Thank you so much guys for your advice and thoughts. I have now had the steroid injections - two in either side of his neck. he has also had a session of physiotherapy and seems to be loads better. I have started hacking out very gently and have been advised to long rein. I have also just started feeding apple cider vinegar. fingers crossed! x x

Hi, I'm sorry to here about your horse, arthritis in a young throughbred is common as he would of been raced at a young age, first read YourHorse issue 315 and the article about arthiritis, that is quite useful, the best product to use is CortaFlex, ask your vet and nutrionist for advice on the dosage, however, my advice is that still work him, but until you speak to the vet, lightly, walk, trot and a little canter, if you reguarly compete him or if he is in heavy work, decrease his workload, this will just ease the joints for him, the more work he does, the more the synovial fluid in his joints begin to wear away, making it painful for your horse, my friend has a 24 year old ex-showjumper who did Hickstead etc, when she was diagonsed with arthtiitis, she had her put on CortaFlex and the results are amazing, she does the occasional 2ft9 jump but when enough is enough she'll let you know, and I expect your horse will let you know when he is tired, I presume he is still being worked and carry on, but I'd advise you to speak to your vet about your horses' exercise regime- Hope this helps and keep me posted on how he is doing =D xx

Hi - my pony is 35 and has arthritis.  It was getting so bad I thought he might have to get put down - he couldn't get up from rolling and was often found layed flat out on the field and had to be helped up.  He was finding it very difficult to walk and always seemed to be 'clicking' his hips - lifting his backlegs up in a strage way then slamming them down.  As a last resort I tried Cortaflex HA.  After around 3 days he was much better and within a couple of weeks he looked basically cured!  I have been able to reduce his bute and he is doing great.  I can highly recommend Cortaflex HA - it is definately worth a try!