Electrolyes-VMAXEPT-long
VMAXEPT@aol.com
Tue, 15 Oct 1996 22:05:38 -0400
I have been quite busy lately. On the road in Portland MAINE.. COLD up here.
I wanted to add a post script to the old prev issues on this subject. Post
from Diane Nelson was right on ,GREAT!
Many years back --73, no one knew about the problems with dehydration of our
horses under stress. We determined horses like people when under stress
needed salt. SO we gave them a handfull of table salt in the feed, which they
did not eat. So we mixed it with water and used a turkey baster to force
feed. Even the early ECTRA rider handbook advised this as well as the ECTRA
vets and experienced riders insisted we force feed electroytes.
We learned that salt NaCl was not correct. So we started feeding the stuff
from the feed store. Cost about $5 for 5 pounds. Mostly SALT and sugar with
some other things Calcium, Magneesium?..., and Potassium. Sounds good NOPE.
Then the GRUS of the day made a CHEAP "MIX" --prefix with anybodys name like
Dane, Kerry, Lew etc .
This had to be correct ? RIGHT? NOPE
ALL of these mixes contained GROUND ROCKS. Ca CARBONATE and MAG OXIDE.
Dolimite etc... ALL Non Water Soluable ROCKS. These mixes were for addition
to the feed. The salts were taken up within minutes but the rocks took hours
or days. This was ok for feeding day to day, BUT NOT FOR SUPPLEMENTING a
horse under hard stress.. SWEATING. We replaced the SALT NaCL, K BUT not the
much needed CA and Mg. We just pushed an UNBALANCE horse over the edge.
Been there and done that. There had to be a better solution but none was on
the market, EXCEPT a product used by the VETS to balance a trashed horse..
ELECTRADE 4000 or 5000. It was mixed with the saline sol used in the IV
process of rehydration.
It was costly one pound about $10.
We understood and so did many other rider and vets that our electrolytes of
the day were wrong , UNBALANCED in ionic fluid ratios. We used Electrade 5000
for years then switched to 'approved' mixes.
We did not have problems UNTIL we started the home made mix.. Went like this,
horse is low on water, drinks water
, will try to balance the water in the gut by taking electroytes from the
blood, xtra-cellular, to balance the water, wont work just pushed the horse
further back, then we give the rock mix and push the balance futher off,
horse quits.
Over the years I have heard this from many of the older riders of the
70s-80s.
The advent of Dr Waldrons research proved this point, and the development of
ENDURA-LYTES or LITES. ALL the same all made from the SAME factory in KS. I
talked to the manufacture. The DISTRIBUITOR is in MO, Creative Science and
another firm. All the same group. This was the first product on the open
market to resolve the problem. It equates to the composion of the horse
sweat. Correct balance.
Why does it work, no ROCKS, the HIGH cost acetates, citrates are water
soluable.
Thus the horse gets a balanced supplement to re-balance the hydration system.
AND the water just drank..
ALL the other NEW products are based on this product. Yes, some have improved
the base design, and they all work for most horses.
The BOTTOM line.. DO NOT FEED THE ROCK BASED MIX. I do not care WHO he is,
ITS WRONG and they can , read WILL, cause problems any time, like a very hot
ride in Cal..last year.
Metabolic collapse, thumps, colic, ty-up are ALL traced to im-balance of
electrolytes and water loss.
I do not care from whom you buy your product, but read the labels, try the
various brands and mix, some may work better for your horse.
We have NOT had a dehydration problem since we started using Endura-Lytes.
EXCEPT at the one HOT NATRC ride this year.. No feeding by syringe...
It has been proven by Gayle Ecker sp DVM etc.. That the blend in Perf-Win is
the best.
My gang does great on it. They also eat it in the grain and water.
The RIDE-RITE adds extra K, it has been verified by Dr Waldron that
additional K potassiun..lite salt is required. Many horses at the ROC were
LOW in K during the race, ALL that pulled for metabolic reason were low. I
expect a chnage inthe Enduralytes formulation very soon.
If you use enduralytes (lowest cost) ;then ADD one TSP of lite-salt to the
recommended 1.5 oz (2- 35mm film cans)
This appears to bring the level of K up. Then add, MALOX, yes must be MALOX,
no bicarb... This is a PH balancer a buffer. Add a few oz to make a solution.
Then add applesauce. IF you have low gut sounds or are going fast, add a pump
of ABC PRO-BI, to add bacteira to the guts. This WORKS. We used it at the 2
END rides, never went below a B for guts or dehydration. The horses drank
well. Recoverd after the race within an hour to all A.
Val/Danalle uses the above mix less the pro-bi. They also use Perf-Win at the
checks. Both horses will drink it in the holds, two scoops in the one gal of
water. They added Perf-Win to the feed, one scoop.-
Then the modified Enduralyte mix to both before they left.. guess it worked
ok, never less then a B all day.
We still use Endura-lytes, and RIDE RITE and Perf and win, depends on the
type of competion and weather conditions.
We believe these 3 products are the very best, we carry all of them.
Aplogize for the LONG post, but I have been 'saving' this up ..one post cover
all the issue.
Roger
VMAXEPT
In COLD ME., but its quite beautifull