Adequan for Axel

Been doing a little research to prepare for next week's vet appointment. I plan have Axel's knees xrayed as well as his back legs where the ringbone is. Assuming his knees are just arthritic then I'm thinking we might try Adequan. From what I read it has some pretty good results. If we do the month of loading and then inject once every three months or so (since he's not ridden more than twice a week) the daily cost of the Adequan is cheaper than the 4-in-1 feed through supplement he was getting. The second year would be pennies per day. The IM injection would be easy for me to give and then we'd know that he got it all. The feed through is a bit more of a hassle of course, who knows what horse ends up eating it.

I'm actually very excited about this idea as Axel has been notoriously stiff in his movements from the moment I bought him. He's improved quite a bit with exercise but I wonder if arthritis is holding him back. I'll have to make some before/during/after videos of him to see if there are any overall changes. If this stuff works as well as some of the testimonials I've heard I could have a whole new horse on my hands, which could also mean a harder to handle horse ;) I'd guess that it's easier to rein in a horse that feels good than it is trying to get a cranky horse to cooperate.

His ringbone shouldn't be affected by the Adequan so I think I might talk to the vet about getting some Surpass for that. It's a topical NSAID that's supposed to work pretty well. It would be way easier to apply than trying to get him to eat Bute and it's not as bad on the stomach since it's topical. I could use that either when we ride or when he ends up kicking himself lame. And if I get around to making the ankle boots for him I can hopefully minimize the impact of him kicking himself.

Keep your fingers crossed. Axel is way too young to have all these issues and way too loveable to be in such a bad mood all the time.