We all want the best for our horse and that includes good health, radiant and shiny with muscles all in the right places. Did you know that good muscles and good health all start with good nutrition? Here are three simple steps to ensure your horse is gleaming and ready for anything.
Step 1. Assess your horse and get him into shape
We often see that horses with difficulty building up muscle are frequently a little too thin. Your horse can’t build muscle if it doesn’t have sufficient body mass. How can you assess objectively and not subjectively? The Body Condition Score is a scientific method created by Dr Henneke. It is based on both visual appraisal and palpable fat cover of the six major points of the horse that are most responsive to changes in body fat which are: the neck, withers (where the neck ends and the back begins), shoulder, ribs, loin, and tailhead. The scores from each area are then totalled and divided by 6. The resulting number is the horse’s rating on the Henneke Body Scoring Condition Chart.
Conformational differences between horses may make certain criteria within each score difficult to apply to every animal. In these instances, those areas influenced by conformation should be discounted, but not ignored when determining the condition score.
The Chart rates the horses on a scale of 1 to 9. A score of 1 is considered poor or emaciated with no body fat. A 9 is extremely fat or obese. Horse veterinarians consider a body score of between 4 and 5 as ideal.
To build muscle, a horse must have a Body Condition Score (BCS) of at least 4. If the BCS is higher, the horse is too fat. If the BCS is lower, the horse is too thin. A healthy body weight determines the general health and reproduction but also has an important influence on the sport performances. If your horse is too fat with a BCS of 7+ replace calorie dense feeds with more fibre and increase activity level. If you horse is underweight, increase calories.
Step 2: Give your horse the right nutrients
When your horse is in good shape (BCS 5) and you want him to develop more muscle it is good to know that all horses can develop muscle strength. For muscle development, it is important that your horse’s feed contains the right amino acids and adequate energy. Muscles consist of muscle fibres, which in turn are made of proteins. Proteins are made up of amino acids. A horse therefore needs protein to build muscle. A crucial factor is the quality of the amino acids. Therefore, the second step to building muscle is to supplement your horse’s feed ration. Look for a protein balancer specially designed to support muscle development. These will have a high-quality protein source with good digestibility and an amino acid profile specifically formulated for optimum development of muscle mass.
Now that all the basic requirements have been met (good physical fitness and an optimum feed), you can start to work on your horse’s muscle development. Naturally, this calls for training.
Step 3: From muscles to muscle strength
In this step we presume your horse is in good physical shape and has good muscle tone. Well-developed, healthy muscles are extremely important. They tell you something about your horse’s physical health. Optimal muscle strength is therefore essential for the long-term health and performance of a sport horse. You can give your horse extra support to maintain muscle strength with the right feed – for example when your horse returns to work after a period of recovery or reduced work, or for young horses at the beginning of their careers as sport horses. We recommend looking for a complementary feed consists of the essential amino acids necessary for the synthesis of muscle protein and promote muscle growth.
Remember your horse is an athlete, and optimal muscle strength is important for his health and performance. One of the most common misunderstandings regarding muscle development is that this can only be achieved through training. However, your horse’s muscles can only develop if they are provided with the right nutrients (essential amino acids) through feed. In fact, a horse may even lose muscle mass if it is trained hard but does not get the nutrients necessary for building and developing muscle. The process of building muscle also requires micronutrients. Nutrition plays a key role but is often overlooked as the basis for building and maintaining muscle and muscles only develop with the right nutrients.
Simple changes can lead to great results.
