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Re: [RC] tying up question (long) - Susan GarlinghouseThe first thought that came to my mind was 'selenium deficiency'. How much are your horses getting with your current ration? Susan Garlinghouse DVM ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Maggie" <maggieszoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, October 06, 2003 11:43 AM Subject: [RC] tying up question (long) OK Heidi, Susan G, and other vet-type folks: This past weekend we took four of our horses to a competitive trail ride in northeast Indiana. The trail was 12 1/2 miles long (done twice) and was mostly flat with some short hills and some mud. Weather was rain the night before, temps in the 60's during the day. We drove about 5 1/2 hours to get there and had about 14 hours from the time we got there until we went out on trail. David and I rode on day one. David is a heavy heavyweight rider. His horse is 3/4 arab, 1/4 ASB. Shadow has been doing novice rides all summer, but mostly with lighter riders. Most recently two weeks ago in a challenging, fast 25 CTR. David does most of the training at home, though. I am on the line between middle and heavyweight. Lily has been competing all summer also, most recently last weekend in a very tough 30 in Kentucky. We've never had a problem with her metabolically in almost 10 years. Both horses cruised through the first 12 1/2 mile loop acting like they hadn't been out. Shadow is somewhat slow on the steeper hills, but we attributed that to him carrying a heavy rider. We used rumprugs on both for the whole first loop. Both horses drank well. At the half, both drank well and ate well (grass). Shadow's pulse was initially 69, but he was yelling for 'his girls' back at the trailer. An immediate recheck was 56. Lily's initial pulse was 72. She was calm. As we waited for the recheck, she urinated. It was bright red. Guess we're done for the day. Banamine and a blanket and back to the trailer. Shadow trotted out looking fresh and full of himself. David left the hold a few minutes after his time to make sure I had Lily settled in ok. 2/3 of the way around the loop, David says Shadow slipped and then wouldn't go well with David mounted. So he walks him several miles to the road crossing where there are checkpoint people. A trailer is taken to pick Shadow up. It is a step-up trailer that sits fairly high off the ground. Shadow, who normally loads well, refused to load, even when the trailer was backed into a low spot, putting it about as high as our trailer is. David and I walked back to camp leading Shadow. Back at camp, Shadow is tight all the way up his back from his tail. Banamine, blankets. The ride vet, whom we really trust, Maureen Fehr, checked on them frequently and we all discussed at length what was going on. She thought that the most likely cause of Lily and Shadow's tie ups was our complete feed. She looked at the tag from the bag (Susan G has also looked at it online) and believed it to be a balanced diet, BUT since there is no long-stem stuff in their gut, they don't hold fluid in there as well. In warmer weather rides, they keep themselves hydrated pretty well, but in the colder weather, they can't hydrate themselves and keep warm, too. At other rides, we put the corral up and let them graze all weekend. This time, we had tied them to the provided hitching rails with food and water in front of them. I don't know why we didn't put the corral up, other than it was raining and the horses just wanted to stand with their heads in a bucket of feed. So, up goes the corral and everyone is grazing happily all afternoon and evening. The next day, one of our friends who is buying one of our horses and I are going to ride her new (my old) horse, Foxy (arab), and David's other horse, Jazzy (Morab) in the novice ride. The day is a bit warmer, no rain, and we agree to ride very conservatively. In competitive riding, you can come in late and still complete, so we agree that we won't worry about time, just enjoy the day away from her two small children and the stresses of civilization. The first part of the trail is fairly flat, but muddy in places. Within the first mile, Foxy wants to lag behind. This is not like her at all. We got to the first road crossing and decided to walk back to camp. She didn't feel like she was tied up, but after the day before, I wasn't going to even think about going on. Banamine. Blankets. Yes, she had tied up, but different muscle groups than the other two. Maureen thought Foxy's problem was Monday Morning Syndrome, since it hit so early in the ride, and not necessarily related to the same problem the other two had. Foxy is also just a bit overweight. Before you all flame me for overriding our horses, take into consideration that we were averaging about 5 miles per hour. Not exactly burning up the trail. I've been riding in competitive and endurance for 15 years. In that time I've had two horses treated for metabolic problems. Neither required fluids, just banamine and rest. I have no idea how many miles I've ridden. 5,000? endurance, CTR, LD, and R&T. Any ideas? Maggie in Ohio =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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