FEEDING TO BUILD MUSCLE

Whether you ride your pony competitively or just for fun, you want to keep him looking and feeling his best. Of course, exercise is a crucial piece of the health puzzle, but food must also be considered.

Your pony needs to get the ideal amount and type of nutrition for him to perform and feel at his best. Here we look at the suitable types of feed for your pony and give you some tips on building the muscle he needs to cope with the demands of work.

NOTE: The condition of the pony and the state of his musculature depend on a several factors such as age, health condition, conformation, training level and nutrient intake.

WORKLOAD

Your pony’s nutritional needs vary depending on the level and intensity of his workload. It’s important to accurately identify the type of work he’s doing so you can meet his energy requirements appropriately.

Light work

Ridden exercise 3-4 times per week

Works for up to two hours each time, including walk, trot, canter and some hill work

May be doing some low-level dressage and showjumping competitions

If your horse is in light work, you should be able to meet all of his energy requirements with a forage only diet – meaning grass or hay. Although this will provide a large proportion of his energy needs, his diet will still need to be balanced according to the key nutrients that the forage lacks, such as vitamins, minerals and quality protein. You can do this by feeding a balancer to help support performance and recovery rates.

MEDIUM WORK

Ridden most days in a structured training programme

May be competing at upper-level dressage, showjumping or eventing

Includes low-goal polo ponies and endurance horses

Ponies and horses in medium work will still get most of their energy from good quality forage, but this can be supplemented with higher energy mixes or cubes (concentrates) that are formulated for performance horses. If your pony/horse is a good-doer, the minimum quantities of these types of feed may still be too much for him. Therefore, you might need to provide the extra vitamins and minerals his diet lacks using a performance balancer.

HARD WORK

Training and competing at the peak of their physical capabilities

Includes high-goal polo ponies and horses competing in three-day events

These horses and ponies tend to rely on concentrates to provide the energy they require for the work they’re doing. Many performance feeds contain a variety of energy sources, such as cereals, digestible fibre and oil to formulate a balance of quick- and slow-release energy. Of course, a full forage ration must also be provided to these horses and ponies.

What are the causes of poor muscle building?

• Injury related training breaks during which the horse does not get sufficient movement.

• Old age

• Irregular or incorrect training

• Insufficient exercise

• Poor conformation

• Metabolic disorders

• Low nutrient intake/inappropriate nutrient intake

MUSCLE BUILDING

Working your horse often and correctly is key to building his muscles, but for them to grow, they need to be supported by the right nutrients at the right levels. A balanced diet is essential, but the primary food group you’ll need to supplement for muscle repair, renewal, and growth is quality protein.

Proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids. There are 22 amino acids in total, and they are split into two types:

Essential: These must be provided in the diet

Non-essential: These are naturally produced by your pony’s body. The amino acids lysine and methionine must be present in your pony’s diet for optimal muscle function, cell renewal and tissue repair and growth; yet, they’re two of the most commonly deficient amino acids in the diet.

PROTEIN QUALITY CONTROL

Very often, horse owners look for the protein percentage of a feed when, in fact, it’s much more important to look for a good quality source instead. Raw materials that naturally provide goodquality protein include soya-bean mean, lucerne, linseed and peas, which will be listed on the ingredients label of your feed bag. Even though a feed may be high in protein, it could be from a poor-quality source and would need to be fed at higher levels. For example, cereal grains tend to lack sufficient lysine, so they are considered to be a poor-quality protein. If you were to feed your pony a diet where protein is mostly from cereals, you might find that he struggles to develop muscle tone and topline no matter his workload. With a lack of high-quality protein, it’s also possible that your horse would experience muscle soreness, become more prone to infections and, in extreme cases, you may even start to see the muscles wasting.

COMPETITIVE EDGE

If you’re feeding your pony the recommended levels of a wellformulated feed and as much quality forage as he needs, you shouldn’t need to add extra nutrients to his bucket feed. However, if you regularly compete, he may benefit from a few added extras. These include:

Vitamin E: This important antioxidant helps support muscle function and immune status. Research has shown that natural vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol) is better absorbed than synthetic vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol). Vitamin E supplements can be used before and after a competition. You just need to make sure that you get the quantities right as Vitamin E can be toxic if too much is given.

Electrolytes: Electrolytes play an important role in fluid balance, circulation, and nerve and muscle activity. Ponies in hard work or those who travel often will lose electrolytes through sweat, and for these ponies, it’s important to replace this loss with an electrolyte supplement. The most important electrolytes are sodium, chloride, potassium and calcium.

Salt: Some ponies will consume their daily ration of salt – around 30-50g – from a salt lick in the stable, but many will not. It is usually safer to add salt to the feed than to rely on saltlick usage.

Antacids: The stress, irregular feeding times and restricted forage intake that can happen with competition can put a strain on a pony’s digestive system. An antacid supplement can be fed to help maintain normal gastric health as well as help to maintain a horse’s appetite during competition.

Note: The amount of time it takes to build muscle in a horse depends on various factors, including age, health and training condition. It is thus essential to remember that every horse needs a different amount of time to build up his muscles. Patience is key!

ASSESSMENT

One of the best ways to determine whether your feeding programme is working for your horse is to regularly condition score him and keep a record of his performance. It is also a good idea to take monthly photographs from both sides, the back and the front, to record how the body changes.

If you are unsure how best to modify your horse’s diet for the work he is doing and to maximise his performance, chat to your equine nutritionist. They are best placed to assess your horse and ensure his diet delivers the desired results. They can also help you determine your horse’s optimum weight, which will help keep him performing and feeling at his best throughout the season.