Published on May 22, 2024

Building muscle in horses is a two-stage process. Many horse owners expect results when applying only one factor. This podcast shows that ignoring one of these factors results in poor muscle formation.

In the first stage, the key is to prioritize protein in the horse’s diet, particularly the amino acid leucine. Leucine, a branch-chain amino acid, plays a pivotal role as a signaling molecule when it attaches to the mTOR receptor on muscle cells. This crucial process alerts the muscle that the necessary materials for muscle building are available. Understanding this, horse owners can better cater to their horse’s nutritional needs, knowing that the right protein, high in leucine, is essential for effective muscle formation.

Step two is to add exercise to the horse to build muscle fibers. More importantly, this also consumes the excess glucose in the diet. Exercise decreases the need to convert the free amino acids into glucose, thus preserving the pool of recycled amino acids.

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