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[RC] Calories for thin horse - Bruce Weary DCI think Tom Ivers would say to feed the work. If your horse is getting thinner as he is returning to work, you may need to back off the work intensity and give several smaller feedings of grain throughout the day until he catches up, along with free choice hay. It's the heavy feedings of grain once or twice a day that cause digestive problems, not the grain itself. And you shouldn't think that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. For example, carbs are converted to glucose and then either used in the muscle cell, stored in the muscle cell or liver as glycogen, or finally can be converted and stored as fat when reserves are full. Fat can never convert to glucose or glycogen. It is either burned in aerobic activity or stored as fat. You don't want to just put weight on a horse, you want "usable weight"--muscle (which is heavier than fat) and gets denser with exercise, and I think Tom told me that density is enhanced when glycogen stores are full. The more muscle the horse carries, the more glycogen he can store. Fat stores may add weight and make him look better outwardly, but they also add insulation that the horse doesn't need. If the horse has a decent body weight score, he has enough fat stores to get him through a ride. Tom always maintained that "fat burns on the flame of glycogen." This means that while fat can be used in aerobic exercise, the horse can't keep going without glycogen to burn. Horses that poop out at rides still have their fat reserves on board, but can't continue without glycogen.Hoping Tom won't feel I have misquoted him, I remain, Dr Q, world renowned amateur equine nutritionist =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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