What’s in Your Horse’s Joint Supplement?

With so many supplements to choose from, it’s important to know what options are effective. Here’s a look at supplement ingredients that are backed by science.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

What
With myriad equine joint supplement manufacturers claiming their products prevent or slow osteoarthritis progression, it's important to know which options might be effective. | Photo: The Horse Staff

A look at oral joint supplement ingredients that are backed by science

Can you name one of the most common causes of lameness in horses? If you said osteoarthritis (OA), you’re right. As common as it is, OA remains an incurable disease, and once it presents itself in a joint, there’s no going back.

Knowing this might cause you to sprint over to the supplement aisle of your local feed or tack store, only to be met with an overabundance of oral joint supplements, each label touting an ability to prevent or slow OA progression. But, believe it or not, most of these supplements’ ingredients have no scientific backing in horses, with label claims relying on data extrapolated from research performed in humans and other animals. So which oral joint ingredients do have published results specifically in horses? Let’s find out.

Glucosamine & Chondroitin Sulfate

Glucosamine is an amino monosaccharide (sugar attached to the amino acid glutamine). Chondroitin sulfate is a glycosaminoglycan (GAG), an important component of articular (joint) cartilage

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Kristen M. Janicki, a lifelong horsewoman, was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and later attended graduate school at the University of Kentucky, studying under Dr. Laurie Lawrence in the area of Equine Nutrition. Kristen has been a performance horse nutritionist for an industry feed manufacturer for more than a decade. Her job entails evaluating and improving the performance of the sport horse through proper nutrition.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
439 votes · 439 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!