Butch Myers - Depressed aging horse - Shoe Boil – thin soles – tender footed
John Dowdy:
Hello and welcome to this week's Equinety podcast. We're going to swing up into Falling Waters, West Virginia, and we've got an avid trail rider with a Belgian draft horse and an Oberlander draft. Butch Myers, welcome to the Equinety podcast.
Butch Myers:
Thank you for asking me to be on here. I really appreciate it.
John Dowdy:
Absolutely. We appreciate you being on, and in our conversations I hear that you seldom do reviews for products.
Butch Myers:
That's correct. Yeah. I usually don't bother with expressing my opinion about things usually.
John Dowdy:
When you've been around for a while and probably have seen a lot of things out on the market, and some don't meet to your standards, sometimes it's hard to put reviews out there. Or I guess it'd be an opportunity to do a lot of negative reviews, but who wants to be in that world, right?
Butch Myers:
Yeah, yeah. In the world of supplements, I think you can't really say that any one of them doesn't do ... it might do something for somebody else, but if it doesn't do it for me, then I'm just a one-time buyer. But your product really, I have definite proof that it's helped my horses with a couple of different issues, in both the Oberlander and the Belgian. I warranted that it was definitely worth me saying something about it to you all because I'm very pleased with what it's done so far.
John Dowdy:
Sure. So you've got ... let's first talk about the 27-year-old Belgian draft horse. Barney is his name?
Butch Myers:
Yeah. Yeah. Barney. Yes, sir.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, so tell us what was going on with him and then how you found the Equinety and what's happened since you've been using the Equinety. Let's start first with things that you are ... what have you been using him for? Some of the issues that he may have been having or was having, and then go from there.
Barney's Age 27 Troubles With Weight Gain
Butch Myers:
Sure. Barney's 27 here in 2019. I bought him when he was 9 going on 10 and used him for a trail horse. He was actually a pulling horse out in the Midwest and I bought him from a guy that bought him from somebody else or whatever. He came through this past winter there in January of this year. He got really skinny. In a draft horse, when they get skinny, they don't look good. Their hip bones stick out and they get ribby and everything. That's what he was doing. I upped his feed substantially and that didn't seem to really help much at all.
I actually saw your advertisement on Facebook and it was more or less geared towards thin-soled horses but it did say something in there, I think, about maybe a horse that was unusually thin, that it would help out. So I called your business and talked to a gentleman. He explained to me the theory behind your product and I thought, "Well, you know, it's worthwhile going ahead and buying a tub of it, and just see how it does, if I notice any difference or not." So we started Barney on it, and actually him and the other horse that we'll talk about, but it did, my wife noticed it took about 30 days or so. I figured I had enough with the bigger jar, you have 100 doses in there.
John Dowdy:
Yes.
Butch Myers:
So I figured that'd give me 50 doses for each horse. I figured in 50 days, giving them one scoop a day, to see if I'd notice anything. Probably in around the 30-day to 40-day area there, you could notice that Barney was starting to muscle up more through the chest and across his ribs. He was getting a little bit more meat on him and his demeanor, like we talked about, was changing. He was getting a little bit more peppy, like he shaved off a few years.
One other thing that I just noticed here, just a couple of weeks ago here, was that he's had a shoe boil on his right elbow for over a year. I've tried antibiotics and different other things, trying to get rid of it. I had a vet look at it and what-not. It just never truly ever went away. But I noticed, grooming him here the other day, that it was totally gone. The only thing that I've done has been used your product, and I think that I can attribute that shoe boil being totally gone with the use of your product.
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Butch Myers:
That wasn't the real thing I was using it for on Barney, but he has muscled up and he looks really good, and his demeanor has gotten extremely good here since I've been using your product. I've only used one scoop a day.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. Now, let me ask you this because you've had this horse for a while, so you know his body composition, his demeanor and you do a lot of trail riding.
Butch Myers:
Uh-huh (affirmative).
John Dowdy:
As you mentioned coming out of this winter, tell us about his feeding program with what he gets. Although this winter he was just thin. There's something else.
Butch Myers:
Yeah, we feed a high fat, low carb, low sugar feed. It's got about 22% fat, plus sometimes I'll add oil to it also, vegetable oil. He gets fed twice a day. Before I upped his feed, I was giving him two pounds in the morning ... no, actually he was getting one pound in the morning and two pounds in the evening. And then we use second cutting orchard grass or second cutting broom grass hay. Yeah, what I ended up doing was upping his feed to two pounds in the morning and four pounds in the evening. Even at that, he still wasn't gaining any weight. I also started giving him some alfalfa hay and didn't really see a big [inaudible 00:06:20]. It was really starting to worry me because I want to keep him around as long as I can.
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Butch Myers:
27 years old for a draft horse is really very good because their average lifespan's about 18 years.
John Dowdy:
Wow.
Butch Myers:
So 27 is ... I've talked to some people that's had them for 30 and that's good. I just like to keep him around and keep him healthy if I can. I was really worried about coming into this winter, if I couldn't get some weight on him and getting set up right.
John Dowdy:
Right.
Butch Myers:
I attribute it really to your ... because the only change I've made is supplementing him with your product. So I have to give credit where credit's due.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. I appreciate that-
Butch Myers:
Your product.
How Equinety Works
John Dowdy:
The Equinety product ... and those that are tuning in for the first time ... and we often get this question, "Will Equinety help put weight on my horse?" It can, but it's also ... we need to go back to the nutritional aspect of it because that's so important. In your situation, you know this horse well, you've been feeding him what you've been feeding them, but for whatever reason he was losing weight. So you upped the feed, that wasn't helping. So a lot of times what we find is adding the Equinety product, which is 100% pure amino acids, it's giving the body what it needs to help heal itself from the inside out. So there was something going on in there, a lack of something going on.
You had mentioned that you were just giving one scoop a day. Kind of the science behind that is the amino acids that are in the Equinety product are specifically formulated to stimulate the pituitary gland, which is the master gland in the body. That's what releases the hormones, which then the body sends those hormones to the problem areas. In this case, not only did it help with filling out, building muscle, wasn't so ribby, but then the shoe boil, which as you mentioned, you weren't even thinking of that or even purchasing the product for that, [inaudible 00:08:24] and now that's completely gone, which is pretty awesome.
Back to Butch and His Improved Demeanor
Butch Myers:
Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. So we tell people all the time that whatever specific issue you're trying to solve, there's so many other benefits because we're giving the horse what it needs to help heal itself from the inside out. So in addition to all of those benefits, you've noticed the horse is happier, more pep in his step, feeling good, demeanor's changed. So have you seen him like this in a while? You kind of mentioned that he-
Butch Myers:
No, I actually noticed that he was kind of ... I don't know if depressed is the correct word for it or not, but I did notice that he was showing his age-
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Butch Myers:
Besides his getting gray on his face and stuff, which is normal. But yeah, he just wasn't getting around like he should have. He wasn't lame or anything like that, but he just looked tired more so than anything, I guess.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Butch Myers:
We did notice that too because like I said, I was really worried about him because I didn't want to lose him before I have to, but yeah, it's really helped him out. It really has, because that's the only thing that I've done different since all this has gone on, is just supplementing with your product.
John Dowdy:
Right. Yeah.
Butch Myers:
[inaudible 00:09:53], I have to-
John Dowdy:
That's awesome.
Butch Myers:
Yeah, it really is, I'll tell you. There's so many supplements on the market today, and it's so confusing because you just don't really know and you can spend a lot of money and not see any change at all. So, I always like to try something new. If it looks like I can get a benefit out of it, we'll try it. But in most cases, it doesn't really do what they claim it's going to do. So I end up being a one-time buyer. But your product really, on my horses, it's helped. I can see the difference. Whenever you can see the difference, that's a good thing.
John Dowdy:
No, absolutely. Now, I didn't ask you this question before, but what was your thought when you opened up that tub and saw that little tiny scoop for your big old draft horse?
Butch Myers:
Yeah, I didn't know. Yeah, it's one of the things, but over the years you kind of learn that sometimes it doesn't take as much of a good product. If it's what they say it is, it shouldn't take a whole bunch of it. So yeah, there's times whenever ... you get these supplements in these 50-pound bags or whatever and they want you to feed two or three pounds. You kind of go, "I wonder just how diluted they really are." If the product was really concentrated, like I believe yours is, you don't need to have as much of it, and it goes further.
John Dowdy: Yeah, that's right.
Butch Myers: [crosstalk 00:11:22] good thing, so that's really good.
John Dowdy: Yeah. For those tuning in and have never tried the product, the Equinety product, it's again, 100% pure amino acids. There's no fillers, no sugars, no starches, there's no loading dose. A serving size is 5.2 grams, which is a tiny little scoop, not even a tablespoon when you measure it out. What's interesting, whether it's a draft horse or a mini pony, they all get the same dose because again, this is targeting the pituitary gland, which is roughly the same size in mammals, about size of a pea. That pituitary really doesn't grow. It's just kind of that size. So it's interesting. Now, let's talk about your other horse, the 11-year-old Oberlander. Tell us about this one and things that you were dealing with prior to using the Equinety.
Butch Myers:
Yes. Actually he belongs to a friend of ours. We keep him at our place, and she got him back in March of this year. We noticed that he was really ouchy, like he's walking across ... we have a pea gravel around our barn area that we keep about three to four inches thick ... and noticed that he would just tip toe across that till he got out into the field. The lady that had him beforehand, she would trim his hooves with an electric grinder, and I think she got a little bit overzealous and took too much sole out of him. He was extremely short and very thin soled.
So whenever I saw your ad, besides the possible weight gain on my Belgian, I thought, "Well heck, we'll give it to the Oberlander to see if that doesn't help him out with his thin soles." Like I said, in about the same timeframe that the Belgian ... we started seeing changes in the Belgian, we actually saw changes in him too. He's walking out across the gravel now like he doesn't mind it at all. He was very noticeably tender-footed. He would really tip toe across. You could just tell he didn't want to walk across that. He would try to take a shortcut through it and try to get to the grass and stuff like that, as quick as he could. Now, he just walks right out like nothing's bothering him.
John Dowdy:
That's great.
Butch Myers:
Like I said, in about the same timeframe. I'd say both him and Barney both, I'd say about 30 days, about 30 doses. We definitely saw big changes, and like I said, this was all noticeable changes. It wasn't something that you had to have a vet look at him, and tell you that this is what it is. You can actually see that the horses were benefiting, and that's the only change that we made was just that, was just your supplement.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, and this is a really neat thing with the Equinety product, is it actually starts working in 24 hours. It triggers that pituitary to release the hormones in 24 hours. So now it's really just a matter of how much time it takes for you to start seeing things. When it comes to horses that have maybe a lot of stress, anxiety, or is a bit spooky, we've heard lots of feedback, they've noticed demeanor changes in as little as three days. But when it gets to an overall thing, whether it be helping to fill out, demeanor, they're happier top line, all these types of things. Even with hooves and the owchiness as you were describing, I would say the vast, vast majority of people do notice changes in 30 days or less.
It's good from the company's perspective. It's great for the owner's perspective, because this product works relatively quickly and when it comes to ... I'll throw this in there as well because we get a lot of questions of, "Hey, I'm using, you know, these other supplements or I'm using some other medications. Will the Equinety product interfere in any way, shape or form?" The quick answer is no it won't, because again, it's 100% pure amino acids, which are the building blocks protein. But we always encourage people to not change anything that you're doing as far as giving your horse currently, and just add the Equinety product to it.
Just in like you were describing, Butch, you know this was the only thing that you changed, and so that you can attribute it to the Equinety product. Not taking away from the great care and trimming and things that you're doing, because you're also a barefoot trimmer. So just add the Equinety product to whatever you're doing, and then over the next couple of weeks to 30 days, you should definitely start noticing enough of a change. At that point you can decide whether you want to maybe reduce some of the other stuff or take it away all together.
We're really blessed in that fact, that we've got a product that helps in so many ways. It's great to hear that you've got both of your guys feeling good, and you've just started three more just very recently, so it hadn't been enough time yet to notice changes on theirs. So you got a 11-year-old, a Haflinger, and a 30-year-old quarter horse with cracked hooves or cracked heels.
Cracked Hooves on a Quarter Horse
Butch Myers:
Yes.
John Dowdy:
Yup.
Butch Myers:
Yes, Mm-hmm (affirmative), yes.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, probably the stronger, faster-growing hooves is one of the most common things that we hear. Sometimes, when we're running ads on Facebook, we have before and afters of weight gain, so people think that this is a weight gain product. But then we have before and afters of heels, or hooves rather, so then people think it's just a hoof product. But as you've kind of described, it's helping in so many different ways, even with getting rid of that shoe boil, which who knew ...
Butch Myers:
Yeah, yeah. Really. Yeah, really if you understand ... I always tell people, I've only had a horse for 18 years. I know people that have had them all their lives. I just used to, whenever we first got our horses ... I'm 65 this year, so I got mine when I was about 47. But we've talked to people that have been around horses their whole life and they don't really understand anatomy, what the organs are supposed to do and how they work, and how things affect everything. I always tell them, "You need to read a little bit more, because there's so much research and things in horses that are coming to light now, that they didn't know maybe 10, 15, 20 years ago."
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Butch Myers:
The thing about whenever I called into your business and I asked the guy about how it works, and he explained how it triggered the pituitary gland, I understood right away how we were working and how it was supposed to work. Basically it's going to repair whatever's wrong with the horse. It's going to say, "Hey, send this repair material to this location," more or less. So I understood that 100%, whenever he first told me.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, absolutely. Of course, I'll say in addition to that, of course we always recommend consulting with your veterinarian and making sure that you're doing the right things from a nutritional aspect, and things like that. But a lot of times, I would say more times than not, this Equinety product seems to be the missing link with a lot of mystery lameness issues, and just a lot of problem areas. I think you described it best. You're really giving the body what it needs so it can go in and find what needs to be fixed, and fixes it.
Butch Myers:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
In general layman's terms. So, awesome.
Butch Myers:
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
John Dowdy:
Butch, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your Equinety stories. If there's anybody tuning in here that maybe they've never tried the product, maybe this is the first time hearing about it. What advice or anything would you have to tell them to maybe push them over the fence to give it a go?
Butch Myers:
Really, with all the products on the market today, you can spend a lot of money and not get any results. I've tried pretty much everything new that comes on the market. We always like to give it a look, see if [inaudible 00:19:51]. It's definitely going to be worth your money to try, at least for ... if you only have one horse, get the smaller container and try it. Don't change anything but just add this supplement to it and to your feeding program, and just kind of keep an eye on changes, and the changes aren't real subtle. On our horse, we saw a big difference, like I said, in about 30 days. Which is really pretty good. It's very impressive to me because normally you don't see changes that big in that little time.
John Dowdy:
True.
Butch Myers:
So it's definitely doing what the claims are.
John Dowdy:
Right. Absolutely. We'll thank you again, Butch. Butch Myers out of-
Butch Myers:
Sure.
John Dowdy:
... Falling Waters, West Virginia. I sure appreciate you taking the time here on the Equinety podcast.
Butch Myers:
Sure. Thank you for talking to me.
John Dowdy:
You bet. Thank you. Bye bye.
Butch Myers:
Bye.
