January 2006

Building Muscles

Healthy muscles are a necessity, so what can you do to increase your horse’s bulk?

Muscles equal strength, but they are also a sign of good nutrition and care.

From sales yearlings to seniors, halter horses to endurance racing, building and maintaining good muscle is a concern. While a number of nutritional supplements on the market claim they can help you do that, be sure you have the basics covered before you spend a penny.

The horse can’t build and maintain good muscle without the raw material to make, fuel and repair them. Those key “ingredients” are:

• Water and salt: Like all soft tissues in the body, muscle cells are mostly water, and they’re bathed in body fluids that are mostly water and carry nutrients, hormones and other signals to the muscle cells. Dehydrated horses look, and are, smaller.…