Protein is one of six important nutrients that horses require to live, reproduce and work.

Apart from water, no one nutrient is more important than another and protein is not a magical ingredient but along with the other nutrients it is a vital component of your horse's feed.

Proteins are made up of amino acids (protein's building blocks) linked in chains. There are 22 amino acids 10 of which are essential, which basically means that they must be provided in the horse's diet.

The non-essential amino acids are manufactured by micro organisms in the horse's gut or are produced by processes in the body. Protein is required for body tissue growth and repair.

All of the body tissues and organs in the body contain significant amount of protein. It is, essentially, a structural component of the body which is present in muscles, bone, skin, hair and hooves.

It is also an important component of the enzymes and hormones in the body, important to metabolic processes and functions.

Protein confusion

As protein is one of the declarable nutrients on the label of a feed bag, it is tempting to place too much emphasis on its importance.

It is worth knowing that the nutrients declared on a feed label are the ones that are easily checked and analysed in a lab and in no way indicate the importance of these nutrients. Energy is rarely seen on a label, as it is not a legal requirement, and yet, for a mature, working animal, energy would have to be a very important consideration when selecting a feed.

Due to its absence on the label its importance can be overlooked and too much emphasis placed on the protein level. Horse's can get energy from protein but it is very inefficient and not to be recommended.

Energy sources include oil, cereals and fibre. Feeding a performance animal more protein will not give it more energy.

Quality protein

When nutritionists refer to quality protein they are basically describing the makeup of that protein and how utilisable that protein is by the horse.

Crude protein (as appears on your feed label) is as it sounds - crude!

Horses have a requirement for specific, essential amino acids and the better quality a protein is the more essential amino acids it contains. Quality protein, with the correct balance of essential amino acids is important for young growing horses, but is of minimal consequence to the mature horse.

Hard working horses, however, will also require good quality protein in their feed to help repair muscles damaged due to hard exercise or training sessions.

Protein supply

Horses will get protein from everything they eat, but obviously some sources provide more than others.

Some of the more common high quality protein sources you would hope to see on a feed label for a growing horse or hard working horse diet would be soya bean meal (Hipro or full fat varieties), milk powders, synthetic amino acids (lysine, methionine, threonine). Dark grains, peas, grass pellets, sunflower meal, etc are medium range proteins and more than adequate for compound feeds designed for the leisure horse.

Forage (hay and haylage) can be variable when it comes to protein levels and for stud farms, where there are lots of young, growing horses and heavily pregnant mares etc, then the quality of the forage is key to a successful feeding regime.

Grass is a great source of protein during the grazing season. Unfortunately it can also be high in fructans which many horses cannot cope with and so for the majority of horses has to be restricted.

Balancers

If you are feeding recommended levels of a good quality compound feed, selected for the correct level of work for your horse then you can be assured that your horse is receiving the correct quality and quantity of protein.

But if, however, you are unable to feed the recommended amount due to having a good doer or a horse which has a restricted appetite then a balancer pellet will fit the bill. Balancers are a great way of providing your horse with all the protein, vitamins and minerals they require in as small an amount of feed as possible.

They are designed to be fed along with bagged forages primarily, with oil, sugar beet and cereals added in as and if required. Balancers can also be used if you are feeding less than the recommended levels of a feed to ensure your horse is getting all the protein vits and mins etc it requires.

Please do be sensible and if you are already feeding half of the daily requirement of one feed then only feed half of the recommended level of the balancer. Always use proportions when mixing any mineralised feeding stuffs together.

In summary:

Protein is one of the vital nutrients a horse requires and it should be easy to spot if your horse is deficient in protein (rough dull coat, poor hoof quality, not shedding in the spring as quickly as they should) or is receiving an excess (great coat and hoof quality but urinates a lot and has a strong smell of ammonia in the stable, also produces a lathery sweat with very little exertion).

If in doubt always select a good quality feed, selected for the level of work and age of your horse and feed at the recommended level. If you cannot do this, then use a balancer pellet in the correct proportion to top up your feed or use it on its own with forage and straights as required.