Arthritis Medications

Checking to see what medications have been successful to treat arthritis? My old guy is starting to show signs and hoping to see what has worked for others. Thanks!

Adequan is the only thing I have noticed a huge difference with. Other supplements that have msm, glucosamine etc certainly won't hurt,and might help with daily comfort level of the horse but they aren't going to reverse effects.

If you are looking just to help your horse be comfortable/don't want to do injections, a daily painkiller like AspirEase could be helpful, but you are going to want to feed that with something like u-guard to help keep healthy stomach lining/avoid ulcers.

Good Luck!

I don't believe you can treat arthritis like you are going to heal it. You can only use medications to ease the pain. I stopped riding my horse and gave him to someone lighter weight because I didn't want to medicate him to ride. Vet told me to use Bute several hours before riding.

My retired mare keeps comfortable by having painkillers, they maintain her quality of life - same as they do for me!!!
Hving suffered with ulcers in the past from using stuff like Naproxin my vet has changed her on to Previcox and she is doing really well on that and no sign yet of stomach irritation. If she understood the meaning of 'quiet ride' she would probably be OK for some light work now whereas last year she looked awful and was having problems getting up when she lay down

My horse is a retired polo pony. When I first got her she was really showing signs of stiffness. I started her on SmartFlex from SmartPak on the advice of my vet. He also suggested that I also keep her in light work. If those two things didn't work the next step was going to be Adequan injections.

I am happy to say that she is showing no signs of stiffness or pain at all. I started the supplements and light riding in May.

I think much depends on where the arthritis is setting in - Adequan and Legend (Legend is the more affordable of the two and has a good rep) injections aren't cheap and I found them to be limited to hips, stifles and knees for pain relief. Other more affordable items I've used with limited effectiveness are Glucosamine Sulfate or MSM. A popular home remedy is cod liver oil but I've never tried it.


Such things as a balanced diet with the right calcium phosphorus ratio, blanketing in Winter as well as providing sufficient shelter from the elements, mild exercise balanced with sufficient rest, prevention of an overweight condition, stretching and massages, and keeping feet trimmed and balanced goes a long way and costs next to nothing.