Tying Up

[dillybeans]

What exactly does it mean for a horse to "tie up"? Is it just sore muscles, or is there more to it?

[Sparkle]

Tying up is another way of your horse having azoturia (sp?) it can be much more serious than sore muscles and I think it can sometimes result in crippling- I don't know much about it (I was reading about it a while back) and I probably have this all wrong- someone else can explain it better. I think it's caused by too much lactic acid building up in the muscles and blood, and causes the muscles to contract. I think it can be caused by giving horses a day off and not cutting back their feed- "monday morning sickness", or vitamin deficiency, or sometimes dehydration. Sorry I haven't been much help:(

[Wally]

Vets have many theories about azoturia, it can come in many degrees of severity, but all casued by lactic acid in the muscles.

It is beleived to be caused by a massive release of glycogen from the liver. (one theory)

I have experienced this quite a few times over my endurance riding career.

Mostly it happens in both muscle masses in the hind quarters. I have seen it happen at 1 mile into the race and 100 miles into a race and all intervals between. There seems to be no pattern.

I have seen it in happy hacking horses ridden regularly and on the way home from an hour's gentle ride. It was just such a case that I experienced the worse case. She stopped and couldn not move at all, not a step. It took us over 2 hours to walk her about 100 yards to a kind person's stable who offered it to us when they heard of the mare's plight. With veterinary treatment it took about a week before she could be moved again back to her home. yet I have seen cases after 100 mile endurance rides just display a bit of discomfort, coffee/coke coloured pee and then a fair recovery by next day, stiff but able to walk and trot up.

Potassium acetate in the water is supposed to be a preventative measure for horses which are prone to azoturia. It can strike anyone at any time without warning or change to your routine. So if your hourse does suddenly stop and refuse to move for no reason it may be tying up.

It can also happen in the muscle of the front end too. Either way it is a vet job.