Susan, By no means am I expressing a disagreement with what you say below. What I was trying to say is that the horses that *I* have observed have exhibited a distinct preference for PnW and a distinct non-preference to some of the alternatives on the market. (I specifically mentioned Enduramax, but could include some other endurance formulations that I've seen people use.) To the point where they will eagerly eat PnW ANY time. Before, during and post exercise. They'll gobble it like a treat.
Isn't getting it into them part of the battle? It obviously has more non-salt flavoring (i.e. sweetner) in it, but is it not true that 'lytes absorb better if combined with an easily digestible carb? (Or some such; can't remember exactly what I read, nor the source...) One thing I've wondered about PnW is why they recommend putting it in water, as in, why bother? (Maybe so that novices won't try to e-lyte a non-drinking or dehydrated horse?) I have, on occasion, put it in my mare's camp water to entice her to drink the strange water, but usually I just scoop it into her feed tub and let her lick it clean. And what about buffering agents? I'm not knowledgeable in this area, but my wimpy layman's knowledge suggests to me that some of the ingredients of PnW might be buffering agents. To this point, I've only done 30 miles in a day on this particular horse and have not worked her hard enough (work to heat index ratio in sometimes hot and humid Ohio Valley) to tax her enough that massive e-lyte supplementation was necessary (7 mph speed max). I'll let you all know if things change as we go along. I have my buckets of Enduramax and PnW and can always bum/trade for other formulations as the need for experimentation arises. Thanks for your expertise, Susan. Deanna on 4/21/02 1:56 PM, Susan Garlinghouse at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> If they eat that much free choice, you don't have to worry about syringing >> it into them. :-))) The problem then becomes the cost :-(( > > However, it should also be noted that the > appetite-for-salt-to-replace-deficiency mechanism is a fairly weak one, and > tends to lag behind true requirements. So if a rider is just providing salt > or electrolyted water at stops, IMO, it may not be enough to keep up with > the salts being lost through sweat. Whether or not that becomes a critical > issues depends on the conditions and how hard the horse is exercising. > > The point is, don't just put out a salt source at vet checks and assume the > horse is consuming enough to replace 100% of losses. At home, when there's > alot more leisure time to stand around and eat salt without continuing > losses---that's fine. > > Susan G > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
