Korsförlamning hos häst : fodrets påverkan

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis has been to gather knowledge about the complaints of tying-up in horses and to show that the importance of feeding. The thesis includes a literature review of tying-up how preventative measures by feeding can be made. In the equine sport, crosscountry, horses occasionally suffers from tying-up, a muscle disease. An increased knowledge about the disease is demanded by riders and trainers as the disease disrupts training and competition of suffered horses. A cross-country horse works very hard in training and during competitions but the work bouts are long enough for the muscle cells to use aerobic pathways in the metabolism. The horse can therefore to a large extent use fatty acids in the muscle metabolism. The muscle cells are provided fatty acids from dietary fat or from fermentation of fiber carbohydrates. However, cross country horses are often fed large amounts of concentrates with high levels of starch which is digested as glucose and stored in the muscles as glycogen. During short term anaerobic work, glycogen is metabolized to lactic acid that lowers the pH in the muscle and this may be a part of tying-up syndrome. It is very important that the gastrointestinal system is healthy and working well and the role of the diet is very important. At least 60 % of the horses total energy intake to be used during aerobic performance comes from fermentation products in the large intestines. In order to fulfill the need of energy, you can give the horse a hay of high quality and high energy. High energy in the hay provides the horse with energy in a forbearing way without any or only little addition of grain. Another option is to add fat without any addition of starch. The reason for tying-up in horses is complex; however feeding plays an important role.