ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: protein and endurance horses-PS

Re: protein and endurance horses-PS

Susan Evans Garlinghouse (suendavid@worldnet.att.net)
Wed, 29 Oct 1997 09:25:46 -0800

but there is one other
> minor issue-if you supplement a single amino acid
> it may interfere with the absorption of other amino acids
> of a similar structure (there are several "groups"
> such as the short branched chain, aromatic, etc that are
> actively absorbed by the gut). I do not
> recommend supplementing single amino acids for this reason.

Thanks, good point that I hadn't thought of. I usually just use the
logic that trying to micromanage a ration can sometimes lead to more
problems than it solves, unless you're REALLY paying attention to the
details.

> As Susan said, soybean meal anAs far as lysine goes, it has only been shown
> to be "limiting", along with methionine, in the young,
> growing horse such as Tom's 2 year old race horses. Since all of
> our endurance horses are supposedly mature (though some
> arabs seem to still grow a little between 4 and 5 years),
> I doubt if lysine is of any great concern if they are on good
> quality hay and a well balanced grain.

I agree---I admit, I do tend to micromanage and fret over details with
my own horses but REALLY WANT TO REPEAT, folks, nobody's going to drop
dead if every last little iota of lysine isn't provided.

In my experience, Susan, 1/4 to 1/2 lb soybean
> meal per day to the average 1000 lb horse would be more than enough
> unless it was on a really poor grass hay and oats only diet...

I'll agree with that---I should have reiterated that a suggested feeding
of a pound would be for a horse working at pretty high levels and on a
very lysine-deficient diet. The above amounts would provide 3-6 grams
of lysine and other aa's, which is more than enough.

Thanks, Sarah, glad you delurked!

Susan

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