electrolytes and tying up

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orangegrace

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Hi.

Had a lesson on my horse this morning. Lasted for an hour and was very warm weather. Hosed horse off and put him in stable. Got him out about 30.minutes later and thought he looked a bit off. Walked him round and he looks okay. But him back in then got him out several hours later and for the first 10 steps he was really off. Walking like he could bend his hind legs and really stiff. After about a minute he looked 90% better only funny the odd step or on a turn. Turned him out and went back a few hours later - looked 99% better in field.

I'm thinking he had maybe tied up ?! Obviously not badly, im thinking it was dehydration ?! As very warm and he was very sweaty when finished and maybe I didn't walk him round enough when I'd finished ?! He doesn't drunk much when in but has soaked hay but was very hot this morning.

I already feed a sprinkle of salt in his feed so wondering whether I should use electrolytes when he works hard or whether to up the salt to a tablespoon a day ?

Thanks for reading !
 
It's surprising how quickly horses can lose electrolytes in hot weather, especially when exercised. They don't just lose them through sweat. Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Calcium and Magnesium are all electrolytes that are lost in a horses sweat though so just adding a little salt won't replace what a horse loses when working.

Horse sweat is basically isotonic. That means that the electrolytes in the sweat mirror the electrolytes in the blood. In short, where a hors becomes dehydrated and lost sodium through sweat, the blood sodium level will be lower and thus the horse will have less desire to drink. It's why sodium especially, is important in relation to hydration.

It is widely understood that horses should be getting around 1oz of sodium per day...in normal salt (sodium chloride) this covers the chloride requirement as well, but not all electrolytes.

I personally give electrolytes to all of the horses on a daily basis in this weather, just a teeny bit in their feeds to complement the salt they get as it acts to prevent dehydration and the associated physical effects.

Hope that helps xx
 
I think that once they have tied up you need to be rigorous in the warm up, and particularly the cool down, if in doubt 20mins walking in hand should do it. After hosing off, you need to walk until dry, use a waffle rug if you have one, there is some idea that you should not hose off the rump, I am not sure about that, but I always use a scraper as otherwise the water on the coat warms up, which defeats the object.
 
I endurance rode for years and tie up was always on my mind. My old mare did it a couple of times, but it was the classic carbo overload and not enough work.

Interesting that a lot of endurance riders are now moving away from commercial electrolytes and just feeding salt. I find a lot of the commercial mixes have fillers in them and can be quite high in sugar.

Reading your post - I don't believe hosing a horse over the rump causes tying up and there is no evidence to suggest this. When I bath my horses I do the rump and quarters all the time - it is a bit of an old wives tale I think stemming from hosing a hot horse on a cold day, then having it standing around and getting stiff.

We work on hot (by UK standards) weather in NZ during the summer, 25 C plus is normal for us, but I only feed salt (a couple of table spoons a day), but my horses live out. So maybe, he just got a bit stiff in the stable and try him out in the paddock with a light sheet so he can walk and roll himself cool. And some extra salt in his feed during the hotter days certainly won't hurt.

It's the middle of winter here, so looking forward to summer and hot .....
 
If a horse has had azoturia it will be evident in blood test, also how much damage there might have been. Starting to work a horse too soon after a tie up attack can increase the long term damage.
 
Thanks for all your replies. I think he may have tied up slightly. Will give him a few days off in the field and up his salt intake. X
 
orangegrace said:
Thanks for all your replies. I think he may have tied up slightly. Will give him a few days off in the field and up his salt intake. X
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A days off in the field and then what? Back into work? Your best plan would be to get a blood test done so you know what the Ck levels are, to determine how badly the episode was. If you bring your horse back into work too quickly you risk doing far more damage to your horse in the long run. It takes a long time to recover from tying up.
 
Orange grace, please get a vet to look at your horse.

There are many many reasons why a horse may the up - tying up its not just a case of adding salt to their diet and giving them a few days rest.

My boy had a few 'stiffness issues' as a youngster, which with ignorance, I didn't pay the correct attention to.

To cut a long story short he cannot retain calcium (calcium adds muscle repair / function) and having a low grade virus triggered a massive attack which nearly resulted in long term kidney problems.

If your horse is prone to tying up, then it's a management issue for the rest of his life...no standing in for long periods, extra warm up and cool off, tailored diet etc. your vet, not us on here is the only one who can give you the correct diagnosis and management plan.

Sorry for rant, but an issue close to my heart.
 
As I said in another thread you started get a blood test.

My horse has PSSM and she tied up in January. At the time her symptoms were extremely mild, she was a bit stiff, not tracking up when she usually over tracks and slightly grumpy. Within a few hours her behaviour had returned more or less to normal.

However the blood work showed this to be a CATASTROPHIC tie up with her CK and AST levels to be off the scale. The scale goes up to 100,000, normal is low hundreds.

So the external symptoms of tying up do not in anyway match the internal (muscle damage and possibly death!).

She had to be box rested for a week and then field rested for another 6 weeks before she returned to work. Meanwhile due to the levels not returning to normal for long time I tested her for and found her to be positive for type 1 PSSM.
 
Hanson said:
Orange grace, please get a vet to look at your horse.

There are many many reasons why a horse may the up - tying up its not just a case of adding salt to their diet and giving them a few days rest.

My boy had a few 'stiffness issues' as a youngster, which with ignorance, I didn't pay the correct attention to.

To cut a long story short he cannot retain calcium (calcium adds muscle repair / function) and having a low grade virus triggered a massive attack which nearly resulted in long term kidney problems.

If your horse is prone to tying up, then it's a management issue for the rest of his life...no standing in for long periods, extra warm up and cool off, tailored diet etc. your vet, not us on here is the only one who can give you the correct diagnosis and management plan.

Sorry for rant, but an issue close to my heart.
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FfionWinnie said:
As I said in another thread you started get a blood test.

My horse has PSSM and she tied up in January. At the time her symptoms were extremely mild, she was a bit stiff, not tracking up when she usually over tracks and slightly grumpy. Within a few hours her behaviour had returned more or less to normal.

However the blood work showed this to be a CATASTROPHIC tie up with her CK and AST levels to be off the scale. The scale goes up to 100,000, normal is low hundreds.

So the external symptoms of tying up do not in anyway match the internal (muscle damage and possibly death!).

She had to be box rested for a week and then field rested for another 6 weeks before she returned to work. Meanwhile due to the levels not returning to normal for long time I tested her for and found her to be positive for type 1 PSSM.
Click to expand...

Two very good posts!
 
Had the vet out this afternoon. She checked him over and examined him and said she doesn't think he tied up yesterday but I asked her to take bloods to double check so will find out tomorrow morning. X
 
Incase anyone was wanting an update. I've had his bloods back today and it's all clear. His CK levels are normal so he didnt tie up after all. Will still make sure I will keep on top of his drinking though and will give him a few days off anyway :) x
 
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