So I have my 6yo on the plain jane Cosequin. I was told the other version were more fluff and a waste of money and the regular works better. However comparing ingredients there is obviously different stuff. So I am curious has anyone used Cosequin and upgrade to the ASU and seen a big difference? I use it for preventative than trying to fix or help anything, just trying to stay ahead of an discomfort. But I also dont want to spend a fortune either since he’s not requiring it. He’s currently on MSM as well.
Since no one else has answered, I’ll jump in. If I recall correctly, the published clinical studies demonstrating efficacy were done using the ASU formulation, not the plain-jane cosequin. So that’s the only one that has “proof” of efficacy. That being said, I think most people will tell you to save your money and do injectables (legend, adequan, polyglycan, etc.). So much of what is consumed orally gets wasted via first-pass metabolism (i.e., the liver) before ever making it into the bloodstream. You are much more likely to get results if you inject it systemically (joint injections are a different story, and probably not what you’re interested in anyway).
For what its worth, I just put my 11 year old FEI horse on monthly Legend (after the loading dose), even though she didn’t really have any “obvious” problems. I think the $90 a month or whatever is a rounding error for a horse in hard work who I’m hoping will have a long career ahead of them. I’m not sure what the cosequin costs, but personally I wouldn’t waste my money, and would skip to something I know is getting into the bloodstream.
If I were you and I wasn’t ready to do injectables, I would take him off the cosequin altogether for 2 months, then try the ASU for two months, and see if you feel a difference coming off then back on. Then you can play around and see if you notice a difference.
I have not tried basic Cosequin but did want to add my 2 cents. My coming 19-year-old Morgan had a wreck when he was 14 that resulted in a catastrophic injury to his hock. He’d already had a little bit of arthritis in both hocks (unfortunately, this was his ‘good’ hock) and ended up with a bone chip lodged where we can’t get to it.
After he healed from the wreck, I had him on Adequan for a few years, just once a year, but then ended up going to twice a year. A couple of years ago Chewy had the ASU on sale, so I figured what the heck, it’s worth a try.
Remy has not had Adequan now in about 2 1/2 years and is doing amazing on the ASU. Better even than he did on Adequan. He’s one to let you know how his hocks are feeling, especially in lead changes. Subtle, he is not.
I imagine we’ll eventually end up back on Adequan or doing hock injections, but as long as I can maintain him on the ASU, I’m sticking with that.
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I saw my old guy more comfortable on the plain Jane. BUT I also stopped jumping him at the same time so it’s entirely possible (even probable) that the lack of jumping was more involved in making him more comfortable. Never done the ASU.
I have my current guy on the Equithrive Joint as recommended by a vet. Though I sometimes wonder if what @Feathered_Feet said is correct and I’d be better off not spending money on the supplement and just opt for injectables.
A quick scroll of Nutramax’s citations looks like it was the original Cosequin formulation, not the ASU version. (Though I expect they have done both.)
More interesting to me was this–“Low quality of evidence for glucosamine-based nutraceuticals
in equine joint disease: Review of in vivo studies”–which I came across while looking.
(EVJ, 2009)
Interesting! Where did you find these citations? I couldn’t find anything on their website, and looking through the literature most studies don’t cite cosequin specifically, just generic glucosamine/condroitin (and what does use cosequin specifically seems to be for a lot of navicular, not osteoarthritis.
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For anyone who sees dollars with wings every time they top off a bucket with powder, Cosequin now comes in pellets.
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Thanks for sharing! I still don’t know where this pdf lives on their website, so can’t see if there are other interesting files, but this has a good chunk of data. Based on this and other searches (“unsaponifiables” and “nutramax” proved useful), it looks like all their original studies were with the base formula (i.e., cosequin), but there are a lot of studies on the general ingredients of the ASU formula, but none seem to specify the branded formula itself (i.e., Cosequin ASU), which makes it hard to find in the literature. Not uncommon in drug development, but just an FYI for anyone hoping to do their own search (hence why including “Nutramax” proved lucrative here). Importantly, I couldn’t find any head-to-head trials of regular cosequin and cosequin ASU (searching by components, since I couldn’t find any trials with “cosequin ASU” as a search term, anyway). Interestingly, there are some formulations out there where they saw positive benefits (e.g., physical changes in joints) but without any clinical improvement. If I had to guess, that would be due to the temporal constraints of a clinical trial, and more time and later testing would reveal a different story (but again, a complete guess). Another vote for synthesizing clinical trial data with real-world evidence.
I think the takeaway is: if you feel a clinical improvement in your horse, then believe what your horse tells you. Personally, I still feel like too much of what is fed is wasted through first-pass metabolism, and would rather just inject systemically. But that’s easy for me as we have a vet at our barn that just goes through and does the IV dosing (Legend) once a month. Otherwise, you can’t beat the convenience of feed-through supplements.
I have not compared but we use the Cosequin ASU Plus heaping scoops for 2 horses so close to a loading dose. Anecdotally, my dressage trainer said my big was moving the best she had seen.
My 24-yo Morgan gets Pro-stride and gets Cosequin ASU (why I don’t just toss $100 bills down his throat, I don’t know). I can say that without Cosequin ASU, there is more clicking from his fetlocks. Have not tried the regular Cosequin.
