The horse's muscles and joints
The athletic performance of horses is unparalleled. It goes without saying that healthy and strong muscles and joints are essential for their performance and well-being. Pharmacy4pets offers a wide range of supplements to optimally support your horse's muscles and joints.
Nutrition and supplements for healthy and strong muscles
In addition to thorough training, nutrients are vital for muscle building, maintenance, and recovery. A balanced diet with sufficient high-quality roughage and concentrate feed tailored to the level of training is the foundation. There are also various nutrients that can be given as supplements.
Protein
Muscles are made of protein, so it is evident that proteins are essential for strong muscles. Your horse will primarily get protein from its feed, but additional protein can be beneficial if your horse is in a muscle-building phase or is being heavily trained. Extra protein can also be useful for older horses whose muscle mass is decreasing. Sectolin Muscle Builder, Equistro Myo Power, and Equitop Myoplast are protein-rich supplements for horses to support muscle function and muscle building.
Vitamin E
As an antioxidant, vitamin E is a crucial factor in helping to prevent damage to muscle cells. Vitamin E is particularly important in the following cases:
- For horses that need to perform intense athletic activities.
- To support the growth of young horses.
- For pregnant and lactating mares.
- For a fat-rich diet (e.g., extra oil).
- For horses that receive little or no grass (e.g., in winter).
Extra vitamin E can be found in Sectolin Vitamine E + Selenium and Equistro Excell E.
Magnesium
Magnesium is an important mineral that supports the muscle and nervous system (including concentration), bones, water and energy balance, and metabolism. Magnesium in citrate form, such as Sectolin Magnesium Citrate, is best absorbed.
Electrolytes
Electrolytes, or salts, are essential for fluid balance and play a key role in the recovery of the body and muscles. Especially during the hot summer months and with heavy sweating, horses can experience deficiencies. Deficiencies in electrolytes can lead to muscle stiffness and pain. Sectolin Electrolytes and Equistro Electrolyt-7 are supplements that can replenish your horse's electrolyte levels.
Equistro Mega Base is an all-in-one supplement to support strong muscles, containing amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), vitamin E, magnesium, and electrolytes. To care for the back muscles externally, you can use Phytonics Back Spray.
NB: The use of extra supplements in the diet ensures that the horse absorbs more nutrients. If the diet already contains enough, the addition is unnecessary. Often, the body will excrete this excess, but combining different feeds and supplements can lead to overdose and poisoning. Therefore, ask your veterinarian for advice before use and have your roughage analyzed so that you know exactly which vitamins, minerals, and trace elements your horse is receiving.
The joints of the horse
Joints are the body's hinges. They provide mobility and help absorb shocks. The joints of horses endure a lot. Joint problems such as osteoarthritis are therefore common in horses. Osteoarthritis is caused by joint wear. Adjusted movement, a healthy weight, and the right nutrition and supplements can influence its development and progression, but unfortunately, osteoarthritis cannot be completely prevented or cured. Usually, anti-inflammatory painkillers are necessary if your horse has osteoarthritis. To support your horse's joints, you can give supplements such as Sectolin Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and MSM or PUUR Glucosamine Extra.
If you have a question about our products or about your horse's muscles and joints, please contact us.