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Does Adequan REALLY work? Thoughts on Equithrive?

Horse Care
#1

Do you think Adequan really works? Thoughts? The expense of the initial dosing for two horses has me a little green. Has anyone ever had success using LESS than the initial seven injections as the preliminary dosing?

Any Equithrive users? I’ve never really believed the effectiveness of feed-through joint supplements.

I have two horses - Little Mare previously did the Adult Jumpers before her third soft tissue injury, avulsion fraction and sub chondral bone injury. She’s rehabbing nicely and is currently cantering under saddle again. Hopefully the next recheck at the end of the month will give us permission to start light jumping again.

Horse two - Bay Gelding. 12 years old. Done nothing his entire life. Chiropractor felt like he might be a little hock sore. Otherwise, no soundness issues.

Little Mare could probably benefit from Adequan. Maybe I just do Adequan on her and start Gelding on a feed-through supplement.

Or maybe I just need to throw out the cash and do it for both horses. After I get through the initial seven injections the monthly dose is less expensive than most joint supplements.

#2

We have an older guy in our barn who gets pentosan once a month and equithrive daily. I am fairly confident the equithrive is helping.

#3

I’ve seen good results with Pentosan for my 19 year old show hunter’s arthritis. A 100mL bottle cost $150 from Wedgewood and is enough for loading dose (6mL/every 5-7 days/ 4 injections) plus 4 months maintenance at my horse’s dosage (6 ml every 2 weeks seems to be working best for him). In a different horse you might be able to get away with 6ml monthly after the loading dose, so that 100ml bottle would last even longer.

Your gelding may not need anything more than MSM if he’s not working. I’d give Pentosan a shot before Adequan for the mare.

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#4

My youngster was on IM Adequan (loading dose protocol then once every 3 weeks) when he was having some growth spurts which led to some stifle stickiness. We also changed up his work program a bit to add more walking and hills. He definitely got better. Maybe the Adequan, maybe the hills, maybe he just outgrew it, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use it again in a similar situation. It does have good clinical data and FDA approval to support its use for non-degenerative joint disease and data showing increased HA levels in joints post injection.

Has a vet recommended Adequan for either horse?

#5

I just started giving equithrive to my 17 y/o mare. I only give half of a maintenance dose and I think it is making a difference. She is back to working from her back end with lots of suspension. I do hock injections once a year and adequan once a month. Had the hocks done in late March. Felt like we hit a plateau about 2 weeks after the hock injections. Decided to try the equithrive and not change anything else. So far I’m happy.

#6

I started my mare on Summit (billed to me by my vet as “Adequan 2.0”), just as a preventative. She hasn’t had any prior problems that I would have the ability to track progress-wise…but I do feel like she has been clearing the hell out of jumps more than before. Hard to know though, because her fitness and balance have also been improving over the past several months…

#7

2.4. Resveratrol studies in horses
Studies have evaluated the effects of resveratrol in horses [77, 78]. Report by Kohnen et al. [77] showed the inhibitory effect of resveratrol on equine neutrophil myeloperoxidase, while resveratrol treatment (1 g/d) in 20 old horses for 4 weeks decreased equine inflammatory cytokine production both in vitro and in vivo [45]. The compound has significant potential as a therapeutic agent in the management of acute and chronic inflammatory conditions in horses [45]. Trainers and horse owners have observed an improvement in health, comfort and performance in horses receiving resveratrol therapy. Refs. [79, 80] reported that resveratrol reduces gene expression of inflammatory mediators to allow horses move comfortably during aging, training and competition.
Daily resveratrol administration improves energy metabolism through its effects on mitochondria, the body’s cellular power house [45].
Studies by Ememe et al. [82], showed a significant reduction in values of creatine kinase and glucose in the horses administered resveratrol and hyaluronic acid (equithrive joint[SUP]®[/SUP]) (Figure 3) supplement. Elevated levels of these substances have been associated with a reduction in metabolic efficiency in aging animals. Hence, administration of equithrive joint[SUP]®[/SUP] may help to reduce the harmful effects of these biochemical parameters during aging in horses. Also a study on horses exhibiting hind-limb lameness and poor performance was carried out with equithrive joint[SUP]®[/SUP]. The researchers injected each horse’s lower jock joints with triamcinolone before supplementing with equithrive joint[SUP]®[/SUP] for 4 months [83]. The result showed higher percentage of riders who reported better performance of their horses. Ememe et al. [84] also reported that administration of equithrive joint to aged and lame horses decreased the serum MDA concentration and modulated the serum content of GPx, catalase, and SOD. The results suggested a potential protective effect of equithrive joint against oxidative stress and aging in horses. Siard et al. [85] suggested that polyphenol supplementation such as resveratrol could decrease the amount of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs given to older horses, thereby reducing the side effects of such drugs.

https://www.intechopen.com/books/resveratrol-adding-life-to-years-not-adding-years-to-life/evaluation-of-resveratrol-supplementation-on-laboratory-animals-cats-pigs-horses-dogs-cattle-and-bir

#8

Use what has REAL science behind it, not just a bunch of anecdotes from questionable sources. Talk to your vet and be guided by them.

G.

2 Likes
#9

The only feed-through joint supplements I’d consider would be Cosequin or MSM, because there’s science there to back them up. Some of the herbal anti inflammatories, also, might be worth it depending on how severe the pain is, etc. I’ve seen a positive difference in my senior TB on MSM. I think it could help your gelding — I can’t imagine he needs Adequan from your description.

I think giving them the stuff directly — Adequan, Legend, Pentosan, polyglycan, etc — is a much better value. Even a daily NSAID like Previcox could be appropriate, depending.

#10

What worked for my horse (and later me), was Omega Horseshine. It has a high amount of omega 3’s, which, is larger doses, acts like an anti-inflammatory. I noticed the improvement in my horse, titrated the dose down for me (8g), and felt better in a couple weeks and off celebrex in a couple months.

That said, I have used adequan later on, and I do think it worked.

1 Like
#11

Yes, this! Omega 3s are powerful. In combination with the MSM, mine is on 2 cups of flax per day and flax oil. I forgot about this in my other post, but I definitely think this has helped and there is a good amount of science to support this for people. My mom has autoimmune issues and is doing an all raw, heavy Omega 3 diet and it has helped immensely.

1 Like
#12

Yes, it really does work, but it can be specific to the horse’s condition.

#13

Actistatin (GLC Direct) has quite a bit of “real” science behind it as well. My vet feels the research behind Actistatin is more sound than that of Cosequin.

https://glcdirect.com/content/Actistatin-Clinical-Trial-Vol9-Iss2Montgomery-1.pdf

My horse wouldn’t eat the powdered Actistatin (although won’t eat powdered anything) so I have no comment on it’s efficacy. For what it’s worth, I feed my older arthritic dog Canine Actistatin and he went from a limping mess to running for a frisbee again in about 10 days.

#14

Interesting about Cosequin. I think that is less expensive the Equithrive.

I think it’s necessary that I start Little Mare on Adequan. In doing some brief Googling yesterday afternoon I came across one human study of PSGAG that suggested it improved soft tissue health. This might help her seeming predisposition to severe soft tissue injuries.

But what about the Gelding. He’s in work now. But walk/trot/canter and light jumping. Do I start Adequan now as a prophylactic? He’s sound, but the chiropractor did say he felt like there might be some discomfort in his hocks/hind end. But that could also be from doing absolutely nothing to starting into work. All the same… Or do I just start him on Cosequin for now until his work load increases?

Thoughts there?

#15

The Adequan works wonders for my 25-year old gelding with pretty severe stifle arthritis, but only during the initial dosing (every 4 days for 7 doses). Pentosan doesn’t seem to do anything for him. I decided to try plain old acetyl-d glucosamine injections again :slight_smile: It’s not working quite as well as the Adequan, but definitely better than the Pentosan for him, and about as cheap as you can get. I think it works out to about $5 per shot and he’s getting it weekly.

I haven’t had much luck with oral supplements, largely because he doesn’t like anything added to his food, but I am trying Platinum Performance boswellia (they sent me a HUGE free sample) and he is actually eating it. He is an extremely picky eater so getting him to eat anything added to his Senior feed is quite a challenge.

#16

I don’t know about the prophylactic effect of Adequan. You could write to the manufacturer. Most makers have “customer support” arms that can answer questions like this. Your vet might also have an opinion, although you have to be careful, here, 'cause some have fewer qualms about “off label” uses than others. Once you go “off label” with ANY medication (human or veterinary) you just became a medical researcher and you animal (or yourself or a family member) have come the “guinea pig.”

G.

#17

Timely post for me as I just had my horse’s hocks injected and my tub of Equithrive should be here today. Adequan would be our next step, if needed. My vet recommends 3 joint supplements… Cosequin ASU, Equithrive, and Platinum Perf. I decided on the Equithrive Original and am going to add MSM from HorseTech as well. Fingers crossed this works to get another few years out of her… good luck to you, OP!

#18

Many years ago, IM Adequan worked for my 30-something gelding, much better than the Legend first tried. He went from stiff, and reluctant to trot, to cantering out in the field with the other horses; his improvement was noticeable to the extent that the BO asked me what I was using. It was administered by a veterinarian, as had been the Legend, and we followed the label.

This was a horse that had previously been prescribed MSM, which also worked great until it didn’t.

Several years later, a friend with another very aged horse also had good results with IM Adequan.

I, personally, wouldn’t hesitate to use it again, if the need arose.

#19

I used Equithrive many years ago at the recommendation of my vet. My AO mare started to be a little late with the lead changes behind, and I noticed an improvement in general looseness and clean lead changes again after a relatively short time on it (a week or two, if I recall). I did switch her over to the SP supplement that has resveratrol, since the barn preferred pre-measured supplements. I think it’s not going to give you the same degree of improvement as Adequan, but in the case of my mare, it definitely made a difference.

#20

Here’s what I have learned, based on my two horses – 23+ and 25 years with separate and very different arthritis issues:

  1. 25 yr old diagnosed by vet with dry hocks – do t know what in the Hay he did to deserve that - no I don’t:(. The EquiThrive DOES seem to help him so I will keep him on it.

EquiThrive does list their studies on their website BTW:)

  1. Equi-Thrive did not do one thing for my other horse who has a fractured sacrum with horrible arthritis buildup, from a 2006 accident. Cosequin ASU has helped him immensely. I know this because I took him on/off twice due to him being insulin resistant and I was worried about the glucosamine in the Cosequin ASU.

The horse has been in IR remission since 2015 and the glucosamine does not appear to affect him so I put him back on it, a second time (after taking him off the Equi-Thrive). Sure enough within 48 hours I saw a notable difference to the good in his ability to move around. By “move around”, I mean how he gets up and how he turns around when he is in his stall:)

The IR horse still needed the chiropractor and some acupuncture but the Cosequin ASU works for him, while the EquiTheive seems to work nicely for the other horse with diagnosed dry hocks. Which, if I remember correctly, EquiThrive’s web site dos mention using it for dry hocks. I made need corrected on that.

All of this ^^^^^ is anecdotal but I do try to be as accurate as possible on my observations in case they might help someone else. I have learned a lot on this forum by reading anecdotal accounts of folks I deem credible:):slight_smile:

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