Carbos as too-soon rocket fuel

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> 
> Carbos can be one more tool to get a horse to first-to-finish times
> sooner, before he's ready.  That's why I've said that I will try carbo
> loading someday, but not now, because Nykoss can already run a ride
> faster than his joints are ready for.  If you're holding your horse's
> speed back, you don't need speed enhancers.
> 
> --
> 
> Joe Long


Joe, you make a really good point about giving a horse the rocket fuel
to run up front before his bones and joints are ready for it, but I tend
to look at all this applied advanced nutrition in a little different
way.  I know alot of people are skipping over these discussions because
they think "I'm just a middle-of-the-pack completer, so this doesn't
apply to me", but IMO, the real value of carbo-loading, high-fat diets,
supplements, bulking up with roughages, etc etc etc isn't in giving the
winning edge to a hotshoe (a small proportion of the population), it's
in increasing the safety and completion rate of Everyone Else.  I am not
a ride vet, but I think Sarah and Heidi would both agree with me that
incorrect nutritional management before and during a ride can greatly
affect how the horse metabolically handles the stress---whether that
means fatigue, colic, dehydration, tying up or whatever.  I happen to
think that alot of those superstars out there are going to win even if
you starved them for a week before and hung a tractor tire around their
neck---but what personally really lights my fire is finding a management
technique that increases next year's completion rates and/or decreases
the incidence of post-ride veterinary treatments---now THAT'S exciting.

But I agree wholeheartedly with your observations about
too-fast-too-soon.  Just throwing in additional observations as usual. 

Susan Garlinghouse