Endurance Horse Feeding – Special Considerations
耐力赛的马饲料－特别考量
Feeding oil for improving performance of endurance horses. The longer 5 to 12 km races are very difficult for these horses and it has been shown that feeding vegetable oil (corn, rice bran, sunflower, safflower) can improve performance.
给耐力赛的马吃“油”，促进它们的比赛成绩。长距离的5-12km比赛对马来说是较困难的挑战。研究显示，给它们吃植物油（如玉米油，米糠油，葵花籽油）能促进它们的成绩。
Rules for Feeding Oil:
给马吃油的规则
1.Start slowly － begin with 50-100 ml total of oil per day. You can feed this in one feed or spread it over two feeds per day.By the third week of feeding oil you can be feeding up to 250ml per day.
缓慢的，逐渐的在饲料中增加油，从每天给马加入50-100毫升油开始。这个分量的油可以加在马一天中的某一餐，或者分几餐加进去。到第三周的时候，油的分量可增加到每天250毫升。
2.If the horses manure starts to become loose then decrease the oil until the manure is normal (E.g, if the horse has running manure, that means you have add too much oil in a short time, which means you have create problem to the horse).
如果马的粪便开始变的有点松散，就减少饲料中油的分量，直到粪便正常为止。（如果马开始拉稀，就已经说明你添加油的过程太快，油的分量太多，而制造了“问题”）
3.Corn oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil are all good. Smell the oil and make sure it smells fresh. If it smells rancid/unpleasant do not feed it.
玉米油，菜籽油，葵花油，米糠油都是好的选择。闻一闻油，确保油是新鲜的。如果油闻着变味或者不好闻，就不要用来喂马。
4.Start feeding oil at least 6 weeks before the racing season and continue throughout the season. This is necessary as the enzymes essential to utilize fat need to be available in sufficient quantity within the muscle. This takes some weeks to achieve.
在“比赛季节开始”的至少前6周就开始在饲料中加入油，因为肌肉需要“至少”六周的时间 “学会”用“油”做为能量的来源。油的供给应该贯穿整个比赛季节。
5.Oil has a lot of calories and energy. Do not feed too much as you can make the horse fat.
油里面含的卡路里和能量非常高。一定不要给马吃太多，否则马的体重会过胖，同时还可能导致消化道不适，马匹拉稀。
6.Always feed Sel-Plus once a day when feeding oil. The key of feeding is balance, if we only give horse oil, the horse may end up with tying-up. This is why we must give horses anti-oxidant ——Sel-Plus. Help horses prevent Tying-up.
给马吃油的同时，同时每天给马吃抗氧化剂（Sel-Plus中的营养物质以抗氧化剂为主）因为“饲养”的关键在于“平衡”：“油”是一种“氧化强化剂”，如果我们只给马吃很多油，马可能会出现全身“肌肉绞痛／痛性筋挛”(Tying-up)。这就是为什么我们需要给马吃有效的“抗氧化剂”——Sel-Plus，帮助马的身体预防“肌肉绞痛／痛性痉挛”的发生。
The diagram below explains "balance".
我们通过下图，来说明饲料配置“平衡”的重要性。
Every cell in the horses body needs anti-oxidants (the nutrients found in Sel-Plus) to protect against free-radicals or pro-oxidants. Pro-oxidants is a "short hand" way of saying promoting oxidation.
马身体内的每个细胞都需要“抗氧化剂”（亦是Sel-Plus中所含有的营养物质）来帮助身体抵抗“自由基”或“氧化强化剂”。“氧化强化剂”（Pro-oxidants）是“促进氧化”的另一种说法。
For example, if you imagine an iron bridge over the water then oxygen and salty spray are "pro-oxidants" as they promote oxidation (known as rust) to form on the bridge. If left un-protected, eventually the bridge will rust away and fall into the water. There is an answer and that is to apply an antioxidants and the best anti-oxidant for an iron bridge is paint. It protects the metal from the actions of salty spray and oxygen and the bridge will last a very long time.
举例来说，你想像水面上有一座铁桥；氧气和盐雾是“氧化强化剂”，它们促进氧化的发生（也就是我们所知道的生锈）。如果我们不加以保护，任由其发展，那么最终桥彻底生锈垮掉，逝水而去……对“铁桥”来说，最适用、最好的“抗氧化”解决方案是刷漆。这能保护铁不受氧气和盐雾的氧化，铁桥的使用寿命也更长。
Certain foods such as fats and oils, though a normal part of the horses diet, are pro-oxidants. This means they promote formation of free radicals more than carbohydrates from grain and hay. Oils and fats are essential for horses and can be fed to enhance performance. However, there is an important rule to obey when feeding extra oil due to the fact that oils create more "oxidant stress". As you can see from the diagram below anything that produces more oxidant stress from free radicals must be balanced by providing more anti-oxidants to neutralize them.
马日粮中的某些食物，例如脂肪、油，是“氧化强化剂”。也就是说，它们比来自谷物和干草的碳水化合物更能促进“有害自由基”的形成。脂肪和油对马来说是不可或缺的，能促进马的运动能力。然而，在给马吃额外分量的“油”时，有一个必须遵守的重要准则，因为“油”会产生更多的“氧化应激”（注：氧化应激是指机体在遭受各种有害刺激时，体内高活性分子如自由基产生过多，氧化程度超出氧化物的清除，氧化系统和抗氧化系统失衡，从而导致组织损伤）。正如你能在下图中看到的，任何产生更多有害自由基导致的“氧化应激”的物质，必须通过提供更多的“抗氧化剂”来中和，以达到“平衡”。
So why worry about the oxidant stress caused by free radicals? Very simply, every cell in the horses body is subject to damage by free radicals. If we use the example of a muscle cell, free radicals can damage the cell wall which results in the cell dying. When this happens to many thousands of cells, small scars form within the muscle. These areas cannot function like normal muscle tissue and the horse may get sore muscles, stumble, muscle cramps, lose muscle strength, lose muscle bulk and perform badly at any athletic activity.
为什么我们要担心由有害自由基引起的“氧化应激？”
非常简单，马身体内的每个细胞都是“有害自由基”攻击损坏的目标。以肌肉细胞为例，有害自由基能损坏细胞壁，从而导致细胞死亡。当成千上万的肌肉细胞死亡时，肌肉中会出现很多小伤疤。肌肉组织中的这些问题区域不再能正常的运作，马有或许会感到肌肉疼痛，肌肉筋挛，失蹄，肌肉失去张力，肌肉体积缩小，在任何类型的运动中表现都不好。
