Barbra Reis - Dressage Performance Horses - Faster Recovery - More Stamina - Better Focus
John Dowdy:
Hello, and welcome to this week's Equinety's podcast. We're swinging up into the great state of Michigan. We've got Barbra Reis on the call this week. Barbra, welcome to the Equinety Podcast.
Barbra Reis:
Thanks for having me, John.
John Dowdy:
Well, it's exciting as always to have guests on, and this week we are going into the world of dressage. How about that? I think you might be one of the first people we've talked about, specifically dressage, on this podcast. So we're excited about that. And for those of you who don't know much about dressage, well, hang on because we're going to all learn here together.
John Dowdy:
So we actually launched our product Equinety Horse XL, in the world of dressage, up in Canada back in 2014. So, that was really my first go at that world. How long have you been in this world of dressage?
Barbra Reis:
I have been competing in dressage since 1995. I started out as a hunter/jumper and eventing, and then just found that I really enjoyed the discipline of dressage, because it works on building blocks. And we can really see our progress from one level to the other because we have specific movements and goals.
John Dowdy:
Now, of course we get into some of, we'll say the barrel racing world and other disciplines as well, but you look at Futurity and they're competing these horses at a very young age. What is the prime age of a dressage horse typically? Because they've got to learn a lot of different things going on, so what's their prime age?
Barbra Reis:
So in the Olympics, I would say most of the horses are from 12 to 18. I think because we do take such good care of them and we pay attention to their diets and their supplements and their joint health, they seem to last a lot longer. And even if a horse has retired when it's 18 or 20, they can keep going and do different dressage movements, maybe at a lower level, until they're in their mid-twenties.
John Dowdy:
Wow. That's pretty incredible for a competition horse.
Barbra Reis:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
Going back to your early years, how long was it before you came across the Equinety product, specifically?
Barbra Reis:
So, I found Equinety quite by accident. I was reading an article, it may have been in the Chronicle of the Horse or even Dressage Today, and someone had mentioned it. So, I did a little of Google searching and reached out to you personally, as the founder of the company and said, hey, I have an older dressage horse that's an FEI horse, which is an international level horse, that I would like to try this on.
Barbra Reis:
I recently purchased him. I think he was 18 when I bought him. And you and I hooked up, you sent me a jar of the Equinety, and within a couple of weeks, I noticed a huge difference in this horse.
Barbra Reis:
And I remember getting back to you, it was probably 2014 or 2015, and I was giving you weekly updates on it. And the thing that I noticed with this horse the most is he just seemed much looser and freer in his muscles, when we would first start working.
John Dowdy:
Yes. So you are one of the original users of our product, here in the States.
Barbra Reis:
I am. Yes. So I've used it on numerous personal horses and then I have tried to get clients to use it. The price point is fantastic. It definitely is very affordable for anybody. And I have, again, used it through the years. The horse that we originally started using it on had to be put down last year, he was 25, but he was still going strong. I had an older gentleman that was riding him in local shows. So, he was on Equinety until the very end. And I know that it really helped him feel better and get rid of any aches and pains that older horses may have.
John Dowdy:
Sure. Now, when we look at the world of dressage, I've heard people compare it to maybe like ice skating on a horse because of the elegance of dressage as a sport. Is that a fair comparison or is there something else that people typically compare it to?
Barbra Reis:
Well, my husband is a Marine and he compares it to the close order drill. That it's very synchronized, but it is a lot like ice skating. And we in our dressage tests have certain movements that are required, and we have certain patterns that we do and we build upon the levels. So it's almost like you're starting at kindergarten and you do the specific requirements and then you move up. So there's nine levels within dressage, the lowest level being training level, which is basically walk-to-canter. And then the highest level is the Grand Prix, which is what you see in the Olympics.
John Dowdy:
Right. About how many years can it take to get from step one to step nine, or phases, rather?
Barbra Reis:
Well, a lot of it depends on the horse that you are working with. Some horses are extremely talented, just as human athletes are. And some of them can be doing the Grand Prix movements by the time they're seven, eight, nine, 10. Others...maybe it's an adult amateur, not a professional, that's working with it. It may take them 12 years to get there, by the time the horse is 12. It's very individualized, so we're not on a timetable. But the one thing I have noticed over the last probably five or six years is that horses are moving up the levels at a younger age. So I think a lot of it has to do with the care and the nutrition that we are providing our horses with.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. That's, in my humble opinion, quite incredible to have 12 years to get to the Grand Prix level. And of course there's all the factors that come into play. Horse gets injured or whatever the case might be, or you get almost there and then have a career-altering injury.
Barbra Reis:
Correct.
John Dowdy:
And then you got to start over. Well, hopefully you have more than one going at the same time.
Barbra Reis:
Exactly. If you're a professional and you're lucky enough to have a stable full of client horses. Yeah.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. That's pretty awesome. Now, for those of you tuning in, we're talking to Barbra Reis out of Michigan and we're all about dressage today.
John Dowdy:
So through your years of pre-Equinety, and we're specifically talking about Equinety Horse XL. How would you compare the use of Equinety Horse XL, since you've been using it, have you noticed a difference in the horses just all around, because now you've been using it up to this point for close to six years.
Barbra Reis:
Correct.
John Dowdy:
Which I think is also... We often get questions, people want to know the long-term effects of using the product for extended periods of time, which this is an everyday product. But how would you compare the horses that you've been using it on for the past five, six years to the 20 years prior to, without using it?
Barbra Reis:
So a lot of my go-tos prior to Equinety, would have been Cosequin, some of the liquid joint supplements, and I guess one of the things I like about Equinety is that, it's a three month supply in a jar, and you're not giving them giant scoopfuls of stuff. I know a lot of the veterinarian say, feed-through supplements aren't always advantageous, because you don't know if the horse is actually eating it. The powdery substance that the Equinety consists of, and the small portions, there's no way it doesn't stick to the food and that the horses can't eat it. So convenience-wise, it's fantastic. You don't have to give shots with the Equinety, it's just convenient to use.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Barbra Reis:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
Now, for those tuning in for the first time, the Equinety Horse XL, it's 100% pure amino acids. There're no fillers, no sugars, no starches, and there's no loading dose. So as you were mentioning, the $100 tub has a hundred servings in it. That's $100 U S price. Serving size is 5.2 grams, which is about a teaspoon or slightly rounded teaspoon. Just put it right on top of their feed, and they'll tend to just lick it right up. Even the picky horses. Have you had any picky horses that...
Barbra Reis:
I have never had a horse not eat it. I think it's because of the consistency and the size of the portion. You just shake your food and it mixes right in, and they don't even know they're eating it. I mean, it's smaller or maybe comparable to the size of a sugar cube.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that would be a good comparison.
John Dowdy:
Now, how the product works and the science behind it. The amino acids are specifically combined, formulated, put together to give the body what it needs to release its own repairing hormones. And when we can get the body to release its own repairing hormones, it's that horse that sending its own hormones to the problem areas.
John Dowdy:
So a lot of the examples that I give a lot of the times, you could have 50 horses with 50 different things going on and because we're giving the body what it needs to release its own hormones, it's that horse that is now sending its own hormones to its own problem areas. So it's customizing to each one. That's why we have such a broad range from thicker soles, stronger hooves, faster growing hooves, softer shinier coat, filling out, gut issues, joints, recovery, stamina, focus. I mean, all of these things.
John Dowdy:
Now you had mentioned Cosequin earlier. Have you noticed when it comes to the joints, and with injectables, because we hear this a lot. I just wanted to get your take on it from a performance standpoint. Have you noticed less injections or maybe no injections at all since using the product?
Barbra Reis:
My FEI horse, whose name was Major, that I originally started it on, I didn't have him on any other supplements until I started competing him more heavily. And then I didn't have his hocks injected. But he was older as well, and he had been through a lot before I got him.
Barbra Reis:
I had another horse that was older, that just passed away this year at the age of 28, that I had put on Equinety, and he had Ringbone in his one front fetlock. I don't know what it did, but it gave him a lot of relief where he wasn't so limpy when he was outside in the pasture and he looked fantastic. He had a shiny coat, sparkle in his eyes still. I mean, he was a happy horse, and I did not have him on anything either. I never had his hocks injected or any of his joints, because there's not really much you can do for Ringbone, but I just felt like the Equinety helped him maybe with an inflammation issue. It just made him feel better.
John Dowdy:
Sure. And, just so everybody's clear, this is not a replacement for really anything. As a matter of fact, we always recommend to not change anything that you're doing and just add this to it. And then over the next couple of weeks to 30 days, a lot of people, and when I say a lot, I would say the majority people, do notice changes in 30 days or less. And at that time you can consult with your vet or make your own decision whether to reduce or sometimes stop using other things. So, it's definitely not a miracle supplement, but it has sure done some miraculous things for horses.
John Dowdy:
Now over the last five, six years since you've been using the product, have you noticed when you compare back to the earlier years and not having the product. Have you noticed... What kinds of things? Recovery, stamina, softer shinier coat or some of these things are typical than what you've seen?
Barbra Reis:
It is. Most recently I have used Equinety on a stallion that I got last year, who basically was living on hay. Wasn't let out of his stall except maybe to go on the indoor arena at the farm he was at. And, he just had a very dull coat, he had no muscle tone, his mood was very somber. And after a couple of months of the Equinety and learning how to be a horse again, he wasn't as fatigued, because the poor horse had stamina at all. His muscle really started developing. I didn't have any issues with joint problems and I don't have him injected at all. And he was a jumper before I got him and retrained him to be a dressage horse.
Barbra Reis:
So I think it's just helped his overall being, because again, it's not just targeting one area, it goes throughout their entire body and just helps everything because of the way it's made up.
John Dowdy:
Yep. That's pretty awesome. And I'm actually looking at pictures, which we will have these before and after pictures posted in the transcript of this podcast, which can be found at teamequinety.com and yeah, you can definitely see, of course the first before pictures and in a covered arena, so you can't really see the shine, but you can definitely see the lack of muscle tone compared to the after picture. You said this was a couple months?
Barbra Reis:
So I got the horse the middle of June 2009. The first photo was in a clinic with the Olympic judge, Janet Foy. So it was two months after I started him on the Equinety. The second picture was from a competition this year in June, so he had been on it for about a year.
John Dowdy:
Oh, okay. I was going to say, two months, that's [inaudible 00:16:20].
Barbra Reis:
Yeah. The first photo was after two months.
John Dowdy:
Oh, okay. It was a year.
Barbra Reis:
Yeah, it definitely... Yeah. And then the second photo is from a year. So, it definitely helped him look better and feel better and have more stamina and probably made his joints feel better. Again, he had been standing in a stall for about four years. So, yeah. It's part of my rehab program when I do get horses into my farm because I do equine rehab here. You know, I suggest to the owners that they add the Equinety to their diet.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. No, that's awesome. Well, you can definitely see how happy and healthy he is in that second picture for sure.
Barbra Reis:
Yeah. Yeah. And he definitely did well.
John Dowdy:
And the rider looks like she's having a good time as well.
Barbra Reis:
Yes. He's fun to ride. He's very fun to ride.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. Awesome. Well, for those tuning in to this podcast that may have just learned about the Equinety product. And again, we're talking specifically about the Equinety Horse XL, which is 100% pure amino acids. Maybe they're a little bit on the fence. They're like, well, this sounds good, but I'm still a little skeptic. What would you have to say to them other than what you've already said, that maybe get them to try the product.
Barbra Reis:
I think one thing that people look at when first exploring supplements in cost. Cost and then the purpose of it, and probably how you give it. This is the easiest product to incorporate into a daily feed program. I don't know why you wouldn't want to give it a try. I mean, it's less than a dollar a day. What do you have to lose to use a jar? You're not going to see any adverse effects, at least in my experience using it on probably 20 different horses. No negative effects, cost efficient. Yeah. What do you have to lose?
John Dowdy:
It's really everything that you could ever asked for in a product. It starts working in 24 hours and then it's just a matter of how quickly you can begin seeing things. Like I mentioned before, I would say the upper 90 percentiles of people do notice changes in 30 days or less. And this could be, typically within two to three days, we've heard feedback of complete demeanor changes. Horses that have a lot of stress, anxiety, or a bit spooky. We've seen and heard demeanor changes in two to three days.
John Dowdy:
For the working performance horse, in about a week to two weeks, notice fast recovery, more stamina and better focus, especially the younger horses that need a little bit more focus in training. That seemed to help out a lot. And then you get into the 30 day mark, people are typically noticing softer, shinier coat. They're filling out, even top line. And also, when you get into the hooves, people are reporting, they're starting to notice a little bit firmer on the sole, as well as better hoof growth. And that only gets better with time. And then of course the joints. It's just an all around, great product. And I would say people are typically saving 20 to 40% in medical and other supplements since started using this. Logically, it makes sense. The horses are healthier. So, we're blessed for sure to have a product that helps in so many ways.
Barbra Reis:
Exactly. And one other thing I forgot to add, I do not have shoes on this horse. He is totally barefoot and he has no hoof cracks. I mean, horses do have to have good feet to start out with, but normally when you start competing, you're putting extra stress on their legs. Or if you have a super dry summer, like we did here in Michigan, they're stomping the flies, they get cracks. His feet are wonderful and he's a big horse. He is 17 three. So yeah, I have to give Equinety some accolades for not having to put shoes on him.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. That is something we actually hear quite a bit. That's pretty awesome.
John Dowdy:
Well, before we sign off, is there anything else you'd like to add here to the podcast or let anybody know about anything?
Barbra Reis:
No, not really. I'm super pleased with the product. I'm happy to be one of the first dressage riders that you got into it. I just wish that other dressage riders or [inaudible 00:21:16] or hunter/jumpers would try it, open their eyes a little bit, not be afraid to do something new.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. And I guess, one important question. Is this product FEI compliant?
Barbra Reis:
Yes it is.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Barbra Reis:
Which is always a big question, because there are a lot of supplements that have forbidden substances or banned substances in them. This has nothing. So you don't have to worry if you get blood tested or the urine test at the shows. Nothing's going to show up, because there's nothing in it that's not legal.
John Dowdy:
Right. And the reason for that is in this particular product, it's 100% pure amino acid. So, when a horse eats protein, which comes from however they're getting that in their feed or grazing, the protein molecule is actually too big to be absorbed. And so what the body has to do is break that protein molecule down into amino acids, and then the body can absorb the amino acids. So the great thing with this product, it's already in the amino acids stage, so the body doesn't have to do anything except absorb it.
John Dowdy:
One other quick point I'll throw in here as well. If you're looking at your pelleted feed, if you're feeding that, and it's high in amino acids. The integrity of the amino acids has all been shot because in order to make pelleted feed, it requires an extremely high heat to do so, and that high heat breaks down the integrity of the amino acids.
John Dowdy:
So we've got people in high performance barns that feed the best of the best of everything. And in every scenario that I know of, when they add this product, they all notice changes. Whether it be recovery, stamina, some little chronic pain that tends to go away, just the recovery aspect and the focus is probably the biggest thing.
John Dowdy:
Well, that's awesome. Barbra Reis out of Michigan, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and your experience. One of our initial, first time, Equinety Horse XL users, back in 2014. Thank you so much.
Barbra Reis:
Thank you very much, John, for having me on.
John Dowdy:
You bet. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.
Barbra Reis:
Bye.
