[Temposmom]

I have a 26 year old gelding that still LOVES to get out and trail ride. On rare occasion he goes on a wee larger ride. It is this rare "larger" ride that I would like to give him some additional relief. This is a VERY healthy, active, fairly fit individual with no history of stomach or metabolic issues, just some old man joints. I have both Bute and Banamine. My question is: which would be better to give for his rare "bigger" trail rides? How many hours in advance for each, as I know Bute takes longer to get into the system?

For the "bigger" trail ride I am talking close to 3 hours, and in foothills, his normal is closer to 2 hour rides. I just want him to be more comfortable with the longer distance/time, kind of like when we take an NSAID for the aches and pains of a day in the saddle.

Thanks,
Skyla

[Blistering Winds]

NEITHER

If the horse is buted/banamined, you are taking a HUGE risk of the horse injuring himself without telling you.

THey already mask a ton of pain naturally.


I would take it with you, as a precaution, talk to your vet on the one that they are comfortable with (probably bute paste since it doesn't have to be refrigerated) And if your horse gets uncomfortable, call for a pick up and trailer the horse home.

Your horse should not get "sore" on a ride, and if they do, then that type of riding for that age is probably inappropriate for that particular horse.

If you expect soreness, I would opt out with that horse.

It just isn't fair.

[Temposmom]

I'm not wanting to dope him up into next year, goodness sake. I've had him 24 years, he is a retired endurance horse and is not being asked to do anything he is not up to. I want to keep him happy, and if one killer gram of Bute is being irresponsible then so be it. I'm not a cruel owner nor am I an idiot...sorry.

[mommadoc]

hmm, I agree with bw on this one, I wouldn't do either. If he gets a little sore, try something like absorbine, they even make it in a gel form now. I wouldn't do bute or banamine because it can make them woosy and dull headed. Absorbine used to (not sure about now) make a product called Refresh Mint that worked really well for sore muscles- I should know it works on horse and rider!

[Blistering Winds]

Originally Posted by Temposmom

I'm not wanting to dope him up into next year, goodness sake. I've had him 24 years, he is a retired endurance horse and is not being asked to do anything he is not up to. I want to keep him happy, and if one killer gram of Bute is being irresponsible then so be it. I'm not a cruel owner nor am I an idiot...sorry.

IF he is up to it, he should not get sore

Especially if he's conditioned for it.

If he isn't conditioned for it, you are setting the horse up for injury and masking any "possibility" with bute or banamine is where I am having the issues.

I"m saying TAKE it with you, give it if the horse does have issues (and end the ride), but don't "prepare" for it and give it to the horse as a precaution, because doing so, the horse miss-steps, and is on anti-inflammatories, the body will delay reacting properly, you continue, injuring the horse even more.

[mommadoc]

Thermaflex looks like a pretty good product as well, but I've never tried it.

[BettyBootsy]

Well we had an old TB that was for the kids and when he got him he was bad we would bute him a bit not a full dose but just enough to take the edge off and he did wonderful BUT we did that only until we got his muscle tone back and put him on Next Level and gave it time to kick in then we only did flat work no hills or inclines no jumping nothing to hurt him at all straight easy miles. We buted him for about 2 months under my vets advice and it worked out great but we also built the ole man back up too. We also did some injections of Legends but your talking 150 bucks the first month then 75 each month after. We were able go without the injections once he was built up and good on his joint supplements. Talk with your vet for sure.

[JBandRio]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with BW

2gm of bute the night before and 1gm the morning of the ride, done very occasionally, is perfectly fine for the vast majority of horses. The older one gets - horse or human - the more help one might need to be comfortable with the occasional extra effort. Going from 2 hours to a 3 hour trail ride isn't that big of a deal, especially of the 2 hour ones are regular. But it might be enough extra that he would be a little muscle sore, or arthritis aggravated, that a little help isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It's no different from a human being used to X type of exercise, and one day a month they do X plus another 25-50% more, and get sore. Taking an ibuprofen to help with inflammation helps the body heal a whole lot faster. I have lower back trouble, and I used to think "ick, no way am I going to be a weanie and take some ibuprofen" and I'd tough it out. But 3 days later I'm still protecting my back because of soreness, or worse it goes into a full-blown muscle spasm which requires me to get valium and flexaril and 3 days in bed. Now I take something at the first twinge and in 1, maybe 2 days things are back to normal.

[nicz2cu]

Originally Posted by Blistering Winds

NEITHER

If the horse is buted/banamined, you are taking a HUGE risk of the horse injuring himself without telling you.

THey already mask a ton of pain naturally.


I would take it with you, as a precaution, talk to your vet on the one that they are comfortable with (probably bute paste since it doesn't have to be refrigerated) And if your horse gets uncomfortable, call for a pick up and trailer the horse home.

Your horse should not get "sore" on a ride, and if they do, then that type of riding for that age is probably inappropriate for that particular horse.

If you expect soreness, I would opt out with that horse.

It just isn't fair.

I agree with you on this BW, Tanner , my wonder horse , started having lameness issues almost a couple of years after I bought him, turned out to be related to the cancer he had ( sheath ). Now get this ( when I asked if I could do anything for him , to continue riding or not riding " vet said, give him bute for three days before and three days after, give him a few days rest in between rides ". Huh !!!!!!!! If my horse is in that kind of pain you can bet I'm not going to be riding him. Got myself another vet and eventually ended up having him put to sleep.

I was upset with myself in the beginning about it because right after I bought him he would act like he was lame when we'd get a couple of miles up the road and it would be gone by the time I walked him home I had the farrier come out and it was nothing, so when he started doing it again I took him for xrays , nerve blocking and still nothing, I had someone else ride him and it turned out he was just lazy ( he was my first riding horse ), anyway I thought he was just up to his old tricks....... so I let it go for a few days. I really to this day still beat myself up over that.

I wouldn't push a horse (aged ) past what is comfortable and may end up causing the horse more pain.

[BettyBootsy]

Originally Posted by JBandRio

I'll have to respectfully disagree with BW

2gm of bute the night before and 1gm the morning of the ride, done very occasionally, is perfectly fine for the vast majority of horses. The older one gets - horse or human - the more help one might need to be comfortable with the occasional extra effort. Going from 2 hours to a 3 hour trail ride isn't that big of a deal, especially of the 2 hour ones are regular. But it might be enough extra that he would be a little muscle sore, or arthritis aggravated, that a little help isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It's no different from a human being used to X type of exercise, and one day a month they do X plus another 25-50% more, and get sore. Taking an ibuprofen to help with inflammation helps the body heal a whole lot faster. I have lower back trouble, and I used to think "ick, no way am I going to be a weanie and take some ibuprofen" and I'd tough it out. But 3 days later I'm still protecting my back because of soreness, or worse it goes into a full-blown muscle spasm which requires me to get valium and flexaril and 3 days in bed. Now I take something at the first twinge and in 1, maybe 2 days things are back to normal.

Yep! I totally agree!