Anyone who gives electrolytes, what do you use? What works the best? Do you give it like a regular supplement or in their water?
I usually just give them in feed, and only on gallop/ competition days or when I think I might need to encourage drinking for some reason. I used to give them daily but my current vet thought it was unnecessary and could be hard on their stomachs. If someone’s really having an issue or won’t eat them I’ll either give the paste or mix the powder kind with water and syringe them. If you mix them in the water, you need to give them both plain water and the electrolyte water. I usually just feed the generic kind my feed store sells-- I think it’s called Hydroquench or something.
A few prefaces: we’re in Florida where it’s so crazy hot. My gelding is a recent European import who doesn’t handle the heat particularly well. And thankfully he doesn’t go off his water when he’s given the opportunity to drink electrolytes. He’s not very picky that way, some horses stop wanting water if they know they get gatorade.
That being said, my guy gets smartpak electrolytes daily in his 4pm grain as well as gatorade in the afternoon in his water bucket. I get the single use packets of gatorade so it’s super easy for the barn staff to set up; dump it in the bucket and fill. Most of my barn does gatorade but gives a small bucket to drink after the ride rather than in their regular water. My guy doesn’t “drink on command” but that would be more useful after a xc ride 
I know a lot of barns that use equine formulated mixes and are happy too.
And remember, salt is an electrolyte! I keep a small lick in the stall also 
I feed it year round in the grain like a supplement. I use a few different types but seem to end up with Finish Line’s more often.
Almost every horse needs electrolytes because they are such sweaty creatures. Give something with dextrose and/or surcrose as it helps them absorb it and it makes it taste good. Avoid dolomite and magnesium cloride as well as oxides of the minerals. None of those dissolve in water very well, so you just get them as sediment at the bottom of the bucket.
Don’t feed a paste unless your horse is a phenomenal drinker. They need the water right away as it can dehydrate them more.
When you do introduce the powder, slowly add the electrolyte to their water. Don’t give them a choice between a normal water bucket and an electrolyte bucket. They will always choose the water they are used to. If they aren’t drinking the electrolyte water, add less electrolyte in it. Slowly increase the amount until they are getting what is on the container. Consider adding it to your outdoor water as well. Horses don’t handle change well mentally or metabolically, so change everything slowly as possible so they are oblivious to any actual change. The flavoured electrolytes are really good if you show and your horse doesn’t like ‘foreign water’, add the electrolytes and it will taste just like the water at home!
Use an equine electrolyte, not anything directed to humans as we just don’t have the same requirement. A salt block is also a good idea for them
Oh and you can give it daily, it isn’t hard on them if they are healthy and can actually be quite good for them. They produce about 20L of saliva alone per day. That is a lot of water in just that alone. Then think about how much your horse sweats and add that on top of their already huge water requirement.
Sorry I don’t know any specific brand names, I just understand the physiological basis!
I mix my own which comes out to be about $3.50 for 6 weeks worth. Feed daily, top dressed. During events I up his intake a little. They do not need sugar or other flavorings-horses like salt and will eat it. While there is cotransport of glucose and sodium, they will have plenty of glucose available from their feed.
I give my horse the pelleted Smartpak electrolytes basically May through October. He is a HUGE, foamy sweater. He can get lathered on a walk. He really does not like powdered electrolytes and will leave an entire meal if they are in it (and since weight is often an issue, that’s not good!).
I use Apple a Day. I get the big tub and feed it year round as I live in Florida. My horses also get their salt blocks. I put it in their feed which is wet so they can’t pick around it.
My guy already drinks quite a bit on his own, which is great, but he could benefit from electrolytes especially with event season coming up. He’s not a big drinker away from home which is a problem at shows. He sweat A LOT. Weight has also been an issue for us as he is hard keeper. He has a salt block in his stall at all times, but doesn’t seem to want it, which is why I want it to go in his feed so I can give it at events and not be worried about him not drinking them in water. Another problem I run into is my guy is very very very picky. He will not eat certain grain brands, he will not eat certain cookies or treats and he has completely stopped eating, when something he doesn’t find tasty ends up in his food.
I could not get my horse to eat any of the powder electrolytes, no matter how good they smelled to me the human or how many other horses thought they were delicious. I tried using just salt in his feed but the amount of salt the vet recommended was enough that he would not eat his grain.
I started using the Smartpak pellet electrolyte and he gobbles that right up.
For the record, this horse is not fussy. I have no idea why he turns his nose up at electrolytes the way he does.
Getting him used to flavoured electrolytes in water will definitely help him drink away from home. You could also bring water from home. Another point is the temperature of the water, some horses are very particular and like their water from 2-10 degrees celsius.
If you’re adding it to his feed, be careful, it can be counter-productive and make him more dehydrated. Physiologically, water moves to areas where there is a lot of salt in order to dilute it to the point that everything has the same ratio of salt to water in it. So when you feed salt (in the electrolytes) without water, less water gets absorbed in the intestines and some will even move out into the intestines to dilute the electrolytes down so that the ratio of salt to water is the same in the intestines, as is in the cells. Hope that makes sense.
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Getting him used to flavoured electrolytes in water will definitely help him drink away from home. You could also bring water from home. Another point is the temperature of the water, some horses are very particular and like their water from 2-10 degrees celsius.
If you’re adding it to his feed, be careful, it can be counter-productive and make him more dehydrated. Physiologically, water moves to areas where there is a lot of salt in order to dilute it to the point that everything has the same ratio of salt to water in it. So when you feed salt (in the electrolytes) without water, less water gets absorbed in the intestines and some will even move out into the intestines to dilute the electrolytes down so that the ratio of salt to water is the same in the intestines, as is in the cells. Hope that makes sense.[/QUOTE]
Most horses drink a substantial amount of water within 30 minutes of eating meal, so this shouldn’t matter unless you are restricting access to water following feeding. The addition of such a small about of salt shouldn’t cause that much of an osmotic issue-keep in mind your body fluid are essentially a saline solution. Even if it did cause a large efflux of water , all it would do would be decrease your chance of an impaction. Water in the GIT is necessary to keep things moving.
I would feed electrolytes in which ever way your horse accepts them best, be it top dress or in water.
Also, when you feed it with grain, the cells of the gut are busy absorbing everything else in the food which means some of that super helpful electrolyte supplement doesn’t get to the horse.
Yes water in the GI is important, but it is being brought from the blood and rerouted to the GI instead of doing what you want it to do. That isn’t why you’re feeding electrolytes. Eventing is an exceptionally difficult sport, especially at high levels. You are expected to ride in the heat, do dressage, jump show jumping and gallop cross country all in a day. In the heat, your horse can be losing around 25L per hour of sweat that is way more concentrated in sodium, potassium and chlorine than our own. The horse has a total body water of approximated 300L. So in an hour of intense exercise in the heat/humidity, you’re already almost at 10% water loss, which is considered extreme dehydration in humans. If you can’t handle the heat, your horse is fairing much, much worse.
So what I am trying to say is, if you want to prevent dehydration as best you can, you need to be effective in replenishing electrolytes and water. You would want to do everything in your power to make absorption as effective as possible. Mixing it in water is the best option we have to get the best performance out of your horse while keeping their well-being in mind.
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Mixing it in water is the best option we have to get the best performance out of your horse while keeping their well-being in mind.[/QUOTE]
If only there was a way to tell the horse that.
In other words, no amount it being the best way ever is going to make a horse that will not drink water with stuff in it drink this stuff.
i don’t feed electrolytes – because there has been increasing evidence they can do more harm than good. i find a better preventative is free choice salt, salt in their grain daily, and a thorough conditioning program. the horse’s body is remarkably adaptive, especially if you conditioned them properly. IMHO unless you are doing extreme activities (endurance, racing, UL eventing, etc) where a horse’s body will be entirely depleted of electrolytes after extreme exertion, i think you’re just wasting money and interfering with the horse’s ability to adapt to certain stressors. horses cannot store the extra minerals provided in electrolytes and usually waste a fair amount of energy/function trying to flush them from their system. so feeding before hand does not “build up”.
when i compete and it is ruthlessly hot, i will usually soak my guy’s grain in a gatorade packet after the athletic exertion – but never before.
My guy has access to a salt block, but has not touched it in the year and a half that I’ve had it. So if you fee salt in their grain how much? and is there a certain kind?
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My guy has access to a salt block, but has not touched it in the year and a half that I’ve had it. So if you fee salt in their grain how much? and is there a certain kind?[/QUOTE]
i have a 10lb mineral block outside - my guys are out 24/7 on a roundbale. in the summer i feed 1 scoop (i believe it’s 2 tsp?) of redmond’s salt - i like it, it’s not expensive, and the horses eat it easily.
“Almost every horse needs electrolytes because they are such sweaty creatures”
I would be interested to know where this came from. While this is true by and large it should not be interpreted as all horses need electrolyte supplements. I highly doubt anyone with expertise and understanding of a horse’s biochemical system would cast such a large blanket by saying every horse needs to be “dosed” daily or even weekly.
Electrolytes are not a “benign supplement” as people seem to think. The need, the amount of and how often depends on a number of factors. The average horse that is on a good feed program, hay and turn out for the average rider/owner would NOT need a daily or even a weekly “dose” of electrolytes.
It should not be given as a matter of course. This is not my opinion but that of a number of Sports vets I have discussed this with. In their opinion and observation it is way over used. The best way to determine if a horse is in need and how often if to discuss with your vet. Pull blood and have it screened not that expensive. Time it after the horse has been in heavy work or based on what your Sports vet thinks is the best way to get a “baseline”.
To each their own on this. Just saying…
Agreed. ^^^
Watched horses prep and run the long format three days without using electrolytes.
