Tying up can happen for a variety of reasons.
Low selenium is one, too much grain is another (known as Monday morning
sickness), not enough electrolytes is another. When your horse gets it,
you will know. It is not pleasant. Horse will be stiff behind,
muscles tight across the rump, horse will not want to move. I had a horse
tie up in the 70s when elytes were just getting learned about. Poor old
Charlie laid his head in my lap and ground his teeth. I felt like a
heel. But I sure learned about electrolytes. I have seen horses tie
up from too much grain before a ride with not enough exercise. I almost
did that too to my bay mare but I was able to walk her out of it and finish the
3 day 100. I was LUCKY and learned another lesson. Selenium level
was just a tad sneakier for me. I had my gelding act stiff behind but he
was able to continue on but his trot just wasn't quite right. When I
started a selenium supplement, he was just fine and could do 2 and 3 day rides
or a fast 50 with no problem. I learned to recognize from his movement if
he was low in selenium or not. I finally wised up about selenium level
from my vet in Ohio and that is when I started checking the level on a yearly
basis. I screwed up royally on my gray mare last year. I never did
pick up that those hind end muscle cramps were from low selenium. I was
just too worried about starting the young horse and staying alive on his
back. Needless to say Rowdy did fine last year, never was stiff acting
behind, and just bounced thru the rides that he did. I did 25s back to
back Sat and Sun. It was only when I started thinking about my main ride,
the gray mare, that I realized what I had done. It shouldn't have happened
if I had been paying attention and following my regular game plan. But
hey, what can I say, I can't be perfect all the time, besides that getting old
is no fun at all (be quiet Dot), and besides that, one is never too old to learn
another lesson. Jeanie
