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Vets use weighing platform to weigh up the effects of cross-country, assessing potential weight loss due to effects of dehydration in the horse
By Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials
May 4, 2006 - 12:56:00 PM
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Vets use weighing platform to weigh up the effects of cross-country, assessing potential weight loss due to effects of dehydration in the horse
Badminton veterinary delegate Paul Farrington is using the opportunity of cross country day at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials for pioneering research into the effects of the short format on the horse.
With the help of the Welsh company Horse Weigh, who are providing a series of portable weighing platforms, Paul is aiming to weigh horses before and after the cross country in order to assess potential weight loss due to effects of dehydration.
“The four-star CIC is a new journey as far as the knowledge of horse physiology is concerned,” said Paul of the Coach House Veterinary Clinic in Newbury and Veterinary Delegate here for the last 10 years. “Weighing horses is a non-invasive and simple technique that has the advantage of revealing information which may prove useful. “If the temperature remains high, as it is today, there is the potential for horses to lose a fair amount of weight due to water loss. If the information helps riders to prepare their horses for the following day, by knowing how much weight needs to be replaced then it will have been a useful exercise.”
The study here is voluntary although Paul is hoping riders will be interested in the outcome to volunteer their horses for the trial. Racehorse trainers regularly weigh horses to determine optimum racing weight as well as losses after racing and some event riders such as Polly Stockton and Andrew Hoy already have weighing platforms in their yards.
www horseweigh.com
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