Chronic Protein Deficiency In Horses ( Moved to community.thehorsesadvocate.com )
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Hi and thanks for that article.
I’m a bit confused about the part that says that poor topline is sign of not enough protein? If a horse is not doing any work, or doing very basic work, she/he wouldn’t have a “good” topline?
Ask any body builder if exercise is all they need to build muscle. In other words, If I deliver a truck load of boards (Forage) and a bus full of workers (exercise) to build a new barn for you, it would never materialize without nails (protein).
But it is not just about having too little protein in the feed. The MAJOR point is the insidious loss of protein from the carbohydrate dependency and the subsequent mitochondrial exhaustion leading to gluconeogenesis (the conversion of protein into sugar. The horse converts ALL proteins into sugar to save the body including the muscles of the top line, the quality of the hair and hooves, the neurotransmitters (Cushing’s), the immune system and more.
Horses NOT in work but are removed from inflammatory grains and byproducts AND are supplemented with soybean meal improve their top line. They also lose their hay belly and strengthen all connective tissue and hooves – all without added ex cerci seems.
Ok, that’s helpful thanks.
[…] Tucker, DVM, G., Chronic protein deficiency in horses. https://theequinepractice.com/protein/. Also Nutrient Requirement of Horses, 6th Revised Edition. National Research Council of the […]
[…] DVM, G., Chronic protein deficiency in horses. https://theequinepractice.com/protein/. Also Nutrient Requirement of Horses, 6th Revised Edition. National Research Council of the […]
What do you think about Nutrena Empower Topline Balance ?
I think all “balancers” and “hay stretchers” are brilliant marketing doing 2 things. They make you believe that a balancer is needed and they add ingredients to make some of the nutritional related problems worse – and making their product more necessary. I wrote about a “balancer” in this blog: https://theequinepractice.com/betrayal/
If you want to make your horses healthier then eliminate the things that cause gut inflammation and only add what is missing (amino acids found in good quality protein) until they are no longer missing. This has worked for a very long time however it is human nature, especially in the nurturing humans, to keep adding things in the belief that something is missing. We all need to understand WHY something is missing and it is not just because they are not getting it in their food. It is because the inflammation is consuming it or the cell metabolism is blocking their use. This is behind the theory of carbohydrate dependency and mitochondrial exhaustion as well as lectin blockage of glucose uptake through insulin mimicry. While all of this sounds mumbo jumbo, I just look at the horses I see across this nation and ask, is what we are feeding working? The answer is no and adding the same ingredients you find in most of the grain mixes won’t help.
Long answer for a short question. So the short answer – I don’t think much of any balancer or hay extender. But this doesn’t answer some people’s question of how to feed a competitive horse. I’m working on this. The answer may sound similar but with a twist. Stay tuned.
Hi Dr. Tucker:
Word is getting out! Last week, I sent a friend (who was visiting that area from Kansas) to a feed store in Southern Pines for SBM and when she asked if it was dehulled/toasted/oil-extracted, all the employees turned and looked at her and one said “do you know Allie?” Allie is a friend of mine that I told about your diet, and the feed store has had a dramatic increase in SBM sales as she shared the word in her area. My KS friend bought the last bag they had in stock.
This week I was on a training trip in Tryon and went to the feed store there to pick up SBM while I was in town. When I ordered it, the lady said they had to vastly increase their orders of both SBM and Coolstance over the last four months because so many people have started feeding it. I know this is because of people who have heard my horse’s story and who then started the diet and spread the word. The feed store here in Aiken has also reported noticeable increase in SBM sales.
My saddle fitter was out today and is thrilled by the beautiful, lean muscling on my FEI horse and the healthy condition and lack of hay belly on my 21-year-old draft cross. She was interested in the diet and your theory on chronic protein deficiency and kissing spine, so I sent her that blog post. She responded “Awesome! Thank you! Man, I’m working on a horse right now that looks just like the picture from the article! How do you go about telling people about this without sounding like you’re criticizing the way their horse looks?! 😬” She’s going to use my horses as an example and suggest your blogs.
My vet was out last week to do spring shots and Coggins and was thrilled by what she saw. The 22-y-o horse who had a huge hole in his check ligament six months ago now looks fantastic on U/S and sound, far exceeding our original conservative expectations, and she credits the protein supplementation as an important factor.
Thank you again for your generous help. I credit your ideas with saving my partnership with my very talented FEI dressage horse. Not one explosion or moment of dangerous behavior in the six months on The Diet, and not one drop of gastroguard or ulcer treatment. He is lean, muscled, strong, and working very well. Getting closer to that GP debut!
Thanks for this testimony! Sharing it here will help those hesitating to try this program – then they in turn will share their stories and we will ALL learn together.
Aikenite: What exactly do you feed your horses? Thank you
[…] Worse, the report never mentioned how much protein a horse should be getting (read “Chronic Protein Deficiency In Horses“). Studies in horses and humans both show the importance of adding protein to reduce fatty […]
Thank you for your response Doc T. I’m still trying to figure out how to keep obesity at Bay, and not doing a very good job for for years now. Trying different things. I have been under the advice of a well known nutritionist since 2014, but something must be missing. Or I’m doing something wrong. Probably not enough exercise. I’m 77 and my mare has been fighting a limp for about the same time. So I haven’t been doing much with her. My age, her feet… Haha..
Obesity in fat mice can be resolved with a fecal transplant from thin mice. This verifies that it is the gut microbes in charge of weight. Focus on removing gut inflammation, allowing for the good gut microbes to reestablish, and be sure to add a variety of protein to the diet to replace lost protein materials including the hormones that control appetite.
What is “protein recycling”?
All proteins have a shelf life after which they are broken down into their individual peptides or amino acids. The exception are hair, hooves, finger nails, etc that are lost to the environment. The average half life of most proteins is 2 to 4 days but neurotransmitters are only nanoseconds old before they are disassembled. The amino acids and peptides are then recycled and made into new proteins.
Think of a game with small blocks of letters organized into words. At the end of the game the blocks are shuffled about into single blocks and reorganized into new words in the next game. A peptide is like “-ing” which can be used as in park-ing or jump-ing.
In gluconeogenesis, the amino acid is stripped of its nitrogen and the remaining carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are turned into glucose. The chronic loss of the amino acids leads to a chronic deficiency in proteins. But if gluconeogenesis is limited, the amino acids are preserved and recycled into new proteins. Horses who have restored their supply of amino acids through the addition of essential amino acids in their diet will not need to be supplemented as much. Remember though that the hooves are 24% cystine which is made by the horse from methionine, one of the 3 limiting essential amino acids required in its diet. As the hoof is worn off the protein is forever lost.
Remember also the concept of a limiting amino acid. In the wooden block letter game, you could have 20 w’s, 20 a’s, 8 c’s, 22 t’s and 30 h’s. With these letters you can only make 8 “watch” words because the limiting letter is “c.” After this you can make make 12 “what” words. After that you still have 2 “t’s” and 10 “h’s” which can make no real words. This is the concept behind feeding a broad spectrum of amino acids and enough of them if your horse has been depleted of amino acids.
You can learn this and more from some of the other blogs and from the nutrition course here at The Equine Practice. Unraveling the confusion created by layers of experts and marketing is my goal here. Having people like you reading and asking questions makes this journey very rewarding. Thank you. Doc T
Can you recommend any suitable protein feeds available in the UK? I cannot find either of the ones you suggest in your article 🙁
Thanks!
The concept is to supply an assortment of protein ingredients. Soybean meal is excellent and economical for horses. Whey protein isolate is very good and a great addition to soybean meal. Adding a flake of alfalfa a day as well as good pasture and hay should be considered the basic starting point. Avoid soft seeds as a protein source due to the potential lectin reactions in some horses.
There are many protein supplementing products available. All you need to do is research and read the ingredients. In Louisiana a feed manufacturer is now producing the “Doc T Mix” – shredded alfalfa and a soybean pellet. Great results there.
Note that supplementing at 0.5 to 1.0 gm per pound of body weight is good for helping horses depleted in protein but as the top line and other indicators of normalized protein are seen then this target can be reduced. This is when the protein recycling program takes over.
Read all the blogs or enroll in my upcoming nutrition course. And thank you for finding me and asking this great question.
I just heard about your blog, Dr. Tucker. What is your opinion on a product called “Equinety?” It is made up of 8 amino acids…We have one horse on this that suffers from anhydrosis, and I would like to put my horse that has had laminitis for two spring/fall seasons in a row. Thank you.
I can’t remember all the products so let’s look at some protein facts. Any continuous feeding year round of starch (grains) will inflame the gut and prevent the absorption of amino acids. Addition of any acid reducing medications will prevent the absorption of all proteins. The hoof is made of proteins and specifically 24% is one amino acid (cystine which is created from methionine) while the remaining 76% are a combination of other amino acids.
In a blog called No Sweat I discussed the observation that anhydrosis can be resolved by removing all grain from the diet. I suspect lectins and gut leakage that is somehow disrupting hormone communication but this is only conjecture.
Removing grain from the horse’s diet should help resolve the sweating issue as well as allow for digestion of proteins and absorption of amino acids. Removing all starch will also ease the strain on insulin, reduce the excess fat, stop gluconeogenesis (absorption of top line protein) and help prevent lameness including laminitis.
To recap, adding an amino acid supplement or a protein supplement may be ineffective as well as wasting money if the chronic sugar dependency (feeding grain every day)is not stopped. Please read all the blogs (more coming) on nutrition here: https://theequinepractice.com/travels-with-doc-t/horse-nutrition/
I need to apologize for not mentioning that we own a horse boarding stable, all 14 horses are on Coolstance and a vit/mineral supplement with free choice hay. The horse with anhydrois and with laminitis has been off grain and on Coolstance for 7 years. Coolstance is made up of about 17 amino acids, but the % is minimal in comparison to the Equinety, so my thinking was maybe more amino acids will help his anhydrosis. Thank you for your quick response.
For the horse with anhydrosis, remove all food except for hay, pasture and water. No supplements, Coolstance or treats. Nothing but grass and hay and water. If the sweat starts, then don’t add anything for a week or two to be sure all is working well. Then add back only one thing at a time.
It is NOT a lack of protein but some ingredient in the coolstance or the vitamin mix that is disrupting the hormone in sweating (a lectin maybe?). Simply put – remove all potential causes before adding things. In the experience of so many who have tried this elimination, almost everyone gets their horses sweating again on the no-grain (and no supplements) challenge.
Very helpful post. Thank you.
Thanks for reading! (and sharing??) 🤠
I appreciate your knowledge…the horse with anhidrosis, we removed all food as you recommended and he began to lose weight, but he still did not sweat. We had a vet perform acupuncture on him in July and put him on Chinese herbs, and remarkably he began to sweat; a week later we lost him to colic (twisted colon). Needless to say, we were devastated.
I am so sorry for your loss. We still don’t understand anhidrosis but I am suspicious of gut inflammation which every horse handles differently. I wish we knew more. My thoughts and prayers go with you and all horses suffering from seemingly untouchable diseases. Some day we will understand.