Re: RC: ti's "article"

[Tivers@aol.com]

< Nope.  Sorry.  Not even close on this one.  There's ultrasound data to back
 it up that would differentiate between fat cover and changes in muscle mass.
 
 Susan G
  >>

Ah, but we're not talking about ultrasound data, are we? We're talking about a
somewhat subjective evaluation with nothing quantitative about it. 

Let's say you get a horse in poor body condition--this happens a lot with TBs
off the track. The subjective description would be "emaciated, gaunt, thin,"
etc. Using body score you'd look at the rib cage, the back bone, the
musculature over the hips, etc. Either way, let's say you conclude that the
horse is 150 lbs light--often the case with TBs. So, you set about fixing the
problem, monitoring via "body score". The problem is fixed by worming the
horse and eliminating any other problem and then increasing the grain ration
along with the exercise regime.

So, the horse gains 150 lbs over time--goes back to the races and beats
everybody who was beating him. The trackers call him "too fat"--until he
starts winning. 

The body score rises along with the horse's body weight. Now, tell me, of the
first 100 lb gain, how much was adipose tissue? Of the last 50 lbs, how much
was adipose tissue--assuming we now have a score of, say, 6?  

The first priority in a previously "starved" horse's body is to rebuild lost
functional tissue, including lean muscle mass. Only after there is a surplus
of this tissue, and enough extra energy to support the exercise, is excess fat
deposited--most easily seen along the back bone. 

A horse that is losing weight during conditioning is invariably losing
functional tissue. His body condition score will eventually drop to abnormal
low levels, righyt along with rising muscle enzymes in the blood--and muscle
soreness and stiffness. At this point, soft tissue injury becomes likely as
well. Later, bone injury rates will increase as well. 

I'm not particularly enamored of the "body condition" scoring because it leads
to false impressions as to precisely what's going on. It leads many to develop
false concerns about "fatness" when what they're actually seeing is a filling
out of the musculature, throughout the body. And a good portion of this extra
lean muscle mass is in the form of stored muscle glycogen. Only when you get
abnormally high body scores are you observing fat deposition in any
appreciable quantity. 

ti


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