The reason I'm writing is about tying up. I've been following very
closely the posts on lactic acid and heart rates. I don't have a heart
rate monitor and can't afford one with the new saddle on it's way. My
Arab is the first horse I have owned as an adult--we've been together 6
years. Gabe has tied up three times in those 6 years. At first I had no
idea what was going on. We had been riding around in the State Park
behind our house, crossing the River (cold water), galloping hills
(probably totally anaerobically), etc., when I decided to take a break
and let Gabe graze. I took a siesta in the sun while Gabe grazed on
meadow grasses. When I was ready to head home about 20 minutes later,
Gabe refused to move. I thought he was being stubborn and just wanted to
stay and graze. But no, he was totally immobile. I didn't know what to
do. He could still eat grass, so I let him do that. I felt all over for
signs of injury. His haunches were stiff, but he seemed complacent enough
to graze, even if he had to keep stretching his neck out farther and
farther to reach more grass! I got so worried, I took off all his tack,
carried water to him in my helmet, then I left him to graze while I ran
to a friends house to call for help. No one was home, but I went in to
use the phone. I called my husband to come help me, and called a vet. He
couldn't come right away, and confirmed that it sounded like Gabe had
indeed tied up. I ran back to Gabe, only to find him gone! Now what do I
do? He hadn't wandered far, but was at least able to move. My husband
found us in the meadow, brought Gabe's blanket and we slowly walked home,
half a mile, max. I never got blood work done at that time, he got
better, so I let it be. The vet did say that once a horse ties up, he'll
be more prone to do it again... :<
Two years later, we were out for a quick exercise lap or two and he tied
up again. This time, right in the middle of our trot, he just slowed down
more and more to an abrupt halt. I figured he might be in trouble so I
was able to lead him to a shady spot with grass before he froze up
completely. We were closer to home, so I stayed with him a bit, then ran
up to the house to tell my husband. When we got back to him, he whinnied
thankfully, afraid to be alone if he couldn't move! This episode seemed
less severe. I read up more about tying up and decided this time it was
because I rode too hard directly after his grain breakfast! I don't even
feed him much grain, just a couple of pounds (these days he's on Equine
Senior).
The last time was this summer, early in the season. We walked and trotted
for several miles before getting to a steep hill that Gabe like to bound
up. He rushed madly at the hill, then drank deeply at the creek crossing
after. Moments later, he started walking slowly again, and I was
immediately freaked out. This time I was miles from home, my husband was
not around, and I was riding alone (I ride alone 99% of the time). I
thought maybe he just wanted to go home, so I got off, turned around and
led him towards home, but he still seemed to walk slowly. This time he
was incredibly ravenous--going after every single blade of grass around.
We were in the hills and there was very little to eat. I hung out with
him, waiting to see if he'd get better. About half an hour later, he
peed. I watched intently, relieved to see a normal color. Then, at the
end, the last 'spurt' was dark! This was the first time I'd ever seen it,
but knew what it meant. To make this very long story a little shorter, we
finally walked all the way home, and I found out that the hay grown in
this area is devoid of Selenium and since then, Gabe has been on
supplements. I've been real careful this summer with the amounts of grain
he gets, he always gets his Selenium, and I'm careful with warming him up
before he hits the hills. We just started in Endurance this year. The
first 25 was a breeze, so we did a 50 next. Gabe was fine, I almost died.
But that's another story! I'm looking forward to more races next year.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences with us neophytes!
--
Deanne Del Vecchio & Gabe
Living and Loving in Lake Tahoe \
delvecchio@geocities.com ~/^\ /~
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