Does anyone have an opinion on Cosequin ASU vs other oral supplemenst and Adequan vs pentason?
Though I have my dressage horse on Adequan, I’d be hard pressed to say whether or not it really does anything. Have not tried pentason…
I am a firm believer that most oral supplements do nothing - at least w/ respect to joints. Probio - maybe, electrolytes, yes probably.
One person’s opinion.
If you’re goin to go with cosequin, I’m not sure the ASU is worth the price difference. It has been show to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in rats, but in an admittedly quick article search I was unable to find any research in horses. That said, I am skeptical of the value of oral joint supplements in general. Something that gets to the joint in an undigested state is likely to be more beneficial and a better use of your money.
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Any suggestions?
There is definitely not a lot of good supporting research out there for oral joint supplements. So, it makes it hard to bite the bullet for a pricier one like Cosequin.
I would look carefully at the breakdown of individual elements to decide which feed through is actually giving you what you need. Hyaluronic Acid has more research behind it than a lot of other joint products, but you need 100-250 mg in order for it to do anything and a lot of supplements don’t have that much in it, so then it’s just a waste.
This article is helpful in breaking down different compounds in joint supplements and how much you would need to make any difference at all:
https://cavaloruniversity.com/joint-supplements-do-they-really-work/
I’d use the compare tool on Smartpak’s website to compare doses of the things you want and find the lowest cost option.
I currently use a feed through joint supplement, but I’m using it to prevent future issues, not to treat current ones, so I’m willing to spend the money on what might be only marginal support towards keeping joints healthy for the long term. But if there was an acute or current problem, I would go straight to something I could inject.
As for injectables, Pentosan is the most affordable. I know some horses have had reactions to it and my vet seems to think reactions to Pentosan are more common than reactions to adequan or legend but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good option for the horses who don’t have any side effects. I haven’t used it personally. The only injectable i’ve really seen make a huge difference was legend. But it’s not as if I tried all the other options on that horse–it’s just the only time I’ve seen an undeniable difference. Granted, legend is expensive and can be even more expensive if you need to call a vet out to do the IV injection.
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When I was still showing my older horse, I tried Adequan, Legend and Pentosan. Adequan didn’t seem to do a lot for him, but I saw a noticeable improvement with Pentosan given monthly. I used Legend at shows, and while it didn’t last very long, for 3 days or so, he was REALLY super. In fact, once I was showing on the big outside course at Fairfield - I had done the little warm up class the day before and he was perfect. I kicked up to the first fence, had a fabulous feeling in the air… and then my nice quiet made hunter landed, put his head between his knees, squealed and took me on a huge gallop which took me about five minutes to regain control of. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off, and the look on my trainer’s face was priceless. When I finally managed to get him down to a trot and left the course, she said, “Next time, HALF THE DOSE!” LOL.
I am already using Pentosan, and have been for quite some time. He was just injected with pro stride. I am looking to try and make the injections last as long as possible. I also have been using a feed through joint supplement for years. Cannot say if it did anything or not. I have to throw good money after bad. and I am looking for something to keep him comfy
There was a study done on oral joint supplements that concluded that horses absorb about 6-10% of what they are fed. I found another supplement called GLC5500Max that has an ingredient that allows the body to absorb around 63%. Because of this ingredient, you can’t feed the supplement at the same time as some prescription medicine because it will increase the half life of the medicine.
I had one horse who did great on GLC5500Max and Pentosan.
My current horse has been given Pentosan, Legend, and Adequan. I didn’t see any difference with Pentosan or Legend. I haven’t ridden my horse since the Adequan injections and he is now on Equixx so I can’t give an opinion on Adequan for him.
I’ve also given him GLC5500max and Cosequin ASU. Never showed anything amazing but he didn’t worsen either.
For what it is worth, he is 23 and was doing 4th level last year.
Moving forward with future horses, I plan to do IA injections and use IM injections then oral supplements to support the horse, if I found the IA injections weren’t enough. The cost of a monthly oral supplement is pretty close to a yearly IA injection.
We have been using 12,000 of MSM and this article confirmed it is helpful.
I am not a huge fan of throwing supplements at horses either, but I truly have had wonderful results with Recovery EQ. I tried to switch to a SmartPak version and the difference was very noticeable for a gelding who has needed annual (or more) hock injections since he was 6 (now 16 and still winning the hack as well as OF). We’ve added it to a number of horses in our barn and it is remarkable.
Recovery EQ for arthritis? I thought it was for back pain? Interesting…
I know the oral work at relatively high doses, as it masked almost completely a wobblers horse, who after removing the supplements he was on, in two days could barely walk out the door of his stall. We had been rehabbing him from a tendon injury which was the reason for the supplements to begin with. He tripped repeatedly the first time a rider got on during the rehab and having seen wobblers/ataxia before that was my suspicion, and removing the supplements confirmed it.
@ivy62 is the pro-stride not working? I’ve never used it - but a few close friends are saying it has worked really well for their horses with neck arthritis…
I have a horse that had some weird lameness issues. Extensive diagnostics couldn’t pinpoint it. At the suggestion of my chiropractor I have added Actistatin. So far it has been worth keeping him on the Actistatin.
Pentosan was not doing anything for my other horse.
beowulf. the prostride worked really until about month 10… now we are starting all over with it. I am seeking additional methods to maybe make it last longer
Have had great results with Adequan, no luck with Cosequin ASU. Currently using Lubrisyn Plus (liquid oral HA) and seems to be going well. Main goal is cushioning the joints, keeping inflammation down, and reducing joint injections.
How long did it take for the lubrisyn plus to work?
