Here is another "problem" as I see it. Why
would you add grain to a horse that is having stomach problems already? Grains
are very hard for the horse to digest, seems to me that by giving the horse oats
or any other form of grain would only complicate the already compromised
gut.
The more that I research the nutritional arena
of horses, the more I am convinced that we are killing our horses with
kindness.
I have stopped feeding my sport horses any type
of grains before during or right after an event. Instead they get a nice slurry
of Stabalized Rice Bran, Horse Guard Vitamins and Minerals. The Rice
Bran being the conductor of fat which equals energy and stays in the system
longer and is easy for them to metabolize.
I have suggested that someone do a reasearch on
what the horses that are having major problems and even death were eating
before, during and after the rides and also the amount of
elytes.
Maybe I am all wet here, but I don't think so.
I think we need some data on the beginning horses in endurance before all this
elyting and carbs were made to be the "in thing" to the present and how the
feeding and metabolic problems have evolved.
From all the research that I have been doing,
and that is constant for the past eight months when I was having my problems
with colic, I can tell you that LESS is better.
I have yet to do a fifty, that will start next
year, but after Gene Nance's informative and thought provoking talk at Bandit
Springs, I do not elyte my horses for a 25 or 30 miler any longer. I do not
elyte for the ride over to an event, even if it means a 5-6 hour ride, nor do I
when we get there, or before we leave to ride back.
I found that I had problems when I gave the
elytes, and no problems with not giving them. As Gene said, we cannot supplement
elytes to totally replenish what the horses have lost.
If I were to give elytes to a horse, it would
be a half dose in Maalox and only if I really felt the horse was in need of such
supplementing, always weighing the pros and cons of the
electrolyte.
In your's, and other's, experience, how MUCH e'lytes are supplied in
grain and hay? Am I understanding you correctly -- I should add my 2 oz
of e'lytes to grain or mash at rides? As long as my horse is "racing"
within his ability on that day, I'm ok in dousing him with 2 oz of e'lytes
plus what he gets in the food he eates?
This is a very interesting thread. Many horses in all disciplines
will benefit from this. Darolyn, I'm SO sorry we've had to learn through
your tradegy. Thank you for having enough character to share your
insights with us. You were a wonderful caregiver to Adios and he
was a fortunate horse to have you in his life. I know he loved
endurance!
Heidi Smith
<heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Large concentrated boluses of e-lytes are
NOT a normal thing for the GI tract to handle, and repeated doses to an
increasingly-compromised gut will, in my opinion and experience, make things
worse instead of better. If the horse NEEDS the e-lytes that
drastically, then he needs to stop long enough to consume them in food, or
needs to stop altogether and have IV
intervention.
Susan Young Casey,
Princess of Pink; secretary, RRRSA Semper Obliquo (Always aside)
Glenndale Grace Farm, Ft Gibson, Oklahoma U.S.A.
"Ride on!
Rough-shod if need be, smooth-shod if that will do, but ride on! Ride on over
all obstacles, and win the race!" - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
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