New subject => Research in the redwoods

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

OK, here's a new subject: Research in the Redwoods!

As alot of y'all know, my background/degree is exercise physiology, equine
nutrition, yada yada.  Over 600 of you have participated in some of my past
research projects at Tevis, where we weighed and measured horses to see what
differences we could find---and the short answer was that Thin Horses Have
More Metabolic Problems.  (If you want to read the long answer, go here:
http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/tevis95-96.shtml )  Those studies resulted
in a lot of good data, and three published scientific papers.

I'm happy to say that a new research foundation with some excellent funding
has been set up to conduct more research into identifying specific causes of
metabolic problems in performance horses.  You folks wanted research that
specifically helps the endurance horse---here you go, you got it.  Now I
need for you to help make it work.  The more successful this current project
is, the better the chances at future funding for more projects to find out
what makes our horses tick.

As some of you know, we were hoping to collect data again at Tevis this
year, but unfortunately, WSTF did not feel it possible to grant us
permission (though I would like to thank Jamie Kerr, Dale Lake and Bill
Piper for their support of the project).  However, Barbara McCrary is very
graciously allowing us to come to Swanton Pacific this year on August 12 to
collect data, so that's just what we're going to do.

In order to get good statistical numbers, and therefore useful results, we
need to get close to 100% participation from the entries, so this post is a
plea to consider participating in the project.

What's involved?  We'll have veterinarians (not the ride vets, they have
enough to do, but both experienced AERC vets, including Barney Fleming the
Vampire Vet) stationed at the pre-ride check, at two places along the trail,
and at the finish line to pull a small blood sample and weigh the horse.
We'll also have a short form for you to fill out at some point telling us
about how you manage your horse during a 100 mile ride (e'lytes? Feed?
Mashes?)  From that, we'll be later analyzing blood gases (oxygen, carbon
dioxide and the like), lactates, pH, a full blood panel of e'lytes, glucose,
an endocrine panel, FFAs, white blood cells, the works.  We'll do that a
total of four times throughout the ride to plot exactly how your horses is
doing, what he's doing and what correlations that may have to rider weight,
horse weight, condition and your management plan.  We're endurance riders,
too, so we'll be careful not to take alot of your time during vet
checks---the on-trail vet checks will only take a minute or two during hour
holds.

What do you get for participating?  First, you get back copies of the
labwork---retail, it's worth about $1200 per horse.  We'll give you a
handout that explains how to interpret the results, so you can see exactly
how your horse is *really* doing during a 100-mile ride, where his potential
metabolic weakpoints are, and what you can do to possibly improve metabolic
performance.  Nothing to sneeze at, and not information easily obtainable
otherwise (at least, not without paying the big bucks).  No, you won't have
the information right away for *that* ride---but you will have it for future
rides, and information is a formidable weapon.

We're also going to encourage participation by getting you some Really Good
Stuff.  Teddy Lancaster at Running Bear and Tammy Robinson at Trail-Rite
have already donated some great stuff---gift certificates, hay bags,
etc---and we're getting together lots of other Actually Useful Things, all
of which we'll give away in a drawing at the awards breakfast.  You don't
have to win the ride, or even complete, to be eligible---you just have to
participate in the study.  We'll have enough stuff that *everyone* will get
something really good, and I don't mean just a bungee cord.  We're talking
things like bridles and blankets.  Yes, we're trying to bribe you, in case
participating in a Good Cause isn't enough for you.

So here's your chance to help get some serious scientific data about the
metabolics of endurance horses, have a really great ride in the redwoods of
Santa Cruz, and even go home with good stuff.  And just maybe we'll have the
information we need to pinpoint just one more horse that looks okay, but
isn't, *before* he crashes.  And wouldn't that be worth it?

If you have any questions about the study, you can email me at
suendavid@worldnet.net ; if you need a ride entry or info about the ride
itself, you can email the ride manager Barb McCrary at BMcCrary27@aol.com

Thanks!

Susan Garlinghouse, MS (and DVM in '03)
Colorado State University

Barney Fleming, DVM