Adequan does have some quick acting effects. I think administering Adequan and Legend to the horses is not that concerning.
From the manufacturer’s website
Once injected, peak levels of Adequan i.m. in the joints are achieved within two hours. Hyaluronic acid (HA) levels nearly double at 48 hours with significant increases noted from 24 up to 96 hours. Clinical significance of these results is unknown.
Agreed. It’s quite common to give Adequan on the Friday of a show weekend.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing that and further educating on how these meds can be used. I’ve used adequan on a set schedule for longer term impact/support, and Legend for more targeted performance support in the period leading up to competition.
Adequan given every Friday the horse shows? Legend daily during shows? Good God. Maybe I’m just a nobody Amateur, but I’d retire Pookie to the pasture if that’s what it took to keep my horse sound so I could ride him at shows. I am just horrified that the frequency of injections in competition horses is no big deal.
The dosage schedule for Adequan is 1 dose every 4 days for 7 total doses.
Legend dosage is 1 dose once a week for 3 total doses.
Any other dosage schedule is off label use that has no research behind it. Even though people frequently use these medications in other manners.
I keep forgetting to mention that Traumeel is indeed available in injectable form, though it is not licensed for horses to my knowledge.
I do know that some folks use it in aquapuncture treatments, though.
The Adequan/Legend cocktal is one that i’ve known plenty of performance horses to have received. I’ve ridden plenty that have had it.
I still think this was a case of a bad IV stick rather than the substances themselves. I’ve observed horses practically flip over in pain when it’s been done wrong in the tents. It is something that is extremely painful and can easily be fatal. This is tragic on so many levels and it certainly stinks of a cover-up so that we’re not scrutinizing the vet team going into an Olympic summer.
My old boss played in the NHL for the Maple Leafs. His elbow bone was basically cheese from getting injected non stop when he played. He had to have it replaced due to the long term damage. Seems like sadly the norm for all athletes at the top.
I don’t think it is wrong to use a lot of Adequan. I give my 17 year old Hunter loading doses every 3-4 months. It is IM and has been proven to help joints. I think it is better than doing nothing and then injecting several joints. I wish there was Adequan for humans!
But humans have the ability to be in control of what goes into their bodies. Horses do not.
I give Adequan as well, following the label directions. I’m not giving it every Friday.
Again, speaking in generalities, a DVM as a doctoral degree is pretty much a North American invention and isn’t an indicator of the quality of the educational program. In the UK and most commonwealth countries, both human and vet med are undergraduate degrees. UK vets generally get a BVM&S, for example, not a DVM. We colloquially call them “doctor” but they technically don’t have a doctorate degree.
To practice in the USA, a vet needs to either graduate from an AVMA COE accredited school or pass an equivalency exam called the ECFVG. In addition to the US and Canada, there are accredited schools in the Caribbean, Europe/UK, Ireland, Mexico, Korea, and Australia/New Zealand.
I don’t think people are giving Legend and Adequan at the show to make a lame horse sound. They’re doing it to try to offset some of the wear and tear and give extra support at shows. But it won’t hide lameness, which is why I would prefer my horse get that than an NSAID. Also easier on the stomach.
Mine get 7 shots of Adequann every four days biannually. But they also get Legend once each week of showing. That feels reasonable to me, and supported by the science as well.
I think it is hard to see how generous these upper level horses are and not want to help them in any small way. The FEI is pretty stringent on medications so the fact that you can give Adequan and Legend speaks to the fact they will not cover up pain. I agree that most of these incredible horses would benefit most from more time off, but that’s kind of another topic.
I mentioned Legend being given BEFORE shows. But just to be clear, I am not saying every day. I’m aware of owners of teenaged eventers and other performance horses that jump who do a standard Adequan protocol every 4 - 6 months, and use a single dose of Legend a few times a year in the days before a show for specific support. This is not necessarily enough targeted medication to make a lame horse sound. It is a standard supportive protocol for middle aged horses who are jumping, however.
Yet both drugs are being used off label with no research that the frequency is beneficial (or not harmful). Anecdotal evidence does not count.
Didn’t frequent Adequan injections come up with the 9-tube Perfect Prep Palooza H/J lawsuit several years back?
The drugs HAVE been proven to be relatively benign if dosed more often than labeled. Not likely to hurt, might help. You’d have to get some serious volume into the horse to hit toxicity levels.
If you read the posts several other posts have stated that the Injection regiment I mention is normal.
I am responding to those posts, not yours.
“Not unusual”, not necessarily so normal that everyone is doing it.
@enjoytheride I have to ask, have you ever used Previcox for a horse? That’s an example of a super common “off-label” use of a drug that is unlikely to be harmful (if done under veterinary supervision, of course).
The “off label” use of a drug raises some flags but is not exactly a hill I’d die on without nuance. The use of a drug PROVEN to cause anaphylaxis, when the supposed benefit is minimal and does not outweigh the risk, IS a problem.
I’m sure the intentions are good, but the risk/benefit ratio isn’t favorable. The likelihood of this outcome might be very low, but it isn’t zero. Anaphylaxis is a known side effect of injectable E/Se and giving meds off label in a cocktail may have risks that aren’t described in the literature. The benefits of this treatment are untested but probably dubious at best given that it’s not treating any specific deficiency but just being used for “recovery.”
Of course, vet med doesn’t have the luxury of all the research funding that human medicine has, so as a result it can be difficult to stick to pure evidence-based medicine. But if you’re starting with a completely healthy horse and using non-evidence-based treatments in pursuit of some vague benefit like “faster recovery,” they should at least be things that are not likely to cause actual harm. Most supplements fall into this category and probably don’t work and only create expensive pee, but at least don’t harm anything but the owner’s wallet. But giving a random cocktail of off-label drugs IV to a healthy horse, in a stabling? Hell no.
There is a way-too-prevalent mentality these days that proper care of horses means giving them “maintenance” in the form of injections, alternative therapies, chiropractic etc and most of these things aren’t based in any actual evidence at all. Horses aren’t cars. Horses’ bodies actually do quite well with proper nutrition, turnout, and proper training, and no injection or “bodywork” is a replacement for any of those things.
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