Will Home Remedy Help Horse?

I understand your concern for your horse's comfort. It would be a good idea to check with your veterinarian. Glucosamine etc may be a cheaper way to go and I know it is available for horses. After all, that is a tremendous amount of weight to put on those legs. Horses evolved when forests turned to grassland so our 'ground' is harder than that.

If nothing else, go to your feed store, pet store, etc or look through the internet. There are many natural, organic treatments for horses now. It is astounding how much the equine industry has changed since the mid '90's.

A couple other thoughts. If I learned nothing else in veterinary science, it is that each species has different metabolism pathways. The amount of one tranquilizer that would settle a horse down would kill a cow. There are even insecticides that are safe on dairy cows but lethal when used on a bull.

Also, the horse would probably like gin and raisins, but multiply 3 gin soaked raisins for a 200 pound person by 5 (for a 1000# horse) and, forgive me for this, but the horse may not care about the arthritis.

I wouldn't give a horse something like raisins without knowing for sure whether they're safe. My feeling is that they would not be, because of the possibility of something so sticky causing choke, or so high in sugar causing laminitis.

What you might do is see if you can find a holistic equine vet and ask for advice (you'll probably have to pay for the advice) about your mare. There are some drugs out there that work well in many horses, but, like humans, no single remedy works on every horse.

And, please, when it comes time to relieve her suffering with euthanasia, as it eventually will, do what is right for her. She deserves it.

Check with your vet... With that said, we give our horse a glucosamine / chondroitin supplement. You'll need your vet to tell you how much is the right dosage for your horse. Whatever you do, don't use bute. You can use bute for flare ups but it's not something to be given long term. I'm sure your vet will agree.

Have you access to a vet who does acupuncture? I have had great success using it for relief of my own and my dog's arthritis. I understand that it works equally well for horses.

A website I have found so helpful for people and pets is www.earthclinic.com
I would check with a vet but one remedy that has worked well for some dogs
is coconut oil taken in their food. You can read how it was used, how much, etc. from owner's own experiences.

One of my FIRST stops is a couple of local feed or feed and tac stores -- 99% of their clients are ranchers or care takers of nearly any kind of 'farm' animal and have built up an AMAZING encyclopedic knowledge of how to treat animals -- just make it clear that you are asking what THEY would do for THEIR horse if X, Y or Z were wrong - they cannot give out medical advice -- and you should be SURE that you have your Dx correct or they may give you an off the shelf, or a home remedy that is inappropriate.

Also, call you local horse association- like, for example the AQHA -- American Quarter Horse Association -- each breed has their own, also, your local Ag agent may also have some pretty neat tricks up their sleeves if they've been on the job for several years -- I don't think there's a ranch anywhere in even the most rural of areas that an Ag Agent has not been out to check on problems a rancher might be having -- and each time they will pick up some "Old WISE tale' that actually works! -- but first you need to KNOW what's wrong - you HAVE had your horses feet, AND legs x-rayed up to the hips or shoulders, right?

On Peoples Pharmacy lately some people recommended envelopes of KNOX gelatine for join pain and arthritis pain. You need to find how much gelatin to give the horse, of course a lot more than 1 envelope.
People have reported it works very well for joint and arthritis pain.

You might research MSM. It is now food grade and used for humans. It evolved from DMSO research, and was used with horses with much success. Check with vet or Feed store.

Vet grade DMSO as a rub will give temporary relief, but make sure it is not industrial solvent, as we were once given by a vet.

My horse knowledge is out of date; but, keeping an arthritic horse pain free would be
impossible for so many reasons. Letting a beloved animal go is the ultimate kindness.

I agree with the others, I would not give your horse the gin soaked raisins. You may find helpful information from a holistic equine Vet. I highly recommend Dr. Madalyn Ward. She has a website, conducts frequent phone conferences and has written a couple of books. Look for her website "Holistic Horsekeeping".