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[RC] Pan Am Environment issues - EventXCHi all, after many months of lurking, I have decided to chime in a bit about the issue on drinking, gi function etc. I was at the Pan Ams with the Mountain Zone team and was at all of the vet checks as a rider crew person and vet. I saw Darolyn's horse come into the vet check where she had problems and she was not exaggerating when she said the poor guy was uncomfortable. My condolences to her over her loss. My husband is a high-time, professional pilot and accident investigator and, for fun, I like to read his NTSB accident reports (weird but true). Inevitably, there is never a single cause to an accident, but rather, the proverbial chain of events. Some factors have more influence, but with most of them, if one or two had been altered or recognized as the early warning signs they were, then the accident could have been averted. Sometimes, as those of us with competition horses know, there are false alarms. (BTW, I no longer do endurance, but have switched to the much safer discipline of 3 Day Eventing). However, every situation is different and what might have appeared to be a false alarm before, may have only been so because one of the body's safety systems may have caught and resolved the problem or the threshhold of danger was almost but not quite exceeded. My left brain makes me evaluate equine competitive misfortunes, injuries or accidents similar to aircraft accidents. All possible factors or warnings are reviewed and evaluated as to their importance. Darolyn has discussed the factors associated with stomach overfill...but let's go further. Why would the stomach overfill besides just putting more in? Anything that would delay emptying. Here are two other factors with Adios for everyone to think about and where they could have played parts in this particular incident. If we learn from what Adios has to teach us all about competitive horses then his loss leaves behind something of value that could help others. A team discussion on this guarantees that all factors are considered and, who knows, perhaps one of those things might stick enough someone's brain to allow it to pop up when it might be crucial in a future situation. First, altitude change. A few days at a higher altitude is not enough to fully acclimate. Granted, this wasn't Everest, but nevertheless, we are dealing with tissues at maximum performance that need every molecule of oxygen. In a race, the gut muscles of our amazing herbivore, must share that load with skeletal muscles, brain and heart. Does every animal prioritize oxygen consumption the same way? If they did then they would all perform alike and what would be the point of a race. Decreased oxygen available to the gut muscles could have caused them to slow down and function less efficiently. Consideration of your horse's ability or inability to compensate for ambient oxygen load must be considered when pacing yourself or determining nutrient and electrolyte consumption. Second, mental state. Darolyn stated in her letter that Adios was very concerned a few days before the ride that his buddies had been separated from him. In fact, she stated that he had been VERY concerned, by that I interpret that he had been very vocal and agitated. Not unheard of in our herd animals. That state of agitation leads to very strong physiologic actions, such as the release of various hormones and chemicals from the adrenal glands and other tissues. The 'fight or flight' or sympathetic chemicals released in that state gear the body up for survival, and eating isn't one of those things needed while running from the tiger. Therefore, the oxygen supply to the gut is rerouted to more important things and motility is not only slowed due to that, but also due to direct chemical signals telling the muscles to decrease activity. Also, recent human research shows that the neuropeptide mediators of emotion have direct physiologic functions as well and the gut is one of the largest source of neuropeptide receptors (see Candace Pert, Molecules of Emotion). These stressors may take a few days to rebalance and fully resolve. Therefore, the EMOTIONAL response of Adios to being alone could in and of itself changed gut function (perhaps that is my problem before my dressage test). Now if Adios had been at home, probably nothing would have come of this emotional stress, but a few days later additional stresses were placed on his body and, perhaps, this fretful incident deprived his body of some of its reseliency to handle the difficult situations ecountered on such a demanding ride. Sooo, what does this mean? As endurance riders, many factors go into play to make an endurance team successful. Experienced riders take in the information on the status of their mount constantly (sometimes at a subconcious level) throughout a tough ride. How that information is interpreted for appropriate action depends on how you mentally set parameters and threshholds in the outset of a ride. In otherwords, what are you going to be worried about? We all do this threshhold setting whether we realize it or not. You right brainers (a term not to be taken negatively) call this intuition. By reflecting beforehand on the little things that could be tiny warning bells, a good rider is not panicking, but rather setting the level of concern for those particular and unique environmental conditions. If I take my horse who grew up and is conditioned in the Rocky Mtns and haul him to a ride in the Sierra Nevadas, I am not going to be as concerned about some things as I would be if I took him to Texas where the humidity and heat is not only greater but unfamiliar to my four-legged organism's rebalancing systems (homeostasis). I think (and hope) everyone understands what I am getting at. The big thing is to recognize potential factors and address them if you can before the race starts. Altitude? Not much you can do about that other than not do rides at altitude if your horse isn't used to it or give more acclimation time (if possible with your boss at your REAL job). Mental state? Before check in, there's alot that can be done, but (as per my bias) mostly with alternative therapies - if you use them. Flower essences, herbs, homeopathic remedies, acupuncture can all calm an anxious animal down and return him/her to physiologic balance quicker. Most of these adjuncts are usable right before a ride check-in and some after. No doubt there were several factors involved in poor Adios' case. I hope Darolyn doesn't woulda-shoulda-coulda herself into sleepless nights. However, once the empty stall is cleaned and the tears wiped, we should all reflect on close calls we have had with our own animals and consider all the possible 'what ifs'. It is best to make decisions about the 'what ifs' at home in bed so, if and when something happens at a ride, the decision making is in familiar territory and possibly easier. Kim Henneman, DVM Park City Utah USA Holistic vet, sometime pilot, baggy-eyed endurance crew person and yahoo event rider (and yes, dressage can be fun!) --- Begin Message ---Hi all, after many months of lurking, I have decided to chime in a bit about the issue on drinking, gi function etc. I was at the Pan Ams with the Mountain Zone team and was at all of the vet checks as a rider crew person and vet. I saw Darolyn's horse come into the vet check where she had problems and she was not exaggerating when she said the poor guy was uncomfortable. My condolences to her over her loss. My husband is a high-time, professional pilot and accident investigator and, for fun, I like to read his NTSB accident reports. Inevitably, there is never a single cause to an accident, but rather, the proverbial chain of events. Some factors have more influence, but with most of them, if one or two had been altered or recognized as the early warning signs they were, then the accident could have been averted. Sometimes, as those of us with competition horses know, there are false alarms. (BTW, I no longer do endurance, but have switched to the much safer discipline of 3 Day Eventing). However, every situation is different and what might have appeared to be a false alarm before, may have only been so because one of the body's safety systems may have caught and resolved the problem or the threshhold of danger was almost but not quite exceeded. My left brain makes me evaluate equine competitive misfortunes, injuries or accidents similar to aircraft accidents. All possible factors or warnings should be reviewed and evaluated as to their importance. Darolyn has discussed the factors associated with stomach overfill...but let's go further. Why would the stomach overfill besides just putting more in? Anything that would delay emptying. Here are two other factors with Adios that must be considered for everyone to think about and where they could have played parts in this particular incident. If we learn from what Adios has to teach us all about competitive horses then his loss leaves behind something of value that could help others. A team discussion on this guarantees that all factors are considered and, who knows, perhaps one of those things might stick enough someone's brain to allow it to pop up when it might be crucial in a future situation. First, altitude change. A few days at a higher altitude is not enough to fully acclimate. Granted, this wasn't Everest, but nevertheless, we are dealing with tissues at maximum performance that need every molecule of oxygen. In a race, the gut muscles of our amazing herbivore, must share that load with skeletal muscles, brain and heart. Does every animal prioritize oxygen consumption the same way? If they did then they would all perform alike. Decreased oxygen available to the gut muscles could have caused them to slow down and function less efficiently. Consideration of your horse's ability or inability to compensate for ambient oxygen load must be considered when pacing yourself or determining nutrient and electrolyte consumption. Second, mental state. Darolyn stated in her letter that Adios was very concerned a few days before the ride that his buddies had been separated from him. In fact, she stated that he had been VERY concerned, by that I interpret that he had been very vocal and agitated. Not unheard of in our herd animals. That state of agitation leads to very strong physiologic actions, such as the release of various hormones and chemicals from the adrenal glands and other tissues. The 'fight or flight' or sympathetic chemicals released in that state gear the body up for survival, and eating isn't one of those things needed while running from the tiger. Therefore, the oxygen supply to the gut is rerouted to more important things and motility is not only slowed due to that, but also due to direct chemical signals telling the muscles to decrease activity. Also, recent human research shows that the neuropeptide mediators of emotion have direct physiologic functions as well and the gut is one of the largest source of neuropeptide receptors (see Candace Pert, Molecules of Emotion). Therefore, the EMOTIONAL response of Adios to be alone could in and of themselves changed gut function (perhaps that is my problem before my dressage test). Sooo, what does this mean? As endurance riders, many factors go into play to make an endurance team successful. Experienced riders take in the information on the status of their mount constantly (sometimes at a subconcious level) throughout a tough ride. How that information is interpreted for appropriate action depends on how you mentally set parameters and threshholds in the outset of a ride. In othewords, what are you going to be worried about? We all do this threshhold setting whether we realize it or not. You right brainers (a term not to be taken negatively) call this intuition. By reflecting beforehand on the little things that could be tiny warning bells, a good rider is not panicking, but rather setting the level of concern for those particular and unique environmental conditions. If I take my horse who grew up and is conditioned in the Rocky Mtns and haul him to a ride in the Sierra Nevadas, I am not going to be as concerned about some things as I would be if I took him to Texas where the humidity and heat is not only greater but unfamiliar to my four-legged organism's rebalancing systems (homeostasis). I think (and hope) everyone understands what I am getting at. The big thing is recognize potential factors and address them if you can before the race starts. Altitude? Not much you can do about that other than not do rides at altitude if your horse isn't used to it or give more acclimation time (if possible with your boss at your REAL job). Mental state? Before check in, there's alot that can be done, but (as per my bias) mostly with alternative therapies - if you use them. Flower essences, herbs, homeopathic remedies, acupuncture can all calm an anxious animal down and return him/her to physiologic balance quicker. Most of these adjuncts are usable right before a ride check-in and some after. No doubt there were several factors involved in poor Adios' case. I hope Darolyn doesn't woulda-shoulda-coulda herself into sleepless nights. However, once the empty stall is cleaned and the tears wiped, we should all reflect on close calls we have had with our own animals and consider all the possible 'what ifs'. It is best to make decisions about the 'what ifs' at home in bed so, if and when something happens at a ride, the decision making is familiar territory. Kim Henneman, DVM Park City Utah USA Holistic vet, sometime pilot, baggy-eyed endurance crew person and yahoo event rider (and yes, dressage can be fun!)
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