pulses and gut sounds

["Steph Teeter" <steph@endurance.net>]

Sue - regarding both pulsing down and gut sounds, I think the
answer is the same - fitness and conditioning.

The issue of overheating and/or not pulsing down in a
reasonable time: Conditioning will increase the efficiency of
the cardiovascular system -  blood will be adequately delivered
to the muscles (oxygen, fuel) . This is a factor of a stronger
heart, increased circulatory system capacity, and increased
ability of muscle tissue to process the goods.
AND blood will be more adequately cooled - by being pumped
through the lungs (air conditioner effect) more rapidly, and
by being delivered to the body surface via increased capillary
capacity (convection, evaporation).

You can increase the convective/evaporative process by cold water,
walking, colder air temps, etc. But there's only so much you can do if
the work being asked for is greater than the body's ability to
deliver. Try running up a long hill and then stand still. If you're
not fit, you'll feel the heat overwhelm you. Your heart will be pumping
hard,
but simply unable to meet the demands of oxygen starved (and
CO2 saturated) muscles. This will also give you a good idea
of why/how the CRI works - the heart will pump faster,
for a longer period, if it is unable to do it's job, which is
to adequately fuel and oxygenate the system for a given workload.

Regarding gut sounds - I still have a few questions about this -
but it is basically the same issue. Asking for more work than
the body is able to perform efficiently. When the cardiovascular
system is overtaxed, and the horse is unable to deliver oxygen
fast enough to meed demands, the body starts setting priorities.
One of the early 'losers' is the digestive tract. Blood that would
normally fuel the digestive tract is instead shunted to the muscles
and gut activity diminishes. (and you won't hear as many gurgles).
This is a sign that the horse's fueling system is being taxed beyond
it's ability. Take this a step further - the muscles are demanding
more and more O2, and now the major organs are starting to
lose. Not enough O2 to the brain. At some point the autonomic
(involuntary) nervous system starts to shut down - gotta save O2 for
the brain. This is why veterinarians look at anal tone - the sphincter
is controlled by the autonomic nervous system - if it becomes
flaccid, that means this system is starting to shut down, and the
horse is in more serious trouble.

Bottom line: if your horse's gut sounds are lower than normal, his
muscles are demanding more oxygen and fuel (blood) than the body can easily
deliver. It is a function of gut activity - peristalsis - not so much
what the horse has eaten, or will eat. You can administer probiotics,
or encourage the horse to eat, all of this really won't change the
'gut sounds' (a symptom) if the horse is working beyond it's
physical capability. When you hear a vet tell you that the gut
sounds are low - this does not simply mean 'my horse needs to eat' - this
means you need to slow down. And if you do, your horse will
eat well because his digestive tract is working well. Sometimes
horses don't eat well because of stress or nerves, but I think
that during a ride, 9 times out of 10, it is because the horse
isn't fully conditioned to the work and the digestive tract is
being shut down to some degree.

btw - this is also the reason hydration is so critical - if the system
becomes dehydrated, the blood is thicker, and therefore cannot
fuel the muscle tissues (and organs) as effectively. When the blood can't
reach the muscles fast enough to fuel them, the muscles tire or cramp,
the heart pumps faster/harder, the body overheats, more water is lost
through perspiration (evaporation) trying to cool the body. etc., etc.

If there is one BIG thing we can do to improve our horses' peformance
it is adequate conditioning. Electrolytes are very important, yes,
especially over longer distances and hot/humid conditions. But
most of the things we do - probiotics, supplements - are of little
value - and of no use if the horse is not fit for the work it is
asked to do.

Steph


-----Original Message-----
From: Sue Brown [mailto:sbrown@wamedes.com]
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2000 9:19 PM
To: ridecamp@endurance.net
Cc: PNER@onelist.com
Subject: RC: Hang time review


Several weeks ago I asked the question on how to reduce the "hang time"
Blaze always has when he comes in for a vet check.  His resting HR is
around 44 and, when he stops at the VCs, he hangs around 70 for 2-4
minutes, then drops to 60.  The horse he is with most often has a resting
HR of about 32 and drops to criteria immediately -- making it somewhat
frustrating to have to wait every time for him.

I received several suggestions which included more intense hill work during
his training sessions, more active cooling during the last mile or so
before stopping, walking him around to help cool him, eliminate any
alfalfa, and ride a gray instead of a chestnut <g>.

I started with adding more hill work during his training rides.  Then at
the next ride (Alpine) I decided to be more active in keeping him cool.
Since it was raining during the ride, I used the many puddles along the way
to practice my "sponging" (which was actually a lot of fun.)  I sponged him
frequently during the whole ride.  (Towards the end of the ride I was able
to nail the puddle at a good canter -- which was usually followed by a
"Woohoo!  I GOT it!!" ;-))  Anyway, the end result was a horse with a HR
that hit criteria within one minute!!  By the time we got to the vet
checks, he was cool and dropped immediately.

On another note...he has consistently gotten Bs in gut sounds which I was
also trying to improve.  Tried electrolytes with ProBios on the same ride
and he got all As in gut sounds...first time ever.  I've only tried it on
one ride (my one rat study <g>) but it worked well enough that I'll use it
again.

Sue
-------
Sue Brown
Tyee Farm
ARICP Certified Riding Instructor
Recreational Riding and Dressage
Marysville, Wa.
sbrown@wamedes.com


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