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I love this thread and am hoping to learn more about what to do with my own horses here in the midwest in IL/MO area.? 

One of my horses has always done well, eating and drinking, and I've never had to give her any e-lytes at all.? She seems to do rather well in getting thru the vet checks and everything.? She's mostly retired now though.

I'm still trying to figure out my Polish gelding though.? He's more picky about eating and drinking than my mares are.? Did an LD ride earlier this year and he literally quit on me 2/3 to 3/4 of the way thru the ride.? Did good at the midway vetcheck, nothing notable anyway.? However on the last loop he finally quit, just quit.? He refused to go any further until another group of horses caught up to us and then was willing to proceed but only if we stayed with them.? If we got ahead he'd quit again.? It was rather warm and humid, OK, for me it was hot and humid and may have been to him too.? My friend said I should have e-lyted him and it's not something I'm personally real keen on doing.? I too am of the belief that it's done too much in this sport.? So am hoping further conditioning and adding a stronger base will resolve this but something tells me he needs it though so I may just have to give in and do it.

My newer mare drinks well and eats good too.? She's a real air fern, very easy keeper.? Not sure if she'll need e-lytes or not.

So being of the mind to not really do e-lytes in the first place, from the perspective of their overuse, what would be a good rule of thumb or advice as to when I ought to consider using them?

Thanks...and again this is a great thread,
Val

On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 11:43 AM, stephanie teeter <stephteeter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Michelle - I am one of those that feel we electrolyte too heavily and believe that many riders think that if their horse is tired and dehydrated after or during a ride, then they need more electrolytes, - when the horse was probably simply not fit enough for the workload. ?I would suggest starting out with minimal supplementation and focus more on fitness. If your horse eats well you might try just adding a little to her feed rather than using a syringe. Some are more palatable than others ( Perform & Win is very palatable).

Steph

On Oct 19, 2009, at 10:08 AM, Michelle Aquilino wrote:

Ok, I tried just going through the archives, but there were too many results =P ?The main thing I am wondering is what people have found to mix electrolytes with that horses don't seem to mind as much? ?Or even maybe like? ?lol... ?What do you mix it with, and what are the proportions? ?Thanks!

Also, I have been reading a lot about electrolytes in general, and am in agreement with maybe people are using them as a "fix-all", using them more often than necessary because of all the hype about their "necessity", etc... ?How do I figure out how much my horse needs, or that she's not getting enough? ?My horse has a great appetite, and eats throughout the ride really easily (though our first 50, she didn't want any of her own grain or beet pulp or anything, but ate grass, hay, and other horse's offered meals). ?She is also a good drinker in general, drinks a ton when she's thirsty, but does not always drink before she gets to that point.

I just want to try to figure all of this stuff out as I head into our first full season of 50s, and anticipate trying to conquer some hot rides (she's 1/2 QH, so it's more of an issue with her). ?Thanks!

-Michelle

-- "Don't breed or buy while shelter animals die"

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