Hyaluronic acid for horses: Feed orally or have it injected?

Behind nuvallo are Katja and Andrés. With over 20 years of practical experience in equestrian sport, we know only too well: the topic of joint health accompanies us all sooner or later. That is why in this article, we want to give you clear and practical answers about the oral feeding of hyaluronic acid in horses, based on current research and our own experience.

What you need to know about hyaluronic acid for horses

To understand why this active ingredient is so hotly debated, we need to take a quick look inside the joint. Imagine your horse's joint as the core of a high-performance engine. So that the ends of the bones do not rub painfully against each other during movement, they are covered with a smooth layer of cartilage. In between is the joint fluid, also known as synovia. It is the lubricating oil of the joint.

Hyaluronic acid is the main component of this joint lubrication. It makes the fluid viscous and ensures that impacts are gently absorbed – like an excellent shock absorber in an expensive running shoe.

Why is this topic even relevant to you as a horse owner? Quite simply: as horses age or undergo athletic strain in ambitious leisure sport, the body's own production of hyaluronic acid steadily decreases. At the same time, natural wear and tear increases through the rider's weight and movement on various surfaces. The problem here is that our basic forage – whether hay, grass or oats – does not provide any significant amounts of this specific molecule. So, when the natural shock absorption diminishes and the body can no longer keep up with production, a gap emerges. That is exactly when we need to support the horse externally, before the joint cartilage takes serious damage from a lack of lubrication.

What does science say about hyaluronic acid?

If you ask around the yard, you often hear myths and half-truths. Let's take a sober look at the facts. Research into joint supplements has made enormous leaps in recent years.

What has been proven in laboratory studies

In the past, many vets firmly believed that hyaluronic acid had to be injected directly into the affected joint. It was assumed that the complex molecule would not survive the gastrointestinal tract anyway. However, in independent laboratories (so-called in-vitro studies), the positive properties of hyaluronic acid were quickly proven. Well-known veterinary faculties, such as researchers at Michigan State University, were able to impressively demonstrate that specific joint building blocks can alleviate inflammatory processes in cartilage tissue in cell culture. The molecule protects the cells and supports nutrient exchange.

But we have to put these results honestly into perspective: an excellent laboratory result in a petri dish is by no means proof of the actual effect in the complex organism of a living, 500-kilogram horse.

The scientific experience with oral hyaluronic acid in horses

This is where it gets particularly exciting for everyday life on the yard. Over the last 15 years, the experience with oral hyaluronic acid in horses has been intensively put to the test in real animal studies (in-vivo studies). An often-cited American study, conducted among others at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center, provided pioneering figures. In trials with groups of around 24 horses recovering from joint operations or suffering from osteochondrosis, a proportion of them were given hyaluronic acid daily in their feed.

The results over periods of 60 days showed measurably reduced joint swelling and significantly improved joint function in the orally supplemented horses compared to the control group without a supplement. Modern research even uses radioactively labelled hyaluronic acid to accurately track the molecule's path through the horse's body. This showed that if the molecule size (the so-called molecular weight) is right, the hyaluronic acid can pass through the intestinal mucosa, travel into the bloodstream, and ultimately accumulate exactly where it is needed – in the joints.

Human studies on knee osteoarthritis, which have a much stronger evidence base and are sometimes conducted with over 200 participants over several months, also confirm this effect. They show that the oral intake of hyaluronic acid can noticeably support joint function and suppleness. Nevertheless, we remain transparent about the limitations of equine research: sample sizes in veterinary medicine are often quite small (sometimes only 15 to 20 horses per study), and perfect, long-term control groups are not always available.

An honest conclusion

The biological and scientific basis for oral feeding is absolutely solid. However, hyaluronic acid as a feed supplement is not a magic miracle cure that repairs a completely destroyed joint structure overnight or simply cures conditions like bone spavin and osteoarthritis. Yet, research clearly indicates that it is an enormously sensible and valuable building block for naturally supporting joint lubrication. However, this building block only becomes particularly effective when it is not fed in isolation, but works as a team with other nutrients.

Dosage and practice: How much hyaluronic acid does a horse need?

If you decide to support your horse's joints orally, you are quickly faced with an opaque jungle of dosage recommendations. In the successfully conducted clinical studies, dosages of between 100 mg and 250 mg of hyaluronic acid per day are mostly used for an average large horse (approx. 500 kg).

For continuous maintenance feeding, a daily dose of about 150 mg has proven to be absolutely ideal. If your horse is going through an acute phase or you are starting with an initial course, we often recommend feeding double the amount for the first two to three weeks. This allows the empty stores in the body to be replenished rapidly before you reduce back to the normal daily ration.

Unfortunately, a critical look at the current market is necessary at this point. The European Feed Regulation (EU Regulation 767/2009) is very flexible in some areas. It allows manufacturers of compound feed not to detail the exact amounts of active ingredients per kilogram or per daily dose. This often means that while "hyaluronic acid" is plastered in huge letters on the front of the label, the tub itself only contains a tiny, ineffective fraction. As a responsible consumer, however, you should always have the right to know exactly how many milligrams of an active ingredient you are actually feeding your horse.

Patience is also required. Joint structures – especially cartilage and ligaments – have an extremely slow metabolism, as they have very little blood supply. It takes time for nutrients to arrive and be utilised there. Consistent feeding for at least 8 to 12 weeks is strictly necessary to give the body the chance to use these building blocks.

Why single active ingredients alone are often not enough: The power of combination

A horse's joint is a highly complex biomechanical system. Bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and the joint capsule work closely together without interruption. If we exclusively supplement hyaluronic acid, we are primarily taking care of the viscosity of the joint lubrication. But what about the cartilage framework itself, which has to withstand the pressure? And what about the ligaments that keep the joint in alignment?

A widely recognised crossover study by the renowned British Animal Health Trust (AHT) scientifically demonstrated exactly this synergy effect. The researchers found that the combination of different joint building blocks provides significantly more effective results for mobility than the isolated administration of single supplements. The scientists' conclusion: a well-coordinated combination product does not need extreme individual dosages, as the different active ingredients mutually reinforce and complement each other in their function.

This is exactly the scientific approach we pursue with our nuvallo move Snacks. We have precisely balanced four essential joint building blocks in a daily ration (values based on a ration of 6 snacks):

• Glucosamine (1,500 mg): A fundamental building block for cartilage formation. Glucosamine supports the firmness of the cartilage tissue and thus the natural shock absorption right in the joint.
• Collagen (2,550 mg): The most important structural protein in the body. It provides the necessary tensile strength, elasticity and stability for connective tissue and cartilage.
• MSM (2,250 mg): A highly bioavailable, organic sulphur that is essential for cell regeneration and the flexibility of tendons and ligaments.
• Hyaluronic acid (150 mg): The indispensable main component of joint lubrication (synovia) for the smooth gliding of the joint surfaces.

Through this targeted combination, the active ingredients interlock like finely tuned cogs and support the joint in its entirety.

The biggest challenge in practice: Feeding

The feeding problem

We can philosophise for hours about milligrams, synergy effects and oral experience with hyaluronic acid in horses. But in the harsh reality of the yard, something completely different ultimately decides the success or failure of a course of supplements: Will your horse actually eat it?

Most high-dose joint supplements on the market are powders or strong-smelling liquids. Powders have the unpleasant habit of being extremely dusty and altering the consistency of the daily hard feed. Then there is the taste problem: many pure joint active ingredients, particularly MSM and certain herbal extracts, have an extremely bitter, sulphurous or simply harsh natural taste. Anyone who has ever tasted high-quality MSM powder neat immediately understands why horses often turn up their noses and refuse it.

We all know the typical tricks and the daily struggles at the feed manger. You start with a tiny pinch and try to slowly get the horse used to the taste. You dampen the hard feed slightly so the powder sticks. You lovingly stir it into warm mash or try to hide it secretly in a hollowed-out banana or under a large spoonful of apple sauce. Sometimes that works wonderfully for the first few days. But horses are masterful sorters. For many horses, the effort ends with them enjoying the sweet banana and neatly sorting out the expensive powder. Or the next morning, you frustratedly find dried-on, sticky powder residue at the bottom of the feed bowl, with the feed carefully eaten around it.

The emotional frustration that goes with this is enormous. You stand at the yard every evening, investing a lot of money and love into your horse's health, and ask yourself in despair: Is my horse really getting the full dose it needs, or is most of the supplement simply seeping away unused in the manger?

Why we did away with powder

From our own, sometimes nerve-wracking experiences with our horses and the intensive exchange with hundreds of horse owners, we made a conscious decision. The crucial question for us at nuvallo was not: "How do we make an even better, finer powder?" The real question was: "How do we ensure 100% that every horse ingests the full, required dose reliably, stress-free and willingly?"

The solution to this everyday problem is our nuvallo move Snacks – a functional joint snack that you simply feed to your horse from your hand like a reward.

We have completely dispensed with artificial flavourings and rely instead on an extremely tasty, stomach-friendly base free from wheat and corn, which consists of linseed cake, rice bran and linseed, complemented by natural ingredients such as banana, apple and carob powder. This combination ensures outstanding acceptance among horses. For an average horse of around 500 kilograms, you simply feed 6 snacks a day (which corresponds to approx. 30 grams). This means you have a precisely defined amount of active ingredients at every feed.

Sorting it out or overlooking it in the manger is quite simply impossible. There is no stress at feeding time, no tedious weighing of dusty powders, and your horse does not experience feeding as hated medicine, but as a positive reward – whether that is after riding, during groundwork or just as a quick bite in the paddock.

Since we have been feeding nuvallo, it has been our personal experience that our horses often come out of their stables more supple in the mornings. Many customers enthusiastically tell us that they are noticing their horses enjoying movement more again.

Because at the end of the day, the best supplement is not the one with the longest, most exotic list of ingredients or the highest isolated laboratory value. The best supplement is still the one that actually makes it into the horse without any loss.

Sources

Byron C.R. et al. — Effects of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate on mediators of osteoarthritis in cultured equine chondrocytes (American Journal of Veterinary Research, Michigan State University, 2003) Link

Bergin B.J., Pierce S.W., Bramlage L.R., Stromberg A. — Oral hyaluronan gel reduces post operative tarsocrural effusion in the yearling Thoroughbred (Equine Veterinary Journal, 2006) Link

Balogh L. et al. — Absorption, uptake and tissue affinity of high-molecular-weight hyaluronan after oral administration in rats and dogs (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2008) Link

de Carvalho J.F., Davidson J. — Oral hyaluronic acid in osteoarthritis and low back pain: a systematic review (Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology, 2024) Link

Why nuvallo move Snacks are the right choice

If you decide to proactively support your horse's joints, you need to be able to rely on quality and transparency. This is what sets our snacks apart:

• ADMR compliant: Our snacks are 100% safe for competition and can be fed with no withdrawal period.
• No added sugar & no fillers: Completely free from wheat, corn, and cheap filling materials.
• Made in Europe: We guarantee the highest quality, sustainable raw materials, and strict production controls.
• 30-day satisfaction guarantee: You can test nuvallo move completely risk-free in your daily yard routine.