The Old Dominion race is put on by the USA East Endurance Club, and almost all the pit crew people are members of the club. Most are riders themselves who, for one reason or other, have decided to sit this race out. Glen Thompson, who was in Danielle Kanavy's pit crew, really enjoys it. The first vet check was at Fitchett's Field, a little bit south of Milfords Gap. Danielle Kanavy was the first rider in.
Electrolytes are nothing but sodium, potassium and chloride, mixed with a little bit of glucose.
While racing, the horses lose these necessary elements very quickly, so at every opportunity the pit crews replenish them as best they can. They also gave Timothy a syringe full of Pribiotics, to make sure his gut didn't shut down. Horses usually eat almost 20 pounds of grass and oats a day, but when racing, they get far less than that, so there is a great danger of their intestines shutting down, which could kill the horse. After the horses left one vet check, the pit crews packed up all the buckets and other equipment used, and sped to the next one. His pit crew had his horse cooled down and ready to go back out in less than 10 minutes.