LANG'S SOLUTION

LANG'S SOLUTION

Get a horse to drink before and after travel

Avoid dehydration during travel by getting a horse to drink before transport. On arrival after a trip, unfamiliar surroundings may be unsettling and drinking water is likely to have a different taste and make horses reluctant to drink.

A Lang's intravenous hypertonic saline infusion creates a hypertonic expansion within the blood-an increase in salts in excess of water. This promotes increased water resorption in the kidneys and stimulates the thirst reflex to restore the fluid/salts balance in the blood.

The requirement to maintain plasma osmolality with a relatively narrow range prompts a horse to drink almost immediately after administration of a Lang's Solution and overcomes any reluctance to drink. Freshen-up horses that have been in work for a few months and not performing.

Where performance on the racetrack is well below their best but horses still appear in good health and skin elasticity is normal, several months in work may b e enough to bring on adrenal exhaustion. A side effect of this is reduced adrenal output, which may cause a loss of salts in the urine in excess of fluids.