Re: Carbos @ Californio 100

[Cheryl Newbanks <horsetrails@inficad.com>]

Well I am glad someone has finally brought this subject up.  It seems as if
most people using carbos do not want to open themselves up to getting
flamed.  I've carbo'd Blue on his last 3 rides.  His energy level was great
but on his first 50 he still got a little tired the last 4 miles even
though he was carbo'd. He vetted through all a's and b's and finished
overall b+ so I was very happy with that.  He eats really well at all the
vc's but not before the ride so that was why I opted to carbo load him. I
give him 2oz of gnc vanilla every two hours and was wondering since he is a
pretty big boy 15.1h 1050 lbs if I should maybe be giving him a little
more?  I use 60cc catheter syringes in a 1 lb ziplock baggie.  I put the
syringe end back in the syringe case without the cap of course and then put
3 of these in my cantle pack.  I've never had a leakage problem on my horse
with the syringes.  But I have had them explode in my ice chest!  I mix
them up a little thin and put them in the syringe the night before and by
the next day they are a perfect thickness, not too thick that I can't feed
them.  

The one thing I learned was to NEVER mix your electrolytes up in your carbo
loader because I electrolyte less often. Blue will stop drinking with too
much electrolytes so I only dose him before the race, at the long hold and
after.  He gets A's and B's on hydration when I use this method, when I
overdosed him every two hours he got c's.  

After Blue's first 50 he had a few minor problems.  He dosen't pee for at
least an hour after the ride and not during either!  I got pretty worried,
but when he did it was a normal color.  Then the next day he pretty gasy
and didn't poop, on listening with a stethoscope he had a lot of loud booms
from gas in his gut.  I walked him and let him smell every pile we came too
<vbg> he finally pooped and was ok.  I think it was from too much bran the
day before, and he wasn't used to bran at all.  So now I feed him bran
about once a week just so he is used to it on a ride.  Bran is one of the
only things he'll eat on a ride, bran with pellets soaked, or hay, no
grain.  He usually dosen't touch his grain till the day after a ride and
that is because I feed him probiotics 3 days before we ship and a week
after a ride.  Without probiotics he is off his feed for about 4 days after
a ride.  

I wonder if I had carbo'd him after the ride if he may not of had these
problems?  I can't see how carbo's would of helped him in either one of the
situations that arose after.

   
                                  Cheryl Newbanks 
~~~           ~~ ^ ^        SW Region
~~~\      _ ~~/ /\ /        Buckeye, AZ
       (   ) __    ) ' '        horsetrails@inficad.com
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