All the Good Bits
Balanced Equine ‘Equine Amino’ is a quality blend of essential amino acids based on Dr Eleanor Kellon’s VMD recommendations.
An essential amino acid is one which has to come from the intake, as the other type, non-essential amino acids can be manufactured by the horse. This blend includes three of the essential amino acids that are considered to be the most likely deficient in a horse’s intake and can make a difference with topline and muscle building, and hoof quality: lysine, methionine and threonine.
I chose not to make a product that contains minerals AND amino acids as not all horses need additional supplementation and the products that are a combination of both either have poor levels of minerals or too low levels of amino acids (or both). If your horse is on a high quality protein intake (pasture improved grasses, actively growing for example) it’s far less likely you need additional amino acids. Protein/amino acids are the most expensive nutrient to supplement.
Dr Kellon recommends:
10 – 20 g lysine
5 – 10 g methionine
2 – 4 g threonine
36 g Equine Amino will provide the full complement of these amino acids; 20 g lysine, 10 g methionine and 4 g threonine.
18 g will provide the lower level of amino acids; 10 g lysine, 5 g methionine and 2 g threonine.
1 level metric tablespoon (20 ml volume) contains ~11 g Equine Amino.
How much to supplement your horse is not per se based on bodyweight or workload but how much your horse is deficient in quality protein, however the higher the bodweight or workload, the higher the requirements. If your horse is less than 450 kg, the lower feeding rate may be sufficient.
Equine Amino comes in two sizes: net weight of 1 kg and 2 kg.
Equine Amino
Protein is the key component required for muscle building and in hooves, the hoof wall is about 93% protein on a dry matter basis.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, some like lysine, methionine and threonine are known as ‘essential’ which means that they have to come from what the horse eats and others like alanine and glutamine are ‘non essential’, they can be manufactured by the horse.
The three amino acids considered the most likely deficient are:
Lysine
The number one ‘limiting’ amino acid known to limit muscle development.
Methionine
This amino acid can make a difference more with muscle function rather than bulk because methionine combines with lysine for form the amino acid carnitine, a carrier required for the muscle to burn fat. It’s known as a structural amino acid which means it’s found in all the proteins of the body, from skeletal muscle to haemoglobin, antibodies and enzymes. Also required for the initiation of building proteins in the body. Insufficient methionine can play a role in crumbling and cracking hooves.
Threonine
The next limiting amino acid after lysine, threonine can also limit the ability to build muscle and inhibits fat accumulation in the liver. It is an immunostimulant, promoting the thymus gland which as a very important role to play in the immune system.
Combined in Equine Amino, these amino acids help to support performance, strong muscles and healthy weight.
Further reading:
L-Methionine – A vital amino acid by Dr Kellon
https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2016/08/09/l-methionine-a-vital-amino-acid/
Making sense of feeding sulfur by Dr Kellon
https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2017/08/27/making-sense-of-feeding-sulfur/
Basic Muscle Nutrition by Dr Kellon
https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/tag/threonine/
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