Joint Supplements for Dressage Horse? (Msm, Etc?)?
I’ve owned my 11 year old oldenburg/trakehner dressage horse for 3 months now, and already I see Grand Prix potential in him. I’ve been thinking about putting him on some kind of maintanence supplements that will help him to keep active and working for many years to come. He is 17.1hh with a fairly good bone structure, so I’m hoping he will last, but I’m still interested in helping him.
I mistrust a lot of pre-made compounds, since they never seem to have exactly what I’m interested in giving. I’m thinking about getting some glucosamine and pure yucca and giving him the two (I’ve seen benefits from the yucca that are unreal). But, I was looking at MSM and I’ve been wondering about the long-term effects of it. While it’s been proven to work as an anti-inflammatory (and some use it instead of bute for hurt horses), is it safe for long term?
If anyone has any more suggestions of a good maintanence supplement to add into the mix, let me know. It, of course, must be safe for the horse and acceptable by USEF (though I can check, so if you aren’t sure, let me know). Thanks.
I would recommend MSM: My trainer and I use it on the 16 year old OTT thoroughbred: he raced for 8 years without a problem, and he’s doing great, jumping about 3′ 6" to 4′ without a problem. I put two of the small scoops it comes with in his breakfast grain every morning, and it keeps him happy. I also take a joint pill with MSM in it– it works wonders.
I would also recommend FluidFlex. It will keep his joints working smoothly and happily, and it even comes with a pre-measurer connected to the bottle! (I was fascinated by that thing for the longest time…)
Glucosamine is also a great supplement for the joints, though I haven’t heard of yucca too often.
Happy riding!
~Rain
I used MSM and I havent seen any long term damaging effects, your vet can better help you with this answer, yucca and glucosamine( because glucosamine actually helps with regrowth of joints, where as MSM helps lube and helps with anti inflammatory) anyhow yucca and clucosamine are excellent!
I have however heard Devils Claw can do a number on horses. But as of right now my mare who is 11yrs old is on MSM and it really helps with joints and itching too
When I worked at a dressage barn, all of their horses, who were all Prix St. George or Grand Prix were all on MSM. Most of them were also on an electrolyte, Vitamin E and Selenium, a liquid glucosamine supplement that also had a hoof supplement in it, one the Grand Prix horses was on a pro-biotic, and all were on rice bran oil. Most of the supplements seemed to work very well for their horses, it was just the fact that they were kept in a stall all day with the exception of a 2 hour turnout every morning that seemed to cause all of their problems (founder, severely bowed tendon, etc. )
good luck!
While you’re doing your investigation, look into cetyl myristoleate as something you may consider adding to your homemade mix. It is both safe and accepted by USEF. Be careful when making your own compounds, ratios are important for the desired synergistic effect.