Re: RC: Body fat and endurance

["Frank Mechelhoff" <fmechelh@c-s-k.de>]

Sarah Ralston wrote:

>  IMHO, if a skinny horse did do well it was probably on carbo
> supplements at 1 1/2 hr intervals!!

Hi Sarah:
Perhaps Tom and you are not so far apart as you think. I read his book "The Fit
Racehorse II" carefully. In no way he is a friend of the skinny greyhound-looking
racehorse-type. He states that "fat" looking racehorses (body score 5) will
perform better, at least on courses more than a mile, in a big contrast to most
racehorse-trainers. What percentage of that "fat" is real body fat and which is
muscle glycogen, is difficult to answer, without killing that special horse. As
long as the horse is going strong, fast and safely, I would say (as a rider) no
matter what he uses, carbs or VFA's. But anyway, I think Tom is not a supporter of
pushing forward exhausted horses with lots of carbo-loading and other cruel
things...

> ... Until recently very few people fed
> significant amount of grain or high simple carbo to horses on the rides.

Are you sure? Beginning this century, a Frenchman, Bausil (endurance rider
Paris-Rouen) fed high amounts of sugar on rides and wrote a book about training
and feeding. At his time, his influence was remarkable. He put tons of suggar
(saccharose) into water, and feeds molasses as well - in huge amounts, and I
think, malt. His believers were not so successfull as their master. I think this
insulin-thing made it not so effective, or long-lasting. But the excessive
Fat-feeder, in this century, were in no way more successfull.
Anyway, do we talking about the same substances here? I thought we're talking
about oz., not pounds. Or will that Chromium-thing make the difference ? Did I
missed something ?

regards

Frank Mechelhoff
Schmitten, Germany
- & the Taunus mountain ponies (Ligeira and Nataja) -





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