Understanding the important role electrolytes play in healthy performance horses

Electrolytes are minerals that break up into electrically charged ions in water. They play crucial roles in the functions of all cells and are particularly important for muscle and nerve function and fluid balance within the horse’s body. When horses sweat, they lose a significant amount of electrolytes from their body. These must be replaced for the horse to maintain optimal fluid balance, nerve function, and muscle function.

Manufacturers market a plethora of electrolyte products in a variety of forms to horse owners. Understanding when, how much, and which products to supplement is critical for optimizing equine health and performance.

Another Kind of Sweat Equity

When your horse sweats, you might see a white residue that remains on his hair coat after the sweat evaporates. Those are the residual electrolytes lost through sweat. Therefore, even by simply looking at a working horse it becomes obvious that the more he sweats, the more electrolytes he has lost. The primary electrolytes a horse loses in sweat are sodium, chloride, and potassium. He also loses calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and sulfur, but in smaller quantities