Healthy joints in growing horses

If you have young horses, you want them to grow up healthy. So that they are strong enough as adults to do fun things with you and have a long and healthy life. Healthy joints are essential, but not always self-evident. How do you ensure that your young horse develops healthy joints?

26 November '24 - 2 min reading time

Whether your young horse is in the rearing or at home, the most important thing he needs for healthy joints is good roughage and free movement. Lots of free movement. In addition, minerals also play an important role.

Preventing OC(D)

Two important causes of joint problems in horses are OC (Osteochondrosis) and OCD (Osteochondrosis Dissecans). In OC, there is flattening or 'malformation' of parts of the joints, in OCD there are also loose pieces of bone (chips) in a joint. Genetic predisposition plays an important role in the sensitivity to OC(D). If you are going to breed, pay attention to the genetic predisposition of the parents of your foal, for example by checking whether the mare has a PROK certificate. Stallions from the major studbooks must usually also meet the PROK requirements. The condition OC(D) usually develops when horses are young. The age between six months and two years is decisive. During this period, the bones grow considerably. In order for this growth to proceed properly, the young horse needs a lot of free movement. Preferably on different surfaces, and with some difference in height. Movement also stimulates the blood circulation and makes the tendons, ligaments, bones and joints stronger. Keeping foals and young horses in stables a lot is therefore not a healthy way for them to grow up and often leads to problems later in life, such as lameness.

Minerals for bone growth

In addition to sufficient exercise, the young horse also needs sufficient vitamins and minerals to be able to properly produce all the building blocks in the body. For the bones, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper and especially silicon are important. Phosphorus and calcium are almost always sufficient in the hay and grass that your young horse gets. Zinc and copper often depend on the substrate. If your young horse regularly gets a balancer pellet or biscuit, zinc and copper will probably also be sufficient in the ration. However, hay can be poor in magnesium and certainly poor in easily absorbable silicon. It is therefore wise to supplement silicon and magnesium, especially on poor soils and with little fresh grass. Magnesium is essential for the muscles and the nervous system. Silicon ensures that the body itself produces glucosamine. This mineral stimulates the formation of tendons, ligaments, cartilage and bone.

Absorbability

With both magnesium and silicon it is important to pay attention to the absorbability of the supplement you feed. With magnesium, cheap options such as magnesium oxide are much less absorbable than organic compounds such as magnesium sulphate or magnesium chelate. Silicon is virtually impossible for your horse to absorb in dry form. Therefore, always give silicon as a hydrolysed, liquid supplement.

Want to know more about magnesium for horses: https://askheltie.com/nl/artikelen/heltiehorse/magnesium-voor-paarden-waarom-magnesium-met-b-vitamines-en-tryptophan-elkaar-versterken

Want to know more about silicon for young horses: https://askheltie.com/nl/artikelen/heltiehorse/op-welke-manier-kan-je-het-gestel-van-jouw-jonge-paard-sterk-maken

All information in this article is sourced from https://askheltie.com/en/articles/heltiehorse/healthy-joints-in-growing-horses