I did. Amigo and I had a dressage lesson in english tack. He did AMAZING. I was so proud of him! We nailed both our dressage tests and my trainer says once we get him more supple we can do our training level test. So excited. We show on the 17th, so we’ll be practicing non stop.

The vet came out today because Luna has been lame on her left hind for the last two weeks. When we buted her for two days, she was fine. So we knew it was inflammatory. The vet agreed that it was her left stifle.

Anyways…the fun part. Luna’s been lame for two weeks right? So she’s had time off, no work, kickin back. She was off, but not completly lame yesterday for the farrier. Then today, she’s 100% sound, trotting gorgeously and passed her flexion (barely! her hocks still were limited, but she didn’t trot up lame after). I was going crazy. The one day I had the vet out, she’s sound.

Anyways, the vet gave us two options. We could do adequan injections (7 loading doses, with monthly as needed after that) or spend $400 on each stifle. I was leaning towards the stifle injections, but the Adequan seemed like the most logical thing to do. This way it will help her overall, versus one isolated problem. So we started the Adequan injections, and she gets them every four days for a month. Then monthly/as needed.

The vet also said keep up with the supplement program I’m doing. And she gave us a work out plan. For the next two weeks I can walk her for 30 minutes, 5-10 trotting. Then after those two weeks I can double that. Then after those two weeks I can start canter work. I am so happy.

I haven’t met this vet from the practice, but she was AWESOME. I am definitely using her from now on.

Legit Q: What was the largest vet bill you’ve had, and what was it for? Mine today was $520. That was lameness, farm call and adequan.

My second expensive one was $340 something, for Luna’s teeth and spring stuff.

Then the $150 hock injections.

Gosh, I’ve only owned her for 4 months and I’ve already blown through all my vet funds..for like two years. Good thing I’m taking on a few other clients.

The best answer is by :
PaintHorseLover :
Congrats on your dressage lesson! I always wanted to try dressage with my old gelding but I never had the chance.

You will be pleased with the Adequan. It has worked for my horses like a miracle! It is really cheaper in the long run when you add up all the crazy supplements you would have tried. I have had my mare on it for about 2 months and it has already worked better than every supplement I had tried for a year.

I did not ride today because I just brought my mare back home from Paint World. We were 6th overall in Novice Youth Showmanship and 7th overall in Novice Youth Western Pleasure. We were 3rd overall in our prelims for both events. We had very nice patterns but we are not a pattern horse yet. We also had a nice hunter under saddle class but we are so totally not a hunt seat horse! I had also gone to Pinto World for 10 days about a week before, so my mare is totally pooped! I’m not going to ride her for about 2 weeks.

My most expensive vet bill was over the last year to save Bella’s eye. We had 3 different vets out. The first one decided it was conjunctivitis, and gave us a steroid to pour in. That made it worse, so we got our favorite vet out (we wanted her originally but she was booked so we settled for the crappy vet–bad mistake). She determined that my mare had viral keratitis–little tiny ulcerations all over her cornea. After pouring in viral ointments and putting an eye tube in it was deemed "healed." We took the eye tube out and the issues came back in an hour! We called a specialist out that had a hefty trip charge and a very opinionated diagnosis of auto immune mediated keratitis. After pouring in steroids in again for months everything went downhill when I let my half blind trainer giver her the eye meds. This ended up giving her a pseudomonis bacteria infection that almost melted her cornea off. She also got a fungal infection that needed medicine 8 times a day. We put another eye tube in, but this time it gave her a hematoma. She got 90 pills a day of antibiotics for this, which ended up giving her colitis. She didn’t eat for four days and we almost took her to MU. We finally cleared everything up with some probiotics and a closer eye on everything. Now Bella’s eye is the picture of health besides a 1mm scar on her right cornea. We keep a fly mask on 24/7 to protect her eye and we put a tiny bit of a NSAID liquid in her eye once a day. It took us 9 months and $8,000 to save her eye, but it was so totally worth it. Luckily we had insurance but we still had to pay about $2,000 out of pocket because insurance doesn’t cover trip charges.

She is almost 2 years old. She was a rescue. I have had her since 3 months. She also has a genetic joint disease which she has received Adequan shots for. Her last shot was 6 months ago and she has not had any signs of limping since.

She does not have the *strength* in her back hips and legs like she should because of this.

So, the question is: When do most APBTs who are sound in body usually show interest in the spring pole?

I feel good it is happening now but I am just curious when this normally starts. Thanks!!!
Erica: Your answer makes sense. Yes, my vet said it is okay but not to have it up so high she has to come completely off the ground. I have to have another 6 months with no signs of limping before I can raise it.

I know about the ‘prey drive’ thing. Thank you.

The following reply is by : Erica -}X{-Butterfly Kisses-}X{- :
That mostly depends on the dog itself, and the genetics behind the dog. If you have a straight game bred dog, with a high prey drive, chances are, it’ll catch on and take interest rather quickly. However, if you have a dog that isn’t as game as some APBT’s, it can take longer for the dog to take interest. If you play with her around the spring pole, encourage her when she does take interest in it, etc… she’ll catch on rather quickly. Keep in mind that these dogs have an almost NEED to please their owners, therefore letting her know you approve of this, etc… will help encourage her to use it.

In reference to her and the spring pole, as an example to show what I mean, I know many APBT owners that HAVE to separate their dogs, because of their drive, I also know many APBT owners that only separate their dogs (via crates usually) when they’re not home to supervise, as a cautionary note to avoid the chance of anything happening.

Another good example would be my pit bull. She’ll charge an adult squirrel (has literally pulled my stairs away from my house with me on them because she saw the squirrel before I did, and before I could give the "leave it" command, which she follows quite nicely by the way!), but wants to do nothing more then lick the baby squirrel we’re fostering/keeping. A lot of it, as is the case with Pixie, depends on the situation, too. Keep in mind that the APBT is a dog that was bred to have a high prey drive, as are most terriers. If the object doesn’t look like prey (such as with Pixie seeing a squirrel running across the yard, as opposed to her seeing me holding a baby squirrel), or if it doesn’t look like a challenge, or something that they think YOU would want them to go for, chances are, they wont give it much thought. (There is an exception here with APBT’s who are strongly dog aggressive, etc…). However, if it looks like prey, or like something you want them to do, they have a much better chance at paying attention to it, etc… If that makes any sense, lol, I know what I’m trying to say, I’m just not sure if it’s coming out right!

On a side note, have you talked to your vet about allowing her to be on the spring pole? With her not having the strength in her hind legs like she should, allowing her on the spring pole may be dangerous to her joints, etc… and it might not be a bad idea to check this with her vet just in case. Unless you already have and he’s cleared it, in which case I’ll shut up, lol

I was recently given a 15 year old Palomino from a friend. He’s a $30,000 team roping horse that performed at the highest level of competition. He has developed arthritis in one of his knees. So he was given to me as a trail horse. I’ve heard good things about adequan. I was told it could cost up to $1,000 for the treatment, but that it pretty much cures the arthritis. Is this true? And advice or help on the matter would be great. Thanks!

The answer is provided by :
gallop :
Nothing will cure the arthritis. But Adequan is about the best thing going in the way of treatment. It actually does improve the quality of joint cartilage which limits progression of arthritic changes, even though it can’t undo the changes in the underlying bone that are already permanent. What it can do is keep your horse capable of functioning and slow the progress of cartilage destruction in osteoarthritis. You will have to continue treatment in order to reap the benefits, but new treatments are being explored and who knows what might be available a year from now?

Hi,
first off let me say the horse is under vet care and basically the vet said it was my call which joint "medicine" to use.
the horse came sound, to me at 4 yrs old. that was 2 years ago.
his left hind stifle quickly became a big soundness issue.AFTER about 3 months off the track. once his body started to let down (i was riding him but it is not the same as race training) all the nasty little lameness started to show them selves. i dont know what drugs/anti inflamatory’s/ or medicines they had him on.
he was recovering from surgery to have knee chips removed from racing. it was 3months into his training to get back to racing when they finally threw in the towel and called me.
in any event he is a wonderful horse, and i have been working with a vet and acupuncturist to get him sound.
which would you recommend for this fella?
he is prone to all over body soreness, so i am leaning toward the adequan…but am not sure if it would fully address the stifle issue.
before going the route of injections i decided to try an herbal supplement.
got it from england…called "after ace".
it has devils claw in it which is a mild anti inflmatory. it also had some other herbs for tieing up syndrome which can be created by messed up joints and the horse compensating with other parts of his body.
by day 10 the horse was completely "freed up" is the only way i can describe it.
the down side to this product is that it is about 80 per month…plus you have to dose them in the mouth …because mixing it in food breaks it down and it doesnt do anything.
but it did work which tells me the horse can become more sound long term if i pick the right product.
sounds like the cortisone shot is NOT the way to go…and thank u so much for your answers so far!

The following reply is by : Ponygirl :
Cortisone is only a short term treatment. It is the best anti inflammatory out there, hands down. BUT it completely stops all remodeling of cartilage. A single cortisone shot was put in 5 horses knees, and after a year, a horse was sacrificed, and it was noted that the cartilage was in stasis. So each year for the next 4 years, a horse was sacrificed, and the single cortisone shot had shut down the cartilage such that at the cellular level, no cartilage had been made in 5 years. Vets were very surprised at this, and they do not know how long the process will be shut down since they ran out of horses.

In any case, a horse does a lot of moving around on his legs during that time.

Adequan, or even better, Legend is the same chemical makeup of the synovial fluid within the joints, and puts the joints and cartilage in a position to repair itself.

Adequan will take longer to work; about 3 months, and that is 5-6 shots, so quite costly, but there are no downsides except your wallet. Cortisone will give you short term success, is very cheap, but will shut down his repair and rebuilding system.

Go for the Adequan. Ask your vet about Legend; it is a second generation medication that has some advantages over Adequan, and when given with Rubella Vac or Ketophen, works very, very well body wide to help the horse heal.

Depending on what’s going on with the stifle, sometimes, you can have the vet inject Iodine into the lateral collateral ligament of the stifle to tighten it up. It works very well for some horses.

I have a mare that has been recently diagnosed with Navicular. I am wanting to hear feedback from people who have dealt with the same. She was taken to the Ocala Equine Hospital where x-rays were done with a full examination and she had her Bursa sac injected with cortisone and HA.

The doctor suggested I give her Adequan once a week and to follow up with a good shoeing program and joint supplement. I have been searching high and Low for the right supplement. He told me to ask around I am coming to each of you wanting to know what you have found to work best. He wants me to choose the supplement.

I don’t need anyone to respond that has not dealt first hand with this or who is going to be a smart ass. I took her to the vet and am doing what he suggested…

Thanks to everyone in advance that can and tries to help me…

The question was answered by :
burdfour :
Sounds like we are right in line with the situation you are in, but with my 18 year old gelding. My vets (Auburn University Large Animal Clinic) found very severe navicular changes in my horse. They only did a coffin joint injection, and did not do bursa, although it seemes to be wildly recommended online and by vets that I have confirred with. One vet agreed with Auburn’s decision NOT to do bursa injections because my horse’s case is so advanced.

On suppliments: My chiroprator recommended a suppliment called GLC 5500, I got it through SmartPac, I could by a one month supply with them, versus a three month supply from the manufacturer. This has only been about 3 days, so I don’t have anything to report yet. Figurola (?sp) labratories has a product called "Navicular Saver" that is supposed to be good, but my horse is too advanced in the problem for that. "Isoxoprin" increases blood flow to the hooves. It never helped my horse. We are also on "Previcox," a NSAID, for pain and inflamation.

What was OEH’s defination of "good shoeing program"? I know that the standard is wedges and rocker shoes, but my horse is already so upright that he can not stand wedges. We are padding him and handmaking rocker shoes. When they were first put on, he seemed to get immediate relief, but was lamer after a couple of days. Didn’t see him yesterday, or yet today.

Auburn has ordered Tildren from France for this horse. It is going to take 4 weeks to come in, and then he may have to say at Auburn for up to 2 weeks for the treatment. Google Tildren and you will get a lot of informtion on this new treatment. If the Tildren does not work we are already debating nerving this horse, he is that far advanced.

I would love to stay in contact with you, as we seem to be going through the same thing at the same time. It is very sad and stressful. Good luck to you.

Does anyone have a good source (other than SmartPack) for Adequan and Legend? I’m checking with the local vets to see how much they charge, plus I know someone that works for a vet that can order it directly from the supplier cheap, but does anyone have any other brilliant ideas about where to get it?

The answer is provided by :
drillfevergal_011 :
http://www.nextag.com/adequan-equine/stores-html

http://www.bullwrinkle.com/ShoppingPages/equine_legend_horses.htm

Hope this helps!

I have an 11 year old quarter horse gelding. A little over a year ago, he started having some issues with what we thought was founder. He would be very stiff and not moving around very well, but it seemed to move from hoof to hoof. We pulled him off the pasture and put him on a dry lot so we could better monitor his feedings, and he lost quite a bit of weight (he has always been a stocky horse- not fat, just big). Some days he would be better and other days he was worse. Finally, it seemed to settle into his front right hoof. We called one vet and he said it looked like founder, but he didn’t perform a thorough examination. He gave us some bute tabs to give to the horse and we followed his instructions. About a month later, there was no change so we contacted another vet. She came and looked at him and really checked him out and said she felt like it was either arthritis or ring bone, but didn’t think it was founder, as his hooves still looked healthy. Her farrier/trainer did some corrective trimming to try and ease the pain for the horse, but that didn’t seem to help. The farrier said that he was certain it wasn’t founder. He recommended we try the Adequan shots, which we did, but they didn’t help.

He is barely getting around now, and in the mornings he acts like he doesn’t want to move at all. He gets led around the pasture a couple of times every morning to try to loosen his joints up, but that hasn’t been helping either. Keeping him on bute all the time just isn’t healthy for him.

Has anyone else had a horse with this problem? We have talked to several different trainers and breeders and none of them have ever had a horse with problems like this one without it being obvious what was wrong. Thanks in advance.

This is was answered by :
charm :
Possible suggestions would be some sort of Rheumatism, OCD, or Cushings disease. He’s actually at about the right age for Cushings, so it might be a good idea to check into that.

The traveling lameness suggests to me that it is something systemic, and not just a problem with his hooves. Might be time for some bloodwork.

I have a 5 y.o. 1/2 TB mare who has some spurring on both front sesamoid bones that causes joint inflammation and discomfort when consistently worked.

The equine specialist that diagnosed her recommended placing her on a wedge shoe and starting her on Adequan injections. My "regular" vet is ok with the wedge shoe but feels I should start the mare on an oral joint supplement like Grand Flex, Figuerola’s Joint Saver, etc. instead of the injectable Adequan. If, and only if, the oral supplements don’t work, then she would recommend going with the Adequan.

She tells me that vets are finding now that horses are developing allergies to the proteins in Adequan. From what she said, these are horses that had taken Adequan without prior issue for multiple years.

Has anyone else heard of allergy development related to long-term Adequan administration?
*I* am not having allergic issues. The question was related to reports of HORSES developing an allergy to the medication, Adequan, when given to them consistently over a multiple year period.
I know that animals, people, etc. can develop allergies at any time - even to medicines they’ve taken or foods they’ve eaten before. The reason I asked the question is that my vet led me to believe that there was an inordinate number of late-term allergic reactions now being reported. A small percentage is to be expected, but the vet insinuated that it was a growing and significant problem that might indicate we shouldn’t go that route.

The question was answered by :
HorsemanshipQueen :
We have a few horses on Adequan, and have never, ever had a problem with it (and this is like 10+ years).

I would ask a different vet about giving a combination of Adequan/Legend. We’ve found it works wonders for those horses needing a little extra help.

The following reply is by : AmandaL :
Around here, Adequan is $45 a bottle (one shot). Legend is $90. It’s not cheap, but it works. Our vet recommends using Adequan every week for the first month and Legend every other week for the first month then going down from there.

This is was answered by :
AmandaL :
Around here, Adequan is $45 a bottle (one shot). Legend is $90. It’s not cheap, but it works. Our vet recommends using Adequan every week for the first month and Legend every other week for the first month then going down from there.