Electrolytes!!

C

connie1288

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 December 2008
Messages
2,625
Visit site
With all this silly hot weather, i am getting through my pot of electrolytes, and have been doing abit of research (price wise) into what to buy next.
I have been using Feedmark Replenish as i won a Feedmark voucher at Poplar Park.
Last year i used TRM ISO PRO 2000, because it was on the yard!!

Basic question, what electrolytes do you use? And is there much difference between the different brands?

Thank yous! Lemon ices all round!!
grin.gif
 
Hi - sorry I have no advice on this topic but also would like to know about this subject too. I haven't used them before but really think I should, last time i did a sponsored ride my mare got really overheated and it took a couple of days for her to seem back to normal again, so hoping using these could help.

Would also like to know how and when to use them.

Sorry to hijack your post - 2 birds 1 stone
xxxx
 
That's a really interesting article, but I'm not sure "There is a risk of stomach ulcers with them." is the main message to take away from it!

Seems that little and often is good. My mare definitely likes her rock salt lick at the moment, so maybe I should be adding a little to each feed rather than just in the run up and few days following a competition or the days where she's really sweaty. (although, to be fair, being cob-X that's most days she does ridden work at the moment!
wink.gif
)
 
Agree that the Apple Lytes smell amazing....i have even tried it!! For those that want to know, unfortunately it tastes like salt, rather than like refreshers which is what i was expecting......
blush.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Agree that the Apple Lytes smell amazing....i have even tried it!! For those that want to know, unfortunately it tastes like salt, rather than like refreshers which is what i was expecting......
blush.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

What made you do that out of interest???
crazy.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
What made you do that out of interest???
crazy.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Because they do honestly smell like refreshers (apple/cherry smell) and i wondered if they tasted like them as well!! But they don't....and yes i am blonde
smile.gif
 
I use Xtrolyte powder from Equiform, mainly because a rep comes to me about once a month so it easy to get all my stuff from her
smile.gif
also they do big 5 or 10kg tubs which suites me as I have a few to feed it to, I use it around competitions and when they have got sweaty!! It seams to keep mine going, dont really know how much difference there is between the brands!
I love the smell of the apple lytes as well
grin.gif
 
Im currently using electrosalts by naf also. However im about to run out as it's only a travel sized pot.
I bought some Replenish yesterday so will see.
 
Yes i thought the replenish was good (free for me
smile.gif
) and was about to order another pot but is the most expensive i have found!!
 
You can make your own quite cheapl. You need a mix of Lo salt and table salt, but I can't remember the ratio. I'm sure someone knows though.

google is wonderful

“Home made” electrolyte mix

1 pound box table salt (NaCl)

12 ounce box “Lite” salt (NaCl/KCl mixture)

2 to 3 tablespoons bone meal or calcium carbonate source

¼ cup Blackstrap molasses



Mix in enough water to make a slurry. Give 30 – 60 ml. orally by oral dose syringe or in feed per hour of strenuous work. Do not feed free choice or give on days when horse is not worked.



alternatively
There are many commercial electrolyte supplements available, or a home-made mix of 3 parts salt (sodium chloride) and one part lite salt (potassium chloride) is an option. Remember though, for the vast majority of working horses, the sodium and chloride requirements can be met with a couple ounces of plain salt per day and the potassium, calcium and magnesium requirements will be met by a well balanced quality feed and hay. Therefore, additional electrolyte supplementation is needed only at those times when a horse will be sweating large amounts for an extended time frame.
 
I just add normal salt to my horses feed/s...always have done. I presume that is ok...

Didn't think electrolytes were really required unless you were doing upper levels eventing/ racing/ hard fast work...
 
Don't use - just feed normal salt, and well supplemented with general purpose and hoof formulations as well.

I think if I were doing a 3 day I would get an electrolyte though.

Fiona
 
I use Equiform Blue, it is very easy to dispense and the horses love it - I have one that won't eat the equine amercia one! I give it for a couple of days before and after competitions and when they sweat a lot in general work.
 
I once had the good fortune to spend some time with one of the nutritionalists that was a consultant to the FEI... we got around to talkig about electrolytes and some of the things he had to say were very interesting indeed. The main points that i remember, is that unless the horse is sweating, there is no point in feed extra salts as they do not store it and it wll simply pass through the system. The second, was that you can make your own with a mixture of normal table salt (sodium chloride) and 'low' table salt (potassium chloride) which really is all that is in the commercial electrolytes...(except a huge amount of ash to bulk it out).

Hope that helps some of you that are spending vast amounts.

N xx
 
we use Apple lytes and yes, I've tried them too! I agree they smell gorgeous and taste disappointingly salty!

We feed daily with hard feed, they are especially important for my mare as she can be prone to tying up.
 
Interesting Fee Fee thats what i thought, there was no point in feeding electrolytes in the run up to an event as they can not be stored, but thats what i got told to do so who was i to say otherwise
crazy.gif
 
I use plain old salt on a daily basis as a matter of course. When they're working harder (like now) I use Isopro as I can buy a large tub, it's very reasonably priced and I have two to feed it to.
After an event they get a sachet of Isolyte Gold (I think it's called Electrolyte Gold now, they renamed it).
 
[ QUOTE ]
Interesting Fee Fee thats what i thought, there was no point in feeding electrolytes in the run up to an event as they can not be stored, but thats what i got told to do so who was i to say otherwise
crazy.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

This is correct - not only can they not be stored but they will also stress the kidneys unnecessarily if you feed when they are not needed. Additionally if you feed in the run up to an event (assuming the horse has not been sweating excessively) and the horse does not drink enough on the day (as many won't), you run the risk of making any dehydration and associated problems worse (the excess salts have to be excreted out of the body, so essentially fed at the wrong time they act in the manner of a diuretic).

Therefore I only feed on the day of the event when the horse is back home, I feed half the recommended amount in a wet feed, I make sure the horse has free access to a himalayan salt block and I would never feed on the run up to an event. Even in weather like this where normal schooling/jumping would make them sweat up more than normal I would not feed electrolytes. They really can do more harm than good fed inappropriately IMO.
 
Restore-lyte - we sell it at work so I get it cost price
smile.gif
. It smells nice and I feed it after travelling (long distances - horses lose 1l fluid per hour travelled
shocked.gif
), galloping and competing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top