Electrolytes making horse urinate lots?

[star]

Always fed my horses a teaspoon of salt in their food every day, but new horse sweats so much that I thought he probably ought to have some proper electrolytes as must be losing lots in his sweat. He'll be foaming on the neck/under his noseband/in between back legs after 45mins schooling and he's perfectly fit enough to do it, just is a sweaty horse. Just recently I've noticed he's wanting to pee lots. Sometimes on a 2hr hack he'll stop 3 times. He's started stopping to go during schooling sessions and then going again when tied up on the yard eating dinner all of an hour later. Wondering if it's the electrolytes. Guess I could stop them to find out and go back to the salt. Just wondered if anyone else had any similar experiences?

 

[tikino]

i would stop the electrolytes and see how you get on . dont quote me on this but i dont think you are suppose to feed electrolyte every day

 

[kizzywiz]

You can feed electrolytes every day, the theory being that you are constantly topping up the levels & therefore the recovery time from fatigue will be less. Any excess will pass out in the urine, so it may be that you are overdoing it, check that you are giving the recommended amount. By only feeding salt you will replace the sodium lost in sweat only, by feeding a purpose made electrolyte you will replace all the essentials, electrolyte imbalance can lead to problems, such as lethargy. Hope that helps a bit.

 

[star]

the bottle says to feed every day and feed double on days they sweat really hard. i dont give him any on his days off, but every time he works he sweats so i normally give him half a dose if he sweats up a bit and a full dose if he sweats lots. i never double dose him.

 

[kizzywiz]

Doubtful its the electrolytes then, unless he is a pony or lightweight horse, in which case the dose should be adjusted accordingly.

 

[star]

he's a 500kg welsh cob.

 

[kizzywiz]

So would be a horse dose then, could he have a urine infection?

 

[Angela_Jackson]

He sounds like a hot blooded horse, much like mine.
I would feed him nettle tea to help cool him down, and also get his liver and kidneys checked out by the vet.

My guy presented these symtoms 4 years ago and his liver and kidneys were in need of help. He is alot better now, but still gets alot hotter than the other horses, even when he is eventing fit.

Nettle tea is made by either picking fresh nettles and emersing in boiling water then feeding just the liquid cooled down or you can buy already chopped nettles and do the same, some horses will be happy to drink the tea on its own in a bucket, others prefer it in their food, some horses will also be happy eating wilted nettles.
Caution thou dont over do it as it can bring them out in a nettle rash, roughly a pint a day is good.
Also being a blood tonic you may find your horse perks up abit!

 

[stranger1612]

When I sat my finals the external examiner gave me an aphorism that I have oft heard and oft repeated " the dumbest kidney is better than the smartest professor". The likelihood is you are overdoing the electrolytes. Very few dressage horses require electrolyte supplementation. Just like most dressage riders don't get off their horse and feel the need to swallow teaspoonfuls of salt. Most mere mortals (horses and riders) simply get enough from a balanced diet and a functional renal system. Most of my clients continue to add electrolyte supplements in-spite of my advice. I doubt you are doing any harm other than to your pocket. Dipstick your horses urine and check it's SG if it makes you feel better (remember you often get a false +ve for protein due to alkalinity).

 

[star]

this horse sweats as much after a 45min schooling session as my old horse used to after a whole XC course. was just worried he was losing too much in the way of electrolytes in all that sweat. he only gets half what the bottle recommends and only on the days he sweats up, but i think they must be making him drink more and therefore pee more. think i'll try him without them again.

 

[hussar]

We see this quite a lot in endurance as people new to the sport get swept up in all the electrolyte hype and start feeding them to their horses regardless of workload and distance. The horses then don't drink enough and dehydrate.

I would stick to the salt if I were you. I've always fed my endurance horses a tablespoon of salt on normal days (fed at a ratio of 2:1 ordinary to lo-salt) and double that amount on competition days.

 

[hellybelly6]

[ QUOTE ]
He sounds like a hot blooded horse, much like mine.
I would feed him nettle tea to help cool him down, and also get his liver and kidneys checked out by the vet.

My guy presented these symtoms 4 years ago and his liver and kidneys were in need of help. He is alot better now, but still gets alot hotter than the other horses, even when he is eventing fit.

Nettle tea is made by either picking fresh nettles and emersing in boiling water then feeding just the liquid cooled down or you can buy already chopped nettles and do the same, some horses will be happy to drink the tea on its own in a bucket, others prefer it in their food, some horses will also be happy eating wilted nettles.
Caution thou dont over do it as it can bring them out in a nettle rash, roughly a pint a day is good.
Also being a blood tonic you may find your horse perks up abit!

[/ QUOTE ]

What he/she said, esp about having the kidneys and liver checked by a vet.

 

[kellyeaton]

try giving a himalayin salt lick he can lick it every time he feels low and it is the highest quality of salt going!