"We have a 16 year old Quarter Horse gelding with navicualr disease and arthritis. His problem was aggravated by the farrier trimming literally over half of his hooves off. We tried steroid injections in his coffin joint to help his navicular, but his body reacted badly to the steroids and made him even lamer. Due to the farrier trimming off so much of his hooves (not to mention setting his shoes wrong), his soles were weakened and he got deep sole bruises on both front feet over the winter. There were a few people that believed in him still, but most people believed we would have to put him to sleep. Our new farrier came up with a shoeing approach that helped him immensely, but there were still almost crippling times for him. There were many, many days where he couldn't even make it out of his stall, and even more days when he wouldn't lead or put any weight on at least one of his front feet because the pain was so intense. After another crippling period, we decided that we had to do something more aggressive, so we looked into Cosequin after much research. Within ONE WEEK of the loading dose, Jack is walking faster than he has in a year, trotting, and bucking and playing in his pasture. It's so wonderful to look into those eyes and not see them filled with pain!
And thank you to Smart Pak- without you, we never would have been able to afford this product. It's $150 in our area for a smaller bucket!
As for the palatability, Jack is a very picky eater anyway, so the way we get him to eat it is by holding his pan for him and mixing the oats and Cosequin together. Add a drop or two of water and stir it- the oats and the supplements stick together so he has to get the Cosequin!
Jack's message and our message to the world is that if you truly love your horse, do not give up on him! With enough persistence and love, even the worst cases of a debilitating problem can be helped."
