Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I've got a problem and I need advice.  I realize there are probably different answers but I'd like to hear them all.  I live in SE Tennessee and have been doing 25's on my 9 yr. old mare for a couple of seasons.  She is off the track and she does go into race horse mode at the endurance rides.  Trying to rate her speed is very hard and tiring.  At home, riding in the mountains she is a perfect trail horse, very well behaved, even though we do a lot of racing and generally act like a pack of wild Indians a lot of the time.  She probably gets ridden 3 times a week for a total of 30-50 miles a week.  I had never electolyted her at any of the LD's but was told by the ride vets to do it if I ever did a 50.  She has access to loose mineral salt and salt blocks at home.  Well, I did my first 50 last month at LBL.  I gave her a dose of Lyte Now right before the race and a half dose at the first vet check which was 18 miles out.  She vetted thru okay but was not drinking and she usually does after about 8-10 miles.  We came in off the second loop, I think it was 21 miles, and she had only taken a swallow or two and the vet said she was beginning to dehydrate and to make her drink.  Yeah, right!  We spent the hold with me sitting on the edge of the water tank and she still didn't drink.  The vet said to take it easy on the last loop of 11 miles, so we just slow trotted that loop and she did start drinking some but not a lot.  She passed her last vet check but was still showing some skin tenting. She had lost 50 lbs. but that also is not unusual for her.  I took her back to the vets the next morning and they said she looked very fit.  So now I'm looking at trying the OD 50 in 2 weeks and don't know what to do about electrolytes.  Help.  Linda Norton