Keeping Your Horse Well Hydrated

5 mins read

Horses exercising or travelling in hot conditions can sweat excessively. In fact, a heavily sweating horse can lose up to 40kg during an endurance ride. In addition to significant water losses, substantial losses of electrolytes occur.

Electrolytes are essential for control of membrane potential, muscle contraction, nerve conduction, enzyme reactions and play a central role in exercise regulation. Electrolyte losses through sweat result in a loss of chloride, potassium, calcium and magnesium from the blood. The principal electrolytes in sweat are sodium and potassium. Loss of water and electrolytes in sweat can result in dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Significant electrolyte losses can result in adverse effects on the muscles such as Tying-up and kidney damage.

Dehydration results in a decrease in exercise performance and can lead to the development of heat stress. Dehydration reduces the ability to sweat and is the most important factor leading to the development of heat stress. 

This is why it’s important to consider using electrolyte supplements during and after training if horses are sweating heavily. CEVA Energetic Isotonic Powder is formulated to provide essential balanced electrolytes to maintain optimum body fluid composition and prevent dehydration. Energetic contains the electrolytes sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus, as well as glucose and triglycerides for energy, branched-chain amino acids, antioxidants and B vitamins.

After intense exercise that could cause excessive sweat, your horse may also be low on energy. CEVA Energetic Isotonic Powder contains the readily available energy sources glucose and medium-chain triglycerides. It also contains the biological antioxidants Vitamins C and beta carotene and essential branch chain amino acids which are depleted from muscles during severe exertion. These nutrients combine to both assist with energy availability during exercise and also aid in the recovery process after exercise.

Providing a combination of electrolytes and energy in the form of a supplement like CEVA Energetic Isotonic Powder will provide a pre-exercise energy boost and help muscles recover from exercise.

Sweat through stress is not uncommon in our horses, and a big stress our horses endure regularly is travelling in floats. Supplementing with CEVA Energetic Isotonic Powder is also useful when horses are travelling, to reduce dehydration and stress. Horses can learn to drink this supplement in water, or to eat it in their feed which is very useful when travelling and campaigning horses in strange venues where they may be reluctant to drink.

With summer in full swing, there’s an increase in both temperature and humidity, which puts added stress on your horse’s ability to lose heat, particularly during exercise. This will result in elevated sweating and an increased risk of dehydration and heat stress. It’s essential to ensure your horse has access to water and is supplemented with electrolytes. A supplement such as CEVA Energetic Isotonic Powder provides balanced electrolytes and also includes highly bioavailable energy supplements and antioxidants to help boost exercise and support recovery.

Dehydration is a major concern for our horses that sweat and creates major complications if left unattended. Keeping a sachet of CEVA Energetic Isotonic Powder on hand gives you quick access to balanced electrolytes and energy to counteract the impact of sweat and dehydration and put them in an ideal stead for recovery.

At Horseland we stock a huge range of horse health products and extensive variety of electrolytes to keep your horse well hydrated. Head into your local Horseland store or browse our range of horse health products online.