The great Molasses debate

[Zebella <zebella@idt.net>]

Here is the answer I got from Kathleen Crandell, PhD Equine Nutritionist
Kentucky Equine Research in regards to molasses:

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Dear Tracy:

In answer to your question about molasses being bad for endurance
horses.  There has been no scientific research that I know of done on
feeding molasses to endurance horses.  There are certain well known
individuals that, when up on their soap boxes, can be really hard on
molasses, but their concerns are mostly unfounded in research.   If
molasses were bad for the endurance horse then how could the World
Champion who has been on the same sweet feed for several years (7%
molasses) being doing so well?  There are many endurance horses here on
the east coast which are fed sweet feeds without any detriment to their
performance. 

In knowing the physiology of digestion of carbohydrates and nature of
molasses I have a hard time believing that the small amounts to the feed
(5-12% for sweet feeds and 2-4% for pelleted feeds) could make that much
difference in the performance of the horse.  Pound for pound, molasses
has fewer calories than corn, less protein than oats, and twice as much
fiber as corn.  Total digestible nutrients (TDN) for molasses  is only
54%, while corn is 80% and oats are 65%.  I can understand how molasses
can get a bad rep because it is sweet tasting and it is very palatable
to horses.  One might think that the horse is getting a dose of pure
sugar, but as stated previously, that is not so.  Molasses is what is
left after most of the sugar has been extracted.

We at Kentucky Equine Research have studied the effects of different
feeds and feeding times on blood glucose and insulin.  Feeding of grain
(the same scenario goes for molassed or unmolassed feeds) causes a surge
in blood glucose.  When blood glucose goes up then insulin is released
to promote the storage of the glucose for later use.  As the blood
glucose level drops, so does insulin.   The more grain fed, the higher
the glucose and insulin peaks.  There is some evidence that these rises
and falls of insulin and glucose can have effects on the brain, causing
the horse to have greater mood swings.  These changes in  glucose and
insulin are not nearly as dramatic when the horse is fed hay.  This may
explain some of the difference in personality when a horse is put on a
high grain diet.  The amount of molasses in the feed does not appear to
influence the height of the peaks for glucose or insulin.  Horses fed
pelleted feed, which has much lower levels of molasses, exhibit just as
much "grain mania" (irritable, excitable, impatient, crazed, etc.) as
when fed sweet feed.  

I cannot help but wonder if some of the fear of feeding molasses to
endurance horses has to do with the misconception that feeding molasses
is like giving a candy bar and reinforcing the overwillingness of an
incredibly fit horse to go.  Actually, what may be thought of as an
effect of molasses may simply be an effect of grain feeding (sugar and
starch).  If you have heard other theories as to why molasses might be
bad for an endurance horse, I would be interested in hearing them.

Kathleen Crandell, PhD
Equine Nutritionist
Kentucky Equine Research