Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

So sorry my last post didn't wrap! I'm sending it again to test. I sure wish
I knew why it doesn't wrap sometimes...

My daughter?s horse, Shadow, also had her first metabolic issue at a ride.
It was the first hot ride day of the year, we kept HRs around 120 unless we
were climbing, which we did at a walk. She was eating and drinking well, was
electrolyed 1/2oz Enduramax powder (mixed with appleasauce) before the ride,
at the 17, 30, and 40 mile checks, always on the way out so as not to
interfere with eating and drinking. As we were leaving the last check and 30
min hold, we hosed the horses necks and shoulders, grabbed a few more bites
of hay, then Shadow suddenly tightened up her belly and started doing a
little stagger. We quickly got her to the vet, he detected no gut sounds,
gave her a shot of banamine, and 15 min later she wanted to start grazing
again. I waited with Tara for Jim to come with the trailer to take the horse
to a clinic, but during the additional hour wait, she continued eating and
now had gut sounds, so we just took her to the end so vets would be
available if anything else happened?it didn?t. The vet had drawn blood to be
able to analyze it if further treatment was needed, said it looked thick,
like maybe she was dehydrated, but she?d been drinking LOTS all day, but did
not drink well the night before. 
?
My horse, Sonny, had skin trembling at the 17 mile check, had never had that
before. Both horses pulsed down within a few minutes at each vet check. At
the 40 mi check, due to the problems with Shadow, Sonny got an extra 90 min
rest which he used to eat, he had drank on the way in. We eventually
continued on, a slow jog down into the canyon, and walked out, HR rarely
getting up to 100. At the finish, he drank, we stripped the gear, watered
his neck and shoulders and he was at 55. We walked over to the vetting area
and his HR went up to 78 and then would not consistently stay below 64 for
another 40 min, then we vetted and he was 55. Normally, he?d be at 44 within
10 minutes.? 
?
I don?t know what went wrong. ?We did the first 17 miles at a moderate pace,
I think it took 2.5 hours, and it was pretty flat, at least 3 miles of it
was walking through rocks. The next 13 miles we concentrated on keeping the
HRs down because it was heating up and we were beginning to climb, I think
it took a couple of hours. Then after an hour?s rest, we did the climb into
and back out of the canyon, again being careful to keep HRs down. I don?t
remember how long it took, but we went much slower than we usually do there
during training rides. And then Sonny had an incredibly long rest and we
just poked along back thru the canyon to the finish. It really doesn?t seem
like they should have been fatigued, so I?m really jumping here to maybe
ulcers with Sonny and maybe stones or otherwise compromised intestinal
system with Shadow. 
?
We?ll do some more hard conditioning after an appropriate rest and see if
there is any recurrence of these symptoms and take it from there. BTW, what
IS an appropriate perid of rest when a horse has had a mild/moderate colic?
?
Kathy
?
?
?
What is unfortunately NOT pointed out often enough is that electrolytes are 
present in food (especially in forages) and that horses that eat well
consume 
more than enough electrolytes to replenish all but the worst of electrolyte 
losses.? My best advice is not to start experimenting with e-lyte mixes
until 
you have ridden a few rides at a moderate pace and have given your horse an 
opportunity to allow mild deficits to encourage him to eat and drink better
on 
his own.? 
?



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