Glucosamine for horses is one of the most popular and useful equine joint supplements which riders and owners can buy. It is regularly used to ease the symptoms of osteoarthritis and other equine joint mobility issues and is also taken as a preventative measure against such problems.
Glucosamine is a sugar produced in the bodies of animals, and humans, from glucose.
It is suitable for long-term use because glucosamine is a natural substance found in the body and has
no known side-effects. It can safely be taken alongside other horse supplements and herbs for horses. Glucosamine also has the advantage of being readily-available and easy to administer.
Glucosamine for horses is widely-used to treat osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease (DJD) and other equine joint mobility problems.
The reason that Glucosamine is such an effective equine joint supplement is that Glucosamine Hydrochloride (HCI) is a vital building block in the body essential for the healthy and effective production of collagen and other key joint tissue components.
A horse's joints are designed to efficiently absorb shock, allow smooth, comfortable movement, and bear the weight of the horse’s body.
There are three different types of equine joints: fibrous, cartilaginous, and synovial.
- Fibrous joints are more or less immobile. They include joints in the skull and those between the shafts of some long bones.
- Cartilaginous joints have limited movement. These are the joints of the pelvis and vertebrae as well as growth plates, which extend a bone's length during the horse's growing years.
- Synovial joints are the most active joints in the horse's body. They consist of two bone ends covered by a smooth, thin layer of resilient articular cartilage. You will find them in the fetlock, knee, elbow, hock, and stifle joints. These are joints which do a lot of work and suffer the most wear and tear.
Synovial fluid is important to keep the joint well-lubricated and moving comfortably. Glucosamine is essential so that the body can produce enough of this fluid in high quality. A key ingredient in synovial fluid is hyaluronic acid, also known as sodium hyaluronate or hyaluronan, which lubricates the synovial membrane. Glucosamine for horses is a precursor, or building block, for hyaluronan.
Old age, injuries or a stressful, busy workload and lifestyle can all result in your horse’s natural supplies of glucosamine running down. The articular cartilage, which surrounds the joint, can then start to break down resulting in pain and difficulty moving. This is because without the cartilage the bones in the joint will rub together resulting in pain and eventually lameness.
Normal articular cartilage is made up of cells called chondrocytes which produce and regulate the much more abundant matrix.
The matrix is composed of a tough protein called collagen surrounded by proteoglycan.
Proteoglycan allows articular cartilage to hold a lot of water which it needs in order to allow virtually frictionless movement between the bones.
Proteoglycan is made up of protein and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). These GAGs are produced by the chondrocytes - and Glucosamine Hydrochloride (HCI) is the building block of articular cartilage GAG.
Taking a Glucosamine supplement has been found to improve the performance of joints and also to ease pain or discomfort.
Osteoarthritis is believed to be the cause of more than 60% of all cases of equine lameness. It is not just a disease that afflicts old horses. Younger horses can be diagnosed with osteoarthritis too. Statistics show that more than 60% of equine lameness is caused by osteoarthritis. It is widely accepted that osteoarthritis can affect any horse at any age. In younger horses it may develop following an injury or trauma to the hardest-working joints in a horse’s body.
Degenerative joint disease (DJD) - which presents itself as swelling or heat around the joints - can also lead to lameness. Glucosamine for horses can help by re-building the collagen within the cartilage and slowing the progress of DJD.
Good quality equine joint supplements such as glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and
MSM for horses are regarded as safe and free from side-effects and they are among the most popular equine joint supplements available.
A study into the use of glucosamine as an effective treatment for arthritis by the University of Oxford Clinical School Information Management Services Unit concluded that: "The bottom line is that there is a body of evidence supporting the efficacy of oral and intramuscular glucosamine in arthritis."
