Re: RC: Re: body fat and performance

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/17/99 3:30:15 PM Pacific Standard Time, lb@nismat.org 
writes:

<< Fat horses may haveTHICKER skinfolds.  Do you think 
 the resiliency of thick skinfolds might have something to do with the 
 appearance of dehydration?  Just wondering............ >>

As I told Frank in Germany, the thin horses that do not have the layer of fat 
under the skin have worse skin pinch tests--especially if you look at the 
neck!  Taking this further, the skin tenting on the neck can be extreme in 
thin horses that are only somewhat dehydrated.  The shoulder is a much more 
accurate place to assess skin tenting.  However, most ride vets won't 
consider a horse to be badly dehydrated ONLY on the basis of skin 
tenting--they look at ALL hydration parameters, including capillary refill 
time, jugular fill, and to some degree gut sounds (although there are other 
factors that can cause decreased gut sounds than just dehydration).  It has 
been my experience that the thinner horses also deteriorate more rapidly in 
other parameters assessing hydration than just skin tenting--but whether this 
is a factor of body fat or a factor of other things that correlate to body 
fat (or lack thereof--like gut fill and the ability to utilize that gut fill 
over time) is hard to say.

Heidi


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=