balance of those oils is crucial, with 4 times as much omega 3 as omega 6. This is worth bearing in mind as omega 3 is the anti-inflammatory omega and 6 is pro-inflammatory. Omega 3 is thus very important to horses and very few plant-derived oils have this balance, with the notable exception of linseed.
Horses are obligate herbivores, which means they are Vegan, so we believe it is important that we source their nutrition from plants. Many horse joint supplements use glucosamine and chondroitin, which are often sourced from animal cartilage or carcases and are ingredients we feel are not species appropriate. The best joint supplement for horses will use ingredients that are bioavailable and easily assimilated.
At Simple System Horse Feeds, we respect the horse’s status as an obligate herbivore and to offer this aid to their well-being, look to full fat, cooked linseed and wild rosehips, which have been shown in research to support joints in both humans and equines*. To ensure the best possible effects, we use amounts that have been shown to be truly effective, which may mean a little extra cost, but it also means more comfortable horses. Cheaper or animal-sourced or even animal-like ingredients will never appear in a Simple System formulation.
Rather than refer to them as ‘joint supplements’ for horses we do however have a range of products designed to provide joint support that can be found in our Blends & Balancers section:
Joint Eclipse provides a top up of linseed and rosehips, adding joint support to the existing feed and can be given alongside their usual Simple System forage balancer. Use 20g-40g per 100 kg of ideal weight per day.
FlexiBalance conveniently combines the benefits of the above with a good all round forage balancer to also support skin, coat, digestion, hooves and general health. Feeding rate is 40g per 100 kg ideal weight per day.
Veteran Balance + has all the benefits of FlexiBalance but with a sainfoin base, salt (electrolytes) and mint (to aid digestion) added, then pelleted. For good doers, this makes a comprehensive short feed, with water added to make a tasty mash. Use 100g per 100kg ideal weight per day.
You can give the above alongside any forage feeds required to meet the additional needs of your horse’s work, condition, age or weight. As with all Simple System feeds, we do not compromise on quality and always use effective amounts of key, carefully sourced, functional ingredients.
Products such as the above do not only benefit the joints in a horse but may also provide support to the tendons and ligaments involved in the support, movement and action of the many complex joints the horse possesses. The fetlock joint, coffin joint, hock joint, knee joint and stifle joint all act and move in different ways with different pressures exerted on them depending on the type of work carried out. Horses that are frequently jumping or doing more advanced collected work are more likely to suffer damage to their hocks, fetlocks and stifles – a stifle joint injury in horses may even be related to direct trauma in the case of an eventer jumping solid fences.
An easy way to reduce the risk of undue stress on the joints during work is by keeping your horse in a healthy body condition, working them on consistent, safe surfaces – ideally walked and checked beforehand – and ensuring the work asked of them is appropriate for their fitness and ability.
As much as we can encourage free movement, provide access to a varied forage diet and use products aimed at offering joint support, lameness in horses is unfortunately common. Any issues with comfort and soundness may be a simple result of old age and joint wear and tear or as a more unfortunate result of joint diseases or injuries - getting to the route cause, with the help of a vet, is always recommended.
Should the worst happen, and your horse requires veterinary assessment for a lameness, you can expect your horse to have to go through flexion tests, trot ups on hard and soft surfaces and even nerve blocks to identify the source of the pain. There is often a variety of treatment options depending on the location of the injury or issue and its severity. In extreme cases arthroscopic surgery may be required to “clean up” the joint or repair soft tissue injuries whilst in non-surgical cases, the affected joints may be injected with medications designed to help restore joint function and support comfort levels.
Many older horses are prescribed anti-inflammatory medication and whilst useful in easing pain and discomfort, long term use can affect the digestive and renal systems requiring ongoing close monitoring from a veterinarian and appropriate, ideally forage based feeds.
If your horse has to undergo surgery, consider the use of Eclipse Recovery to support the immune system and gut function whilst in hospital and needing strong medications, especially antibiotics which can disrupt the sensitive hindgut microbiome. The use of Lucie Brix, MeadowBrix or Sainfoin Brix can also provide enrichment for those requiring box rest and limited movement.
Some people will wait until the occurrence of a problem or decide based on age to begin using a horse joint supplement whilst others take a ‘prevention rather than cure’ approach and will provide joint support to young horses during growth or to competition horses in hard work.
Deciding whether your horse needs joint support will depend on a variety of horse factors; age, type, use and any conformation or management considerations. If you require any feeding suggestions from our experienced team, contact the Feed Line: 01728 604008 or complete our online form.
*Source: Marstrand, K. and Campbell-Tofte, J. (2016) ‘The role of rose hip (Rosa canina L) powder in alleviating arthritis pain and inflammation – part II animal and human studies’, Botanics: Targets and Therapy, 6, pp. 59–73. doi: 10.2147/BTAT.S55573