Feeding electrolytes to Archie during a multi-day event
Archie is a 15.2hh station-bred gelding who treats every competition like it's his last, and he sweats like he knows it. Three-day eventing pushes his body harder than anything else we do together, especially the cross-country leg, and his electrolyte balance can swing wildly between the dressage arena and the final show jumping round. Over the past four seasons of campaigning him from grassroots up to two-star, I have refined a routine that keeps him drinking, eating, and performing through heat, dust, and long days at the truck.
Our home base sits in the Adelaide Hills, which gives us a long float to most major events on the eastern seaboard. I float Archie to Melbourne for the spring three-days, to Sydney for autumn CCI's, and to regional venues across South Australia for club-level competitions. The conditions vary enormously between these trips - cool and damp in Victoria, hot and dry in inland South Australia, humid and oppressive in Brisbane - and that variability is the single biggest factor shaping how I dose his supplements.
Multi-day competition riders all know that electrolytes are essential, but the practical how-to is rarely discussed openly. I have picked up most of what I do from other riders, from veterinarians, and from plenty of trial and error. What follows is the exact routine I now follow, with Archie as my case study, along with the products available in Australia and the small adjustments that have made a real difference to his recovery.
Why electrolytes matter during three-day eventing
Electrolytes are minerals - sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and calcium - that carry electrical signals in the body. They leave the horse through sweat, and eventing horses sweat profusely during the cross-country phase. A horse can lose around fifteen litres of sweat in a single two-star cross-country round, and the concentration of sodium in equine sweat is significantly higher than in human sweat. The combined fluid losses and sodium load are far greater relative to body weight than what we experience ourselves.
When Archie sweats heavily, he loses sodium first and most significantly. This is the mineral that drives thirst - a horse that is sodium-depleted will simply stop drinking, no matter how much fresh water sits in his bucket. Chloride and potassium follow closely behind, and these affect muscle contraction and heart rhythm. By the time we get back to the truck after cross-country, his electrolyte profile is significantly different from when he trotted down the centre line in the dressage arena that morning.
A dehydrated horse looks dull, sweats less than he should (because his body has no fluid to lose), and recovers slowly. Severe electrolyte depletion causes muscle fatigue, tying-up symptoms, and in extreme cases, cardiac arrhythmias. For multi-day competitions, where the horse must recover and compete again the next day, electrolyte balance is the difference between a horse that comes back fresh and one that pulls out of the final jumping.
Australian electrolyte products and how I choose them
Australia has a well-developed market for equine electrolyte products, and most are available through local feed stores, produce stores, and online retailers. The brands I have used consistently include Ranvet, Mitavite, Kelato, and Kohnke's Own - all either Australian-made or widely distributed here. I choose between them based on the situation, the form (paste versus powder versus liquid), and how fussy Archie is eating on the day.
| Product | Form | Sodium per dose | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranvet Salkavite | Powder | ~3g | Daily maintenance, pre-loading |
| Kelato Revitalyte | Paste | ~4g | Post-exercise, travel, competition |
| Kohnke's Own Cell-Vital | Powder | ~5g | Heavy sweat replacement |
| Mitavite Re-Vite | Liquid | ~3g | Picky eaters, recovery feed |
When buying electrolytes in Australia, I always check that the product is registered with the APVMA - the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority regulates all veterinary products here, and any electrolyte supplement sold legally must be either registered or have an approved label. This gives me certainty that it contains what it claims and is safe for competition use under Equestrian Australia rules. I also check for any prohibited substances under the FEI prohibited list, which is particularly important for horses competing at international events.
I keep a tube of Kelato Revitalyte paste in my truck at all times because it is portable, does not need mixing, and goes straight into the horse regardless of appetite. The powder products go into his feed at home for daily maintenance and pre-event loading. The liquid form is useful when Archie is fussy - he will often slurp it down in water when he will not touch powder in his feed.
Archie's pre-event loading routine
Three days before we load the float for a multi-day event, I begin adding electrolytes to his feed to ensure he arrives at the venue well-hydrated and topped up on minerals. This pre-loading routine is gentle - a small dose in his evening hard feed, building up to a full dose the night before we leave. The goal is to have his body fully stocked before he begins sweating under competition conditions, rather than trying to catch up once he has already lost significant amounts of sodium and chloride.
I check Archie's hydration status before we load. The skin pinch test on the neck should snap back within one second - if it takes two or three seconds, he is already behind on fluids. I also check his capillary refill time by pressing a finger firmly against his gum and watching the colour return - it should refill within two seconds. By the night before the first phase of competition, his urine is a healthy pale colour and his hydration is optimal.
I have found that Archie eats his dinner much better with electrolytes added than without - they seem to encourage water consumption, possibly because they make him thirsty. This pre-event loading also helps his gut stay hydrated and functioning well, which is critical because a dehydrated gut cannot absorb water efficiently during the event itself. Travelling to an event with a dehydrated horse is one of the worst ways to start, because the float trip compounds the dehydration further.
Morning dosing on competition days
On event mornings, I follow a strict sequence to make sure Archie gets his electrolytes at the right times. He gets his breakfast at 5:30am - a small feed of soaked chaff, his regular hard feed, and a full dose of electrolyte paste mixed through it. He also has a bucket of fresh water with a small amount of apple juice to encourage him to drink well. This combination of feed, water, and electrolytes sets him up for the day.
I use a paste syringe rather than a powder because paste goes straight into his system without depending on his appetite. If he has a particularly stressful warm-up, or if the conditions are especially hot and humid, I give him a small top-up dose an hour before we warm up. The key with electrolytes is consistency - giving them at the same times each day helps his body regulate its fluid levels.
Between phases, I offer him water every hour, even if he does not seem interested. A horse that does not want to drink is a horse that is becoming dehydrated, and forcing him to drink small amounts often prevents a much bigger problem later. I also check his manure - dry, hard manure is another sign that he is not drinking enough and needs intervention.
Cross-country day adjustments
Cross-country day is where Archie's electrolyte needs peak dramatically. He sweats much more heavily during this phase than during dressage or show jumping, and the sweat contains more concentrated electrolytes due to the intensity of the effort. I give him a double dose of electrolyte paste the morning of cross-country, mixed through his breakfast as usual.
During the warm-up, I offer him water every ten minutes, and I make sure his bucket at the truck is topped up with fresh water with electrolytes already dissolved in it. After he finishes cross-country, I give him another half-dose of electrolyte paste to replace what he lost during the round, and I offer him a sloppy feed of wet chaff to encourage him to drink and eat at the same time. The goal is to get fluids and minerals back into him within thirty minutes of finishing the round, and the sloppy consistency also helps his gut recover from the stress of intense exercise.
I refined this approach after attending a clinic on equine nutrition last year, where the presenter emphasised the importance of aggressive post-exercise dosing. I learned the lesson the hard way at my first one-star event in Melbourne, when I did not dose him heavily enough after cross-country and he came back the next morning stiff and unwilling to eat his breakfast. Since then, I have followed a more aggressive post-cross-country protocol, and the difference in his recovery has been significant.
Show jumping day and the final recovery phase
Show jumping day requires a different approach to electrolyte dosing because Archie is less stressed and sweating less, but he is also more fatigued from the previous two days. I give him a maintenance dose of electrolytes with his breakfast, the same as on dressage day, and I offer water every hour. The risk on the third day is that he has built up a cumulative electrolyte deficit, so I watch closely for any hint of muscle fatigue or reluctance to work.
After the final show jumping round, I give him a full dose of electrolyte paste and a sloppy feed to encourage drinking. I also check his hydration status carefully over the following twenty-four hours. Some riders stop dosing electrolytes as soon as the competition ends, but I continue with half-doses for two to three days after a multi-day event, particularly if he has been sweating heavily. The recovery period after a three-day event is when the horse is most at risk of dehydration, because he continues to lose electrolytes through urine and sweat while his fluid intake may not yet be back to normal.
I also make sure he has access to a salt lick during this time, so he can self-regulate his sodium intake if his body needs more. Archie uses the salt lick more heavily in the days after a competition, which tells me his body is asking for what it needs. I have a plain white salt lick in his paddock at home, and I bring a hanging salt lick to events.
Common mistakes and adjustments I have made
The biggest mistake I made early on was under-dosing Archie after cross-country. At the Adelaide 3 Day Event, I gave him what I thought was a generous dose of electrolytes after the cross-country phase, but he still came back the next morning dull, off his feed, and clearly dehydrated. The vet on the grounds noticed it immediately and suggested I had underestimated his sweat losses. Since then, I have followed the principle that clinicians recommend: more than I think is needed.
Another mistake was relying on water alone after the event. Water without electrolytes does not replace what he has lost through sweat - it just dilutes the remaining electrolytes in his body, which can actually make the imbalance worse. The sodium in his electrolyte product drives thirst, so giving him electrolytes with water is far more effective than offering water alone. This is particularly important when travelling to events in the heat - Archie drank well at home but showed no interest in water at all when we travelled to a one-day event in Queensland in the middle of summer.
I also learned to watch his manure carefully. Dry, hard manure is often the first sign that he is becoming dehydrated, before any other indicator. Archie tends to produce drier manure in the float when we travel long distances, particularly when the float is hot and poorly ventilated, so I now plan extra water stops on long trips and consider whether to travel through the night instead of during the heat of the day.