01/30/2023
“What can I give my horse to help their joints?”
I see this question posted in every forum, asked to every supplement rep, and plastered every where else!
The typical answers consist of:
•Proper Nutrition
•Supplementation
What no one is saying is how you can prevent damage in your riding & daily routine:
🔸🔸Proper Warm Up🔸🔸
That’s right, warm up, is for the joint, too. Similar to letting your truck run on a cold day for 10-15 minutes before take off, your horse needs the same amount of time before going into regular work to get the synovial fluid “melted” (if you will), and properly covering the joint so it can glide more efficiently.
Failure to take at least 10-15 minutes of walking (with purpose) and jogging (without forced collection) can result in irreversible damage.
🔸🔸Ride on different surfaces🔸🔸
Riding on different surfaces aside from the arena help the joint’s mobility, and ability to absorb impact etc. (Arena dirt, grass, concrete/blacktop)
🔸🔸Cross Training🔸🔸
Not only is cross training important for soft tissue and mental state, it’s beneficial to make a stronger, healthier joint. Just because you ride one discipline, doesn’t mean Fuzzy can’t jog/canter over raised poles, and work on the flat without intent of some sort of specific movement (I.e. barrel racing/roping/riding too collected constantly, etc)
🔸🔸Turn out🔸🔸
While we keep our horses locked up, with minimal turn out for the sole purpose of keeping them “safe”, this in turn effects the joint as they aren’t able to move as a horse should to generate synovial fluid “slathering” the joint for protection. So circle back to warm up & efficiently warm your horse up before going into hard work.
