Harvey's blood test results

[harveydales]

My vet rang last night to let me know the results have come through and Harvey did suffer a mild tying up. This was probably triggered by the sudden rush in sugars in the grass after the rain and then the exersise after rest. Why he should have had a relapse on Wednesday I don't know. I will have to do some research and compare notes with those of you who've experienced this condition. He didn't show the normal symptoms other than the painful stiffness. His wee was normal and on Wednesday the stiffness was infront rather than behind.

Harvey is very much back to normal now and not happy about being stabled. I've been told to gradually include turnout time until he can go back to living out fully. I'm scared in case the grass triggers it again but will do it gradually and keep a careful eye on him.

The vet feels I could start ridden work in a week or so, just a bit of walk and build it up. Fingers crossed.... Thanks everyone for your support.

[valerie n scout]

oh am so pleased Pam..that's good news, hope he keeps improving xxx

[zeldalithgow]

Must be a relief for you to have a diagnosis Pam

[harleydales]

At least you know now - feel free to pm me if you need any info about feeding etc as it's similar to the EPSM.

[Debbie]

Harvs is so lucky to have you as an owner! Since you've caught it so early on, I'm sure diet and management will help him

[leannwithconnie]

So glad Harvey is well on the mend and you now know what was wrong..What a relief!!

[jaycee]

Always good to have answers to these things, pleased he is on the mend

[Fi]

glad to hear he's getting better, and it must be a relief to know for sure what the problem was.

[cutemangurdi1]

sending lots more for you both.

I'll send you a link to a supplement that I found very good for this condition.

[cadeby]

Glad you've got a diagnosis Pam

[tinkerdorisalison]

I don't think many people would have recognised it as tying up Pam. I think I'd like to find out a bit more about it myself.

Glad Harvs is on the mend.

[SuzieP]

It's interesting that stamping feet is a symptom. Not at the last Trec in Sherwood Forest, but the one before, Bea did a lot of stamping when we got back after the orienteering. I couldn't make out why and put it down to flies - but it was still unusual behaviour for Bea.

At Shewood, I noticed a horse corralled next to us at the last comp, stamping when it got back from the L4 orienteering.

Since Harvey's bout of this, I've been reading up on treatment and (more importantly) prevention of tying up. It seems that electrolyte levels are important, water intake and appropriate carb levels, feeding oil for energy instead of straights.

Prior to this comp we started to give Bea electrolyte a few days beforehand, and he had some in his feed the morning of the comp. I also made sure he drank at one of the checkpoints where there was a trough and some buckets for horse washing down. Funny boy wouldn't drink from the trough - but he drank from a bucket if I held it for him.

He didn't stamp at all after this time.

I said it earlier, but thanks again, Pam, for posting about this. I wouldn't have made the connection if you hadn't.

I'm sure Harvey will make a full recovery, and now you know that he's getting prone to this I'm sure you'll manage his diet and exercise and so on in a way that means he won't suffer again.

[knight]

Very good that you know what its is now and most importantly that Harvey is feeling better. Thank goodness for that. And good that it's something you can manage with diet & exercise. So good to hear that he can gradually get back to enjoying some turnout and be back to ridden work. You gave us a scare Harvey!

[greydales]

I'm glad you know what you are dealing with, Pam, and for the rest of us who's horses haven't suffered with this, it's something to watch out for .. the problem is, some of these symptoms can be so many things . Cherry was stanmping her legs badly when I was over with Linda on one of the journeys we took - but I put it down to her travel boots irritating her legs (she had some sores on them). But, she hadn't done this on any of the other trips, and she had done more work than usual!

Anyhow, I hope that Harvey is okay and doesn't give you cause for worry again!

[harleydales]

Sue - be VERY careful if only offering electrolytes, as ti could upset Bea's natural electrolyte balance and make him think he needs to drink less. Endurance bods tend only to start to use electrolytes when they're doing over 30 mile rides at fast speeds, and always offer both plain and electrolyte water.
You shouldn't have to build up the electrolyte before a competition as they are not being used.
Endurance is really the only discipline that requires the re-hydration and replacement of electrolytes during the competition, while the horse is still working. Replacing electrolytes in this way must be done carefully as giving a high salt solution to a
dehydrated horse before it has drunk enough water will draw water from the blood, and dehydrate the horse further.

I'm sorry if I sould like the harbinger of doom, but our Dales have a lot of draught lineage in them, so the chances of them developing EPSM and/or tying up are probably more than in for example a TB or WB. If your Dales starts to lose performance, gets trembly or starts to lose condition for no reason it's well worth looking into as it can be managed with diet if caught before too much muscle damage is done.

Yes, stick to low starch and carb diets, feed oil for calories when needed, and look at supplementing with Vit E and Selenium if you are feeding more than 100ml of oil per day (inc oil already in the diet as well as additional oil).