Re: RC: ouchies and electrolytes

[Dbeverly4@aol.com]

Hi Julie!  I'm impressed that you could stitch your horse's wound yourself!  
Without seeing it though, I can't hazard a guess as to whether it needs 
stitching or not.  Hopefully one of the vet types on RC will have some good 
advice.

Regarding electrolytes:  I put them in my horses' feed (some pellets and a 
bit of Complete Advantage), just sprinkle over the top and they munch them 
right down.  I personally prefer not to put them in water because its harder 
that way to see exactly how much they're getting and most horses would prefer 
clear water (want to get as much H2o in there as possible.)  During the 
summer months and when I'm conditioning pretty hard I put a scoop in a.m. and 
p.m. feedings (if they're worked that day).  They have salt blocks, plus free 
choice loose Redmond (sp) salt that they can lick as they please. 
Interestingly, the 2 year old seems to eat the most salt.  But then he's not 
being worked and I only throw him a dose of electrolytes now and then just to 
help him get used to eating them.  About 20 years ago I had my horse boarded 
at a fairly fancy hunter/jumper barn in Minnesota.  One of the horses there 
developed what turned out to be a severe electrolyte imbalance (few people 
knew about supplementing the stuff then).  The horse eventually died from 
what I understood was heart damage related to the imbalance.  Very scary 
stuff.  Definitely made an impression on me.  I still didn't really learn 
about electrolytes until 10 years later when I started distance riding -- 
then that experience sort of clicked in place for me.  Good luck with Alpine 
-- he sounds like a good boy :)

Sylvia (I like Pepsi too)