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Does anyone have bookmarked a link to various forage vitamin/mineral/energy contents?

 

I'm currently feeding hay that is 3/4 timothy and 1/4 alfalfa and want to see how it compares to what horses need

 

--

Kathy

 

> -------------- Original message -------------- 
> From: Diane Trefethen <tref@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
>
> > > 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 prote
> in 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 stren
> uous 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 
> > 
> > 
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