Re: post ride metabolic crash -long

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> Might the bran mash with its high P level have tied up whatever free
Calcium
> the horse had left?   Or was the sudden crash just what was impending
related
> to a post-ride colic?

No, I don't think the bran mash had much to do with it, and certainly didn't
affect serum calcium levels.  At most, the phosphorus content only would
have reduced the amount of calcium the horse might have been able to absorb
from the GI tract.  Certainly this horse had dehydration and electrolyte
deficiency issues, but calcium was probably a very minor factor, if a factor
at all.  My very general guess is that it was all related to excessive heat
and inability to dissipate it well enough, dehydration and ischemia (lack of
adequate blood flow) secondary to the dehydration, and electrolyte
depletion.  Poor guy was definitely shocky as well.

The only thing nutritionally related that *might* have been an issue is how
much he ate.  You mentioned he was a little crampy, etc, but then ate a nice
big bran mash.  If he hadn't had a big drink yet, and hadn't had anything to
eat for hours prior to that, then what happens is that the body moves a
large volume of fluids from the blood into the GI tract in the form of
saliva, gastric juices, etc.  It can be liters and liters of fluids, and
while that fluid will eventually move back from the GI tract into the blood,
during the interim, you've still effectively moved a significant amount of
fluid out of the circulation.  If the horse was already significantly
dehydrated (which it sounds like he was), then feeding him a big meal
(instead of a few bites, then wait for him to have a good drink plus some
electrolytes, then a little more food) was what moved enough fluid that he
crashed a few hours later (just about the time that a bunch of fluid was
leaving the plasma to move into the GI tract).

So my guess would be that there were alot of factors that all added up for
the poor guy, and the last straw was pigging out on a big meal when he
didn't have the fluid reserves to handle it.  It didn't make any difference
what the food was, any feed type that would require alot of saliva to
process would have done the same thing, some more than others.  Had he just
had a nibble here and there plus a drink and electrolytes, it's less likely
he would have crashed.

Would love to have seen chem panel and urinalysis on him.  Hope he's okay,
his muscles and kidneys have taken a good hit.

Susan G