? about arthritis in a horse?

Question

We have a horse that is 15 years old, not really old but thanks to the moron that fed him a 5 gallon bucket of feed and foundered him back in the spring he is now showing signs of arthritis with the weather changing. This horse is my baby and I refuse to get rid of him. I know there is stuff that you can get to help but for the life of me I can't remember what it is called and does anyone know of any other tricks to help make him more comfy. He is fine in good weather just the cold and damp time gets to him.

Answer 1

MSM,MSM,MSM, I used when training/boarding. I had a client that had a horse that literally had problems moving from arthritis. We started a regime of MSM at feeding and within a week we a vast difference. The horse was able to be turned out. I saw changed in personality, temperament overall health. I am absolutely convinced that it works, so much that I advise anyone the arthritis to take the human form found in health food stores. It is that good. ALWAYS consult your vet first. God Bless, I know it hard to watch you horse suffer because of someone negligence(stupidity).

Answer 2

If your looking for an herbal remedy, Devils Claw is an excellent medication. It's sold as Bute-less (or used to be when I had my horse) and worked great for my mare. Sorry to hear about your horse foundering, that's horrible to deal with. I'd also ask your vet about possibilities. If it's truly arthritis (I wouldn't think it would be related to the founder though) there are supplements with glucosamine, chondriotin, MSM, and ester C that work well. You can also get Legend or Adequan injections, or even joint injections. These are all things to talk to your vet about. Good luck to you and your horsey, and I hope you shot the moron who fed him all that grain...what an idiot!

Edit to add: I don't think you want to give him butane (he'll catch on fire), but Bute is an option for pain releif, but has some nasty side effects for long term use. The treatments I listed above tend to have less side effects for chronic use.

Answer 3

Imagine for a moment your arthritis completely vanishing right now.

If, in a moment, your pain and stiffness melted away. And your joints all of a sudden functioned like a well-oiled machine.

Like a magic wand was waived, you'd be able to jump up from your chair and run around the room like a kid.

And imagine that you'd never have to suffer as much as a pinch of arthritis stiffness or pain ever again.

I know this sounds impossible right now, but bear with me, because sometimes miracles happen.

It was a gift from a woman on the other side of the world. From the kindness of her heart, she took pity on my suffering and taught me how to completely reverse my arthritis.

Today, I want to do the same for you!

Answer 4

If the arthritis is in his joints then stable bandages will help keep them warm, also a nice thick winter rug, and deep bedding.
you could spkl to your vet about putting the horse on MSM which is an EXCELLENT supplement for horses with arthritis, and the homeopathic route you can give approx 40mls of warmed cider vinegar and honey, added to his feed or alt. you could simply squirt it down his throat.
i used to give my old pony the vinegar and honey, and he competed successfully through the winter and summer, and he was pretty arthritic.
Be sure to keep him well excercised, inactivity is a curse for horses with arthritis, even if its just a 10/20 min walk.
You dont say whether the horse is stabled or lives out, but if he lives out then i suggest you bring him in at night, to get out the worst of the weather.
Anyway, hope this all helps you, good luck:)

Answer 5

my horse when i had him had knees worse then that. . . his whole front legs were so bad that it wasnt till we started giving him treatments and suppliments to make him feel better that we found other problems. his hoof had a problem with the bone in the hoof, no way other then to cut the nerves to help ease the pain. it took the vets at ohio state 4 hours, over 5 different times of blocking his knees to find out exactly how bad his legs where. . . they were evenly bad so each trial of blocking increased the pain so they could pin point what exactly was the problem (he was that stubborn that they told us they've never see a horse be that willing/hard working to go that many rounds to find out what was wrong) anyway we dropped 5,000 dollars and gave him 3 more good years of riding then retired him at our farm, i would have never sold him b/c i know nobody wouldve taken care of the old guy after how hard he worked in life i owed him a good retirement...the people before me abused him and rode him into the ground, but never told us and just sold him when they were done, like he was a piece of trash. they sold him as a jumper and 1 year after we bought he had a break down in the ring that lead us to take him to ohio state. that being said, i suggest riding the horse till the vet or trainer (or you feel it's too much before they say so, you know your horse by now)says it's too much then either retire him yourself or find someone you trust to give him a good retirement. . . there are some rescues out there that do that (i know of one off the top of my head).

Answer 6

I think what you're looking for is a glucosemine supplement. And if you're consistent it will work. I have a horse that is arthritic and has navicular. She has a great farrier and takes supplements daily. The above poster is also correct, Bute will calm swelling and pain if it is visibly swollen and sore, but be careful with it.

Answer 7

my friend gives her arthirtic horse msm. you can also give bute (not sure how to spell that). you can by both of them in a powder form. they might be a little exspensive but well worth it. make sure he gets out everyday to graze and play. put lots of bedding in his stall for padding. my horse doesn't have any problems so i don't know a ton about it but my friend says that msm helps her horse a lot.

Answer 8

Check with your vet and see if you should have him put on some Butane to help with pain and swelling. Keep massaging liniment on his legs and bandage them as much as you can. Put a heater in his stall if at all possible, and see if your farrier can do a little corrective shoeing (my horse had this and it helped her so much, she had these rubber pads covering the bottom of her hoof under her shoes). Take him for a little walk or two as much as you can to keep the circulation going, and give him lots of hugs. He'll be fine.

Answer 9

MSM!!!!!!
Have put my 17yr old boy on it and have not looked back!!!
he was sore and could barely trot without limping ( artherites of his right shoulder) , now we are winning sporting days again as if he were 7 yr old!!!
has improved his quality of life amazingly!!

I have been giving him a table spoon a day in his feed ,
2 table spoons starting over a period of 3 days if we have a sporting day.... on the day before double , the day double , the day after double!

And its great for people too!!!!

So definatley MSM!!!!!! get on to in now!!!!!!

Answer 10

Bute for the pain and you can put him on a daily supplement. MSM and glucosamine are good. We have a 24 yr old mare that is very comfortable. You also should check with your farrier about shoeing. GOOD LUCK!