---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 00:45:47 -500
From: Joe Long <jlong@hiwaay.net>
To: "LYNN M. Crespo" <lynn@alpha.acast.nova.edu>, endurance@moscow.com
Subject: Re: Re[2]: [endurance] heart rates & quilty (fwd)
> From: "LYNN M. Crespo" <lynn@alpha.acast.nova.edu>
> In actuality respiration rate is key to maintaining the pH of the body.
> The 2 main systems by which acid-base balance is maintained in the body
> is through the kidneys and the lungs.
<snip>
Replied: Joe Long <jlong@hiwaay.net>
I certainly won't challenge your medical credentials, but the
experience of thousands of endurance horses over hundreds of
thousands of miles of rides indicates that maintaining Ph balance is
NOT the reason horses pant.
The same horse that "pants" on a hot humid ride will have low
respiration a week later (or earlier) if the humidity is low. If you
do not cool a panting horse, he continues to pant. If you cool him,
his respiration drops.
<snip>
From: Lynn
You are absolutely correct that horses pant to cool. All creatures do
including humans. However, I meant to point out that this panting will
lead to rapid and dramatic changes in pH that could result in serious
metabolic consequences. If the panting did not resolve within several
minutes and the inversion remained this is cause for concern and
monitoring. If the panting diminishes as the horse is cooled everything
is proceeding as normal. Definitely inversions will be commonly observed
in hot and humid conditions, but these are the same conditions that
predispose to metabolic problems. We have all probably experienced for
ourselves the lightheadedness and rapid heart rate that we can self
induce with hyperventilation. That's because we changed serum pH.
A horses's respiration is controlled by many factors, of which pH is one
and so is cooling. But if he is panting excessively in order to cool, he
will also change his pH.
IMO an inversion is cause for monitoring, but not cause to panic. If it
does not resolve there are other problems brewing, and then it is time to
consider pulling.
Lynn
L.M. Crespo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Pharmacology
Nova-Southeastern University
lynn@alpha.acast.nova.edu