Most important ingredients in a horse's joint supplements?
My mare has been on ReitSport HA-100 http://www.smartpakequine.com/productclass.aspx?productclassid=2486 as her all-around plus joint supplement. She has recently decided that it is poison and she cannot possibly eat it (She has a tendency to do this, nothing new). So I’m back to shopping again. I’m comparing only supplements that come in PELLET form, since she obviously is good at avoiding the powders. I’m doing the joint comparison thing through SmartPak and I’ve narrowed it down to these 2:
Matrix http://www.smartpakequine.com/productclass.aspx?productClassid=6933
4 in 1 http://www.smartpakequine.com/productClass.aspx?productClassId=5649
The Matrix has much higher concentrations of all the same joint ingredients as the 4 in 1, but the 4 in 1 also has omegas, biotin, and all the good "all-arounds". So I’m not sure if I should go for the all-around with less joint stuff or the one that is strictly joint stuff. I don’t want to do more than one supplement since I already have a hard enough time getting her to eat it.
So what ingredients are important to you? Do you recommend one of these products over the other, or is there another product you like better? It’s maintenance for a 15 yr old jumper, not any major issues or anything. And she also gets Adequan monthly.
Oh, and here’s the joint comparison chart http://www.smartpakequine.com/charts/JointCompare.html
The following reply is by : gallop :
Your horse’s diet probably provides the ingredients in the second supplement. There is no documented deficiency of biotin in equines, so it is a choice to feed it based on the belief that it may help something like the hooves. But nobody feeds it because a deficiency has been identified through testing, since horses are just not measurably deficient in biotin. If your horse is being reasonably well fed, then the fatty acids she needs are probably already in her diet.
I wouldn’t spend one dime on anything other than what you are looking for in a joint supplement. I’d choose the Matrix. But, I will just mention that some of what is in it should not be fed to your horse if there is any question that she is insulin resistant, since glucosamine should not be fed if that is the case. If your girl is for certain not insulin resistant, the Matrix sounds like what I would choose. But my vet would be determining this with me.