THE INGREDIENTS FOR FIRST-PLACE PERFORMANCE How to win with equine nutrition
By Russell Mueller, U.S. retail equine marketing manager, Cargill Winning takes hard work. It’s hours of practice, meticulous planning and unwavering commitment that make it possible to go the distance. We revel all the time in elite athletic performance in human sport, praising the work and talent that go into achieving greatness. And it’s these same feats – of skill and will – that we revel in a true champion horse. Owners of performance horses know well the challenges that lie along the path to greatness. But if getting into the winner’s circle was easy, it’d lose its luster.
EQUINE Health
So, the drive to win is there. What is the next ingredient for first place? At the foundation is proper nutrition. Perform, recover, repeat with nutrition Horses are athletes, just like humans. Whether in practice or in competition, performing at the level of an athlete requires proper fuel. What goes into the body has a significant impact on what the body can do. At Nutrena, we design feed that’s specifically geared to meet the high demands of performance horses. We keep two main goals in mind: supply the nutrients needed to be the best, and support the essential recovery that follows hard work. The science shows that recovery can be well-supported by nutrition. Done right and you can avoid muscle fatigue, more quickly rebound to 100% and get back to training with your horse. In Nutrena’s ProForce® line of equine feed, we deploy a new Rebound Technology™ that’s tailormade to reinvigorate performance horses. Comprised of a proprietary blend of chromium and branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) to help support healthy exercise recovery, Rebound Technology helps restore energy to muscles after competition or a workout. The BCAAs in ProForce’s Rebound Technology work 50
to reduce muscle fatigue from exercise by helping to reduce delayed onset muscle soreness. Additionally, thanks to amped up available protein – especially Leucine – horses supplemented with BCAAs may see an improvement in protein synthesis as well as a reduction in protein breakdown. Chromium takes a different path to helping improve horse performance. Involved in carbohydrate metabolism and other insulin-dependent processes, chromium helps improve the body’s ability to move nutrients into muscle cells. This helps keep muscle cells functioning efficiently during exercise and allows for ample rebuild afterward. Additional research has shown that chromium supplementation can help with overall protein synthesis, thanks to glucose being more readily available due to improved insulin sensitivity. Together, these technologies provide the fuel horses need to keep going. After all, it’s more than just the actual competition that can be exhausting and performance limiting. The winning feed formula To get the leg up in competition, combining the benefits of supplements like BCAAs and chromium can help make it possible. ProForce feeds make it easy for horse owners to deploy these technologies by making them standard in every bag. Additionally, ProForce includes Topline Balance® technology – Nutrena’s unique approach to topline health – Nutri-Bloom Advantage® technology to improve total fiber digestion, and marinesourced calcite to support gastric health. By building a strong nutritional foundation, horse owners can set up their horses for high-power, sustainable performance. In the end, it’s the nutrition that just might make the difference between a champion and second place. Learn more about how to fuel your next win at NutrenaWorld.com/ProForce.
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