Building muscle.

lisabethm

lisabethm

Member
Joined
12 May 2013
Messages
24
Visit site
Can anyone please recommend a good feed or supplement to help build muscle condition? I have recently bought a mare who was stalled for 8 weeks due to very limited grazing facilities (exercised in a school for 20 mins or walked out daily so not quite 24/7) she has a good coverage of weight due to adlib hay and small feeds but very little muscle condition along her back. She's now currently turned out on exceptionally good if not a bit too lush and clover rich grass, which will put more lbs on her weight wise long before it builds the muscle, what I need is a good supplement or feed that I can give her while grazing that will help build muscle and not put too much fat on. She's going to be long lined and then lunged long and low as well to help build her up, but the sooner we can get her up to condition for ridden work to help with fat control the better. She's a 9 yr old 15h middleweight cob, shes rideable but I'd prefer her not to have too much weight on her back until she's built up the muscle support, My 7stone daughter can do a degree of ridden with her, but she has her own pony in competition, so needs to spend her time with her own. She's very forward under saddle as well, so she doesn't need anything that will give her too much excess energy. Thanks for any advice you can give :-)
 
For building muscle it depends on the time of year and what your grazing is like, so it's difficult to give advice here. Hard work builds muscle as you know. Feed is then vital depending on need, you need protein to build muscle and carbohydrate for energy. My half shire needed protein primarily as he was muscle building after being out of work over winter on top of a balanced diet .... Perhaps if you could give us a few more details, ie work regime, grazing, height, build and your current feeding regime as well as some pics etc you may get a bit more advice.:)
 
Since clover is a legume, it already has a great amino-acid profile and is pretty high on methionine and Lysine, the two limiting AA's for muscle production. Another important factor for correct muscle development is suficient levels of anti-oxidants which he's already getting from fresh forage as well.

You can still supplement with L-Lysine, L-Methionine and Vitamin E if you want, but seriously, you don't need to.

All you need to do know is make sure she moves enough, and correctly.
 
Seem to me that the supplement you need is exercise - your horse is already in a high-carb and protein environment, and if it is coming back into work after some time off you'll have at least 3-5 weeks in-hand exercise to introduce (walking in hand, long-lining) before moving onto ridden work. Exercise will trigger the body to switch from fat storage to muscle development - if you feel that muscle development is not as good as you would like a few weeks down the line, then the supplementation suggestions above for L-lysine etc are easy to introduce. What's the condition score of your horse at the moment?
 
Thanks all. She's now started with ground work after a few days being turned out next to our other 2 mares and has put some weight on already so we will be upping her work load to make sure it doesn't get away from her.
Hen, her Condition wise she's now between 2 and 3, so shes not too under conditioned, she has coverage over her backbone but very little muscle condition along her back, hence wanting to develop the muscles before putting too much weight over her back in the meantime, what we're up against is grass that's like rocket fuel and will pile on fat long before muscle, her paddock is already just the right size to allow her to move around without feeling too restricted so we don't want to cut it down by much more.
 
Apart from supplying protein to assist the body to repair the muscles - Muscle tone is the result of quality work - you may get an overall improvement in image - that is weight covering the body.

Lysine is the first limiting amino acid - it is required to assist the body to use the protein to regenerate muscle tissue - without it the other amino acids can't function.

A good supply is in Brewers Yeast.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top