Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

When I was at the pharmacy yesterday I picked up a blood glucose monitor.  I didn't realize how inexpensive these had become!  I thought it would be interesting to take some different readings from my horse at home and to use during conditioning rides to gain a better understanding of what is going on internally.  I know that I cannot use this at all during competitions, no worries there.

 

At this point, I'm pretty clueless as to what to do.  =)  Where is the best place to use the lancet to draw the blood?  I'd like to get a "baseline" reading of some sort.  When would be the best time to do this?  What are considered high, low, and normal ranges?  I'd also like to see how quickly his blood sugar goes up after eating a normal "vet check" ration of grain.  How often should I take those readings in order to capture the "high"?  Every hour, every two?  I'm assuming the time for the blood sugar to go up and down will vary depending upon if he is currently exercising or not, is that correct? 

 

For now I think I'll be taking a reading before and after every training ride, and then see how those readings change if I give him some grain beforehand.  Anything else that is good to test for and/or monitor?

 

~ Crysta (with a new toy for the winter) and Sinatra (oh yay, NOT!)