Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Come on guys, I honestly think this is the most important thing that's come through this week and nobody even commented on it.

 

OK, here's what my totally unscientific mind saw...and I need some of you guys who understand this stuff to tell me if I'm in any way getting it.

 

The old Kerry Ridgeway mix for electrolytes is 2 part salt (Sodium Chloride) 2 part lite salt (Potassium Chloride) and 1 part calcium.

 

This study seems to think endurance horses have problems caused by a spike in Potassium so they did a study at a 50 mile endurance ride where half the horses were on electrolytes that did not have potassium and the other half did have it.  Their completion rate was basically identical. They felt the mild conditions contributed to the lack of potassium not being a real benefit. 

 

Now I'm thinking of past bloodwork I've heard of. Didn't Roger Rittenhouse have bloodwork run on one of his horses after pulling at Biltmore and decided he had to up the potassium in his mixture. I also am pretty sure another prominent rider told me that she'd found her horse had to have more potassium in his mixture than average. I've heard several suggest they had had to *up* it, but never eliminate it. Am I reading this study correctly?

 

Right now my most recent personal home made electrolyte recipe is 4 parts Morton Lite Salt Mixture (since it is approx 1/2 salt) and one part dicalcium phosphate.  At the last ride we went to it was mild weather, but the top 2 vet score horses with a perfect 500 and a 480 were both using my electrolytes. For years I used 2 parts salt and 2 parts Morton Lite Salt thinking the lite salt was all Potassium Chloride, then when checking the real amounts of the ingredients for Josie's science fair project we realized the Morton's Lite salt was 1/2 and 1/2 so I started using 4 parts Lite salt, so I have effectively doubled the amount of Potassium Chloride in *my* electrolytes in the last couple of years. 

 

Would somebody please correct me if I'm missing anything obvious in this study and what do you all think about it?

 

Angie McGhee

 

Thehorse.com
Susan Piscopo, DVM, PhD

Endurance riding can lead to significant losses of water and electrolytes, which can cause clinical illnesses related to increased neuromuscular excitability, including cardiac arrhythmia, muscle cramping and twitching, and gut motility changes. When plasma potassium (K+) increases--as it does with increasing exercise intensity--there is a concomitant increase in neuromuscular excitability. Yet, many endurance riders believe that oral potassium supplementation before and during competition is critical to the good health of their horses.

Researchers from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Rutgers University, Virginia Intermont College, Rectortown Equine Clinic, and the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition in the United Kingdom evaluated whether potassium-free oral electrolytes given during endurance work could moderate the expected increase in plasma potassium, decreasing related neuromuscular side effects. They compared the effects of a potassium-free high-sodium electrolyte mixture (EM-K) to a potassium-rich mixture (EM+K) on plasma ions and acid-base status in horses during an endurance ride.

Forty-six horses entered in an 50-mile (80-km) endurance race were used for the study--24 receiving EM-K and 22 EM+K. Rest stops and veterinary inspections were conducted at 21, 37, 56, and 72 km. Electrolyte mixtures were given orally by syringe after each loop.

Seventeen horses in each group finished; the others were withdrawn for various reasons. For all horses, plasma potassium significantly increased from the ride's start to the 56-km rest stop, then significantly decreased to the end of the ride. Plasma sodium significantly increased from before the ride to 37 and 56 km, and significantly decreased from there to the end of the ride.

However, hydrogen ion (H+, a measure of acid-base status ) was found to be significantly lower in EM-K horses compared to EM+K horses. Another significant finding was that plasma potassium was significantly lower at 80 km and during recovery in EM-K horses compared to EM+K horses.

The authors concluded that the decrease in potassium and hydrogen ion in the last stage of the ride in EM-K horses might have been attributable to the absence of potassium and the increase in sodium in the EM-K formula. However, despite the differences, EM+K horses had increases in plasma hydrogen and potassium that were moderate and not likely to cause clinical neuromuscular signs. The authors conceded that the moderate nature of the ride and mild weather were likely the reason for this, as well as the reason that the significant differences between groups were not evident until the end of the ride. The EM-K mixture would therefore likely be most beneficial in faster horses working harder during more strenuous rides.

--
Posted By Endurance.Net to Consider This at 12/16/2008 09:22:00 AM

 

Angie 
McGhee
http://www.lightersideofendurance.com
Work it harder, Make it 
better, Do it faster, Makes us stronger!


____________________________________________________________
Click here to find single Christians that want to meet you today.