Re: ridecamp-d Digest V98 #9

[Karen Allnutt <allnutt@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>]

I'm not a vet, but I had similar problems with Archie when I first got him.
My vet recommended doing a blood workup.  It turned out Archie was
extremely anemic.  Put him on an iron supplement recommended by the vet and
within a month he was a different horse.

Just food for thought, it might not be his lungs but a physical
manifestation of another problem.

KcA & Rose the mustang & Archie the unpapered paint
>
>Date: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 20:37:49 EST
>From: Debbyly <Debbyly@aol.com>
>To: ridecamp@endurance.net
>Subject: Respiratory rate and thumps
>Message-ID: <34e17835.34b03971@aol.com>
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>I  would like to get opinions, especially from vets, about respiratory rate
>and thumps.  I have a seven year old Arabian gelding who has had a moderate
>amount of conditioning.  He has done 650 miles of endurance, mostly multidays.
>He has a very high respiratory rate.  He seems to breathe shallow and starts
>to breathe rapidly as soon as he starts any work.  His pulse rate is
>comparable to other Arab endurance horses and his pulse recovery is good.  His
>respiratory recovery takes longer than his pulse recovery.
>
>He has thumped three times in training; all three times after going moderately
>hard uphill for a fairly long distance.  He did not go hard enough or long
>enough to be exhausted or to have lost significant amount of electrolytes
>through sweating.
>
>I think that possibly the thumping in this case is caused by hyperventilation.
>Can thumps be caused by a respiratory alkalosis and a problem with the
>distribution of calcium rather than an actual calcium deficiency?
>
>Does anyone have any suffestions for training to improve respiratory rate and
>depth of respiration?
>
>Thank you,
>
>Debby Lyon
>