Why does EVERYTHING have molasses in it?

[Apercrumbie]

Minor rant alert. I have a 21yr old Welsh Cob - he's had one nasty bout of laminitis in his life but other than that we've managed to keep it under control. Sadly he has recently developed arthritis but an MSM supplement is helping hugely (vet agrees), so we now give him a very small daily feed of a handful of hifi life and a sprinkling of cool mix. However in spring/summer I am anxious to avoid him having any molasses for fairly obvious reasons so I need to find something other than the cool mix. No problem I thought, there's always something like Happy Hoof or Safe and Sound but no, they all contain molasses!! What really shocks me is that so many feeds are laminitis society approved but still have molasses as the third ingredient. I just don't know what to give him - I just need something cheap that will taste marginally more exciting than unmolassed chaff so he can gobble down his supplement. Any suggestions/commiserations gratefully received.

 

[be positive]

I am using Thunderbrooks chaff, it has no molasses but does have a few tasty herbs so they seem to like it more than some plain chops, it is not cheap at around £1 per kilo, £15 per bag, mine lasts ages, a handful weighs very little because there is nothing added to make it heavy if that makes sense, one bag fills two dustbins and there is still some that won't fit.

The other option would be fast fibre but not all horses will eat it.

 

[TGM]

I find supplements mix better into soakable feeds rather than chaff, Fast Fibre is molasses free or you could use a little bit of unmollassed beet.

On the subject of molasses, the reason that some laminitis approved feeds can contain molasses is because the total sugar content of the feed is still below the specified threshold (which I think is about 10%), and as you have found yourself a lot of horses find feed more palatable if there is a little sweetness in it, so that is presumably why manufacturers add it, especially to straw-based chaff type feeds.

 

[RubysGold]

I was using hi fi lite for ages but it seemed very sticky and not very pleasant so I looked for something else.
Im on my first bag of topspec topchop lite. It is lovely.
No molasses not sticky. Nice light colour, smells lovely and has mint added for palatability. My laminitic seems happy on it

 

[Justturnedfifty]

Minor rant alert. I have a 21yr old Welsh Cob - he's had one nasty bout of laminitis in his life but other than that we've managed to keep it under control. Sadly he has recently developed arthritis but an MSM supplement is helping hugely (vet agrees), so we now give him a very small daily feed of a handful of hifi life and a sprinkling of cool mix. However in spring/summer I am anxious to avoid him having any molasses for fairly obvious reasons so I need to find something other than the cool mix. No problem I thought, there's always something like Happy Hoof or Safe and Sound but no, they all contain molasses!! What really shocks me is that so many feeds are laminitis society approved but still have molasses as the third ingredient. I just don't know what to give him - I just need something cheap that will taste marginally more exciting than unmolassed chaff so he can gobble down his supplement. Any suggestions/commiserations gratefully received.

Fully understand where you are coming from, having experienced similar situation to you with our in work, young Dartmoor Pony. We fed him Top Chop Lite by Top Spec, an unmollassed alfalfa/straw chop, with added mint and coating of Soya. They have another molasses free chaff Top Chop Zero, but we haven't tried this. Also recommend Dengie Healthy Tummy, no added sugar and is an alfalfa based feed, takes my Dartmoor longer to eat, also contains Protexin, probiotics and yeast plus other herbs. In winter, when he needed a little more, we used Allen & Page Fast Fibre which is basically a feed that requires soaking, is high in fibre, low starch and low sugar. Lots of research went in to our descision making. It's quite an eye opener. Good luck!

 

[ester]

Beware the moglo too.

I use agrobs aspero for my fusspot but it isn't cheap, low DE for a grass chaff.
fast fibre or speedibeet?

 

[SEL]

With 2 PSSM horses, one of which can't tolerate alfalfa or linseed, I'm joining in on the rant!

Topchop lite and zero, honey chop oat straw all good for bulking out a bucket. I also use kwik beet (about 5% NSC) and to hide the taste of supplements a very, very sloppy scoop of copra. It's pretty much flavoured water but they think it's heaven.

 

[Rowreach]

Feed straights. The world of compound feeds and supplements drives me mad.

 

[JillA]

I was told the "approved" stamp was in return for, er, money .
Grazeon grass chop doesn't have molasses, nor grass pellets, or Equibeet beet pulp, nor any of Simple Systems range, although they do major on Lucerne aka alfalfa.

 

[ester]

A lot of the grass chaffs and pellets have sugar/starch levels too high for a laminitic though.

 

[TGM]

I was told the "approved" stamp was in return for, er, money .

As I understand it, the manufacturers do have to pay to be eligible to use the Laminitis Trust approval mark and presumably this money goes towards future research. However, the feeds still have to conform to the criteria set out by the Trust in terms of sugar/starch levels etc. They can't just pay some money and get approval for a feed that is 25% sugar/starch for example!

 

[TGM]

A lot of the grass chaffs and pellets have sugar/starch levels too high for a laminitic though.

Very true! And this is the trouble when people focus too much on just avoiding molasses as you can find feeds that don't contain molasses that are still too high in natural sugars for laminitics. And of course they need to take into account the starch levels as well. So more important to make sure you know the overall starch/sugar content of the feed, rather than just looking for a molasses-free feed.

 

[fairyclare]

I haven't read all the replies but I have been on a major mission for the last few years to have my horses eating the cleanest I can - I use Thunderbrooks, Agrobs and straights.

My horses do not have any of the commercial rubbish in the pretty bags and flash adverts in Horse and Hound and they are so much better for it!

 

[JillA]

A lot of the grass chaffs and pellets have sugar/starch levels too high for a laminitic though.

No more than half decent hay - where do you get that from? Any analysis? Starch is in cereals so straights can be a minefield but not grass products. TBH the amount in them would be small and as a % of the whole diet would be miniscule. My laminitic gets wheat bran to make his food and supplements palatable but at the % in the bran and 1/3 of a scoop twice a day it is hardly relevant as a percentage of the dry matter in his diet

 

[Britestar]

Honey chop - just plain chopped oat straw. Nothing else in it at all, and fine for laminitics.

 

[ester]

No more than half decent hay - where do you get that from? Any analysis? Starch is in cereals so straights can be a minefield but not grass products. TBH the amount in them would be small and as a % of the whole diet would be miniscule. My laminitic gets wheat bran to make his food and supplements palatable but at the % in the bran and 1/3 of a scoop twice a day it is hardly relevant as a percentage of the dry matter in his diet

Sorry what do you mean where do I get that from? and analysis of what? Why do you mention only starch? It is the combine sugar/starch levels which are important - NSCs if you will, which is why I included both in my post. Flash dried grass is very different to good hay, that is rather the point of it.
You suggest graze-on- which for chop and nuts is 12% sugar and 1.5% starch - the advice for a laminitic is to keep the combined level of NSCs in any feed given to less than 10%. It isn't just me making it up??

compared to agrobs grass chaff 6.3% sugar and <0.01 % starch.

 

[Leo Walker]

I use Pink Mash. 0.5% sugar and I think 4% starch. It soaks and swells up so easy to hide supplements in, and seems to be really palatable.

 

[Hoof_Prints]

I am also fed up of "complete feeds" full of crap, or cubes that are just pony nuts with more crap shoved in that you can feed straight ,and get a better and more cost effective result! I simply feed mine speedi-beet and a scoop of micronized linseed, no molasses, very low in sugar/starch. They love it, they get it warmed up in the winter. Also very easy to mix supplements in. You can mix in their favourite treats or some other pellets in if they are fussy. I have a couple that were fussy to begin with but scoff it now.

 

[splashgirl45]

i used to feed baileys light chaff to my cushings mare, its quite minty smelling and she loved it. im pretty sure it didnt have molasses in it...i did lots of research when i was looking for chaff for her to have her supplement in and this seemed the best. if she needed a bit more weight in the winter i fed fast fibre as well..

 

[Ormsweird]

I use Healthy Hooves Molasses Free to shove the cob's supplements in. It has alfalfa in it, but he likes it and eats it with no fuss.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Honey chop - just plain chopped oat straw. Nothing else in it at all, and fine for laminitics.

Me too. Just add the vits and mins, micronised linseed and salt to it,and that's it.

Honeychop plain chopped oat straw chaff



However, I recently had a brain fart and mistakenly ordered Honeychop Original, which is quite a different beast.

Honeychop Original.



Free to good home, a very aromatic unwanted bag of chaff...

 

[tallyho!]

A lot of the grass chaffs and pellets have sugar/starch levels too high for a laminitic though.

Depends though.... I feed this to a laminitic as alfalfa is much worse. There's still not enough evidence to discount a handful of grass pellets to carry supps.... but there is enough to discount molasses - its a processed sugar and dies cause spikes of insulin....

 

[Supertrooper]

You could try.....

Honey chop lite & healthy
Top chop lite
Top chop zero
Simple systems lucie stalks

All have no molasses and are all below 10 for combined sugar/starch

 

[ester]

tallyho is there a reason you feed it rather than the lower NSC alternatives?

I would consider it if I needed them to eat it for some reason and other options had failed but it wouldn't be my first line to try if that makes sense.

 

[tallyho!]

tallyho is there a reason you feed it rather than the lower NSC alternatives?

I would consider it if I needed them to eat it for some reason and other options had failed but it wouldn't be my first line to try if that makes sense.

Yes, because of the intolerance of alfalfa. Barefoot and is sound on it.

 

[Milkmaid]

There are LOADS of mol free products on the market compared to 20 years ago!
Agrobs, Thunderbrook as well as most of the main stream companies doing a mol free option!
You can't go far wrong with a handful of soaked low energy grass nuts to hide supplements and maybe a handful of grass/herb chaff...

 

[tallyho!]

There are LOADS of mol free products on the market compared to 20 years ago!
Agrobs, Thunderbrook as well as most of the main stream companies doing a mol free option!
You can't go far wrong with a handful of soaked low energy grass nuts to hide supplements and maybe a handful of grass/herb chaff...

Like

 

[Casey76]

If you can get hold of it, I accidentally found another one last week.

https://st-hippolyt.de/England/images/Downloads/england/Palatin_Glyx-Wiese_Heucobs_UK.pdf

I bought these instead of the Agrobs heucobs (they are both in a green bag and were side by side in the store)

They are about 8% combined starch and sugar, of which is <4% fructans (I'll double check tonight when I'm back at the yard). They are a smaller nut than the Agrobs, and need soaking, but they puff up in about 5 mins when soaked with hot water. Absolutely no palatability issues either.

 

[Apercrumbie]

Thank you all for some very helpful suggestions - I was getting so frustrated when doing my research for a solution, only to find that the very stuff marketed towards horses like mine will cause them harm. Thank you for pointing out that it's not just molasses, it's also about the overall sugar/starch content. I have been using this criteria too but it's good to have those figures confirmed.

I've had a blissful few years without having to worry at all about hard feed as he's never needed it. I don't miss this worrying about ingredients at all!

 

[Sandy200]

I have a horse who is very intolerant of molasses (and is also fussy!) so have had to research this to, tried healthy hooves molasses free which was fine for a couple of weeks, but unfortunately obviously not interesting enough to bother eating and found the same with fast fibre. So have gone back to Pure feeds which is molasses free, it's not the cheapest but they all seem to love it so having at least not wasting bags of feed.