Equine muscle is highly responsive to exercise, which stimulates well-characterized changes in fiber type composition and the metabolic functions of muscle tissue.Muscle Fiber Type Distribution: The muscular system represents one of the most crucial systems of the equine athlete, and it is therefore not surprising that breed differences in this system exist, particularly in characteristics such as muscle fiber type. Muscle fiber type (slow or fast twitch) is determined by the isoform of the myosin heavy chain that the fiber contains. The different myosin isoforms determine the activity of the myosin ATP'ase enzyme, which controls the velocity of muscular contraction. However neural input is probably the ultimate determining factor of a muscle fiber's myosin isoform (and therefore muscle fiber type).
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