No, but then I'm not concerned so much about a horse being aciodotic, as
we've previously discussed, the endurance horse is probably more likely
to be alkalotic. But if heart rate is also higher, I do care about
that---an extra minute or two criteria at vet checks throughout the day
could make a big difference in final placement. Not in my personal
case, but ask anyone who's raced to the finish if they wouldn't have
liked another two minutes of lead time.
>
>
> This is what I'm talking about. Prevention of tying up before the ride is a
> matter of keeping exercise levels reasonably high--no days off prior to an
> event.
Practically speaking, this might be difficult before an endurance ride.
Endurance horses generally have to spend Fridays traveling in a trailer
and sometimes you can't always find time to do much more than get the
kinks out after you've arrived at camp, especially if you're there alone
and have to deal with checking in, vetting in, etc.
> The discussion on glycogen loading in Equine Sports Medicine, by W.E.
> Jones, DVM, pg. 28...
> So far, no complaints--except that this work is dated (old).
So is Einstein's e=mc2, but it doesn't make it any less true.
>
> > Drawbacks to the use of glycogen loading include the increased
> intracellular water retention that accompanies high intramuscular
> glycogen concentrations, increasing the likelihood of both dehydration
> and overestimation of an animal's fitness (Maughan, 1981). >>
>
> Again, old, and incorrect.
I guess I'm just not very quick to throw out research simply because it
is more than ten years old. The work is statistically viable and was
published in a refereed journal, meaning it was picked apart ad
infinitum in it's Materials & Methods and analytical design before it
was approved for publication. You commented yourself in earlier
discussions that you thought a horse's "body condition score" was
affected by water retention and increased glycogen stores. In fact,
body condition scoring has nothing to do with muscle fitness, but if a
muscle is looking "fuller" due to glycogen stores, I would think it
would be pretty easy to assume a higher level of fitness than may
actually be present.
>
> > Uncertainty persists, however, concerning the role of glycogen
> reserves in the onset of myopathies." End of quote.>
>
> And this is where i think compartmental syndrome may apply. The solution:
> significant work every day in those animals prone to pre-exercise tying up.
>
No arguments here.
> > I also note that simply training will increase
> glycogen storage in the muscle (this is also supported elsewhere), so I
> personally would prefer to increase glycogen through conditioning rather
> than glycogen-loading, although the two are also not mutually exclusive
> concepts, either.>
>
> What it comes down to is, once you've done everything possible with
> conditioning, what other techniques remain available to make life easier for
> the athlete during competition?
I would agree, as long as the potential risks don't outweigh potential
benefits.
> his OPINION that glycogen-loading may be more risky than are justified
> for use in endurance horses.
> Dr, Snow is incorrect in this case.
I guess I would continue to be very cautious in assuming so until I saw
some research in which the exercise test was very similar to conditions
seen during an endurance ride. As has been discussed before, there
hasn't been much research done on endurance horses that actually
BENEFITS endurance horses. Would this be a great research project or
what? Anybody wanna go beg Cosequin for some research funding?????
(And I know JUST the university to carry out the study, what an amazing
coincidence).
> Thanks, Susan, we're getting down to the nitty gritty here.
And thank you. May not be around much in the next week or so, so if I
don't get another chance, I hope you have a very, very pleasant holiday.
See ya,
Susan