Re: RC: Lewis on VFAs

[Tivers@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/16/99 11:09:47 PM Pacific Standard Time, CMKSAGEHIL 
writes:

<< << Really? Which part of the quote backs up the impracticality of an 
all-carb 
  diet? Are you saying that a horse can't survive on, say, nothing but oats 
  corn and barley?  >>
 
 The part where he still gleans that 30% VFA's from that stuff you consider 
to be so minimally digestible, even when you DO feed him high carbs.  With 
all those carbs available, why does he continue to use what you call 
"sludge?"  Maybe--just maybe--because he's designed to run on a certain 
percentage of that stuff....
 
 Heidi >>

And, maybe, if he wasn't fed any sludge at all, he wouldn't be using it, eh? 
Lewis' high carb reference, as you know, doesn't eliminate forage from the 
diet, nor fiber from grain sources. Check the references at the end of the 
chapter, if you have the book.

As far as what the horse is "designed" to do is concerned, he sure as hell 
wasn't designed to carry a rider 100 miles at a good clip. Or one mile, for 
that matter, especially not at a 1:35 rate. Nor is the horse "designed" to 
live in a stall. Nor is the horse "designed" to eat at a human's convenience. 

When you bend one part of the "design" of a complex system, you'd better be 
ready to bend other parts as necessary. The tree-hugging, back to nature 
stance is ridiculous in this context. Neither you nor I know what parts of 
the enviironmental design must be altered to best match the bending we're 
already doing. I want to find out. You want to deny reality with a 
touchy-feely argument that has no place in a scientific discussion. What's 
real is real, what ain't, ain't, and what either of us "feels" has no impact 
whatsoever on the facts. And neither of us knows the facts. 

ti 


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=