The way it is, is, Cinderella.

Pine Tree 2012 was an amazing learning experience. 

Just vetted in for PT 100. Photo credit: A. Thiel

Luba tied up at the first vet check after 19 mile of trail.  She bravely loaded onto a strange ramp load trailer and we took her back to base camp for some IV fluids. Thanks to Roy, the ambulance driver and Dr. Erin for their great care.


After we got home, I spent a week obsessively reading about tying up, running blood tests, having the hay analyzed, talking with anybody who would listen to try to figure out what went haywire.


A Canadian, Dr. Stephanie Valberg, who works out of University of Minnesota is a leading researcher in tying up.  She says, "Tying-up is a syndrome or description of a horse with muscle damage that has many different causes."  


We knew Luba was tying up because she was not as forward as usual on the trail, she got a B skin tent and for muscle tone (tight glutes) and then she peed dark. Blood we pulled just before fluids were administered was off the charts for CK and AST (muscle enzymes). Also really high potassium.


Tying up can be sporadic - horses worked beyond their level of fitness, or due to electrolyte or dietary imbalances. It can also be chronic, due to abnormal regulation of muscle contraction or storing too much glycogen (sugars) in the muscles. High strung fillies are succeptible. Dr. Valberg says,  "Triggering events include stress, excitement, lameness, high grain diets, and exercise at submaximal speeds."


So what happened to Luba? Well, both of us were pretty excited about this trip. Luba does not eat/drink well while on the trailer. And it was HOT. She did not work very hard in the days leading up to the trip. I did not ride her after we arrived at Lysane's on Wednesday because it was so HOT. She did not get ridden on Thursday upon arrival at ride camp because it was so HOT. I did not reduce her feed ration (although 4 cups of Purina Evolution Elite twice a day plus beet pulp without molasses is not a high grain feed regimen). And I did not electrolyte her enough. Plenty of potential triggering events to go around.


Dr. Gayle Ecker of Equine Guelph recommends an ounce of Perform n Win electrolyte per mile on trail. She also says 4 to 6 ounces per hour of trailering in hot weather.  I have never used this much. I have found that a bit more than half that dose has been okay. However, given the heat, the distance we were travelling and planning to ride, I was clearly not aggressive enough with my elyte protocol.


I also committed a cardinal sin. I changed something close to the ride. I started to experiment with Ride Rite electrolyte about the week before we left for Maine. I was using it to pre-load Luba before the trip. It is "stronger" than PnW, and so I was replacing two ounces of PnW with one ounce of Ride Rite. Dumb dumb dumb.


Luba has looked great throughout the whole ordeal. Even when she was on fluids, she seemed to be wondering, "Where is Mae? When do we go back on trail?"

Lemonade, good. Iced tea, bad.

Luba lives out 24/7. She stayed in on Monday night when we arrived home, as it was cold and wet outside. She got a good rub with Sore No More liniment and I left her with lots of hay and water. 


We cut her back to 2 cups of Evolution Elite twice a day. She got daily TLC, hand grazing and bodywork for 9 days. I started her back to work slowly last week. 30 minutes of hand walking Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Back under saddle on Saturday, riding 30 minutes, mostly walking and a bit of trotting. We added 5 minutes on Sunday and another 5 minutes today, with a bit more trotting each day.  The vet pulled blood last Friday, so we should have more data (yeah!) to assess her recovery in the next day or two. In the meantime, slow progressive loading is the plan.


I have also been giving her a dose of BC2A every time I work her. Branched chain amino acids help the body deal with lactic acid and reduce muscle cramping. I also added 10 g of magnesium oxide to her supplements beginning yesterday. This mineral plays a role in nerve and muscle function. Horses that are deficient can be excitable and have muscle tremors (Luba does get muscle tremors when nervous, like when she first settles at a new barn). It is often found in calming supplements.  The vet recommended trying both of these to see if it helps prevent any more nasty tie ups.


I also came to another big conclusion at Pine Tree 100. I am a Cinderella 100 miler.  We need to be going fast enough to be done by midnight, give or take an hour. Being alone out on trail until the wee hours, being hazed in by a drag rider on an ATV or motorcycle is not my idea of a good time. 


So the plan now is to work on speed and doing faster 50s.  Good thing I have some horsey friends with a need for speed.


My Tom Tom GPS has Yoda as the voice. He and Obi-Wan are full of good advice. "You cannot escape your destiny". "The way it is, is."  And of course, "Well you have driven".