Muscles for fun!

The proper functioning of muscles is very important for every horse.
A horse with good muscle tone will move easier and have more stamina.
Both rider and horse will therefore enjoy their work more.

A horse cannot build and maintain good muscles without the necessary ingredients.
Ingredients to make them, fuel them and maintain them.

EIT- Muscles consist of muscle fibers built from proteins.
Thus, the ration needs an adequate level of protein containing enough essential amino acids, the Building Blocks for the proteins that make up muscle fibers.

BREATHE- More is needed for muscle building than high-quality protein.
Good muscle function requires a lot of energy.
No matter how much protein you feed, if the energy supply is limited, the horse cannot build muscle.
Muscle is made up of different types of muscle fibers.
The difference is in the type of energy they use and how they convert the fuel offered into energy.

When glucose is burned, the muscle fiber receives energy quickly; when fat is burned, the energy is released more slowly, but for a longer period of time.
The last source of energy for the muscle is the reserve packet of glycogen stored in the muscle cell.
This provides very limited superfast energy.
Horses get this energy from starches and sugars, fats and fiber.

In the small intestine, enzymes provide digestion of starches and sugars, resulting in absorption of glucose into the blood.
Enzymes and bile from the liver aid in fat digestion.
Fermentation of fiber occurs in the large intestine and the end result is production of volatile fatty acids.
These are important energy suppliers for the horse.
To best support this process, we rely on an extensive intestinal flora.

ANTIOXIDANTS- Working muscles produce free radicals, which contribute to muscle fatigue, muscle damage and inflammation, among other things.
Sufficiently high additions of antioxidants to neutralize these free radicals is therefore essential.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS- It would lead us too far to go into detail on the entire vitamin and mineral balance in this blog but adequate addition of a balanced vitamin-mineral complex is crucial.
This is crucial for nerve function, protein metabolism, muscle contraction and relaxation and contribute to proper muscle building and recovery.

TRAINING- You cannot expect to improve muscle mass without training because without stimulation there is no growth.
“Use it or lose it” certainly applies to muscle tissue.
Good training, balanced nutrition and a boost with the appropriate supplement are key to a well-muscled horse.