[RC] Carbohydrates During a Ride - Aaron TurnageI find these type of discussions very interesting, and I enjoy learning from others. I've read TI's Equine Nutrition book as well as The Fit Racehorse II. I understand the concept of glucose and it's importance during an event. My horse gets 1/2 grain (Nutrena XTN) and about 1/2 beet pulp in a sloppy mash during a ride. Where I start to get confused is how do you keep glucose levels elevated during an event? From what I've read, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the one thing you really want to avoid is a horse that is now dangerously low on glucose, since glucose = metabolic energy. If you feed high sugar/starch feeds, then the insulin levels will rise in order to help process that glucose into the system. When those sugars are no longer available, the higher insulin
levels may then cause the horse to "come down" faster than a horse that was at a fairly low blood sugar to start. Is that correct?
So with that in mind, how much and how often should you be feeding sugar/starch carbs during a ride? I'm assuming this would vary depending on the type of carbs fed, i.e. corn vs carrots vs oats vs whatever. Would supplementing with carrots and then a small amount of grain (approx 1 lb) be adequate? My horse has been doing well but does sometimes seem to hit a slump. The last time was on our first 100 at about 45 miles. It was one of the longer (and hottest) stretches and he just slowed down quite a bit. Lots of food, fresh grass, and I'm sure some rest, at the vet check seemed to perk him right back up and he was good to go. How could I possibly prevent this in the future? Carry some grain with me? We did stop for grass breaks but maybe he needed something "more"....
Also, what is the value of bran? At Tevis they provide a lot of bran mashes, something I don't normally feed, how does bran and the added fat factor in? Should I start feeding some bran now so he's used to it? Should I carry grain and plan on adding it to the provided mash?
Lots of questions and I'm very interested to hear the responses. Thank you Bruce and Kat. Please keep the discussion going.
~ Crysta & Sinatra, Tevis Bound
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