ridecamp@endurance.net: protein and endurance horses-PS

protein and endurance horses-PS

RALSTON@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU
Tue, 28 Oct 1997 14:41:26 -0400 (EDT)

Oops-forgot to add my two cents on amino acid supplements.
Susan covered it very well, but there is one other
minor issue-if you supplement a single amino acid
it may interfere with the absorption of other amino acids
of a similar structure (there are several "groups"
such as the short branched chain, aromatic, etc that are
actively absorbed by the gut). I do not
recommend supplementing single amino acids for this reason.
As Susan said, soybean meal anAs far as lysine goes, it has only been shown
to be "limiting", along with methionine, in the young,
growing horse such as Tom's 2 year old race horses. Since all of
our endurance horses are supposedly mature (though some
arabs seem to still grow a little between 4 and 5 years),
I doubt if lysine is of any great concern if they are on good
quality hay and a well balanced grain. As Susan said, both
sotbean meal and alfalfa have excellent
amino acid contents and both are good "supplements" if
you feel your horse needs some extra protein, but just don't
over do it. In my experience, Susan, 1/4 to 1/2 lb soybean
meal per day to the average 1000 lb horse would be more than enough
unless it was on a really poor grass hay and oats only diet...

Sarah Ralston, the happy lurker...

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