Fast Track

[Lynette Helgeson <helgeson@lansford.ndak.net>]

Angela C. McGhee wrote:

> Met several ridecampers.  Glenda Snodgrass finally has a face to go with
> her name!  She took pity on my probiotic whining and brought me a gift of
> some Fast Track.  She didn't know that I'd gotten more advice to "let it
> be" and so I didn't end up using it...but there's always next time.
> Thanks anyway Glenda.
>

I would like to make a comment on Fast Track. We have a 20 yr. old
Arab, who likes to stay on the thin side. We used him quite a bit this
last summer but his weight stayed good. Then about the first of Sept.
he started to loose weight, slowly. I did a LD with him in Sept. and his
scores were good except for dehydration, he ended up with a C, even
though he drank well during the ride. He kept on loosing weight and I
did a simple trail ride on him one day and when he was peeing the
last of his pee was dark. He was real sluggish so I put my light weight
12 yr. old daughter on him and she rode him home. I notice that he did
not do well with a test of tenting the skin. So I put him in the barn by
himself and watched him. There was no more dark urine and he was
eating and drinking good but he was still sluggish and acting depressed.
He had an out side run and he would not even go outside, just standing
inside. I also noticed that his stools were loose. But then all the horses
had been loose this summer but they were all firming up since we had
started them on hay, but his was not firming up. I remember a recent
talk on Fast Track and it dawned on me. He was loosing too much liquid
from the runny stools and that could mean an imbalance in the gut. So
I bought some Fast Track and put it in his feed. Within a week he was
doing much better and was perking up. Now after just a couple of weeks
on Fast Track he is starting to put some weight back on, and is running
outside and whinnying for the other horses. Oh and his stools are firming
up. So it is great stuff. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. I am
going to start mixing it in the feed for all of the horses. I did some state
funded studies
on using probiotics on commercial meat rabbits a few years ago and learned
then the many
benefits of using probiotics. I am glad it was mentioned on ridecamp to
remind me.

Thanks for being such a great source and Angie you might have gotten some
advice
to "let it be", but I can't imagine why any one would think that probiotics
would
not benefit any animal. I thought my rabbits were some of the healthiest in
the
state and they only got healthier on probiotics and they did much better.
Your
horse will utilize his feed better and it might help with these periods of
sluggish
behavior he has in the rides. But I think that probiotics need to be given in
small amounts
on a daily basis, not just on a ride.  I learned that it is possible to
disrupt the animals gut if you give them too much. That has been my
experience.

Lynette Helgeson
In ND where they are talking snow. Ya-a-a,  I love
riding in the snow. :-)