>In your's, and other's, experience, how MUCH e'lytes are supplied in
grain and hay? Am I understanding you correctly -- I should add my 2 oz of
e'lytes to grain or mash at rides? As long as my horse is "racing" within
his ability on that day, I'm ok in dousing him with 2 oz of e'lytes plus what he
gets in the food he eates?
You'd likely have to ask a good number cruncher like Susan for actual
amounts. As to "enough"--hey, I don't give my guys e-lytes at all, but
they all eat like Hoover vacuum cleaners and most drink like bar flies from the
git go (and those that don't to start with learn to before I ever consider going
faster with them). I've only been involved in blood-draw projects twice,
but both times have had horses in the close end to "normal" as compared to the
e-lyters with regard to both bloodwork and weight loss. (And one of those
days when my horse was one of the least "off normal" was a fairly
hot day when we won a 75 and took BC, albeit not as humid as some of
our SE friends encounter.) Forages have a LOT of potassium and some
sodium as well. Dry bunch grasses tend to have high e-lyte
concentration. Alfalfa is a good source of calcium. I think the key
is to have a FULL hindgut at the start of the ride--that is where the
reserves are!
Some horses will eat e-lytes in food--my experience
has been that my guys eat less food if there are e-lytes in there, and I'm not
willing to make that compromise. If yours will eat them in food, then yes,
that is certainly preferable to dumping them down with a syringe.
