Friday, February 4, 2011

Easy and cheap nutrition

Alfalfa hay, or alfalfa grass mix, Grorite vitamin/mineral supplement, water, white salt block, and MAYBE some oats or sweet feed if your horse is working hard. There, I said it! How can it be so simple? My question is; "how did nutrition get so complicated?" Now, of course there are situations and conditions where it is a little bit more complicated. But i am talking about 90% or more of the horses I see everyday. How can it be so simple?
First, lets talk protein. Proteins are made up of amino acids. Essential amino acids are the ones that are necessary for building tissue (muscle, tendon etc). Alfalfa hay is very high in protein (most of the essential amino acids), but it lacks 3 of the Essential amino acids. Grorite provides these essential amino acids along with vitamins, minerals, and yeast culture to enhance digestion. Your horse will be able to maintain muscle mass and weight with less feed. Simple!
Grain- who needs it? Very few horses do. But if they are working hard, simply adding Whole oats or a quality sweet feed to the Grorite supplement may suffice. The amount is totally dependent upon how much work is being done.Simple!
Grorite is important because it resupplies the horse with electrolytes in the proper ratios (calcium to phosphorus), adds the essential amino acids alfalfa lacks (build tissue) and enhances digestion with "diamond V" yeast culture. Another wintertime benefit is that adding Grorite to the ration will help " drive" thirst. Electrolytes are inherently "salty" tasting. Therefore a daily intake of electrolytes can stimulate the horse to drink more, and hopefully avoid impaction colic, which is so common in the winter.
With a few basic principles, nutrition can be so much simpler.

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