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Re: [RC] RC: RE Electrolytes/dehydration - Chris PausYou've brought up a key point... climate h as a lot to do with it. I live in Kansas where it is also very humid. Elytes are extremely important here, probably more so than the drier mountain and western states. chris --- Tracy Cann <EBBYPONY@xxxxxxx> wrote: Hey Tami, Just be aware that the pinch test is not the best way to tell how dehydrated your horse is at that moment. It's that last thing to show evidence of dehydration and the last thing to recover and show hydration. There are much better ways to check hydration, like jug refill, cap refill, gut sounds, etc. Read up on it, ask ride vets, and riders that have been around a while. A horse won't always drink when he needs to. He can sweat away all his salt and that can make him completely quit drinking. That's where electrolytes can save you. I live in South Texas where it is hot and humid most of the time so I electrolyte extensively. It's just about impossible to electrolyte too much down here. I've seen horses die that either weren't getting electrolytes or weren't getting good electrolytes. It's not as critical I've been told in non humid areas but it's a matter of life and death around here. I've read the stuff about ulcers and electrolytes and there is just not enough information there to blame it on just the electrolytes. Show horses get more ulcers than endurance horses and I don't think they electrolyte those guys much. Anyway, keep in mind that I haven't been doing this forever like some on this forum so I am still learning. There is a wide variety of opinions on how to electrolyte your horse. What you can do is get all the information you can and make a decision that's best for your horse. Talking to the ride vets at the ride you are going to will probably help the most. Whatever you do, keep digging and getting all the info you can. Don't just blow it off because electrolyting is messy and a pain and your horse hates it. He'll hate being dead worse. (sorry, I have a tendency toward drama, no really) Tracy ===== "A good horse makes short miles," George Eliot Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus ============================================================ REAL endurance is taking your non-horsey family to a ridecamp with you! ~ Heidi Sowards ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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