# Older horse that is very stiff - how can I help him?



## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

being reluctant to move forward (which may look like stiffness) could be early laminitis if he is overweight and it could be the onset of cushings. 19 isn't old at all, but if arthritis is suspected then turmeric in feeds is good and keeping warm and moving.

What are you feeding? Any pics of horse and hooves?


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## Saranda (Apr 14, 2011)

Horses like this benefit from 24/7 turnout with a herd, so that they have the motivation to move more. Also, apple cider vinegar, turmeric and ginger in their feed helps.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Look into Pentosan. Its done wonders for my mare.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

Cortaflex HA is my fav feed through. IME MSM doesnt work at all for some horses.


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks for the tips, I will see if those products are available in NZ. At the moment I have him on a race of sorts, I have taped off the middle square so that he has to move around to get water etc although because of the paddock steepness at one side I could not make it a proper race. The grass is very short in there so I drop small piles of hay around to encourage him to move, he grazes alone except for in the afternoons when I let my mini in with him. In the evenings he gets a couple of handfuls of lucerne chaff with flax seed oil, msm, glucosamine and a hoof supplement. I soak the hay in water to try and get as much sugar out as possible. I actually give my dogs a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar every day in their food to help with their skin over summer (they swim daily and get very itchy) so could start adding that to Blues feed too. 
I dont have a camera right now, will see if my phone will take some decent pics. His back feet blew out along the coronet at the end of winter, my trimmer thought that it was a laminitic issue due to the spring growth. His previous owner did say that one front shoulder seemed a bit arthritic which is the leg he is reluctant to hold up during trimming or being cleaned.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

liniment wash over the joints.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

kiwi79 said:


> Hi
> One front leg in particular is quite stiff, he really doesnt like being asked to hold that hoof up.


Are you sure the leg he doesn't want to hold up is the sore side? Generally when that happens, it's the opposite leg (or hoof) that has the problems and the horse doesn't want to bear weight on it while the good leg/hoof is being worked on.

I agree with the thoughts on laminitis however, if you're sure there is stiffness in the leg:

These products really and truly do what they claim. I have the Quick Wraps, hock wraps, and the therapeutic pad.

Get Back on Track -Therapeutic Horse, Dog, People Products

If ever there is a product that sounds too good to be true, but honestly lives up to the claims, it is the B.O.T. products.

I am retired and believe me, my horses keep me broke. Even though I had read reviews on a couple Hunter/jumper forums, it was still a giant leap of faith to invest in this pricey stuff.

Everything I bought has lived up to their claims and I have even been able to cut my 25 yo's Hylarin/Boswelia in half thanks to the hock wraps.

I ordered directly from the company because I wanted expert sizing help and they came thru on that, as well.

I said all that to say, regardless of whether or not your horse has laminitis issues, if there's stiffness in the legs and you can afford to try a pair, a style of their leg wraps may be a lot of help in relieving the stiffness


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## Black Beauty 94 (Dec 26, 2011)

I would say have a vet look at him and once you can figure the source of the problem...
Keep him outside 24/7
Daily hand walking 
Daily MSM
I would HIGHLY suggest trying Previcox, I had the same problem with my 18 year old and within bring on it 3 weeks he was running around again. It is a dog arthritis medication and needs to be prescribed by a vet.... But it has changed his and my life!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Agreeeee with the previous posters.

Also, in terms of MSM, I've found that sometimes a higher dose than the "typical" one can really work.

My mare just turned 28 but really doesn't have major joint issues like a horse her age "should" have. However, she does have creaks and ouchies.
Her other "thing" is that she's basically blind due to ERU/Moon Blindness and one of the treatments for that is MSM, 30,000mg/day (twice the "joint dose").
A year or so ago I tried her out on the usual dose of MSM (before I knew about her eye issues) and I didn't see a result. So I took her off MSM and got her on a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement that worked for her. Then every winter, this became a "thing". She'd be on MSM during the summer and do well, but would need something more during the winter.
Last spring her eyes got diagnosed and I started double-dosing her MSM, seeing great results with her eyes. And since we started doubling dosing it, she hasn't needed any sort of "real" joint supplement to be comfortable. Usually by this point, a couple months into the winter, she's REALLY feeling the cold in er joints but not this year! I don't think I've seen her be stiff once and she's even stalled at night. She goes galloping, bucking, out of her stall everyday and is more active than I've seen her in a while. Definitely feeling good! haha
Of course, I think she likes to just be weird, but doubling up that MSM might be something to try.


The joint supplement I saw good results with was CortaFlex with HA, like Trinity mentioned. It's good stuff!


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks for the info, just had the vet out today to have a look at him. She said he is definitely stiff and so for now has given me some bute to give him daily in his feed to get him a bit more comfortable. There were other options - get xrays done and nerve blocks to find the source of the pain or to put him on steroids (his breathing is also a concern at the moment due to what she thought are allergies). She was more worried about his breathing than the stiffness, for now I just want to get him more comfortable and then we may go down the path of inhalers etc to improve the breathing problem. 

She did actually bring up cushings when I asked about a patch of hair on his rump that has started to stand up so am going to do some research on that. She suggested I get some good quality MSM and glucosamine and ask for the marine grade which has better results? I am going to try and get some pics tonight when I feed him so hopefully will help with more suggestions. Going to exercise him in hand for now just to get him moving a bit more. 

I completely forgot to ask about Previcox and whether its available here but will ask when she calls back in a week to see if he is moving a bit better. He's a lovely old boy who has had some pretty hard riding in the past according to the vet and my farrier. I'm not fussed if it means we can only go for gentle hacks every now and then as I'm a pretty lazy rider 

Next step is getting his teeth done which is going to require a sedation but for now will try and get him sound.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

flaxseed will help him shed . also google vitamins for pituatary function .
summer time body clip, breathing hard can be due to the cushings, like hyperventaltion, from being to hot. . First thing is body clip in summer .


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

He actually has a very fine coat right now being summer, its not long or curly at all. Its just the one patch of white hair over his rump which is really thick and wont brush out. I dont think I could clip him any shorter otherwise he would be practically bald!
He looks to be moving much more freely today even though I only managed to get two sachets of bute into him instead of the 3 that the vet recommended for the first two days. He could definitely taste it in his feed when I tried two to start with and had to add quite a bit of molasses before he would eat it so didnt feed him any more. 
I have just looked up Cortaflex and it sounds great so am going to buy the smallest container and see how we go with that.


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## Army wife (Apr 29, 2012)

B-L Pellets from horse.com are really good.


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## secondchancehorses (Jan 31, 2013)

Hey, 

I have a 22 y/0 Belgian Draft/ TB cross. We've been dealing with 'stiffness' for the last two years. His is predominately in his hind end. We had a vet out and had xrays done and found that his hock on his right hind was starting to fuse- Vet said once the hock had fused he should be suitable for light riding. During the fusing we used Bute as an anti-inflam/pain killer. We have now managed to work out a program that keeps him pretty limber. 

I've tried MSM, Glucosamine, Renewal, Triacta, Anti-Flam, and Nasprin supplements all without a ton of change (he also has early stage cushings). We finally have a program that works for him- He gets 2 cups Beet Pulp (molasses free), 3 cups Purina Integrity (ideal for older horses/draft crosses), 60 CC Red C Vitamin and Mineral Supplement, 1/3 Cup crushed flax, and one 'serving' of Cortaflex pellets daily. The cortaflex pellets have worked AMAZINGLY for him. We've seen huge results and changes!!!! When it's super damp out we give a small amount of bute to ease the arthritis. 

Let us know how he does with the Cortaflex- do the pellets and NOT liquid. The liquid can freeze if your in that kind of climate (I'm in Canada) and you end up losing a few servings of the liquid at the end as you can't get it out of the bottle!


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

Thanks Jtranter
I have looked around and it seems you can only get the liquid form of cortaflex and not the pellet form in NZ although you can get the pellet form for the one that builds muscle which seems kinda strange. 
So have held off getting any for now, the lady at the shop suggested I up his glucosamine as I worked out I havent been giving him the full recommended dose and then try him on devils claw when he has finished his bute. I havent used Devils Claw before but asked the vet today when she called to check on his progress, its essentially a natural kind of bute? 

He is definitely feeling a lot better, I took the mini out for a walk yesterday and he did his usual calling out and trotting around as soon as he lost sight of her. But when I got down to the stream and turned and looked back up I saw him running around in the next paddock over which meant he had cleared either the 8 wire fence or one of the gates! I was pretty impressed as he has never done that before, a bit annoying that now he knows he can switch paddocks if he feels like it :-|


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## Army wife (Apr 29, 2012)

Those BL pellets are made of devils claw and yucca. So yup, more natural form of bute!


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Kiwi, try dry strawberry jello. Our bute just comes with a scoop measure. Add a heaping teaspoon of jello per packet of bute and add about a 1/3 cup of water to his feed and mix well. That seems to work better than anything else I tried. If he's still a bit hesitant add more jello.


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