I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m a bit of a klutz. The fact that I’ve broken both arms 3x probably is a good testament of that fact. I’m also not super capable with a syringe. I generally miss, end up wearing it or whatever I was trying to administer gets spat out onto the ground.  That being the case, I usually have my friend, Dianne, do the syringe business as she’s much better at it than I am. 

We were headed to a ride and wanted to electrolyte the horses.  As it was a nasty day with a big wind and rain we thought we’d give the horses the electrolytes in the trailer. Tia was being fussy so we got the brilliant idea to tie her a bit shorter. I was holding her halter while Dianne was to dose her. Well one minute I was standing at her head and the next minute I was tossed onto the trailer floor by her back feet!  All this before I could even say “Bob’s your uncle”! Lucky for me Tia isn’t a kicker nor did she step on me while I lay at her feet. And she had ample time to try to stomp me into oblivion as I was a bit stunned by what had just happened.  

I lay there thinking I might puke as my shoulder didn’t feel so good. I had Dianne drag me away from her feet until I felt like I could stand up. Once I didn’t feel so green I got up and I went into the house to assess the damage. My husband took one look at me and said “what’s going on?  You have straw in your hair!”  I thought look closer as I’m sure there’s horse $h!t in there too!  He thought it was a bad omen and that we should forget going. I, of course, wasn’t having any part of that nonsense. Jamie, my husband, always tells me when something happens to me that “you’ve been hurt worse”. This merely a minor setback

My left arm didn’t work so well but we continued on to the ride. I had to be tossed onto my horse as I couldn’t grip well enough to pull myself on. Thank goodness Tia wasn’t being Tia!  She kept to a steady pace and we completed the ride that day. 

Moral of the story: if you can’t be a good example then be a horrible warning. Don’t be trying this method at home folks . 

If your horse is fussy about a syringe in the mouth start with things they will like. Applesauce is a good one to use. Get them started with that. Once they realize you aren’t always trying to put unappetizing stuff in their mouth they do so much better. I still have to ensure Tia swallows as she has a great ability to hold stuff in her mouth and then spit it out when I thought she had swallowed. She gets extra patting on her throat to encourage swallowing. 

There are lots of different types of electrolytes out there.  I have used Northern Lytes, EnduraMax and Perform n Win. Perform n Win is only available in the US. 

There are lots of articles on the internet pertaining to electrolytes and your horse.  AND, like all things horse related, there are lots of different ideas on the matter of electrolytes for your horse. The best thing is to chose a method that works for your horse. 

Darice Whyte