 |
Re: [RC] colic at rides--LONG--part 3 - heidiNo, not all horses in trouble present the same. In the case of a flaccid gut that is prime for a twist, you won't get any elevation in pulse until it is too late. When the pulse goes up, it is either a sign of pain or of an increased demand for circulation. The latter is usually a mild elevation in endurance horses, and goes with general fatigue--we don't see huge oxygen debts that leave a horse really pumping. So if we see a huge increase, the horse is really hurting somewhere, usually. But it may be several hours after the ride before a damaged gut hurts enough to elevate the pulse. And by then it is too late. Ironically, the gas colics are often quite painful, and may cause a temporary elevation in pulse, even though they are probably the least deadly colic occurrence we see. Lack of motility is indeed an issue--but not the only one. (I had a horse with a mild gas colic at a ride this year--his gut was hypermotile--TOO active--and we waited the problem out by spending an extra 20-30 minutes at a vet check before the situation resolved and I opted to continue slowly. I'm still not sure if it was the flake of alfalfa he swiped from his buddy the check before or the bee stings he got earlier in the day, or both.) A subtle decrease in appetite or a refusal to eat a normally-well-liked food can be a big red flag. Discomfort on eating or drinking is a red flag. The communication from the horse may be as subtle as an odd posture, a reluctance to move, an alteration in gait, or just being dull. But the riders that are really tuned to their horses can usually "hear" them. Even a really game horse that will run until he dies will tell you at some point that he isn't having fun and that he is only doing it because it is his job. It all goes back to the point that has been made about looking at the WHOLE horse. There is no ONE tool that will tell us the horse is in trouble. And sometimes the sum of the whole horse is not the same as the sum of the little numbers we generate. Both good riders and good ride vets will stand back and look at the WHOLE horse, in view of the little numbers, and sometimes make the "no go" decision even though there is nothing specific in the numbers that points to a problem. If the numbers were all that mattered, we wouldn't need ride vets at all--we could just get little machines to record all the parameters and add them up. But in the end, one still has to "talk" with the horse about it, and make a decision based upon one's best judgment. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|