Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I posted this some time ago in my blog, thought it was 
interesting: 
http://easycareinc.typepad.com/karen/files/Endurance_Exercise.pdf 
That goes directly to the .pdf.

I also have an articles category where I add stuff like that to, at 
this 
link:  http://easycareinc.typepad.com/karen/articles/index.html  It's 
got a variety of horse related articles in there.  Some useful, some 
not, probably.

I think that electrolytes is one of those things that you just have 
to figure out for each horse.  I had always electrolyted Weaver and 
Rocky and they seemed to do fine.  I think most horses can do well no 
matter what we do, or don't do with them.  When I started Chief six 
years ago I wanted to try something new and see how he would do 
without being electrolyted the same way.  He's at about 6300 miles 
now and gets his elytes via plain salt or on occasion a mix placed in 
his food.  He's never syringed on the trail though.  I like to 
experiment and try things to see if I can find things that work 
better.  In this case, I think that I did at least find that with 
this horse.  I find it very helpful to load them with salt/beet pulp 
before travel, and then again after the ride is over.  Chief drinks 
and eats better than any horse I have ever seen.  I think that while 
Weaver and Rocky always did well, that my elyting them did at times 
disrupt them from wanting to eat or drink as well as they might have 
otherwise.  I know that because they too have done a lot of miles the 
same way I now manage Chief and became better eaters and drinkers.  I 
am replenishing their elytes, I'm just doing it through their food 
and on their terms, not mine.  They all seem happier this way, though 
I don't know that Chief would be unhappy if I were to start syringing 
him -- because I just haven't done it.  He is probably one of those 
horses that would do fine no matter what I did, like my first two 
endurance horses were/are.  Though now, I am kind of afraid to change 
what works and risk screwing something up.  ;-)

Karen


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