What kind of beer for anhydrosis?

[saitou_amaya]

So for those who have seen my other posts, I have a 16 year old Friesian who suddenly got anhydrosis last summer. He sweated like crazy over the winter but suddenly stopped sweating today when the temps reached 80 degrees here in Missouri. I’ve had him on 1AC for a couple weeks now, but didn’t seem to do anything yet. Today I wanted to test if he would sweat at all with the hot temps so I put him on the lunge line for a good 20 min. He was very puffy and tired and had increased HR, but not even a bit of sweat!

I’m ready to try the beer thing. As silly as it seems, I’m desperate. :mad: I can’t have another summer of owning a horse that can’t be ridden. So, those with horses who don’t sweat, what kinds of beers work? Can I buy cheap Natty Light or does it need to be a specific brand? I’ve heard Guinness? Thanks!

[vineyridge]

[QUOTE=saitou_amaya;8058682]
So for those who have seen my other posts, I have a 16 year old Friesian who suddenly got anhydrosis last summer. He sweated like crazy over the winter but suddenly stopped sweating today when the temps reached 80 degrees here in Missouri. I’ve had him on 1AC for a couple weeks now, but didn’t seem to do anything yet. Today I wanted to test if he would sweat at all with the hot temps so I put him on the lunge line for a good 20 min. He was very puffy and tired and had increased HR, but not even a bit of sweat!

I’m ready to try the beer thing. As silly as it seems, I’m desperate. :mad: I can’t have another summer of owning a horse that can’t be ridden. So, those with horses who don’t sweat, what kinds of beers work? Can I buy cheap Natty Light or does it need to be a specific brand? I’ve heard Guinness? Thanks![/QUOTE]

You can also try Sweat Again by the Animed people. I had good luck with it.

[saitou_amaya]

Tried it last summer and zip, zilch, nada! 1AC came the closest to working for me, but it was only patches of sweat, not normal sweating.

I did put him on the scale today to see how much he weighs, 1350 lb. Which means I have been underdosing him by a teaspoon. I upped the dose so I’ll wait and see what that does. But if that doesn’t make a different, I think I should give it a go with the beer. I can’t have another summer of owning a jumper who can’t actually jump because he overheats!

[Nestor]

I believe it needs to be a dark beer? A woman I know did a Guinness a day. But it didn’t help…

[Saronicos]

Equiwinner patches. They work!

[FLeventer]

We do Natrual Ice or Busch. Really whatever is cheapest. PBR used to be cheap but the price hiked thanks to hipsters.

I used that in combo with OneAC. He was able to make it through the summer with rides in early morning/late afternoon. Horse eventually sold to Minnesota or Montana to do LL eventing and trails.

I have one now who doesnt sweat well all over. He has patches. He gets a can am and pm with the One AC. He started to sweat more evenly, but not perfect.

[Zipsmom]

Try herbs- New Xiang Ru San. You have to have your vet order them. In Florida, I can get them from this place http://www.tcvm.com/

Guiness or a dark beer is what people told me. Horse loved it, but it didn’t do a darn thing as far as I could tell. 1AC did not work either. Acupuncture did bring it back and the herbs kept my boy going. You need to start treatment BEFORE it gets hot. Good luck!

[Flash44]

Well, it IS St. Patrick’s Day…

[Docismypony]

I have a bad non sweater he’s older to and I’m in fl so its hot, I tried one ac not great results I use Sweat Again works awesome I tried beer it was ok but really I just pay attention to when he is getting hot I keep a bucket of water and sponge in the arena when I ride.

[bugsynskeeter]

We had one broodmare that refused to drink the good beer. The cheaper, the more she liked it. She was a cheap drunk

[quietann]

A big Friesian in the barn where I board was greatly helped by Guiness. Started with two pints a day and then cut down to one once he was doing well. And he loved it!

[lindsay.anne]

I used Guinness for my guy that needed a few lbs and for the anhydrosis horses, and it was fantastic- and a treat for them! But it is super expensive. (Hey, I dont even drink beer that pricey).

PBR worked too, but the price did spike a bit although its still much cheaper than Guinness. Go for the Natty Light too.

[findeight]

Beer worked for my non sweating nare. Tried a bunch of them, all worked as well as any of the pricier supplements, the Regular beers that is, none of the Lights did anything. One can a day, two if it’s really hot and humid.

Far as what kind? Come on people, the one with the Clydesdales on the case. Or the cheapest one you can get, Old Milwaukee, Keystone, long as it’s not a Light beer. Horses are good about sharing on a hot afternoon too.

Oh, be aware alcohol is a depressant and will show up in a drug test so don’t share a tall boy right before you go in the ring.

[merrygoround]

Or you can really go for broke, and buy Ommegang.

[Libby2563]

Beer worked for my warmblood for a few summer when he was in his teens and we were living in Houston (AWFUL humidity, terrible for non-sweaters). I tried Guinness but found that cheap junk worked just as well. Mostly I bought Milwaukee’s Best. Actually for some of that time I wasn’t 21 yet so I had to get my friends to buy me beer…for my horse. Fun stuff.

Now he’s on One AC and I would recommend trying it (~$30 a month from SmartPak). I still ride early in the morning in the summer and don’t show him between June and August, but he doesn’t get as hot, dry, and blowy as he used to. I keep him on One AC year-round now because they recommend a reduced workload for 2 weeks when you first start, and that always happens to be right in the middle of spring show season.

Something I’ve been wanting to try is acupuncture. I’ve heard some word of mouth success stories.

Good luck! It is a pain to manage.

[Appsolute]

Well looking at this logically - I personally have not done much research into it.

But what ABOUT beer makes horses sweat? Is it the alcohol? The yeast? The hops?

I don’t think it would be the barely or the water, as both of those are quite common to a horse’s diet.

My knee jerk reaction is that it must be the alcohol. I know I am more prone to a flush and sweating after I have drank - and it doesn’t matter if its beer, wine, or hard liqueur.

http://www.md-health.com/Alcohol-Sweating.html

Alcohol is a chemical substance that can cause vasodilation, or the widening of blood vessels. When blood vessels near the skin dilate or enlarge the skin becomes warm and this triggers the sweat glands to produce the fluid which is called sweat. This process, which is also known as perspiration, is a physiologic or normal reaction which is normally associated with other events such as physical exercise that also causes blood vessels to dilate.

Now - with this theory, light beers would be worthless, as they are very low in alcohol. BUT - Guinness - which so many swear by, is also pretty low at 5%

There is also this theory:

First off, the only beer that actually contains the right stuff to provide the widely accepted treatment for anhidrosis is a pint of Guinness stout beer added to the feed twice daily. Guinness Stout contains higher amounts of vitamins C and some of the B complex vitamins, which is thought to be relevant to its effectiveness. It is the specific ingredients used in processing Guinness Stout, and not the vasodilating effects of alcohol, that produce the beneficial effect. This is evidenced by the fact that Guinness Stout is actually lower in percentage of alcohol than many other lighter beers containing more alcohol but that don’t work.

But - I am not sure what is so magical about Guinness. There are lots of stouts on the market - maybe a cheaper one would work just as well? Maybe one with a higher ABV would work better?

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

dark and heavy. The darker the better. Think it is the hops. And any dark heavy beer is good.

[IPEsq]

Appsolute - I’d agree it’s not about the alcohol. Horses can metabolize it so quickly that I’d think the vasodilating effects from one beer wouldn’t last long enough to make any real difference.

[IPEsq]

Dark beers generally won’t be all that hoppy. If you’d want to go with hops and alcohol for a theory, then you should feed an Imperial IPA. What makes dark beers dark is the roasted malts and roasted barley.

[Appsolute]

Hum - but dark and heavy have to do with how roasted the barley is, not with the amount of hops (hops lends bitter). Most dark beers (stouts and porters) have less hops then Pale Ales or many other light colored beer.

That said - cheap beer, has very little hops, and many have rice and corn as fillers instead of just barley.

I would be curious to see the effects of a dark low ABV (alcohol) and low IBU (hops) beer (like Guinness) compared to a high ABV, high IBU (hops) beer like good IPA (India Pale Ale).