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Re: [RC] Weight loss during a ride - Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVMWhen we collected weight loss data at Swanton and Tevis a few years ago, the average weight loss over 100 miles was 60 pounds, most of which was lost during the first 35 miles. The least amount lost was zero, and the greatest amount lost was 100 lbs, and yes, the 100-pounder finished in fine shape. The 100-lb horse was ridden by an extremely experienced and smart rider and that may very well have been an example of how a good rider can overcome a lot of barriers. I would not take that as a free pass to haphazardly keep riding a horse that routinely lost that amount of weight during a ride. We also drew blood samples from the horses at Swanton and could not find any correlations between weight loss and adverse blood chemistry, with the exception that the horses with more weight loss also had a tendency to have slightly lower electrolyte values, though generally still in the low normal range. At Tevis, we had a larger pool of horses and concluded that in general, horses that started the ride less than fully hydrated *and* that also lost proportionally more weight tended to be pulled fairly early in the ride (ie, Robinson's or soon after). The average weight lost at Tevis was still around 60 lbs. The most weight lost by a completing horse was about 65 lbs, if memory serves. Susan Garlinghouse, DVM ============================================================ REAL endurance is reading the LD vs. Endurance thread/debate every 3 months!!! ~ Heidi Sowards ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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