My horses are ridden every day and ran ATLEAST 2x a week. sometimes up to 5 depending on how many rodeos I have.
My barrel horse is a tank and has very healthy joints and has yet to need any injections done *knock on wood* I always make sure that he has a proper warm up and cool down. I also hose his legs for about 5 minites after I run to keep him cool. Seems to be workin so far as I've had him 2 years and he's never been sore. *again,knock on wood!* His hooves grow unevenly so we have to shoe him every 4ish weeks.
And my pole horse has a bad right hock, so I give him adequan every 3-4 weeks and if he gets sore, we'll inject that hock. We also had him chiropracted a few weeks ago and wow, did it ever do wonders. He was out in his right shoulder, back, pelvis.. We got him straight and he seems MUCH more content and happy. Again, I always make sure he has a proper warm up/cool down/hose down his legs. He's also shod every 4-6 weeks, pending.
I've heard good things about adequan, but I've also heard people say its not worth it. I definitely agree with you on the chiropractor business and warming up and cooling down.
I have found what works best with keeping my barrel horses muscles working good is apple cider viniger. I mix up a spray bottle full of apple cidar viniger with a couple tablespoons of salt. I spray it on my horses before I ride them. It warms up their muscles and keeps them limber (which prevents them from pulling muscles) Another way to keep my horses sound is I get a chiropractor to come out at least twice a year to do routine work on them. I do this as a precaution so that I don't end up with a sore horse all of a sudden. The horses also seem to enjoy it too.
Homie's never had a lame day in his life, thank God. He gets worked an hour a day, six days a week and we typically run at two shows a week with probably 4 runs at each show. I keep him on a joint supplement and I liniment and wrap his legs after hard workouts. He gets seen and worked on by Kit from Animal Crackers at all of the big NBHA shows. We try to get him seen by a massage therapist or a chiropractor atleast once a month, especially during season. Also, at the big shows he gets hosed down as soon as he's unsaddled then he gets linimented, braced (like a liniment brace, not like a knee brace lol) and wrapped. It's hard at the district shows because I haul down to MA from ME and none of the barns really have anywhere for me to hose him. Instead, I sponge him off with cold water from a bucket and then I brace and wrap him
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My barrel horse is a tank and has very healthy joints and has yet to need any injections done *knock on wood* I always make sure that he has a proper warm up and cool down. I also hose his legs for about 5 minites after I run to keep him cool. Seems to be workin so far as I've had him 2 years and he's never been sore. *again,knock on wood!* His hooves grow unevenly so we have to shoe him every 4ish weeks.
And my pole horse has a bad right hock, so I give him adequan every 3-4 weeks and if he gets sore, we'll inject that hock. We also had him chiropracted a few weeks ago and wow, did it ever do wonders. He was out in his right shoulder, back, pelvis.. We got him straight and he seems MUCH more content and happy. Again, I always make sure he has a proper warm up/cool down/hose down his legs. He's also shod every 4-6 weeks, pending.
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Thanks for your input.
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Another way to keep my horses sound is I get a chiropractor to come out at least twice a year to do routine work on them. I do this as a precaution so that I don't end up with a sore horse all of a sudden. The horses also seem to enjoy it too.
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That apple cider vinegar thing is interesting. I'll keep that in mind! Thanks.
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