Re: RC: Re: Feeding During an Endurance Ride

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Protein levels don't necessarily go up as the hay matures---in some cases,
what protein there is becomes bound and unavailable, so that there is *less*
protein.  You might consider having a sample analyzed, that's the ONLY way
to tell for sure.

A good book is Lon Lewis' book on Equine Clinical Nutrition---very in-depth,
detailed, fairly easy to read.  He also has a book written more for the
layperson, I think it's just Equine Nutrition.  Both available from Amazon.
My advice is get the former, rather than the latter---harder to read, but
still doesn't require a degree in chemistry, and you'll be able to see just
how anal you really are about nutrition. :-)

Susan G
----- Original Message -----
From: <twoodcock@lendleaserei.com>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>; Susan Garlinghouse
<suendavid@worldnet.att.net>
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: RC: Re: Feeding During an Endurance Ride


>
>
> I don't think my, or rather Roo's, diet is lysine deficient, but since the
NRH
> book says 40 day growth bermudagrass hay has NO lysine, it could be.
>
> I assumed that lysine went up when protein went up, so that 40 day growth
> bermuda grass hay has more protein, and thus more lysine than 20 day
growth hay.
> If my assumption is right, then I have enough lysine.  If the book is
right and
> the hay has no lysine, then I'm seriously deficient.
>
> Can you reccommend any good books on these subject that are not so
complicated
> that I need to head back to college to understand, but deep enough to
contain
> useable information?
>
> -Tamara
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net> on 07/21/2000 06:41:14
PM
>
> Please respond to "Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>
>
> To:   Tamara Woodcock/US1/Lend Lease@LLNA, ridecamp@endurance.net
> cc:
>
> Subject:  Re: RC: Re: Feeding During an Endurance Ride
>
>
>
>
> Lysine is one of the essential amino acids---"essential" meaning that the
> animal cannot synthesize lysine from other substrates, it has to be
directly
> supplied in the diet.  Lysine is considered the "first limiting amino
acid",
> in that it's the aa most likely to be deficient in most animal
> diets---unless you're feeding some exotic and wildly synthetic lab ration
> (which is unlikely), if your ration is sufficient in lysine, then it is
> almost certainly going to contain sufficient amounts of the other
essential
> amino acids.  And no, if you're deficient in lysine, enough total protein
is
> not good enough---it has to have enough lysine, specifically.
>
> Here's what happens if you don't have enough of any essential amino acid
in
> the diet, and excuse the Romper Room explanation.  Amino acids are called
> the building blocks of protein---a string of amino acids is synthesized,
> attached to other strings of amino acids, eventually it's folded and bent
> and tucked together until it makes a protein molecule---which along with
> other types of molecules, may eventually build a red blood cell, a
membrane,
> an enzyme that regulates metabolism, a cellular component that produces
> energy---whatever.  There are thousands and thousands of different types
of
> proteins within the body, all with specific functions.
>
> Ok---so the blueprint for each of these different types of tissue proteins
> are all contained in the DNA.  When the body is triggered to manufacture a
> protein, it starts putting together the amino acids in a very specific
> sequence---if the sequence is wrong, you have all kinds of trouble, so the
> pattern can't be changed.  Let's say that you're building an sequence of
> amino acids, and the eighty-fourth amino acid is lysine.  The ration is
> deficient and there's no lysine available, and the body can't manufacture
it
> or get it anywhere else.  It *cannot* substitute another amino acid, so if
> there's no lysine available---well, the whole strand is dissolved and that
> protein just doesn't get made, regardless of how badly the body might need
> it.  It may not be a big deal, or it might be a very big deal---it all
> depends on how important that protein was.
>
> So, yes, it's important that the ration contain not just enough protein as
a
> whole, but specifically, enough of the right kinds of protein.  So if your
> ration is deficient in lysine, it's also possibly deficient in other
> essential amino acids---and that alone might explain some of Roo's weight
> problems if that's true in your case.
>
> Hope this explains it for you.
>
> Susan Garlinghouse
>
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>