Supplement for encouraging build up of muscle

Jill Crewe

Jill Crewe

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Can anyone recommend one please?

Welsh Sec D 10 yrs old, under-developed due to neglect from a previous owner. At the moment I can only ride at weekends until the lighter evenings are upon us.

He is not fed anything except ad-lib hay (as supported by my vet) vet recently suggested that I try him on a supplement just to help things along (he is getting problems with upward fixation of the patella which is horrible!).

I have fed him calm and condition previously (when he couldn't eat hay due to dental problems) so will be using calm and conditon as the base to add any supplements to.

Opinions welcome :)
 
It's VERY expensive, about £80 a tub. I only fed it because my insurance paid - vet prescribed it to help with muscle wastage due to foreleg lameness (and I had a job getting them to pay as well...)

RE work if the horse is really uneven then I think I'd be inclined to do lots of long reining and correct lunging, along with loads of hacking in straight lines working properly (not ambling along with head in the air or on the floor).
 
Thanks - have just spoken to the vet about Equitop Myoplast and he said that's what he was going to recommend so spot on with your advice.

I will look into the insurance - never thought of that, may well be eligible as they are paying out for the dental work so the muscle wastage may count as a related problem, worth asking anyway.

Thanks for the advice re work - he can be quite lazy out hacking but starting to get better so will work on that. Vet has given me name of a good local physio so will be giving them a call. He has responded well to long -reining so that's definitely something I can focus on. Also I understand pole work is good for the patella problem. I see your point about uneveness - something I hadn't even considered! :)
 
I used myoplast after my lad had a year in the box. It is expensive but it does work and if you think about the price of most 'off the shelf' balancers, say blue chip, top spec etc, they come in at over £30 a bag and do not work nearly as well.
 
It is highly likely from the info you have given that your horse is not getting enough Lysine (which is the first limiting Amino Acid in the horse) Hay is notoriously low in Lysine and possibly Methionine

I can`t find any info on how much Lysine in C&C but I take it you will only be feeding a small amount as a carrier so amount would be negliable and your horse needs around 28 gms per day (varies slightly depending on work load)
Without having hay analysis it is impossible to say what it contains but based on a reasonable 0.20%, 10 kgs would only give your horse 20 gms a day so you can see there is a big deficit atm.

This is a really informative link which explains more and has the Lysine/Methionine content of all of the popular feeds listed in % so you can work out just what your horse is getting.----->
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...CDgK#v=onepage&q=lysine per day horse&f=false

Alfalfa, Soya & Sugarbeet are all good sources of Essential Amino acids but would need to be fed in pretty large quantities to make up the shortfall. If you are happy with his diet of hay & he is coping with just this then the cheapest way for you to get the Myoplast effect would be to feed a small amount of C&C as a carrier) with a general purpose supplement/forage balancer (which will only have small amounts if any of Lysine) and buy some straight Lysine to 'top up' (You can get it from Progressive Earth via ebay) and it`s as cheap as chips!

Another option and much cheaper 'version' of Myoplast(but still dearer than above option) is this-------> £50 for 6 weeks supply.

http://www.equimagnets.co.uk/promix...-amino-acids-vitamins-and-minerals-1425-p.asp

But I can`t find actual levels info on either the Myoplast or this, it just tells you what is included and not how much so you would have to email them for figures!
 
Good advice from Milkmaid :)

I would also suggest using whey protein as a cheap alternative to equitop myoplast. I buy from bulkpowders.co.uk and you can choose from 3 different protein levels depending on what you need.
 
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