The Power of Protein 1997, Karen Briggs Of all the components of your horse's diet, protein is probably the most misunderstood. Amino acids are the building blocks of bones, muscles, and virtually all of the body's soft tissues, for growth and repair. This makes protein an essential part of the diet, but it does not necessarily mean that more is better.
Mature horses have surprisingly low protein needs.
And while protein can serve as an energy source, it's a poor one in comparison to carbohydrates and fats, which the horse can metabolize far more efficiently. This information is slowly changing the way we formulate equine diets, as well as the way we think about which protein are appropriate for our horses. Carbohydrates and fats also contain carbon atoms with hydrogen and oxygen atoms attached, but amino acids alone contain nitrogen and sometimes sulfur. When a horse ingests protein, the chain of amino acids is broken up in the digestive tract by enzymes and acids, and the individual amino acids are absorbed through the wall of the small intestine and into the bloodstream via the liver. From there, they travel to the sites where they are needed most for growth or repair of tissues.