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PRE-FUEL GEL
Rapid energy paste with essential BCAAs to maximise athletic performance
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Horse Hydration & Electrolytes for Summer Performance
Your questions answered…
“Overall, I am very happy with my horse’s feed and the condition he is holding. However, during the summer months he seems to get quite lazy and sluggish. I find this is even worse after he has travelled to a show and I think he’s missing a bit of his spark when he’s in the ring. Can you recommend a supplement I could use to help him?”
How Dehydration Affects Horse Performance and Energy
The change in your horse’s energy levels may be down to its hydration status. Dehydration can really affect performance where horses feel sluggish and are slower to recover. The composition of your horse’s diet can have a significant effect on water intake, with stabled hay-fed horses requiring a higher water intake than pasture-based diets as grass has a much higher water content.
These stabled horses can struggle to consume the optimal amounts of fluids, especially while travelling/changing environments. Additionally, unlike humans, equine sweat is hypertonic to plasma, meaning it contains a lot more electrolytes/salts. Hence, the lather you see on a sweating horse’s skin. Water and electrolyte loss through sweating needs to be replaced. Horses sweat a lot more than humans and chemically, their sweat is different — it contains a lot more potassium and other ions.
Signs Your Horse May Be Dehydrated
As well as affecting performance, dehydration is the cause of many cases of colic, impaction colic in particular. Faecal scoring is a helpful way of assessing hydration levels. Get into a habit of looking at faeces daily. Another useful indicator of dehydration is to see how dark their urine is. If the urine is a darker yellow colour, they are likely dehydrated and if it is more dilute (clear in colour) their hydration level is much more favourable. The skin tent test is also commonly used but its results are largely unreliable. A combination of faecal scoring, visual urine concentration assessment and a skin tent test can give any owner a good clue regarding the hydration level of their horse.
Signs Your Horse Is Well Hydrated
Healthy, well hydrated horses typically produce:
- Well-formed balls (“apples”)
- Slightly moist droppings with a sheen, but not wet or sloppy
- Droppings that hold their shape when they hit the ground
- Droppings that break apart with light pressure, showing fibrous material
How Energy & Recovery Supplements Support Horses
Foran Equine Pre-Fuel Gel is a useful energy booster supplement. It is a rapid energy paste with essential branch chain amino acids to maximise athletic performance. It contains vitamin E, B-vitamins, chelated zinc and hydrolysed plant proteins to support maximum effort. These ingredients optimise energy and protein utilisation, support muscle function and are powerful antioxidants to facilitate exertion and recovery. One syringe should be given orally on competition day — 1-2 hours before the competition is optimal timing.
Re-Fuel Gel, on the other hand, is a concentrated electrolyte gel with added B-vitamins and antioxidants for optimum recovery. One syringe should be given post rigorous exercise with a handful of hay/grass or mash once the horse is fully cooled down. Water should be freely available. These handy syringes can help keep your horse feeling energised and hydrated while on the move during the busy summer season. Think of it as a concentrated liquid version of Equi-Lyte G with added B-vitamins that should be used after a hard jumping round/session (heavy sweating).
Managing Electrolyte Loss Through Sweating
Foran Equine Equi-Lyte G contains these optimal levels of electrolytes as well as antioxidants Vitamin C & E in a powdered form, making it a superior electrolyte supplement. Rather than just providing salt, which is simply just sodium and chloride (table salt or a salt lick), Equi-Lyte G has the correct formulation of electrolytes in equine sweat (sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium & calcium).
It goes without saying that clean fresh water should be available at all times. Equi-Lyte G is designed to be given orally, mixed in with your horse’s regular feed. Mixing with a mash is also a useful way of getting the desired intake of electrolytes on board, as well as extra water.
By preventing dehydration, we can avoid a lot of health problems in our equine athletes as well as optimise performance. Electrolytes are a key supplement in every performance horse’s diet and Foran Equine’s electrolytes have a unique and superior formulation.
Want to know more about supplements that support summer hydration for horses with electrolytes and energy support? Speak with one of our Equine Nutrition Experts.
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