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Fwd: not drinking
Elayne
Some horses just seem to be better about drinking than others, but if you
have one (as I do) that isn't a "natural" at this, here are my thoughts:
With experience, the horse will get better about drinking when it is
available. Don't neglect to give him plenty of time. Sometimes riders
pull up to the water, wait 15 seconds, say "he's not drinking" and dash off.
Stop, get off, relax for a few minutes, try again .
The lytes definitely are important, especially if it's hot. Prep the horse
with one dose the night before, one dose the morning of the ride. On a
slow
25 miler, you might get by with just one more dose at the midpoint check and
one at completion, depending on temps and how he drinks. As you've
probably heard, it's not good to give them 'lytes in large quantities if they
don't drink.
You can teach the horse a verbal cue to drink. In my horse it's still not
100% but
it is getting better all the time. Every time you see him drink, at home,
on the trail, after a ride, whatever, say the cue. Use the same word/s and
same tone every time. I just started chanting it in a kind of sing song
voice whenever he drank. After a while, when we got to water, I would say
the cue, and he would lower his head, tho not drink. Now he pretty much
will
always put his nose in when I give the cue, and in about 75% of cases will
drink.
I'm sure more experienced riders than myself will reply, but this is working
at getting my horse better about drinking earlier in the ride.
pat farmer
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==Original Message===================================================
From Onefarmgirl@aol.com Thu Jul 6 17:22:52 2000
From: Onefarmgirl@aol.com
Subject: Re: RC: electrolytes
To: guest@endurance.net
Elayne
Some horses just seem to be better about drinking than others, but if you
have one (as I do) that isn't a "natural" at this, here are my thoughts:
With experience, the horse will get better about drinking when it is
available. Don't neglect to give him plenty of time. Sometimes riders
pull up to the water, wait 15 seconds, say "he's not drinking" and dash off.
Stop, get off, relax for a few minutes, try again .
The lytes definitely are important, especially if it's hot. Prep the horse
with one dose the night before, one dose the morning of the ride. On a slow
25 miler, you might get by with just one more dose at the midpoint check and
one at completion, depending on temps and how he drinks. It's not good to
give them 'lytes in large quantities if they don't drink.
You can teach the horse a verbal cue to drink. In my horse it's not 100% but
it is getting better all the time. Every time you see him drink, at home,
on the trail, after a ride, whatever, say the cue. Use the same word/s and
same tone every time. I just started chanting it in a kind of sing song
voice whenever he drank. After a while, when we got to water, I would say
the cue, and he would lower his head, tho not drink. Now he pretty much will
always put his nose in when I give the cue, and in about 75% of cases will
drink.
I'm sure more experienced riders than myself will reply, but this is working
at getting my horse better about drinking earlier in the ride
pat farmer
---- End included message ----
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