These drugs also decrease the joint's ability to use sulfur, which gives the connective tissue its elastic strength. Many of the flex products on the market contain herbal ingredients, which are plant drugs that cause rapid changes in the way a body is working so that the pain is hidden or the immune response is slowed. In contrast to drugs, either synthetic or natural, nutrition is the science of providing an animal the basic building blocks it needs to function properly and to build its different tissues. Using the building blocks provided through good nutrition often takes three to eight weeks for enough new fluid and tissue to be present for the pain to stop. We don't enjoy pain, and neither do our horses, but pain serves a very important purpose it lets the rest of the body know that something is wrong.
Nutritional supplements can help connective tissues grow and heal.
The joints of young, fast-growing horses can benefit from the extra nutrients. Horses of all ages that are regularly being worked, trained or used in competition are putting great stress on their joints and can use the support. If joint injury does occur, proper supplementation is definitely appropriate. As bodies age, their joints naturally wear out faster than they are repaired. Nutritional supplements can help the body fight back by increasing the production of new tissues.