RE: [RC] Elyte "treat" -- overall effectiveness - Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVM
If you are going to hand out elyte cookies during a ride, there
are probably some better alternatives than this particular one---this cookie is
pretty darn high in sugar, fine if your horse doesn’t turn into an idiot
and you’re really intent on going the high-soluble-carb route in a big
way. Not so great if you’re wanting to feed something other than
mostly sugar. It’s also kind of wonky in its elyte components and
ratios, lacking in magnesium and calcium, etc, etc etc. But at least
there’s no bicarb in it. Finally, you’ve have to feed a
pretty impressive amount to make any noticeable dent in the electrolyte deficit---something
in the neighborhood of ten pounds an hour based on a 5 liter per hour sweat
rate just to replace the sodium. I suspect at ten pounds an hour, the
company will be putting you on their Christmas card list. Keep in mind that
also means you’d have fed your horse over four pounds of sugar an hour as
well. Yippee ki-ayyy, cowgirl, hope you buckled your seat belt.
Without opening up the elyte-or-not can of worms again (and I
have no objection to more discussions, but there are lots of comments ad
infinitum in the archives), handing out these treats is probably not going to
go an especially long ways towards offsetting the electrolyte loss accumulated during
endurance exercise. On the other hand, it’s also not likely to
cause any electrolyte-associated problems, either, because you’re
providing it as a ‘trickle’ of little bites, as opposed to a big
syringe full of goop. If your horse likes the treats, then by all means,
hand them out during your ride. It won’t add any appreciable elytes
to the fray, but might keep his mind in the frame of
this-is-all-just-a-25-mile-vegetarian-tour-so-what’s-for-lunch.
There are some recipes for elyte cookies in the archives, you
might consider making up a batch of those to carry along. My horse is always
happy to share my granola bar with me. And her idea of “share”
is I’ll-eat-the-entire-granola-bar-and-you-can-have-the-wrapper.
Bad horse.
JMO.
Susan Garlinghouse, DVM
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Beth Leggieri Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 6:22 AM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Elyte "treat" -- overall effectiveness
Am curious about the contents of an electrolyte
"treat" that is on the market. It is marketed as a "tasty
reward" rather than a bona fide elyte. This product was not
developed with the needs of the endurance horse in mind. I will post the
contents and then would like feedback from those who are very familiar with the
needs of a 25-mile LD horse as to how this product relates to the overall
e-lyting needs.
I am one of those who is very leery of elytes: Scared
to death of overdoing it. Scared to death of not doing it. How will
this product affect the endurance horse?
Thank you very much for feedback that will be enlightening
and helpful in making intelligent decisions for helping our horses stay
metabolically sound.
