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Re: [RC] molasses - was tying up question (long) - Susan GarlinghouseIt may not have anything to do with it, but some of my friends who had horses tie up took them off of sweet feed and they stopped tying up. It was that simple. JMO, but I think there's as much variation among horses in their ability to handle simple sugars as there is among humans. Some humans have a different metabolism, activity level, genetic background and lifetime diet, and so are variably sensitive to carbohydrates, the most extreme cases of intolerance being diabetics. Supposedly, horses don't get diabetes, but there's starting to be a lot of evidence that horses are variably insulin-resistant, which translates to intolerance to sugars---including that in molasses, depending on the type and amount used. Some horses that metabolize and utilize sugars just dandy can gobble down grain and molasses and glycogen loaders by the truckload, feel just great and go conquer the world without turning a hair. The problem IMO is that not every horse can do that---a lot of horses *are* insulin-resistant, meaning they can eat sugars, get a sky-high blood glucose reading and *feel* like they can conquer the world---but because the glucose isn't getting into the muscle cells where it belongs, and because the high glucose has shut down fatty acid lipolysis, then those horses' Rocket Fuel Factor is writing checks that the body can't cash. And I wonder if that's a factor in at least *some* of the crashes that occur. Not all. Maybe just some. Maybe in others, it just shows up as being prone to tying up, being a certifiable butthead, or just more likely to run themselves into the ground and blow their legs apart at the knees. I realize this is going off on a tangent different than what's happening with David and Maggie's horses (which I still think is most likely a selenium issue); plus, I realize there's a train of thought that carbs are the solution to every problem including whiplash and bad dye jobs, and anyone thinking otherwise is a loser or poobah (though I prefer 'Doctor Poobah') or whatever. Okay by me either way, I don't make my living by selling anything. I just think that as with everything, there are no simple answers and never one solution that solves every problem. Just some food for thought I've been musing over lately and felt like spouting off about. Susan Garlinghouse DVM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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