Re: electrolytes

[Truman Prevatt <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>]

Heidi,

Yes knowing your horse is absolutely essential.  But more importantly  I believe
much of the research in the biological sciences is fundamentally flawed but there
may be not an alternative to this  - boy will this get into trouble .  What we
learned in physics in about 1920 was that a "reductionism" view of the physical
world was inadequate in describing what was being seen in the lab.  Richard
Feynman's wonderful series "Lectures in Physics" points this out in graphic
detail.  If the reductionism was not abandoned, then we still would not know the
structure of the atom, we would not understand chemical bonding, we would know
very little about organic chemistry, we would not have the semiconductor - and
the PC at which you are sitting, etc.

Reductionism is, regrettably, very alive and very well in  biological and medical
science.  I do not believe it is any more applicable to the biological sciences
as it is to the physical sciences.  Therefore, I am very suspicious about the
latest and greatest research results.  I certainty would not use techniques
implied of these new results on my horse in a high stress situation like an
endurance ride.

Truman

CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com wrote:

> electrolyte supplementation to do what they do.  Obviously, there is a
> tremendous difference between individuals, and the take-home message here is
> to KNOW YOUR OWN HORSE, no matter what the research papers say.  The great
> value of research is to discover how and why various things work or don't
> work, so that one can evaluate one's own horse armed with more knowledge about
> the actual processes that happen within his body.  However, to assume that ALL
> horses fit the model in a given paper can be a serious mistake when one is
> dealing with individuals.
>
> Although endurance horses have been my avocation for nearly a quarter of a
> century, I make most of my living working with broodmares.  The ONE thing I
> tell all mare owners is to remember that THE MARE DID NOT READ THE BOOK.  This
> statement could certainly be made about endurance horses, too.
>
> Heidi