My horse is a 9 year old Quarter Horse, about 15.3 hands high. He is my rope horse, and come Summer, I will be continuing his training in barrel racing. We will hopefully be joining a rodeo drill team as well, and we also do a little bit of jumping (2' ish). I would like to start him on daily joint supplements, so that he will be ready and willing to learn and compete without a problem - and so that he doesn't go lame!!!!! He had a suspensory injury this year, but bounced back very fast, and will be ready to go by February. Long story short, what supplements work the best for my situation and my horse? Thanks guys!

Unfortunately most joint supplements are a joke. They are made overseas and filled with God only knows what. They are not regulated so they don't necessarily have the levels listed in them. Plus the ingredients are not easily absorbed when fed orally. The only joint supplement that has been tested is Cosequine, and they found that you have to feed 3 times the recommended amount to get the levels listed. Also, any supplement with HA in it is not going to be absorbed at all. HA must be administered IV or directly into the joint for it to work at all.

I personally use Adequan. It is am injectable preventative and a reconstructive joint supplement. It helps repair joints and keep them healthy through wear and tear. It is pure glucosamine which is great for horses with arthritis. You give an IM injection once a week for one month for a loading dose and then one injection each month. It's so easy a toddler could do it. I've had much better results from the Adequan than from the 7 different oral supplements I tried. Legend is a HA based and good for younger horses that need a steroid as a preventative. It is an IV (I'm pretty sure) and should only be given by a professional. They are both available through prescription through your vet. Your vet can asses your horse's joints and decide which supplement is best for him.

12 years riding/showing AQHA and APHA horses in local, 4-H, AQHA, and APHA shows. Competed in Hippology and Horse Bowl for 6 years. 2008 national champions Hippology team problem section. 2009 national Horse Bowl champions. 3rd place individual overall nationally, top individual in the state.

As far as a daily supplement, I like cosequin. You might also want to look into getting a legend shot for your horse. Talk to your vet about it.

owner/rider 10 years. dad is vet

I do barrels, and cattle work and i feed B1 pellets, my boss does jumping and dressage, and also uses the same product. We have both been very satisfied with this supplement there are sooooo many others but that's what i feed. and after every time i ride, i i give my horses a liniment bath just because barrels is so hard on their joints going at those speeds.

I USE LEGACY PELLETS, GREAT FOR SEINOR HORSES!

REAL LIFE

I've been a barn manager for many years and I've seen a lot of horses on a lot of different joint supplements. The only one I've ever seen work is the Cosequin ASU. Not the regular Cosequin, only the ASU one. The Cosequin ASU does help a little bit for those older horses with arthritis. I've seen it help several horses, often when other joint supplements had already been tried and rejected. However, it doesn't help that much. It's good for the older horse who comes out of the stall a little stiff, but it doesn't make a huge difference.

I agree with the first poster that Legend and Adequan injections work better than any supplement you feed. If you can administer the shots yourself, they are not that expensive. Heck, the Cosequin ASU is expensive too. And with an injection at least you know the medicine gets into the horse. Legend is an IV injection, so if you don't know how to give IV shots you'll have to pay a vet to give it and that does get expensive.

There is another product called Polyglycan that my old vet recommended to all his clients. It contains the active ingredients of both Legend and Adequan, plus glucosamine. It's cheaper than doing both the Adequan and Legend shots, you only have to give the one shot, and it contains higher levels of the active ingredients. It works great. I can't understand why people are still using Legend and Adequan when Polyglycan is cheaper and better. Lots of vets seem not to have heard of it. It's weird. The only thing I can think is that it's because it's officially only labeled for use to inject directly into the joint, many vets don't realize you can give it as either an IV or IM injection just like the Adequan and Legend. I found a 10 ml vial online for $80, which is 2 doses. You give one does a month for preventative or maintenance, more often if your horse is actually lame. So that's only $40/month for something that's way more effective than any supplement you could feed your horse.