Re: RC: Washy Horse

[Tivers@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/8/00 1:53:10 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
karen@chaton.gardnerville.nv.us writes:

<< Okay, so in an endurance horse that could come from say a strenuous climb 
 up a really steep hill?
 
 Just thinking of what could cause this.....so I can avoid it from 
 happening.  If this were to happen, then something was obviously not quite 
 right before, leading up to it probably.>

White lather, as I believe someone else has mentioned, is a kind of "soap 
suds" put out due to what we would consider other-than-normal sweat. In 
racehorses, this is seen in unfit horses most often--may be due to excess 
fat. May be due to certain kinds of fat or protein in the diet. I don't 
really know.
 
 >Well, not necessarily. If the crash is gradual, then they have the ability 
to
 >mobilise glucose from the liver, and by tearing down muscle tissue.
 
 Will this result in higher muscle enzymes?  What else happens?>

Could, if you keep going anyway. If the horse is fed chronically low larbs, 
then the body will take protein (turning it into glucose)  from all over the 
body--muscles, tendons, ligaments, even bones and heart muscle--weakening 
them all. One good sign of chronic underfeading is ketosis--a metallic 
smelling breath.
 
 >Are horses able to compensate over time for being able to run on really low 
 glucose levels?  I'm just curious, having seen some of the results and 
 seeing how low some of the glucose #'s have been on some horses who have 
 finished the rides very successfully.>

At a certain point, every horse will "crash". But the crashing point will 
differ between horses--generally, the fitter the horse, the more resistant he 
is to crashing. That's because the crash is slower coming on. 
 
 >Good that you are watching these. While each horse is a little different,
 >once you get locked into his "curves" they'll remain basically the same over
 >long periods of time. Fitness tends to smooth out the curves over the long
 >haul.
 
 Yes, I've noticed that stabilization over time, but more importantly 
 learned to manage to keep the horse stable.  Which isn't all that easy 
 given all of the variables (weather, terrain, speed, etc.).  But well, I 
 guess it's not all that hard either, if you pay attention.>

It's tricky, but you're on the right track. It's the big bounces that you 
have to worry about.
 
 k
  >>
ti