Anhidrosis Update

An update on anhidrosis and how a nutritional supplement called One AC helped my horse to start sweating again. Written by Jayne Pedigo for EquiSearch.

In a previous article I lamented about Annapolis’ inability to sweat. Annapolis has had the problem as long as I have had him and I was managing it by riding only in the evenings when it was marginally cooler (if you can call 89 degrees cool) and he had a pond in his pasture in which he could wallow during the day and regulate his own temperature.

A change in ownership at the barn where I keep him, and the subsequent changes (the whole place was transformed into the dream barn in front of our eyes – more on that in another feature) have meant that Annapolis no longer has access to the pond.

Within days of his losing access to the pond it became evident that Annapolis was having trouble during the day in the pasture — the owner of one of the other horses told me that Annapolis would stand under the trees all day, head drooping and panting. So I asked the new barn owners to keep him in during the day, which they did. The new three-speed fan in his stall (one of the new improvements) has kept him comfortable. But even so, I noticed that between 4:30 p.m., when he was turned out, and 7 p.m., when I got to the barn, he was still having a problem. His coat was hot and dry and he was still panting.

Discussing this in the barn with others, I heard that the owners of two other horses in the barn, who have the same problem, were trying a new supplement and the results were promising. It was time to investigate!

One AC I called the number given to me by my fellow boarder and spoke directly to Raymond LeRoy, the chemist who developed One AC, in Phoenix, Arizona. From subsequent reading I discovered that Mr. LeRoy founded his company, The Magic Powder Company (MPCO), with his retirement savings, and that One AC is the only product his company makes.

Mr. LeRoy was extremely helpful in answering my questions. He stressed that One AC is a treatment, not a cure. He listed the ingredients for me – Vitamin C, Niacin, L-tyrosine and Cobalt and explained that it would not affect any drug tests because none of the ingredients are prohibited.

He said that tests had shown that it worked in about 90 percent of the horses they had tested and that in some cases it took a week or so to show results.

He explained to me how it works and I hope I am getting this right as I tell you. He said it attempts to correct a “neurotransmitter” problem, involving the adrenal glands. He said that the L-tyrosine, which is an amino-acid, breaks down into neurotransmitters which stimulate the Beta-2 receptor cells, which then stimulate the sweat glands.

Testing at The University of Florida I asked Mr. LeRoy if he had any literature he could send to me along with the supplement. When it arrived, he had included a photocopy of a paper presented to the Fourteenth Equine Nutrition and Physiology Symposium in Ontario, California.

It described the testing of twelve anhidrotic horses and four control horses. They were observed in mainly pasture conditions during the months of July and August. At the beginning of the study, the anhidrotic horses were started on the One AC supplement in their regular grain ration. Each day respiration and pulse rates, body temperature and Jenkinson sweat pattern scores(a measure of the body area actually sweating) were taken between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. At the beginning, the middle and end of the testing period terbutaline sweat blot tests (to determine the actual capacity of individual sweat glands) and blood tests were taken.

The group of anhidrotic horses showed a decrease in respiration rates, body temperature and Jenkinson sweat pattern scores through the course of the study. By the eighth week the Jenkinson sweat pattern scores of the anhidrotic group were similar to those of the control group. No differences were found in the terbulatine sweat blot tests and there were no mean differences in the blood test results, which tested for serum electrolytes.

The paper concluded that the dietary supplement (un-named at that time) appeared to improve heat dissipation in non-exercised anhidrotic horses by increasing the amount of body sweat area.

My Turn To Test It In deciding to try it on Annapolis, I decided that he should continue to stay in during the day. I didn’t feel comfortable turning him out into the hot Texas sun in August, just in case he was part of the 10 percent on whom it had no effect. His first dose was added to his evening ration that day.

The next evening I went to the barn and headed to Annapolis’ pasture. The horses were all pretty excited as the barn owners had opened up some new pastures and while each horse was only pastured with horses he knew already, many of them had new neighbours in adjoining pastures. Annapolis was standng by the fence, gazing adoringly at the mares in the pasture across the way, and — even more exciting — his neck was absolutely soaked in sweat! I couldn’t believe it. We checked him over, he was sweating on his neck, flanks, between his legs, behind his elbows — in short all the regular places. What’s more he was not panting, even though it was very evident that he had been extremely active (showing off to the girls by bounding up and down the fence line with his head and tail in the air)

Since that time, Annapolis has either been sweating or shown evidence of having sweated when I get to the barn during the summer months. I still prefer to keep him in the barn during the day as summer daytime temperatures here in Houston are in the 90’s well into October.

Success Down Under After first posting this article I received an email from Peter McCluskey in Australia, requesting information about One AC. I gave him Mr LeRoy’s address and phone number so he would be able to contact him and order some. A number of weeks later I received this encouraging email from Peter:

Hi Jayne, About six weeks ago I asked you for the telephone number of Raymond LeRoy of Mpco, the chemist who manufactures One AC, the food supplement that fixes horses that dont sweat. I thought you might be interested in my experiance with the powder.

First let me tell you a little about my horse Shadow. He is a Hanovarian warmblood gelding 17 hh and five years old.We competed on him last year in the Queensland ( Australia ) young horse Championship, the discipline is Dressage and he placed 5th in the state final. I think it was the stress of this last competition that started the problem.

When I found your home page on the net I was desperate, Shadow was in a sorry state, spending all day in his shelter, panting like a dog and only coming out at night to graze. He had also developed sweet itch and fungal problems as a result of not sweating. Several Vets that examined him all gave me the same answer,that the only solution was to sell him to someone who lived in a cooler part of the country,not a very satisfactory answer from my perspective.

I contacted Raymond LeRoy who was very positive and helpfull and arranged to send some powder to me air express. I receieved it three weeks ago and started Shadow on it straight away. After five days I noticed that his coat which had become very dull, had returned to its normal shiny black.

After nine days I went to check him and there he was grazing in the full sun!! He was still not sweating and as the temperature had dropped from our normal summer 90 degrees f plus and eighty % humidity to a more pleasant 80 degrees I didnt get too excited. But yesterday three weeks after treatment started, Shadow was not only not only grazing in the hot sun (back in the 90’s) but SWEATING normally !!!!!

Thank you Jayne for your help and thanks to Raymond and Barbera LeRoy.

For more information on One AC, click on the Magic Powder Company link under the “One AC” heading above.

CATEGORIES

TAGS

SHARE THIS STORY

Related Posts

COVER EQ_EXTRA-VOL88
Do right by your retired horse
COVER EQ_EXTRA-VOL87
Tame your horse’s anxiety
COVER EQ_EXTRA-VOL86 Winter Care_fnl_Page_1
Get ready for winter!
COVER EQUUS Key 14 Equestrian Vacations_fnl_Page_1
Equestrian vacations

NEWSLETTER

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Country*

Additional Offers

Additional Offers
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.