The Catabolic Crisis In Horses - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #159

Every day, all body proteins break down into the small building blocks of amino acids, sending these free molecules into a recycling program for use in building other proteins. Why this happens remains a mystery, as does the reason we don't lose our muscle shape or our memories during the process.

Over time, our horses show loss of protein as weakened hoof walls, crushed heels, poor hair coat, lost top line, tendon and ligament strains, poor immune response, and behavioral issues. A "Catabolic crisis" results from processes that break down proteins in our horses. It describes the imbalance where more protein is used up by horses than is taken in to replace the loss. An obvious example is when the hooves are trimmed, or the hair coat is shed or clipped off. On the ground is lost protein that needs to be replaced through the food our horses eat. However, there is also an invisible loss of protein, commonly seen as lost muscle beneath a layer of fat.

I discuss in this podcast the two major reasons for catabolic crisis in horses: 1) The intake of more glucose than a horse needs, and 2) the lack of intake of branch chain amino acids used in replacing lost muscle. The solution is to feed more high-quality protein than the horse loses daily. It's just like making more money than you spend to avoid a budget crisis.

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