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RE: [RC] Electrolytes - heidi
Maria is right that e-lyte needs often tend to be familial. My
no-lyte horses tend to be related to each other as well. We recently started riding a horse of another family, and I suspect that he will need some slightly different management--although his primary need is likely calcium, so I will start with management with alfalfa as a supplement at key times, rather than e-lyting.
As for how to tell if your horse needs them or not, I agree that the
ones who hit the salt supplement hard are more apt to need them, and that the ones who don't touch salt are more apt to be put off by them. Additionally, I don't automatically assume that problems at rides are due to e-lyte lack--I check out other possibilities first. More often than not, lack of eating is the main problem. And as Susan G has pointed out time and time again, a horse will bonk pretty quickly from lack of available energy--shoving e-lytes down his gullet will not solve that problem. So be observant and try to cover your other bases first--if your horse is eating great, and is fit to be doing what you are asking, etc., etc., then if he still tends to bonk, you might need to look into e-lytes.
As for getting into cramping thumping--food, proper mineral supplementation, and riding to his conditioning level are still the main preventions for same. I've seen oodles of horses thump and cramp when loaded to the gills with e-lytes, too. Adding more may not be the answer.
Heidi
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