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Thanks Doc Heidi.Yes I believe the symtomatology sounds to me like heat 
stroke.Horse brains and human brains  are made by the same Maker using 
almost the same template anyway.Given the same biochemical and physical 
insults there are really limited ways in which they manifest outwardly.Con 
vulsuions and in this case further enhanced by the electrolyte im balance 
following fliud loss,extreme physical exertion etc etc.We do see a quite a 
number of convulsions following endurance rides in our early days of doing 
endurance here on ex race thoroughbreds ,now very very rare as people in the 
endurance scene start importing more Arabs namely from our distant neigbour 
Down Under.Expensive sport now but a necessary evil.NIght and late evening 
start to endurance ride also help.And most critical:snail slow pace at 9 to 
10 kph.
Angie asked whether more sloshing of water help.We do not do that here as 
our tracks are generally hilly and inaccesible to helpers and we do not 
generally have helpers anyway.The few rides I rode inFrance a few years back 
 there were water sloshers  at every 4 to 5 kilometers.But rides in France 
are very competitive and very very well organised  to the T.I believe the 
Emirates learn a lot from the French.I believe if you are going at the speed 
they do in Dubai "race track" with phenominal  internal heat generated ,for 
top 20 placing or so you would need all those support.Whether it make 
adifferent for Bev's horse may be ,may be not.God only knows.
What would make a lot of difference may be would be longer "pre export" 
conditioning in the hottest and humidest region in the US or even down in 
Mexico as near the equator as possible and fly them direct from there.But 
Angie I may be wrong. I cant even sell that idea to our local selectors 
here!
You guys have thousands to choose from,so a lot of permutation s and 
combinations to play around.Even if  Doc Heidi's theory about  the much 
changed USA Arabian horse is right your sheer number of choice will 
certainly override this.



> From: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <drnikisahak@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> CC: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [RC]
> Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 21:54:44 -0700 (MST)
>
> > Believe me  the Australians have the horses!They have not tampered
> > as much as you guys  in the USA  did to the original  tough
> > arabians.
>
> Nik, you are right about this.  One can find "untampered" horses here in
> the USA still, but they are in the minority.  And the Aussies have overall
> done a better job of preserving that sort of functional breeding as the
> mainstream breeding.
>
> The thing that ran up red flags for me in Steve's report was what he said
> about the changing the electrolytes, particularly increasing them for
> horses not used to such high levels.  These horses all got there on
> whatever e-lyte management programs they had, and to make a major increase
> that the horse does not handle well could also have brought on the sorts
> of neurological symptoms that Bev's horse had, IMO, as well as led to some
> of the other metabolic problems.  I think Steve made a very valid
> observation that this was not a good thing, and my personal take as to
> what we should learn from this is that we should not mess with whatever
> protocol got these horses to the point of being top-drawer competitors in
> the first place.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
>
> I don't know if anyone reported the ambient conditions--I think it was
> Leonard who said that it was very much like the August ride in Oreana.
> (If that was the case, Angie, it wouldn't have been very humid--I do
> recall that when I was there 5 years ago, the temps got fairly hot during
> the day, but the humidity was almost nil inland where the ride was held.
> Anybody who was there care to fill in the blanks on this one?)
>
> I do hope that discussion will bring out positive suggestions for what to
> do differently in future years--and I think that Nik, Leonard, and several
> others have made some valid observations that are well worth taking into
> account.
>
> Heidi

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