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RE: [RC] Elytes - some recent references - heidiA 900lb horse losing 7% BW (63 lbs, approx 28L) on ride day requires 96.8g of Na -- 33.6g to meet daily requirements of intense work plus an additional 63.2g to replace extra losses for that day. The total can be met by 8.6oz of salt (11.2g Na/oz salt) - 3oz as part of the normal daily requirement for training/weekly workload and an additional 5.5oz throughout the day for replacement of losses - which will also cover chloride reuirements/losses/ replacement. Nothing wrong here with the math--the problem lies in not looking at the overall picture. Since an endurance horse that is not EATING will be in trouble for reasons of energy and gut function LONG before he gets into trouble with electrolytes, you also have to factor in the quantity of elytes (including NaCL) are present in feed. As Beth pointed out in the rest of her reply to the above, potassium requirements are MORE than met in feed (including the potassium losses), as are calcium losses. But nobody seems to want to talk about the fact that in all but the most extreme circumstances, good grass hay eaten at the level that endurance horses SHOULD be eating (and most do) will also provide sufficient sodium to replace the losses as well. Beth is correct that at most, a little bit of sodium cloride (NaCl) is about all that is needed (and that at FAR less than is commonly stuffed down horses at our rides) to cover the losses. Calcium is a bit of a fooler, since it isn't just the losses that one has to cover, but also there is the mobilization of calcium that occurs in work that enters into the "big picture." Horses that do not get excess calcium in their daily diets can usually mobilize it pretty efficiently. That's one reason why feeding alfalfa in any particular quantity can be counterproductive in endurance horses--in the face of a dietary excess of calcium, they get lazy about producing the hormone that mobilizes it under heavy work. But one can easily manage that by not having a diet that has an excess of calcium, and then by taking a few flakes of alfalfa hay along to the rides. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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