Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

>     Question I have, ok so the protein maybe higher than the horse in
>     question (needs to put on weight) needs but even if you put a 
>     lower proten that isn't necessarily going to make him put on 
>     weight is it?
>
>     ...back to the original question, why would protein be relevant to the
>     original question
>
>  
> It's not, really. They pee out the extra protein.

If that is all that excess protein did, it wouldn't be much of a 
problem.  But it isn't.  Below is a link to an article by Dr. Susan 
Garlinghouse on the feeding of Alfalfa that contains some helpful 
information applicable to any forage that contains more protein than a 
working horse needs.

When protein is metabolized, there are two pertinent consequences.  1) 
It takes more calories to process protein into a specific number of 
calories for storage than it does to process carbohydrates therefore the 
net gain in weight from a high protein diet is less than from a high 
carbohydrate diet. 2)  Digesting protein creates as a by product more 
heat than the digesting of carbohydrates.  In the dead of winter, that 
is a useful thing.  But out conditioning or riding endurance, internal 
heat is an enemy.

When we talk about keeping weight on our horses, we are rarely talking 
about the building of muscle mass... again an enemy of the endurance 
horse since it retards the dissipation of heat.  We are usually talking 
about keeping sufficient calorie stores on our horses' bodies so there 
will be enough to fuel the strenuous exercise we ask of them.  So if you 
want your horse to build up a store of calories, why feed large amounts 
of protein?  Instead, feed more carbohydrates.  Of course one of the 
goals of conditioning is to strengthen our horses and this means the 
horse will need proteins, more than if he were a pasture ornament.  But 
as Dr Garlinghouse points out, if you keep the protein ration around 
10-12%, the simple act of feeding more will mean more protein coming on 
board.

http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/alfalfa.shtml


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=