Download article tying-up 15 June 2010

TYING-UP.
In training for speed, the principle focus is on skeletal muscle. When involved in
strenuous exercise, these muscles can soon develop lactic acidosis from anaerobic
metabolism. Lactic acid is the result of incomplete fuel burning that takes place in all
muscle cells. The cell, under exercise stress, quickly uses up all the available reserves of
oxygen. Without oxygen the muscle converts its fuel reserves into energy by reducing
the fuel with enzymes. This is referred to as anaerobic energy production and it is
inefficient since it doesn’t burn the fuel effectively but leaves behind partially burned
fuel, better known as lactic acid.
As this acid builds up it lowers the pH (the level of dissolved hydrogen) in the cell
and as the pH drops, cell activity becomes inoperable – the more lactic acid, the more
muscle cell paralysis.
The majority of horses get lactic acid build up after strenuous work and this can
only be removed from the horse’s system through its kidneys. This is a slow process
which aims to convert as much of the lactic acid back to glucose immediately after hard
work finishes.
Under normal conditions a horse can rid itself of acid build up without depleting its
alkali reserve, with the kidneys maintaining the correct acid-base balance of the horse’s
body within the very narrow limits compatible with life. However, when the system is
overstressed, muscle paralysis is often the result. This muscle paralysis, also known as
“tying-up”, can immobilise skeletal muscle making it impossible for the horse to finishon and reducing its stamina.
However, this may not be entirely due to the build up of lactic acid!
Many people feed a balanced diet and then unbalance it by feeding supplements. It
has been found that over-supplementing can cause an excess of certain minerals, which is
equally as dangerous as a deficiency.
Research has shown that 78% of competition horses fed supplements are likely to
receive excess energy, protein and an imbalance of minerals. This practice can lead to
subclinical toxicity and can certainly prime the horse’s system to tying-up by loading its
blood stream with a complex of elements which reduce its oxygen carrying ability.
Basically, they can alter the pH of the horse’s blood stream which is normally between
7.42 and 7.45. Any disturbance in the blood pH level will result in a drop in
performance.
As regards supplements, with horses in training the old saying “less is more” often
holds good and the main aim should always be to maintain cellular oxygen levels as high
as possible.
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A working horse must inhale up to 90 litres of air per minute. It has the ability to
increase and decrease the number of breaths that it inhales in any fixed time except at
canter pace or gallop. At these paces the stride and breath becomes synchronised as the
horse’s internal organs are displaced forwards and backwards by the concertina-like
movements of the supporting muscle groups (diaphragm, abdominal and thoracic). The
contraction of the spleen during this high intensity work causes the release of reserve
blood cells, nearly doubling the red blood cell count. These extra haemoglobin cells
boost the oxygen take up from the lungs delaying the onset of fatigue. But this quite
remarkable release of energy is soon dissipated if the blood stream is already loaded with
toxins, supplements and such levels of lactic acid which may not have been processed
from earlier exercise.
It’s not surprising then that the main muscle groups that tie-up are those furthest
from the heart, the bi-lateral lumbar, gluteous maximus, semimembranosis, and
semitendinosis of the lower back, hip and upper-hind-leg areas. These large muscle
groups that power the hind legs of the horse are drained of toxins by the lymphatic system
in its slow one way journey toward the heart. But, partly because of the distances
involved, and partly because of its reliance on muscular movement to pump it on its way,
the lymphatic system cannot remove endogenous toxins quickly enough to offset the
eventual onset of fatigue.
The best way to guard against tying-up, and also to extend the horse’s reserve of
energy available to aerobic exercise, is to make more oxygen available to its system and
to reduce its background levels of sub-clinical toxicity. The way to achieve this happy
state is to (a) allow sufficient recovery periods between each vigorous training session,
(b) to reduce or remove those feed supplements that can cause an imbalance leading to
sub-clinical toxicity in the blood stream, and/or (c) to feed a diet enhanced with “Happy
Tummy”TM Charcoal. “Happy Tummy”TM which is especially formulated for equine use
has two distinct functions. Firstly, it carries a high oxygen content into the horse’s
system, boosting cellular reserves and balancing the pH. Secondly, it removes any toxins
that have built up in the horse’s system, reducing the “background” lactic acidity as well
as carrying out of the horse any endogenous toxins that may have built up due to illadvised supplementation, or from the environment.
“Happy Tummy”TM is chemically inert, it has no medicinal function and is not a
drug in any sense of the word. What it is, however, is the best filter substance known to
man and has been used as an aid to digestion and as an antidote to poison for over 5,000
years. It absorbs over 4,000 toxins purifying and oxygenating the blood providing much
better energy potential and stamina. “Happy Tummy” TM dramatically reduces the
incidence of tying-up!