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[RC] PLEASE discuss Potassium article...Roger are you outthere? - Dream Weaver

Hi Angie:  Actually, that article and info was from 2005 and there is a lot of newer stuff out there regarding electrolytes and endurance horses.  It's all good to know though, but I think that there can be so many variables and with each horse being an individual that there won't ever be an absolute one right or one wrong way to electrolyte (or not) our horses.

I did a post awhile back about elytes and endurance horses and also included links there going to more research on the topic:  http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2008/09/electrolytes-and-endurance-riding/

Here is an excerpt from one of the .pdf articles you'll find at the above link:

Administering oral electrolyte supplements to endurance horses is a well-accepted, yet poorly validated, practice. In horses supplemented with either a high-dose (HD) or low-dose (LD) of electrolytes
in a 80-km ride, we found no difference in body-mass loss or competition time, yet estimated water intake and rider assessment of performance were improved with HD. However, hypernatremia and
hyperchloremia developed in some horses receiving HD, which suggests that electrolyte supplementation may not be completely innocuous.

and another one (different article) with research on the French endurance team:

Results
Before 2002, on each international event, at least one horse and most often several horses presented anorexia or stopped voluntary drinking during the ride. In the absence of electrolyte supplementation,
no horse stopped drinking or eating; consequently, the horses were considered easier to manage by the riders. The frequency of elimination or withdrawals for metabolic troubles was significantly reduced
(P < 0.05) since 2002. There was no statistical difference in the performance of the supplemented and non-supplemented horses. From 2002 to 2004, French team horses contributed to get 4 medals without
any electrolyte supplementation.
Conclusion
Electrolyte supplementation in well-conditioned horses is not essential during long distance endurance rides.



A few years ago I did a lot of bloodwork on a couple of my horses.  Here are results from one of them.  I had bloodwork and weights done on my horses at quite a few rides, including 100's and multidays.  In the results I posted you can see what brand of elyte I used (EnduraMax) at the time and the results that I got from it in relation to the levels of potassium.

But then I started trying a few rides without using electrolytes on my endurance horses and have done the last probably twelve thousand miles that way with success.  I haven't had any horses get into trouble or need treatment and I think that ultimately the horses eat and drink better and are just happier all the way around when they aren't syringed with elytes.  I do put loose salt and sometimes an elyte powder into their feeds which they readily eat and that seems to work.  They keep good weight during rides (at least on any rides where I've weighed them - but even on 5 day rides the girths keep fitting all week long) and I feel that I don't have a lot of problems with my horses that other riders do. 

In the study in that article from 2005 I would have liked to have had them also test horses that were not electrolyted at all just to see what the differences might have been. 

Karen
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/