Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi Angie:  Actually, that article and info was from 2005 and there
is a lot of newer stuff out there regarding electrolytes and endurance
horses.  It's all good to know though, but I think that there can be
so many variables and with each horse being an individual that there
won't ever be an absolute one right or one wrong way to electrolyte (or
not) our horses. 

I did a post awhile back about elytes and endurance horses and also
included links there going to more research on the topic: 

http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2008/09/electrolytes-and-endurance-riding/
 

Here is an excerpt from one of the .pdf articles you'll find at the above
link:

Administering oral electrolyte
supplements to endurance horses is a well-accepted, yet poorly validated,
practice. In horses supplemented with either a high-dose (HD) or low-dose
(LD) of electrolytes
in a 80-km ride, we found no difference in body-mass loss or competition
time, yet estimated water intake and rider assessment of performance were
improved with HD. However, hypernatremia and
hyperchloremia developed in some horses receiving HD, which suggests that
electrolyte supplementation may not be completely innocuous.

and another one (different article) with research on the French
endurance team:

Results
Before 2002, on each international event, at least one horse and most
often several horses presented anorexia or stopped voluntary drinking
during the ride. In the absence of electrolyte supplementation,
no horse stopped drinking or eating; consequently, the horses were
considered easier to manage by the riders. The frequency of elimination
or withdrawals for metabolic troubles was significantly reduced
(P < 0.05) since 2002. There was no statistical difference in
the performance of the supplemented and non-supplemented horses. From
2002 to 2004, French team horses contributed to get 4 medals without
any electrolyte supplementation.
Conclusion
Electrolyte supplementation in well-conditioned horses is not
essential during long distance endurance rides.



A few years ago I did a lot of bloodwork on a couple of my
horses. 
Here are
results from one of them.  I had bloodwork and weights done on my
horses at quite a few rides, including 100's and multidays.  In the
results I posted you can see what brand of elyte I used (EnduraMax) at
the time and the results that I got from it in relation to the levels of
potassium.  

But then I started trying a few rides without using electrolytes on my
endurance horses and have done the last probably twelve thousand miles
that way with success.  I haven't had any horses get into trouble or
need treatment and I think that ultimately the horses eat and drink
better and are just happier all the way around when they aren't syringed
with elytes.  I do put loose salt and sometimes an elyte powder into
their feeds which they readily eat and that seems to work.  They
keep good weight during rides (at least on any rides where I've weighed
them - but even on 5 day rides the girths keep fitting all week long) and
I feel that I don't have a lot of problems with my horses that other
riders do.  

In the study in that article from 2005 I would have liked to have had
them also test horses that were not electrolyted at all just to see what
the differences might have been.  

Karen
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/