Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Something else that I pay attention to, especially since gut sounds come and
go, is how the horse is doing. Is he eating right? Does he seem alert or
dull? I've seen gut sound vet scores all over the place, and most of the
time there's no problem.

I think Heidi's on to something with saying the exit gut sounds are a better
indicator. To compare two of my experiences, in one case, the horse took a
long time to pulse down, wasn't eating well, and despite the fact the vet
check backed up and turned a 15 minute stop and go into a 45 minute ordeal,
he still had lousy gut sounds when the vet got to him. Vetted through, and a
couple miles down the trail, he just wasn't doing right, so we turned around
and went back. Once he rested, he started eating, and was fine. The low gut
sounds along with the rest of the picture led me to pull.

Second experience - we were going too fast, he ran out of gas about 2 miles
before the vet check, was tired, and had lousy gut sounds. The vet was
worried, but I wasn't - though he was tired, he was alert and eating and
drinking well (yanking my arm off to dive for the grass). We overstayed our
hold by 15 minutes, let him rest and graze, slowed down and completed. I
think the vet asked for a recheck, and he was fine.

One important thing to remember is that this is what I can do with _this_
horse. Laser's often lazy, and is careful to take care of himself. I can
largely trust him when he claims to be feeling good and wanting to go. We
have another horse who thinks he is super-horse whether he is or not. If you
have a horse like that, then some of these indicators may not work as well
for you.

So if the vet says gut sounds are low, it certainly gets my attention, and I
may overstay that hold just to be cautious, but there's other indicators
that mean more to me - is he eating, drinking, peeing and pooing? Is he
alert or dull? These are things the vet can't check very well in the 2
minutes or less they look at the horse, but they're things you can monitor.
And if you want to be cautious, even if the vet didn't require a recheck,
you can ask for one.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Barbara McCrary
> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 3:42 PM
> To: Chelsea Marsh; RIDECAMP
> Subject: Re: [RC] Bad gut sounds?
>
> No sounds at all.  The good sounds are soft gurgling sounds.  
> There is a condition called hyper-motility of the gut, in 
> which the sounds are roiling and rumbling, but diminished gut 
> sounds are more likely on a ride.
>
> Barbara
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chelsea Marsh" <chelsea_marsh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 2:20 PM
> Subject: [RC] Bad gut sounds?
>
>
> > Pretty soon you guys are going to be tired of me and tell 
> me to go pick
> > someone else's brains! I've got another question. When you 
> are listening
> > to your horse's gut sounds, what does "bad" sound like?
> > -- 
> >  Chelsea Marsh
> >  chelsea_marsh@xxxxxxxxxxx
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> > 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!!
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> >
>
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
>  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!!
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=