Re: RC: thumps

[RQuestarabians@aol.com]

Thumps I think can be a lot of things in any combination. My endurance 
gelding, Classy, in his early endurance days would Thump no matter how fast 
or slow I rode.   He would tend to Thump in hot weather not cool weather. 
Many vets at the ride could not figure out why Classy would Thump because he 
would Thump (sometimes violently) and would otherwise get excellent vet 
scores. After a couple of years,  I met Mike Tomlison DVM, and he  determined 
Classy as a horse that Thumped due to being Hypocalcemia (calcium deficiency) 
.I was feeding about 50% or more alfalfa hay in his ration back then. Mike 
recommended that I not feed any Alfalfa (high calcium) to Classy in between 
rides (grass hay only). A few days before the ride, and at the ride,  he 
advised that I could then give him  all the alfalfa he wants. He suggested 
that I add Calcium Gluconate to his electrolytes during the before, during, 
and after the ride. Once,  he started Thumping (barely) at a vet check and he 
snapped out of it once he got some Alfalfa in his system. He finished the 
ride with no problems. Over the years I have researched quite a bit on the 
subject to help Classy. 
In a nutshell, this is happening as quoted from EN 10/95 " More then you ever 
wanted to know about Calcium" by Dane Frazier D.V.M: 
Diets high in calcium to phosphorus ratios inhibit parathormone release ( 
normal ratios 1:2:1. For example high quality alfalfa hay has a Ca:P ratio of 
5:1 and in the very high quality hay, the ratio is 8:1. Ca:P ratio of grass 
hay is1.2:1(Isn't it amazing that the required Ca:P ratio in the diet of the 
horse is the same as that found in the diet upon which the wild horse 
evolved?) Therfore, it is very common for horses that are persistant 
"Thumpers" to have alfalfa as the predominate roughage in their diet. They 
are hormonally set up NOT to reabsorb calcium. At rides when the blood 
calcium drops due to calcium and electrolyte loss and inactivation through 
protein binding, they cannot turn around their endocrine control of blood 
calcium levels quickly enough to prevent Thumps."
I would have considered Classy a chronic "Thumper" in the past. I almost gave 
up on him thinking that he just couldn't handle endurance (metabolically). 
Barney Fleming DVM and Mike Tomilson helped me out immensly along the way,  
and encouraged me to keep going with him. Over the years with their help we 
have worked out the bugs I think. Classy is 18 1/2 years old now, and has not 
Thumped at a ride in well over 2 years. He has done about 750 miles since 
then ( placing quite well ),  ranging from 50's to an extremely tough 80 mile 
ride. Most of these rides were difficult and in the heat. This has been my 
findings in resolving his particular problem with Thumps:
1.) Most importantly the horse must go into the ride already balanced Ca: P 
ratio. It is too late for the body to catch up once the horse is already 
doing the ride. I feed Classy free choice grass, 4 way grain hay ( oat, 
barley, wheat, with a little alfalfa).
It is absolutely crucial to give the horse a free choice mineral source like 
Rushcreek mineral from Advanced Biological Concepts. It keeps the horses Ca:P 
 balanced at all times.
2.) I give free choice water and a seperate 25 gallon bucket that I put 
electolyte water in ( I use Ride Rite Electrolytes by ABC ). He chooses 
whether he needs the electrolytes or not. Interestingly enough, on a daily 
basis he drinks 50 percent or more of the electrolyte water over the plain 
water. I have not had to electrolyte him at rides since I have been doing it 
this way.

Here are things that I have done to help Classy ( not sure if they are 
mandatory or not ) but it has worked for him.

2.) I do a full body clip on him especially if I know I will be doing a ride 
in hot weather. I have noticed that he sweats A LOT less then when I don't 
body clip him. I do not know if the excessive sweating contributed  to his 
Thumping in the past.

3.) When I first started doing endurance on Classy he was 14 years old. Today 
he is 18 1/2 . He used to be an incredibly anxious overly energetic horse 
(handful). He would waste a lot of energy! He is still "full of it" although 
not as near much. Possibly this excessive wasting of energy doesn't help his 
metabolic situation?
 
I hope some of this information you can use to help solve your horse's 
Thumping. It was a long battle and interesting learning journey for me. If 
you have any questions I will be more than glad to help as much as I can.
Robyn