Advanced joint care management in horses uses evidence-based approaches to prevent, detect and treat joint disease while maintaining optimal quality of life and performance welfare.
Advanced joint care represents a significant welfare frontier in equine management, as joint disease causes chronic pain that profoundly affects quality of life and working welfare. The complexity of equine joint management lies in balancing pain control, tissue protection and functional maintenance. Evidence-based approaches use objective lameness assessment tools, diagnostic imaging to characterize disease, and treatment protocols tailored to specific joints and disease stages. The welfare goal is not only to reduce pain scores but to maintain the horse in comfortable work within appropriate limits, or to manage retirement from work in a way that optimizes quality of life. End-of-life decisions when joint disease becomes unmanageable require clear welfare-centred frameworks.