Anyone who works with horses knows how much time and effort it takes to keep these sensitive animals healthy and in good condition. The physical conditioning and nutrition of horses have received a lot of attention from scientists in recent years. One of the biggest concerns for trainers are muscle tensions or injuries that may occur.
Muscle diseases or degeneration lead to a decrease in performance. However, many of us lack concrete information about how these conditions develop and progress.
Strain-related diseases occur due to metabolic disorders in the muscles, leading to muscle fiber breakdown. The disease manifests as sudden stiffness or paralytic-like symptoms during or after work.
Common Strain-related Muscle Diseases
Rhabdomyolysis (Tying-up) appears in various forms:
- Stiff walking after the start of training
- Hard, swollen, and painful gluteal muscles
- Muscle tremors
- Dark red-brown colored urine
The Tying-up syndrome typically doesn’t appear suddenly but develops gradually in the background until it becomes noticeable. It can be recognized by the following signs:
- Reluctance to work
- Premature fatigue, reduced performance
- Inhibited movement drive
Exertional Myositis is an inflammation of the muscles caused by overexertion.
What should I do to prevent muscle damage and relieve pain?
There are various recommended therapies to counteract muscle diseases:
- Rest: As soon as the first symptoms appear, it is advised to immediately stop training and allow the horse to rest.
- Heat: Cover your horse to keep the muscles warm or use appropriate therapy devices to warm the muscles.
- Pain relievers: Administer anti-inflammatory drugs to treat acute or chronic pain in your horse.
- Antioxidants: Feed your horse an antioxidant to counteract free radicals in the muscles.
- Vitamin B: This vitamin plays an important role in overall metabolism, positively affecting muscle function.
What can I do prophylactically to support muscle metabolism?
To ensure that your sport horse’s muscles don’t suffer damage in the long term, we recommend keeping the following points in mind:
- Regular work: Create a well-structured work plan for your horse and avoid overloading during training.
- Recovery: Time for recovery should be strategically planned and regularly included.
- Heat: In cooler temperatures, make sure to blanket your horse after training to keep the muscles warm.
- Feeding: The feed should match the workload, and the nutrient supply should meet the horse's needs.
- Antioxidants: Feed Vitamin E and Selenium. These antioxidants act like "radical catchers" in the muscles.
The Special Vita-E-Plus for Muscle Metabolism
What contribution does Vita-E-Plus make to muscle metabolism?
Energy metabolism produces free radicals as intermediate products. Free radicals are the trigger for many health issues. By attacking the cells and making them dysfunctional, they increase the risk of numerous diseases.
Vita-E-Plus contains essential nutrients and important antioxidants, Vitamin E and Selenium, which protect the cells from free radicals. It combines the antioxidant effects of Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Selenium with the muscle-protecting properties of Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, and the essential amino acid L-Lysine. As a concentrated source of natural antioxidant nutrients, Vita-E-Plus helps prevent damage to muscle cell membranes in performance horses.
Composition:
- Calcium carbonate, dextrose, corn starch
Additives per 50g:
- Amino Acids: L-lysine monohydrochloride 10,000 mg
Vitamins per 50g:
- Vitamin E (Alpha-Tocopheryl acetate): 2,250 IU
- Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic acid): 2,000 mg
- Vitamin B1: 500 mg
- Vitamin B2: 100 mcg
Trace Elements per 50g:
- Selenium (Inactivated selenium yeast): 500 mcg
Vita-E-Plus is mixed into the regular feed ration. Horses in training require 50g per day. Each daily ration of 50g is individually packaged, making it easy to portion.
