Osteoarthritis in horses: My experience with the right supplement

The diagnosis: osteoarthritis – suddenly everything changed

When the vet first brings up the subject of osteoarthritis in your horse, your heart simply sinks. You often notice it a good while beforehand: your horse is a bit stiff coming out of the stable in the morning, and the first few rounds of trot feel unnaturally rigid. With my gelding, the confirmation came last spring – positive flexion test, clear X-ray, mild osteoarthritis in the hock.

Especially when such joint problems in your horse slowly become noticeable, you worry incredibly as an owner. You want to support your horse in the best possible way and protect their musculoskeletal system, so that your time together in the saddle becomes a joy once more.

My odyssey through the powder jungle

And so my personal odyssey through the jungle of osteoarthritis supplements began. Finding a high-quality feed supplement for the joints is one thing – getting it reliably into your horse is quite another.

Almost everything with good active ingredients comes as a dusty powder or an artificially smelling liquid. My gelding often just looked at me indignantly, meticulously sorted out the fine powder, and simply ate around it. In the end, a dusty layer always remained at the bottom of the feed bowl. I tried hiding it in mashed bananas or mixing up mash every day – but in the stressful daily stable routine after work, that is simply incredibly time-consuming and gets annoying in the long run.

The worst part was this constant uncertainty: had he even had his full dose today? During a 12-week course, losing 30% at the bottom of the feed bowl adds up to a significant loss of active ingredients – and ultimately, you ask yourself whether all that expensive powder did any good at all.

How I came across nuvallo move

Eventually, I poured my heart out to a friend in the stable aisle. She had a similar problem with her 18-year-old mare and told me about the nuvallo move Snacks. The concept sounded like an absolute salvation to me: no more powders, but a functional joint snack that you simply feed directly from the hand.

What convinced me was the transparency of the ingredients. Per daily ration (6 Snacks for a 500 kg horse), my gelding gets:

• 1,500 mg glucosamine for cartilage development
• 2,550 mg collagen for connective tissue and stability
• 2,250 mg MSM for regeneration and the body's own inflammation regulation
• 150 mg hyaluronic acid for the synovial fluid

In other words, exactly the building blocks that cartilage, tendons, and synovial fluid need for osteoarthritis – and in a dosage that I could finally make sense of.

In everyday life: finally, feeding relaxed

The nuvallo move Snacks are genuinely brilliant in daily life. You no longer have to painstakingly weigh or mix anything. I just give them to him as a greeting at the grooming area – and he loves them.

The base of linseed cake, rice bran, and linseed is extremely gentle on the stomach. It entirely avoids wheat, maize, added sugar, and cheap fillers — this was important to me for a horse with osteoarthritis, as I didn't want to put additional strain on a sensitive stomach.

What I particularly appreciate: I can see what actually goes into the horse. Six Snacks fed means six Snacks in the horse. No calculating, no guessing, no "hopefully he ate the powder too".

After 10 weeks: how my horse has changed

I have now been consistently feeding nuvallo move every day for a good ten weeks. Here are my honest observations:

• After approx. 4 weeks: First slight change when getting up in the morning, less of a "stiff phase" during grooming.
• After 6 weeks: Noticeably shorter warm-up phase when riding. He finds his rhythm faster.
• After 10 weeks: He moves around the paddock with significantly more joy and spring in his step. In the mornings, he simply seems less stiff.

I want to remain honest: osteoarthritis is not curable, and I never expected a snack to magically rebuild damaged cartilage. But the noticeable improvement in suppleness and the feeling that my horse feels more comfortable in his own body again is exactly what I had hoped for. My vet supports feeding it as a sensible accompaniment alongside movement therapy and, if necessary, other measures.

Since the Snacks are completely ADMR-compliant and have no withdrawal period, I don't have to worry even if we enter a competition at short notice.

My conclusion: would I buy it again?

For us, the nuvallo move Snacks have become a real gamechanger. If your horse has also been diagnosed with osteoarthritis and you are looking for a supplement that is actually eaten instead of sticking to the bottom of the feed bowl, I can wholeheartedly recommend nuvallo to you.

What made the decision even easier for me: there is a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If your horse doesn't accept the Snacks after all (which would be unimaginable with my gelding, but every horse is different), you get your money back. You take no risks whatsoever.