NRHA professional Jill Haas runs North Eastern Performance Horses, based in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. North Eastern Performance Horses is a 32-horse training and boarding program specializing in western performance horses, particularly reiners. When she brought home her new show gelding, Playin In Rio, she had no idea that one treatment decision would go on to define a turning point in her program.
In 2021, after a series of unfortunate events and her promising prospect contracting EPM, Jill was forced out of her comfort zone and purchased her first finished show gelding in order to have a horse to show for the 2022 season. Enter Playin In Rio, a stunning grey by CFR Centario Wimpy out of Playin in Paris. He was wonderfully trained, beautifully bred, and, as Jill puts it, “perfect.”
Unfortunately, perfection didn’t last long.
“Shortly after getting Rio home, I started to have lameness issues with him,” Jill explains. “We found a soft tissue injury in his right stifle and there was a meniscus issue as well as an OCD.” A series of IRAP treatments were tried first, which resulted in some improvement to the health of the joint space, but there was no improvement in his soundness. They then tried blistering, Magnawave, shockwave therapy and more. While there were some small wins, Rio still wasn’t sound. Traditional corticosteroids brought short-lived relief, but after 2-3 months, they were back to square one.
By the winter of 2022, Jill had invested thousands of dollars in treatments without a lasting solution. “We even tried Noltrex, but unfortunately Rio had a pretty significant flare from that product.”
By the spring, they had declared a second issue with Rio, his left front fetlock, which had significant arthritis.
That’s when her vet recommended something new: Arthramid.
“We treated his right stifle and both front fetlocks with a combination of steroid and Arthramid, and that’s when everything changed.”
Two weeks later, Rio was the soundest he had ever been under Jill’s care. They kept up with the treatment and re-dosed all three joints that season.
“He went on that season to give me my first derby win as Co-Champion at the Keystone Reining Association. He pulled a check every time he showed.”
Jill credits Arthramid with not only Rio’s turnaround, but a shift in how she approaches joint management across her entire program.
“Since that season, any time a high-motion joint on any horse on my farm needs attention, we use Arthramid. I wholeheartedly believe in Arthramid because I have first-handedly given so many other products a shot. Nothing has compared in terms of the effects that it gives the horses. It lasts longer than all the other products on the market and it has the strongest effect on inflammation and discomfort for our athletes.”
This year, Jill plans to use Arthramid in her futurity horses’ hocks for the first time.
“I feel significantly more comfortable injecting these athletes knowing that they are going to have longer-lasting results that will help them with the demands of their careers.”
Jill is quick to recognize the team that helped her get to this point.
“Dr. Kendall Milkey of Carambola Equine looks after him in retirement. It takes a great team of vets to keep a program successful. It also takes reliable products like Arthramid. There’s no turning back for me, I’m excited to see how the use of this product earlier in horses’ careers can dictate their long-term soundness.”
Find out more about Jill and North Eastern Performance Horses here:
https://www.facebook.com/people/North-Eastern-Performance-Horses/100046488565712/
