missyclare
Posted : 12/16/2011 4:51:44 PM
Boy, that one's a poser. I googled the translation of Osticart and got "osticart" No such supplement here by that name. I did google it and got Epo-Equine, which is a blood builder. There are things you can do at home as well to start. Xrays to know exactly what you are dealing with. a) get the diet balanced. Just doing this may eliminate the need for supplements sometimes. Supplementing the minerals (traces and majors). Keeping the sugar and starch down etc. Lysine and methionine are also essential, meaning you have to supplement it, as there's not enough in the horse's diet. Contacting an equine nutritionist would be a big help in this. b) If you are going into winter and on a hay only diet, then Vitamin E becomes important. (2IU/lb of body weight) c) Flax seed is a great anti-inflammatory. (4-6oz/day) You'll need a small coffee grinder and grind it up just before feeding and feed it fresh. Excellent for the coat as well. d) A lot of times when somebody mentions this, I can see that the hoof is not balanced and causing this aggravation. So a good balanced trim is very important. There is no cure for arthritis, but if you can take the aggravation away, then things settle down and are not promoted further and comfort increased. I've seen so many xrays of arthritis happening with periosteal reaction to the dorsal side of P2 and its because the toe is too long and jamming up the front of the hoof with every step. The barefoot trim has a bevel on that toe that will relieve immediately. So a very good suggestion would be to find a barefoot trimmer and get the hooves balanced and torque removed. e) keeping warm and protected. Here, we are using shipping boots to keep the legs warm and improve blood flow in winter. Also hoof boots with padding to protect the bone from further aggravation. These boots provide the comfort to give confidence to move and move properly which is another biggie. All these I have done for my 26 year old mare and do not have these problems and have yet to buy a supplement for it. If I had to go further and buy a supplement it would be Move-Ease. This you won't find in a store and is a brain-child of a fellow nutrition student on the cutting edge of research instead. It's getting rave reviews from my peers.
http://mybesthorse.com/productinformation/movease.html You can also contact them on this site for some very knowledgeable answers to your questions. You will also be told to balance the diet and hoof for starters to remove continued aggravation internally and externally. You will find some serious help here. It is best to talk to somebody who knows the age of your horse and workload, or if he's young and growing. Older horses need more nutrition because they aren't absorbing as well and younger ones need more because they are using it to grow. Both must be sufficient and balanced for that horse. Imbalance is what lets the nasties in, so balance is key. Balance the nutrition, balance the hoof and you'll find improvement right there and definitely a good place to start for any horse, anytime. So xrays, to know what you are dealing with and a nutritionist (one that isn't selling anything) to get the diet balanced for your horse is the way to start. Even if your horse is overweight, laminitic, IR or Cushings, this is the way to start properly...balance. Balance first, then see if you even need a supplement. Hope this helps....