Box rest in horses: supporting joints and tendons the right way

Why we find this topic so important: from practical experience, for everyday practice

Behind nuvallo are Katja and Andrés. With over 20 years of practical experience in equestrian sport, we know all too well how unsettling the diagnosis of "box rest" can be. This article provides you with easy-to-understand, practical answers so that you can optimally support your horse's healing process with the right supplement.

Foundation of knowledge: what happens in the horse's body during periods of box rest

When a horse has to stand in a box for weeks on end, something disastrous happens in the body: the musculoskeletal system shifts into a low-energy mode. To understand why this is so problematic, a look at anatomy helps. Joint cartilage, tendons and ligaments belong to what is known as bradytrophic tissue. This means they are barely, or not at all, connected to the bloodstream.

Normally, joint cartilage is nourished like a sponge through the horse's constant movement. The load bearing squeezes out used synovial fluid (synovia), and during the relief in the next step, new, nutrient-rich fluid is sucked into the cartilage. If this constant movement is missing due to box rest, the cartilage is literally put on a diet and nutrient exchange stagnates.

At the same time, the stability in the connective tissue also degrades. Tendons consist to a large extent of fine collagen fibres, which rely on gentle mechanical stimuli to structure themselves in a supple and tear-resistant way. Building a horse up after a tendon injury therefore later requires not only time and an exact training plan, but also the right building materials from the inside.

Especially in older horses or those that already show minor deficits due to sporting exertion, standing for long periods can result in them appearing stiff in the mornings and their legs swelling. In addition, forage in Germany is often subject to strong fluctuations due to weather conditions and does not always provide essential building blocks for cartilage and tendon metabolism in sufficient quantities. This is exactly where a high-quality supplement for box rest comes into play: it is not about making damage disappear as if by magic. Rather, it is about providing the organism with exactly the building blocks it urgently needs for the body's own maintenance of cell structures.

What does the science say?

When you look around the market for supplements, a lot is often promised. But what is really behind it? A close look at the research helps to separate the wheat from the chaff.

What is proven in studies

In research on joints and tendons, there are very promising approaches. Universities and veterinary institutes worldwide are investigating the effects of substances such as glucosamine, MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) and hyaluronic acid. In laboratory studies (so-called in-vitro studies), it has been impressively shown, for example, that cartilage cells in a petri dish react measurably positively to the addition of hyaluronic acid and glucosamine. The production of the cartilage matrix is stimulated and the cells show increased activity.

But here we must remain honest and transparent: laboratory results cannot be transferred one-to-one to a living, 600-kilo warmblood. What works in isolated cell cultures must first pass through the horse's complex gastrointestinal tract, be absorbed by the small intestine and finally arrive in the joint via the bloodstream.

What has been investigated on the living horse

This is exactly why research on the living horse (in vivo) gets exciting. There are studies that investigate the actual effects of joint supplements in everyday life. For example, researchers at Texas A&M University conducted studies in which young horses were fed specific joint building blocks. Compared to the control group, these horses showed positive reactions in joint metabolism and fewer inflammatory markers in the blood after exercise. In humans, too, there are numerous meaningful studies on the oral intake of collagen peptides (often over periods of 12 to 24 weeks) which point to a noticeable support of joint function. This excellently complements the evidence base in mammalian research.

However, the state of studies in horses has its limits, which we do not want to hide. Animal studies in the field of nutritional supplementation often only have small sample sizes – sometimes just 10 to 15 horses – or comparatively short durations. The perfect, clinical, double-blind long-term study with hundreds of horses over several years is quite simply extremely rare for nutritional supplements, as it is incredibly expensive in veterinary medicine. Nevertheless, the sum of the available data shows: the targeted supplementary feeding of specific building blocks can make a measurable difference in metabolic processes.

An honest conclusion

The biological basis for the use of joint nutrients is absolutely solid. Building blocks like glucosamine and collagen are completely natural components of joint cartilage and connective tissue. Research indicates that administering these substances can support the joint system.

A supplement during box rest is not a miracle cure that repairs a damaged tendon overnight, however. Rather, it is an extremely sensible building block in your overall rehab management. Exactly when the period of absolute standing ends and the controlled exercise programme begins for the horse after a tendon injury, the fresh tissue structures must be well supplied to withstand the slowly increasing load. The nutrient supply becomes particularly valuable when you do not just rely on an isolated ingredient, but choose a clever combination. If, on the other hand, you are not concerned with box rest but with prevention in a healthy horse, you will find the selection criteria for supplements for tendons and ligaments in a separate article.

Dosage and practice: the right supplement for box rest

If you are wondering what you should feed your horse during box rest, a close look at the dosages of the ingredients is crucial. In scientific studies, very specific amounts are usually used. For a horse weighing around 500 kg, for example, 1,500 mg of glucosamine and around 2,000 to 3,000 mg of MSM per day are considered sensible and proven amounts in order to be able to achieve an effect in the tissue at all.

In practice, we usually distinguish between a maintenance dose and an initial course in an acute phase. If the horse is standing in the box freshly injured, double the amount is often recommended in the first two to three weeks to initially provide the body with intensive support during this critical time. After that, you can safely return to the normal daily ration for long-term maintenance.

Important to know: in high-quality combination products, the dosage of the individual isolated substances can often be slightly lower than in pure mono-preparations (i.e. tubs that contain only a single substance). Why? Because the various substances do not work in isolation, but support and reinforce each other in the metabolism. This is called the synergy effect.

A critical look at the feed market is worthwhile at this point: unfortunately, many manufacturers hide behind EU Regulation 767/2009. This regulation allows that the exact amounts of active ingredients per kilogram or per daily dose do not always have to be obligatorily declared. On many tubs it then says prominently "contains MSM" or "with valuable glucosamine" – but you do not find out how much of it is actually inside. As a consumer, however, you should know exactly what is in the product so that you do not end up spending a lot of money on useless carrier material like apple pomace.

Another important tip for everyday practice: you need patience. As we learned above, joint cartilage and tendons have an extremely slow metabolism. A supplement, especially during box rest, needs time to unfold its effects. You should feed it consistently for at least 8 to 12 weeks to even give the body the chance to incorporate the nutrients into the tissue. Many owners often only notice the first small positive changes after 4 to 6 weeks.

Why individual active ingredients alone are often not enough: the power of combination

When it comes to the optimum supplement for box rest, many owners rely on countless individual powders – a scoop of pure MSM here, some glucosamine there, and perhaps a bottle of hyaluronic acid too. But in the body, joints, cartilage and connective tissue work as a closely interlinked, finely tuned system. Different active ingredients act at completely different points within this system.

This is exactly where the aforementioned synergy effect comes into play: a well-known crossover study by the renowned Animal Health Trust in the UK, for example, showed that the combination of various joint building blocks had significantly more positive effects on the joy of movement and joint health of horses than the pure administration of isolated individual substances. A well-coordinated combination product therefore does not need extreme individual dosages, because the building blocks work together smoothly like a well-trained team.

This is exactly the scientific approach we pursue at nuvallo. Our nuvallo move Snacks provide per recommended daily ration (6 snacks for an approx. 500 kg horse, which corresponds to roughly 30 g) exactly the building blocks that meaningfully complement each other:

• 1,500 mg glucosamine serves as an important building block for cartilage building and supports the natural shock absorption of the joint.
• 2,550 mg collagen provides the necessary structural protein for the elasticity and stability of connective tissue and cartilage – absolutely essential if you want to build your horse up after a tendon injury.
• 2,250 mg MSM (organic sulphur) is an elementary building block and important for the regeneration of cartilage and connective tissue.
• 150 mg hyaluronic acid acts as the main component of the synovial fluid (synovia).

So instead of laboriously weighing out and mixing five different tubs in the feed room in the evening, your horse receives a scientifically founded combination that targets exactly the right places.

The biggest practical challenge: feeding

We have now talked a lot about ingredients, studies and dosages. But let's talk about reality – about the actual emotional core of this topic.

The everyday feeding problem

You have probably spent hours researching online to find out which supplement is best for box rest. You have battled your way through specialist articles, ordered the expensive joint powder, are looking forward to the positive effect – and then you are standing in the stable. Your horse sniffs the manger, turns up its nose and turns its head away.

Most active joint ingredients, especially MSM and certain herbs, naturally have a very bitter and unpleasant taste. In addition, almost all powders are very dusty and enormously change the familiar consistency of the hard feed. We all know the result: the horse meticulously sorts out the powder with its fine lips and simply eats around it. In the end, a thick, expensive layer of the supplement is left stuck to the bottom of the bowl or in the corners of the manger.

We all know and try the usual stable yard tricks: we laboriously stir the powder into warm mash, grate apples over it, hide it deep inside a banana or mix it into damp sugar beet pulp. Sometimes it works if you slowly introduce the powder gram by gram over weeks. But let's be honest: often enough, with fussy horses, it just doesn't work.

And even if the horse eats without a fuss: does it really get exactly the full dose stated on the packaging every day? Standing at the manger every evening, keeping your fingers crossed and wondering whether the valuable and expensive supplement will simply be left behind in the end is extremely frustrating for us as owners.

Why we abolished the powder

It was exactly out of this deep frustration, which we experienced with our own horses and which we encountered time and again in conversations with hundreds of other horse owners, that a new idea was born. We didn't ask ourselves: "How do we just make another, even finer powder?" We asked ourselves: "How do we ensure that every horse reliably and happily ingests the full dose?"

The solution to this problem is our nuvallo move Snacks – a functional joint snack that is simply fed directly from the hand like a reward.

Thanks to the extremely stomach-friendly base of high-quality linseed cake, fine rice bran and linseed, complemented by natural ingredients such as banana, apple and carob powder, we achieve enormously high acceptance among horses. And completely free from wheat and corn, molasses or cheap fillers. The benefits for your everyday life are immense: you always have a clearly defined amount of active ingredients per snack. Sorting it out is practically impossible for the horse. There is no more stress at the feed manger, no more sticky mash mixing and no more dusty powder left behind in the bucket.

Your horse no longer experiences the feeding of nutrients as a repulsive medicinal mix, but as a positive ritual. Many customers confirm our experience: since feeding the snacks, we see that the horses really look forward to their ration and appear less stiff in the morning when they come out of their box. It is exactly for these small, precious moments that we do this.

Because at the end of the day, the best supplement on the market is not the one with the very longest list of ingredients or the highest theoretical laboratory value on the label. It is the supplement that actually ends up inside the horse.

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

Dobenecker B. et al. — Specific bioactive collagen peptides (PETAGILE®) as supplement for horses with osteoarthritis: A two-centred study (Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 2018) Link

Zdzieblik D. et al. — Improvement of activity-related knee joint discomfort following supplementation of specific collagen peptides (Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2017) Link

What you can rely on with nuvallo move:

• ADMR-compliant with no withdrawal period: 100% safe for competition and sports horses.
• No added sugar & fillers: Free from wheat and corn.
• Made in Europe: Highest raw material and production quality.
• 30-day satisfaction guarantee: Test it completely risk-free for you and your horse.