Amino acids

Amino acids are the building blocks that make up proteins. Horses can produce many of the 20 known amino acids themselves. Some must be supplied through feed. These are known as essential amino acids. Specifically, these are lysine, methionine/cysteine, tryptophan, leucine, isoleucine, threonine, valine, histidine, arginine and phenylalanine. Among other things, they are all important for building muscles. However, stable keratin in hair and hooves, milk production in the mare, foal growth, hormone functions, energy provision during peak performance, etc. are also directly dependent on an adequate supply of essential amino acids.

The horse must take in sufficient essential amino acids directly from feed in the small intestine in order to cover its requirements. Essential amino acids are found in many feedstuffs, e.g. in hay, in grass, in brewer’s yeast, in soya flakes*, soy extraction meal*, rapeseed extraction meal, pea flakes, pea protein, etc. The more of these essential amino acids a feedstuff contains, and the more digestible they are, the higher its quality as a protein source.

There are considerable differences in the digestibility of essential amino acids for horses. The essential amino acids from ordinary horse hay from a late or overripe first cut, for example, are very difficult to digest. As a result, they are only available to the horse in small proportions, or not at all. Pure, crystalline essential amino acids represent the opposite. They are already present in the form of individual amino acids and do not need to be digested in the gut first. When added to muesli (usually contained in the pellet), they can be absorbed immediately in the gut and are 100% available to the horse. Whether such pure amino acid additives are included can be recognised in the declaration by their specific notation: L-lysine, L-threonine, DL-methionine, L-valine, etc.

* Both of marstall’s German production plants are members of the Verband Lebensmittel ohne Gentechnik e.V. (VLOG), produce according to its standards, and their production facilities are VLOG-certified.