Videos and Advice

5 winter health problems: Stiffness and Arthritis

Seasonal guides

20 October 2008 09:05

With the onset of colder weather horses, like us, can suffer from their share of aches and pains. Although arthritis can affect horses all year round, special care needs to be taken in the winter, when the cold can exacerbate the problem. Arthritis is an inflammation of a joint leading to pain and irreversible changes in its structure.

The condition can affect one or several joints, and be brought on by infection, trauma, mineral or dietary deficiency, old age, over-exertion or poor conformation. Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) is severe arthritis where the joint starts to deteriorate. In extreme cases the bone loses strength and calcium develops in the wrong places – a condition known as ringbone (arthritis of the pastern or coffin joints). Arthritis is usually a gradual condition.

Signs
Look out for lameness, mobility problems and poor performance.

Prevention
Arthritis is more of a management issue than anything else and cannot be fully prevented. There are a huge number of joint supplements on the market designed to improve your horse’s mobility and benefit his joints – just check with your vet what ingredients would be best for your horse’s condition and lifestyle.

Conventional treatment
● Sometimes gentle exercises – such as in-hand work, stretches or gentle hacking – is all that’s needed to help a horse with slight problems with stiffness.
● Your vet may suggest an anti-inflammatory drug such as bute. Other drugs used by vets include sodium hyaluronate or polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG), which are injected into knee and fetlock joints and muscles to promote regeneration and reduce inflammation.
● Oral supplementation with compounds such as glucosamine and chondroitin can help repair cartilage in the joint – there are many feeds and supplements that supply these.

Complementary treatment
Herbal remedies are very popular, particularly devil’s claw, which works best when combined with other remedies such as meadowsweet, hawthorn, nettles, cleavers, celery seed or dandelion root. Consider a soothing complementary supplement. It shouldn’t be fed to pregnant mares. Homeopathic remedies are popular, including Rhus tox, Bryonia, Ledum, Causticum, Ruta grav, Calc carb, Calc flour and Pulsatilla.

The exact choice depends on your horse’s symptoms. Check in a good homeopathic book or consult a homeopathic vet for more information. Nutritional supplements are commonly used alongside homeopathic or herbal remedies. Cod liver oil, green lipped mussels, glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM are all useful, helping to improve mobility, repair damaged cartilage and to increase the amount and quality of joint fluid. More difficult cases will often benefit from specific treatments such as acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy and massage.