GRey: From Stressed & Dangerous to Happy & Pleasant
John Dowdy:
Hello and welcome to another Equinety podcast. This is your host, John Dowdy, and I am really excited to have on our guest out of South Carolina, and her name is Missouri. And back in November of last year, that would be 2018, she was given a horse for free by the name of Grey. There was lots of issues going on, just always pulling and moving around, and she'd have to tack him up just to get on him. Couldn't groom him. Just kind of a headcase and a real mess.
John Dowdy:
A lot of things going on. Well, I guess instead of me telling you all about Grey, why don't we go ahead and bring Missouri on the show. Missouri, welcome.
Missouri:
Hi.
John Dowdy:
Hi. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your Equinety story.
Missouri:
No problem. I'm glad to be here.
Free isn't always free, Grey's Story
John Dowdy:
Good deal. Okay, so kind of give us some background and tell us about Grey.
Missouri:
Well, Grey was given to me in November from a friend who had pretty much gotten to the end of her rope with him. He was pretty unruly on the ground. He would pace fence lines. You couldn't really keep them in a stall, and he's quite big. He's 18, one hand. So, he was just a handful.
Missouri:
I acquired Grey and nothing was working to calm him down. I couldn't groom him. He was great under saddle walk, trot, canter, but as far as on the ground, I couldn't even pick his feet out, couldn't curry him or brush him or do anything because he just wouldn't be still.
Missouri:
And he would run you over; if you tried to put him in the stall, he would bolt out of the stall and run you over. He would bolt over you in the pasture or in the cross ties even. And so, I didn't know what to do. And so, a client was feeding his older horse, Equinety, and he suggested that I try it and he said, "Well here, take some of mine and try it out."
John Dowdy:
Oh so, you talked to your friend out of some Equinety?
Missouri:
Yes.
John Dowdy:
That is one good friend.
Missouri:
Yeah. My client gave me three big scoops of it so I can try it. And it worked. It was like five to eight days I saw this huge difference. I could brush him, it was amazing. And so, I started riding him. And then, the bad weather here hit and so we didn't get a lot of ride time in.
John Dowdy:
Right. Okay. So, let's back up just a little bit. So, just to recap what you're saying. So, under saddle, perfectly fine?
Missouri:
Yes.
John Dowdy:
But then, not under saddle, watch out because it's a danger, dangerous thing waiting to happen here.
Missouri:
And even if you put a chain on him, it didn't matter. It didn't. And he wouldn't like hand graze. He was just a lunatic.
John Dowdy:
Did you have any history or?
Missouri:
She had had him a year before she gave him to me and he was given to her also.
John Dowdy:
Oh, just kind of being passed around them.
Missouri:
Yeah. So, he's been passed around. He's only 11. He has scars all over his body from whatever. I don't know if he has gone through fences before.
John Dowdy:
And you think also that his face had been fractured or broken?
Missouri:
Yes. When he was in possession of my friend who had him before me, she came to the farm one day and his whole face was blood, and he had this small little puncture on his cheek and she had it x-rayed and he had fractured his face. He actually had to have surgery because he was breathing out of the hole in his face 'cause it had like hit the sinus cavity. It was really bad.
John Dowdy:
Oh, my gosh. Holy smokes.
Missouri:
I know. And I don't even want to know how much that cost her. But yeah, after that, she was done. She said, "If you don't take him, I'm just going to send him to Florida to retire."
John Dowdy:
Wow. Wow. So, as you're dealing with all of this and before the Equinety, what was going through your mind as far- I'm sure you had to be very frustrated.
Missouri:
Well, I felt terrible. I just felt guilty. I felt like, "Why can't I?" I'm a trainer. I've been training horses for 10 years. I have my USDS bronze metal. Why can't I fix this? I felt really guilty, to be honest, and just like nothing was going to work.
Missouri:
And I didn't want to give up on him. I felt like everybody else had, and that he deserved a chance. So I said, "Well, let's try this." And after he went through the fence that day back in March, I said, "You know what? I'm just going to send the money and do the GastroGard as well.
John Dowdy:
Right. Yeah. Well, first of all, you had somehow talk to your client out of some Equinety, which is a feat in and of itself, I think.
Missouri:
Yeah, I did. I did talk. I told him if I liked it, I would give it when I got mine, I would give it back to him.
John Dowdy:
That's funny. That's funny. There's so many stories that we get that say every now and then somebody, "Oh, I spilled my Equinety. Oh, my gosh. I'm trying to scrape up all the little granules." There's like little golden nuggets, you know?
Missouri:
I know.
John Dowdy:
Yup. So, that is very interesting. So back in January of this year, it was towards the end of January 2019 is when you had reached out to me and had kind of given a bit of a story on Grey.
Missouri:
Right. Right.
A Trial of Equinety
John Dowdy:
Yep. And then, you had picked up, I guess it was about 30 days of Equinety; because although it had a big transformation just in what you were able to talk to your client out of, we wanted to get some more time on that. So now, let's skip ahead 30 days, or maybe I guess it was about 15 or 20 days, I think is when the next update came in.
Missouri:
Yes.
John Dowdy:
So, tell us about that.
Missouri:
Then I received your samples at the end of January and I started feeding him that. And I actually have already bought a big container of it since then. And I'll continue to buy it, I love it. Then after, February rolls around and then the weather gets really bad. It rains every day. It's just nasty out, and I just didn't have a lot of time. And he can't be kept in a stall. I still don't make him go in a stall. I let him stay out at the shelter and everything, but I just don't want to put him through that. I don't know what it is with the stall.
Missouri:
So, he's kept outside. And so, I didn't really get to do a whole lot with him in February, but he was great and we actually were able to put a pasture made out with him.
John Dowdy:
Oh, wow.
Rock Bottom and A Turning Point
Missouri:
So, he had a friend now; and then when the weather got cold, he started getting a little aggressive again. And I thought, "Well, I don't know if it's the cold." And so, I talked to my vet and she said, "He's probably got ulcers," 'cause he really wasn't putting weight on either. I still wasn't happy with his weight.
Missouri:
And then, we had the Diane Ritz Clinic, who is a gold medalist in our area. I have her come to the farm once a month to teach, and all of the horses were in the barn or we're riding in the arena and he just lost his mind. I don't know what happened. He lost his mind. He was running up and down the fence. Next thing you know, he's in the fence, tangled.
John Dowdy:
Yes. You sent me those pictures and they're like, holy cow.
Missouri:
And I thought I was going to have to put him down 'cause he's white, and when he bled, there was blood everywhere. It was everywhere. And I handed my horse over that I had just got done riding in the clinic and I ran out there to check him. No lameness, but just blood everywhere. And so I cleaned him up and that's the picture that I sent, was right after it had happened. And then the next day, I went to my vet and got the GastroGard, the 28 days of GastroGard. And that's what it was, he had ulcers.
John Dowdy:
Good night. Well, and for those of you who are just listening in to the podcast, you're not able to see these pictures. If you go over to our website at teamequinety.com and click on the podcast link, below this particular podcast, everything will be down below it. (Photos to be reuploaded to the page, apologies for the inconvenience)
John Dowdy:
The podcast will be transcribed and we'll also have some before and after pictures, as well as so you can get a good look at Grey and what we're visually talking about here. But yeah, the pictures. I'm looking at him right now from getting caught in the fence there. It's a pretty remarkable healing time, I would say. Wouldn't you agree?
Missouri:
Oh, it was amazing. You can even see in the pictures, the most recent one that I took yesterday, the hairs are already growing back. It's just amazing. Like, if you walked up to him, you wouldn't even tell it. If I had pointed it out, you would see it, but the wound's almost completely closed. He was never lame. It was amazing. I had to share with you on the pictures because I couldn't believe it. I was like, "This is amazing."
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Missouri:
And like I said, I never took him off the Equinety because I knew it had helped.
John Dowdy:
Right.
Missouri:
But you know, it's just amazing to me the difference.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, it really is. We are so blessed. I mean, yeah, I'll tell you. In every case that I've heard of where we're talking about an injured horse or one that's coming out of a surgery, in every single scenario that I've ever heard of where they're using the Equinety, they always, always, always, heal ahead of schedule. And the biggest reason for that is because Equinety is actually giving the body what it needs to release the hormones that help the body heal.
John Dowdy:
And that's why it does so many different things for different parts of the body, and even for a high performance horse that's in great condition and doesn't really have any issues, it's still going to help with soft tissue repair, fast recovery, more stamina, focus. Those are really big things for a horse that doesn't have any issues. But we look at this case, which was a pretty significant, and serious case, and really a dangerous horse.
Missouri:
Yeah, I would agree with that. He was very dangerous. Yeah, I would totally agree with that statement.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. And those are scary and especially when you have the background that you have and the frustration. That's one of the reasons why we're doing this podcast is for people just like you to share your Equinety story, and this hasn't been only a couple of, three months I guess, not even three months.
Missouri:
Yeah. I'm excited to see what the future holds for us because I'm hoping that I can compete him and reach some goals I have, and it would be wonderful.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. That would be fantastic. Well, for anybody else that's listening in for the first time and after listening to this podcast, and let's say they still might be on the fence a little bit, what would you have to tell them about a quantity?
Missouri:
I would say give it a try. Get the samples that you guys give out and just give it a try. Give it 15 days and just see. I promise, you'll see a difference in at least five, I did. And from a horse that went from that dangerous to now he hand grazes and I can brush him, and you just don't even realize how sad that is, to not be able to groom a horse, you know? It's just sad.
Missouri:
And now, I can. I can spend that time with him before and after I ride, and it's fabulous. And I would encourage people if you don't know what to do, if you have tried everything, try Equinety.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. And I'm sure that you can see though, Grey is probably probably happier as well. I mean, I'm sure that's another benefit.
Missouri:
His coat is softer, his eye is softer. He doesn't look worried all the time. When I put his bridal on, he puts his head down now instead of me having to get the ladder out to put the bridal. It's a complete 180.
John Dowdy:
Wow. That is so great to hear. Wow. Well, Missouri, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your Equinety story. I'm excited to get this one up and out there for everybody to hear. So, thank you so much.
Missouri:
Thank you.
John Dowdy:
Alright.
