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Susan or Heidi, it's your job to correct me if I'm wrong here but I'm
going to give it a try.

The way I understand it, thumps is a symptom, like a red light on the
dash of your car means something's out of whack. The horse has a nerve
the "Phrenic nerve" that runs across the heart and goes to the left
flank. When the horse's body becomes alkaline the nerve becomes
hypersensitive so every time the heart beats the nerve fires and the left
flank twitches. The horse's body becomes alkaline as a result of
electrolyte embalance. One problem is that endurance horses become
alkaline, but foals with diarhea become acidic. If you use the type of
electrolytes that are made for sick foals then you are pushing your horse
farther in the direction of alkaline...putting out a fire with gasoline.

Increasing a horse's calcium intake can help guard against thumps. A good
source is alfalfa hay. However, if you feed alfalfa every day or
supplement calcium regularly you are keeping your horse from being a good
utilizer of calcium. The trick is to not overdo it at home, then the
boosted calcium during competition is better utilized by a body that's
not used to having excessive amounts and wasting it.

Angie

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