I have been using this stuff for about a year now and so far I like it. It sounded good because it doesn’t have extra sugar or fillers in it and seemed like a good value for the cost. I was wondering if anyone uses it or has any reason not to use it? So far I’m just trail riding for a couple of hours at a time, but plan to build up to longer rides and maybe try a 25 if my old girl is up to it. I’ve checked out some great threads on here about various e-lyte methods and learned a lot. I didn’t see apple a day anywhere and wondered if it might not be a good choice? Thanks:)
It might sound crazy, but honestly, I think ANYTHING by Finish Line is basically good as gold. They have fantastic products, and I love that most of their stuff is without fillers, and often all-natural. Just some really nice stuff! :yes:
As for Apple a Day, I’ve never used it personally, but I knew a horse who was on it who had that condition where he didn’t sweat normally even when he was hot. If it’s good enough for him, I’d say it’s definitely good enough for a healthy horse. 
Do NOT use it for anything related to distance riding. It is formulated for race horses which are running flat out for 1 - 1 1/2 miles on the track ONLY. It is formulated totally WRONG to what an endurance or distance horse needs.
That’s why you don’t see it listed anywhere when endurance/distance e-lytes are mentioned.
Throw the stuff out, and …if you want to do distance … get Perform 'N Win.
[QUOTE=gothedistance;3943924]
Do NOT use it for anything related to distance riding. It is formulated for race horses which are running flat out for 1 - 1 1/2 miles on the track ONLY. It is formulated totally WRONG to what an endurance or distance horse needs.
That’s why you don’t see it listed anywhere when endurance/distance e-lytes are mentioned.
Throw the stuff out, and …if you want to do distance … get Perform 'N Win.[/QUOTE]
How is it formulated for racehorses only? Why is it bad for endurance horses? I’m curious. 
It is alkaline based. When race horse gallop, they build up an acidic base in the blood – hence, the reason many trainers will give bicarb of soda to reduce the circulating lactic acid in the horse’s system. So an e-lyte with an alkaline base is fine for them.
Distance horses, on the other hand, build up an alkaline base in the blood due to the continued low level of muscle work consistent with hours trotting on the trail. Giving an electrolyte with an alkaline base to an endurance horse that already has built an alkaline blood base can send it crashing with muscle cramping, colic, or system shutdown. Which is why endurance vets will tell you NEVER EVER to give bicarb to an endurance horse. And, hence, the special formulation of endurance e-lytes specifically for endurance horses.
[QUOTE=gothedistance;3943941]
It is alkaline based. When race horse gallop, they build up an acidic base in the blood – hence, the reason many trainers will give bicarb of soda to reduce the circulating lactic acid in the horse’s system. So an e-lyte with an alkaline base is fine for them.
Distance horses, on the other hand, build up an alkaline base in the blood due to the continued low level of muscle work consistent with hours trotting on the trail. Giving an electrolyte with an alkaline base to an endurance horse that already has built an alkaline blood base can send it crashing with muscle cramping, colic, or system shutdown. Which is why endurance vets will tell you NEVER EVER to give bicarb to an endurance horse. And, hence, the special formulation of endurance e-lytes specifically for endurance horses.[/QUOTE]
Interesting! Thanks for the info. :yes:
What about Perfect Balance Electrolite?
http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=1&pf_id=0031925
gothedistance brought up an interesting subject so I did more “research” and found that actually the Finish Line electrolytes are entirely fine. The “racehorse” electrolytes just add alkaline salts like citrate and bicarbonate to de-acidify the system a little bit.
When I pulled up a website that listed both Enduramax (very similar to Finish Line) and Stressalyte (touted as a racehorse electrolyte) the Enduramax is what they said to feed endurance horses. the only difference between the two was the “buffers” added to the Stressalyte.
I will see if I can get a link to the site later (when I’m not at work!)
I’ve been interested in Apple A Day for a while, since I do like the Finish Line products, so I called and talked to the chemisit at Finish Line. He told me that a portion of the sodium is made up of sodium bicarbonate, and a portion is sodium chloride. But the sodium bicorbonate portion is very minimal and the hydrochloric acid of the stomach is more than sufficient to neutralize the alkalinity of the sodium bicarbonate before it hits the blood stream and builds up in the kidneys. He has never heard of any problems with the product being associated with Alkalosis. There are products that contain very high amounts of bicarbonate and of course those would be a no-no, but based on this info., I wouldn’t think the product would cause Alkalosis, but the BEST thing is to find yourself a good endurance vet and discuss your horse’s elyte needs with the vet. I am very fortunate to have a vet an hour away who is really in tune with endurance racing and is a great resource.
As with anything, I think that what you give your horse depends on the horse’s fitness, the weather of the day, the workload, how much your horse sweats, etc. etc. etc…The electrolyte you give today might not be the best option for tomorrow. It also depends on if you’re a top competitor with a super fit athlete going for a win, or you’re out for a fun LD to finish in 5 hours. And - does your horse sweat buckets or only a little dampness under the saddle pad? Horse A might go for a 1 hour walk down the trail and sweat 10x more than horse B who did the same work. Is the same elyte appropriate for each? No.
I don’t worry so much with my horse because she sweats very little. She does not have anhydrosis, but she just does not sweat unless it is miserably hot and she’s working very hard. She’s in great shape, and it takes a lot to crack a sweat on her. That’s just her. So it would be far less of a problem for her, than a horse who is lathered up by the time he gets 20 feet away from the trailer and was being dosed every hour.
You must know your horse inside out, backward, upside down, and sideways. If your horse is normally a heavy sweater but you’ve been riding for 3 hours on a windy, dry day, and your horse has little to no sweat, then it’s pretty obvious that it is being evaporated away quickly. So don’t assume the horse is not sweating. But for my horse it would be safe to assume that she really isn’t sweating because I know how she sweats.
So I don’t think it’s as easy as saying - endurance riders suggest this - so buy this. I think you have to work with a good endurance vet to formulate a program for YOUR horse and situation.
I looked at apple a day but it does have apple flavor so there must be some form of sweetener such as fructose unless of course they use an artificial sweetener like aspartame but I don’t see that noted on the label. I didn’t want to risk it on my IR horse. I saw that the Horse Journal gave this product a definite do not use so I went with their sugar free reccomendation Perfect Balance Electrolite, I include it in our SmartPaks
http://www.smartpakequine.com/ProductClass.aspx?productclassid=4958
Electrolytes Correction: Apple-A-Day
By Horse Journal Staff Report In our August 2008 article on electrolytes, the product Apple-A-Day, from Finish Line, was listed in the “Skip These” sidebar. It should not have been included there, as Apple-A-Day does not have sugar in its formula, and it does contain adequate amounts of sodium per ounce.
Good Job FinishLine
I’ve had good luck with FinishLine as well. My OTTB is on Total Control, which has Apple a Day in it. He does seem to be an active drinker as a result. He looks AWESOME…he was looking rather mangy when I brought him home (dull coat, dandruff), but after about 4 weeks, he is GLOWING.
I had good luck with ThiaCal as well, with a horse that needed a calming supplement.
Rgee,
I sent you a PM regarding competing in endurance on an IR horse. Would love to hear your experiences!
Sorry to hijack…
Stephanie
My 2 cents…
I used apple-a-day, and still do for most of my horses. However, I have not found it to be as effective for my main competition horse. He does best on Perform N’ Win, which was suggested to me by several other posters on this board. I had thought, an e-lyte is just that, right? Well, my guy has been training better, drinking and eating better, and recovering better than ever this year, and so we are keeping him on P N’ W. The other guys are still doing well on the A-a-D, though.
so…is perform and win the winner of the e-lyte convo? I’m looking for something to get my guy on that is going to go the distance…
