Feeding Electrolytes
As the temperature and workloads increase for our horses heading into summer, you may want to consider using electrolytes. Let’s talk about why it is important to maintain electrolyte intake with your horses and what to look for in a good electrolyte supplement.
Electrolytes have numerous primary and secondary functions:
Essential part of proper muscle function
Helps to maintain blood flow
Aids in flushing out lactic acid and other toxins from the body
Can serve to reduce stress on the endocrine system. Particularly for horses in high intensity disciplines or aerobic-type work that relies on high levels of adrenaline and management/support of stress hormones.
3 Things to Know About Electrolyte Supplements
All the sugar – how bad is it? It’s a common belief to stay clear of added sugar when choosing grain rations or supplements for your horse.
Sugar is often found in electrolytes. Believe it or not, it is in electrolyte supplements for a reason! Sugar or glucose is an essential part of transferring the sodium ion through the bloodstream to where it needs to be to do its job.
Electrolyte supplements for both human and horses will often contain other additives (EX. Niacin) to aid in the function of electrolytes during physical exercise. Sugar is a just an inexpensive, readily available option that is easy to process when needed. Plus, it adds to the palatability of the supplement.When and how to administer - Electrolytes are an additive, not the be all end all. If you find yourself totally reliant on electrolytes to maintain muscle function and performance on your horse, there is usually an underlying issue that needs to be addressed.
When administering in powered supplement form - I usually mix into the grain ration 1 to 2 days out from a competition day and then the morning of as well. During a week with multiple runs coming up, I feed electrolytes all throughout.
Feed up prior to competitions and during to prevent depletion.
If administering via tube paste, 1 to 2 hours prior to competition/strenuous work is usually ideal, however due to variance among products, it is best to follow the manufactures’ recommendation.How to choose an Electrolyte Supplement - Lower vs. higher price point typically indicates the quality of the supplement and with electrolytes, it is no different. Electrolyte supplements are easy and affordable for companies to produce so it can be quite easy to pick out a lower quality supplement without knowing it.
When choosing electrolytes, I keep it simple and tend to go with a brand that I am familiar. If I know the quality standards in the rest of their product line, I am pretty comfortable integrating it into my feed program.
Happy Riding!
Michaela
Riding coach checking in with student
“Tips for Implementing Electrolytes
Start with the most readily available and most important electrolyte around - Salt.
Salt needs to be added to any performance horse’s diet on the regular as it is impossible for the horses to take in their total sodium requirements from a saltblock, especially when in a heavy workload.
I feed loose cobalt salt into all the grain rations daily, ranging from a 1/8th of a cup to 1/4cup depending on the size of the horse and the exercise program they are in.”