Danielle Thumma - Lameness – Stifles – Injections
Lot of Pain – Unhappy – Depressed
John Dowdy:
Hello and welcome to this week's Equinety podcast. We're swinging up into Maryland this week and we've got Danielle Thumma on the line here. Danielle, welcome to the Equinety podcast.
Danielle Thumma:
Hi, John. Thank you for having me today.
John Dowdy:
Well, you're very welcome. And once again, we're always excited to have our guests here on the Equinety podcast. And this one, well, I think I had reached out to you. I saw you comment on one of the ads that we had going and you started off something like this, "I love, love, love Equinety. It truly saved my horse's life." I said, "Okay, let's hear this one." Because we do hear some pretty amazing stories. I tell people all the time, this is not a miracle supplement. It's not the end all, be all. You got to have the proper care and nutrition and veterinarian care and farriers and all the stuff that comes along with taking care of a horse. But when you're able to add this Equinety product to those things, sometimes things can turn out to be a miraculous situation. So you also have been working in the veterinarian field for about 10 years, I believe it was?
Danielle Thumma:
Yeah. Yeah. That's right.
John Dowdy:
10 years. So you work for an equine vet. So tell us a little bit about the horse that you have here. How long have you had this horse? What was going on? And we'll start there.
MVP's Troubles With Stifles
Danielle Thumma:
Sure. So MVP is a 17 year old thoroughbred off the track. I've had him since he was four, so about, I guess, 13 years now. And he was supposed to be my event horse, which he didn't exactly like and then we found fox hunting was something he enjoyed. About five years ago, he started having some soundness issues in his hind end and we narrowed it down to stifles and we did some injections and they helped for a while and then it got to the point where they just weren't keeping him sound and comfortable. I took him down to Morven Park to see one of the surgeons there. And they basically looked at everything and said that there was nothing that could really be done to repair his stifles.
Danielle Thumma:
So after that, we kept him, we tried doing small paddock and stall rest and none of it really made any difference and he was very unhappy. So it progressed to the point where we put him on, he was on Bute twice a day and we had to increase his dose to about four grams a day, which is a really high dose for horses. The recommended dose is one gram twice a day for no more than seven to 10 days. But the Bute worked for a little while and then it stopped working. And then my boss and I looked into other pain relief sources. We did some dexamethazone, which is a steroid. And he was on 40 milligrams a day, which was a very high dose, not recommended for longterm use.
Danielle Thumma:
And it got to the point where that was not keeping him pasture sound. He was uncomfortable, he would very quietly walk around. There was no more exuberant running around happiness. So I was sort of faced with the decision that it was going to be best to euthanize. And I saw the ad for Equinety on Facebook. So I clicked on it and I looked into it for a bit and I decided that it was worth a shot. It wasn't going to hurt him. It wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg to see if it made any difference. So I ordered it and I got him started on it. And within about two weeks he was happier and running around with his buddies again. And just really a completely different horse.
John Dowdy:
So from a horse that you were looking at having to just put down because of the pain. You'd tried everything else from Bute to steroids, the surgeon said surgery wouldn't help at all. So here you are looking at possible having to put this horse down and within two weeks of using Equinety he's running around?
Danielle Thumma:
Yes. Yeah. I mean it was really pretty miraculous because I was devastated. I mean, this was the first horse I bought for myself and I had big plans for us and really love him dearly. And the fact that he was so uncomfortable was just making me absolutely sick over it. I mean, he was miserable all the time. You could just see it in his eyes. Everything he did hurt and with the Equinety, he just, he turned around and he's got bright, happy eyes again and he races around and plays and it's everything I could have asked for.
John Dowdy:
Oh my gosh. Now I often ask this question a lot. I don't know what you're going to say when I ask you this, because I didn't pre-ask you this question, but were you surprised by the dosage amount of this product?
Danielle Thumma:
Yes. Yeah. I mean it's really a small scoop.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, yeah. 5.2 grams, which is not quite a tablespoon. Yeah. So that is something. Now, for those of you who are tuning in for the first time, and maybe you've seen the ads running around there on the internets. Maybe you're dealing with the situation... in this case, Danielle, you were literally at your wit's end. And now I'm sure do all this stuff with the guidance of your boss and your veterinarian. What was his thoughts or did you just buy it and try it? Or did he have any insight on the product when you showed it to him? Or did you just... ?
Danielle Thumma:
Yeah, I showed it to him and I said, "What do you think about this?" And he said, "Try it." He basically said he couldn't guarantee that it was going to work or help. And he said it wasn't going to hurt the horse. So there was nothing wrong with trying it. And yeah, he's been thoroughly impressed by the results.
How Equinety Works
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that's impressive. So for those tuning in for the first time, and you might be wondering what this stuff is. So it's 100% pure amino acids. There is no fillers, no sugars, no starches, and there's no loading dose. And as we mentioned just a few minutes ago, it's a very small amount. And the reason that is, is because these amino acids are specifically formulated to stimulate the pituitary gland, which is the master gland on the body. And that's what releases the hormones that help heal the body at a cellular level.
John Dowdy:
So we've had plenty of podcasts where we've had people talk about two, three, six, seven different horses that have, they're all dealing with separate things. They all get one scoop of Equinety and they're all affected to what that horse needs. So it's customizing to each horse and that's because each horse's body is releasing its own hormones and the body knows exactly where to send those hormones for the healing. So that's a little bit of the science and how this stuff works and why it works. And we've just seen and heard so many stories. And again, I say it's not a miracle supplement, but it might have to borderline on this story, in this particular case, I would have to say that.
Danielle Thumma:
Yes. I mean, it's been a miracle for us. I mean, I won't not have it in my barn at this point. It's what saved him.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. Now are you having to give him any other things?
Danielle Thumma:
No.
John Dowdy:
Any of Bute or any of the steroids or anything like that?
Danielle Thumma:
No.
John Dowdy:
Just giving him this?
Danielle Thumma:
No, he hasn't. He is on Sentinel Blue Seal Performance Feed and Equinety and that is it.
John Dowdy:
Wow. And so he's retired now.
Danielle Thumma:
He's retired. Yeah. He looks sound enough to me that I could probably trail ride him, but that is just not the type of horse that he is. He would not tolerate that or without being in some actual consistent work. And at this point, with his age and the wear on his joints, I want to push him to do something. So, but he is happy as can be. And that's all I really wanted.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that is amazing. Wow. Well, I tell you what, if there's anybody tuning in for the first time, and again, maybe they're just now hearing about this, or they've been looking at it. If they are on the fence about trying the product, is there anything that you could say or any advice that you could give them to maybe just have them say, "Hey, go ahead and try this product." Anything you want to say about that?
Danielle Thumma:
If you have an issue with your horse and there's nothing that this product is going to do to harm your horse. It is absolutely worth a shot. And I think you'll be really amazed with the results that you get.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. That's great. Well, Danielle, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your story here on the Equinety podcast. Danielle Thumma out of Maryland. Thank you so much.
Danielle Thumma:
Thank you.
John Dowdy:
All right. Bye-bye.
