Re: RC: Tieing up

[Tivers@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/18/00 2:22:03 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
hn.heather@wanadoo.fr writes:

<< -  Are heavily muscled horses more prone to this sort of problem (I know 
this sounds like a dumb question......)
 -  I possibly didn't warm her up sufficiently on this occasions, normally I 
walk for 15-20 mins.  Could this have caused the attack?
 -  Have been experimenting with 4-point shoeing which doesn't seem really to 
be working for this mare.  Puffy feltock joints after training.  Now re-shod 
normally but this could anticipation of continual joint discomfort have 
caused an attack? >>


1) Maybe. In humans there is a condition called "compartmental syndrome". 
This occurs when the muscle swells faster than the fascia enclosing 
it--usually due to trauma. In this case, the muscle is squeezed upon itself, 
circulation is lost, and massive muscle cell death occurs. The kind of tying 
up you're describing here directly parallels that human pathology. 

2) Actually, when we've had horses in the "syndrome" (tying up everyday) one 
of the ways we used to use to break out of it was no warmup at all--going 
right to hard work with no warmup. This was often successful.

3) Discomfort due to shoeing or other causes might play a part. But the real 
cause appears to be incosistent daily workload--the fitter they get, the more 
youmust ensure daily draw-down of muscle glycogen.

ti