As racehorse trainers, the ultimate aim is to produce fit, fast, powerful and healthy horses. One of the most common misconceptions regarding muscle development is that it can be achieved through training alone. But did you know that your horse can only build up muscle through good condition and feed containing appropriate levels of the right nutrients? Good muscle development depends on the right feeding strategy. Here are three steps for conditioning muscle in your horse

 Step 1: Get your horse in condition   

We often find horses that have a low condition score and are on the lighter side also have difficulty building muscle. Horses can’t build muscle if they don’t have sufficient body mass. The first step to building muscle mass is getting your horse in good physical shape.  

Is the horse too thin? Feeding Cavalor WholeGain for a maximum period of 12 weeks is a great way to improve condition. Cavalor WholeGain is a balancer that can be mixed in with your horse’s feed ration. This mix contains many plant-based fats and raises the fat content of your horse’s feed. It stimulates weight gain and ensures extra vitality. The energy in Cavalor WholeGain is released gradually so that the horse can build up strength and endurance. The feed ration’s increased fat content allows the muscles to process glucose more efficiently during anaerobic exercise. This forms the basis for building muscle. Then you can start work on building muscle.  

Step 2: Give your horse the right nutrients

When you have a horse in good shape, you can then start to develop more muscle. All horses with the appropriate care can develop strong muscles, regardless of original condition. For muscle development, it is important that the horse’s feed contains the right amino acids and adequate energy. Muscles consist of muscle fibers, which are made of proteins. A horse therefore needs protein to build muscle. Proteins are made up of amino acids which we can add to feed to ensure optimum quality and quantity of each of the amino acids needed to build proteins.  The second step to building muscle is to supplement your horse’s feed ration. 

Want to know why high-quality proteins and amino acids are so important? Read our Science Sunday article on strong muscles here.

The right feed for building muscle? Supplement your horse’s normal feed ration with Cavalor VitAmino. Cavalor Vitamino is a protein balancer specially designed to support muscle development. This pellet feed is a high-quality protein source with good digestibility and an amino acid profile specifically formulated for optimum development of muscle mass. The standard dosage of Cavalor VitAmino should be given for no longer than 12 weeks. This dosage may be halved for extended feeding.

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. In this second step, you can work specifically on building up muscle. An effective training programme is essential for this and must be balanced in both intensity and type of training. It is important to maintain sufficient recovery intervals between intense workouts so that the muscle fibers can recover and develop properly. 

Step 3: From muscle to strong muscles 

Your horse is in good physical shape and has good muscle tone. Well-developed, healthy muscles are extremely important for protection of the skeletal system, injury prevention, and general wellbeing. A horse that is consistently building and maintaining muscle indicates that levels of nutrition and exercise are appropriate, and it is thriving on the overall care it is receiving. Strong muscles are therefore essential for the long-term health and performance of a racehorse. You can give your horse extra support to maintain strong muscles 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. For strong, powerful muscles, give your horse Cavalor Muscle Force. Our muscle feed supplement powerhouse is Cavalor Muscle Force. In combination with training, its 100% natural ingredients stimulate the sustained development of muscle power. This complementary feed consists of the essential amino acids necessary for the synthesis of muscle protein. It also contains active and inactive yeasts and a blend of herbs to support muscle cell distribution, inhibit muscle breakdown and promote muscle growth. Use Cavalor Muscle Force to support training and to help muscles gain a bit more strength, increasing performance.  

Feed as you need 

It is important to note that Wholegain, Vitamino, and Muscle Force are designed to supplement your horse’s daily feed rations. A balanced ration consists of sufficient forage, perhaps complemented with a concentrate feed, and always includes fresh drinking water.   

Having difficulty finding the right feed? Or are you seeking advice on which feed is the best for your horse? At MyCavalor.com, you can configure your horse’s feeding with ease. Would you rather ask us directly? No problem, you can! You can reach us quickly over our Consumer Line: + 32 (0) 9 220 2525.