Yes, electrolytes will help but more than electrolytes I would increase
this horse's AEROBIC exercise. Jumping is an ANAEROBIC exercise and the
symptoms you describe are consistant with the type of exercise. In ANAEROBIC
exercise the body does not take in enough oxygen to fuel the cells properly
so the body consumes cells releasing glycogen from the heavier muscled area
and the liver. The liver supplies blood cells rich in nutrients and oxygen.
BUT the animal hits a peak where the "energy reserve" is not enough. So
panting occurs, muscles quiver, the heart races to re-supply enough oxygen
to rapidly deteriorating muscles. The weating is a natural cooling process
as we know, but so is panting. Cooling down with water usually works but can
sometimes cause cramping of the large muscles.
Tell our friend to go on long rides on trails at a moderate pace, just
like someone starting endurance conditioning. This will build up lung, and
heart capacity and increase the amount of "slow twitch" muscles. Those
muscle groups will help this horse increase its endurance for those
anaerobic exercises such as jumping or track races.
Human sprinters have learned that long slow warmups and longer training
runs helps improve their performance for those short fast races. The same
thing works for horses.
As for electrolyte try mixing regular salt (sodium chloride) with lite
salt, (potassium chloride). The potassium helps muscles, especially the
heart, utilize oxygen better. The cells must be able to transpire their
waste materials and salts are the key to that process. No electrolytes, no
transpiration!
Good Luck.
//--- forwarded letter >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> From: scote@laurentides.mtl.net (Serge Cote)
> Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 21:56:55 -0400
> Subject: [endurance] heat exhaustion
>
> The horse concerned here is not an endurance horse, but I need your
advise.
> A friend of mine has a 12 year old light gray Appaloosa/Percheron
> guilding. She does some jumping with him and, in the summer, especially on
> hot days, he suffers very much from the heat: sweating, heavy breathing
that
> will not stop unless she cools him down with a shower. He is so abnormally
> sensible to heat exhaustion that she has stopped taking him out during the
> summer.
> What we are wondering is not how to treat heat exhaustion, but how
> she could prevent it. Would electrolytes be of any help? And if yes what
> kind should she use. Could a blood test tell us anything of importance?
> You can e-mail me privately at scote@laurentides.mtl.net
> Thanks a lot,
>
> Anne, Qc, Canada
> - --
> Serge Cote
> scote@laurentides.mtl.net
> URL http://laurentides.mtl.net
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> End of endurance-digest V1 #389
> *******************************
>
>
>
Ray Santana
UC Davis Medical Center
Network Operations
raymond.santana@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu