AGE: 15
CONDITION: Joint Pain
LOCATION: AUS
"I feel like I have a young horse again"
I have been using the Rose-Hip Vital Equine on my 15yo, 17hh, Warmblood dressage gelding, Catalina Florimo for approximately 6 months and the results have been quite remarkable. I currently compete him at FEI small tour level. About 5 years ago, when he was at Medium level, he started having soundness issues that vets have not been able to diagnose. I have had some success with chiropractic, massage therapy, ultrasound, etc. and a few long periods of rest, plus I have tried various joint supplements and injectables with variable results. I changed his hoof trimming, which has probably had the most impact, however there continued to be niggling, intermittent soundness issues, that I have not been able to solve. He would be stiff in warm up, and sometimes with a slight unevenness in his trot which was worrying. He would generally warm up out of it, but some days his work would seem laboured, which also concerned me. I started him on the loading dose of RHV Equine in April 2013. It took 3 weeks before I started noticing any difference, which included less stiffness in his warm up and no sign of unevenness in his trot. I was not prepared to draw any conclusions at this early stage as the unevenness would come and go, however the reduction in stiffness was quite noticeable. We moved to the maintenance dose, however after a week or so he appeared to get "stiff" again. The RHV team suggested putting him back on the loading dose, which I did, and the stiffness dissipated reasonably quickly. I have kept him on the loading dose ever since and occasionally I will give him a "top up" scoop if I am in any doubt, and the results have been quite remarkable. I now have a horse with much more energy and willingness to go, who has been consistently sound for longer than I can remember and is getting much stronger in his work which is showing in our scores. I am so delighted with the outcome, and to know that my long term equine partner appears sound and happy. What I really like about this product is, not only does it appear to really work, but it is completely natural, vegetarian product (which I am much more comfortable feeding to my horse that the marine or bovine based alternatives), that has a long list of additional health benefits.
Update: I have been using Rose-Hip Vital Equine on my 16yo, 17hh, Warmblood dressage gelding, Catalina Florimo for over a year now and I can only say the results have been consistently remarkable! Some years ago he developed some niggling, intermittent soundness issues, stiffness, unevenness in trot, etc. In addition to spending a lot with vets, I tried a number of joint supplements over time, including Pentosan, without much noticeable effect. So I had this wonderful horse that I loved and had owned since we were both beginners, who was stiff and often uneven in trot, and I was incredibly frustrated about his future. I sceptically trialled the RHV-E product before market, in April 2013 and I can only say I have been amazed with the results. It took 3 weeks to see a definite difference and I have established that I need to keep Florimo on the loading dose of RHV-E, but in doing so, I feel like I have a young horse again. He is much more willing, happy and consistently sound. I can tell if anyone in our stable leaves the RHV-E out of his feed for any period, as he becomes stiff and slightly uneven in his work. A day or so of topping him up and he is back to full soundness and performance. It is not the cheapest product on the market, but for this horse it is absolutely worth every penny and I am so grateful for having stumbled across it!
