electrolytes

Question
hello ma'am, a serious doubt, what does "electrolyte" mean in simple terms? why racehorses need electrolytes?

Answer
Hi Rohit,

Electrolytes are the macro-minerals found in a horse's sweat, that are lost in large quantities when a horse sweats profusely and need to be replenished.  The electrolyte minerals include sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) although some electrolyte mixes may include additional minerals in them.  Because these minerals play important roles in other metabolic functions, losing them through sweat puts a horse into a shortage...and those other metabolic functions come to a halt until mineral levels are replenished.  So it becomes important to give electrolytes to horses who sweat profusely.

Thanks, Corlena