to Topline Health How diet fortification can improve topline muscle growth
Which Amino Acids and How Much?
1.
Fortified Diets, Stronger Horses
2.
48 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com EQUINE Health
Continued...
“Something isn’t
right here.
The fit is all
wrong. What’s the
matter with this
saddle?”
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Cracking the Code
By Abby Keegan, MS, PAS,
Equine Nutri��onist at Cargill
numbers, that meant longissimus dorsi area depth increased
11.18 cm2 on average. That’s more than double
(+160%) the gains of that of the standard maintenance
diet.
And while the fortified diet improved TES, it had no effect
on body weight, body condition score or dry matter
intake.
The research shows just what a difference amino acids
can make in topline health. But, it’s not enough to have
any amino acid in any amount, even if they total to a
standard crude protein percentage on the feed tag.
Horses need the right amino acids – in the right amount
– to maximize topline muscle growth.
Of the 21 amino acids used by horses, ten are defined as
“essential”, which means they must be taken in through
the diet.
Yet, it’s not enough to ensure each essential amino acid
is simply present in the diet. They must be provided in the
right amounts to be optimal, and those amounts are relative.
You can think of amino acids as letters of the alphabet.
Essential amino acids are vowels. You can’t write without
them. And three amino acids – lysine, methionine and
threonine – are E, A and I. They’re especially important
and are often needed in the most availability in order to
excel.
So it goes for nutrition. A horse could be deficient in lysine,
yet have plenty of the other nine essential amino acids.
Still, the excess of the others could not make up for the
deficiency of the one, and topline muscle development
would stall.
You may have asked this question
before. Despite adjusting the
straps and tweaking the padding,
you just can’t get that
saddle to fit correctly.
But poor saddle fit might not be an equipment problem,
rather a symptom of a larger issue: poor topline health.
A horse lacking a strong topline – with underdeveloped
musculature and poor shape from withers to croup – just
might not have the composition needed to properly fit
the saddle.
Enter proper diet and nutrition. What a horse eats has
the biggest impact on topline health, and cracking that
code can solve a host of challenges, including poor
saddle fit.
That’s why seven out of 10 veterinarians believe a healthy
topline is key to a horse’s well-being, and 62% believe a
healthy topline is key to fewer injuries.
So, what should you consider when it comes to your
horse’s diet, and how do you maximize topline health?
Read on to find out.
The dietary strategies you choose to follow for your horse
will directly affect topline health.
Research shows that fortifying a horse’s diet with amino
acids can significantly improve its Topline Evaluation
Score (TES) compared to a standard maintenance diet.
In the study, Nutrena® and university researchers fed
mature horses two different diets: one formulated to meet
or exceed nutritional requirements at maintenance, and
one that matched total protein and calories but included
additional amino acid fortification, fermentation metabolite
additives and complexed trace minerals. Researchers
also kept other factors constant, such as access to hay.
They evaluated body composition over 58 days via body
measurement analysis and ultrasonography.
The results were significant. Horses fed a fortified diet saw
greater topline muscle development, especially over the
17th and 18th ribs, an area which demonstrated the most
sensitivity to lean muscle and fat development. By the
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