Christy Miller - Laminitis - 16 yr old mini
John Dowdy:
Hello and welcome to this week's Equinety podcast. We are swinging out into Colorado and we've got Christy Miller on the call this week. We're going to talk about a mini pony. So, Christy, welcome to the Equinety podcast.
Christy Miller:
Thank you.
John Dowdy:
It's great to have you on and I believe I came across one of your comments on a Facebook post, and you were talking about your mini that had acquired winter laminitis, which is no fun at all.
Christy Miller:
Correct.
John Dowdy:
So, before we get into that, let's talk a little bit about ... Well, first of all you have been around horses all your life.
Christy Miller:
Yes.
John Dowdy:
Yes? Let's talk about how you acquired this little mini because I found it humorous.
Christy Miller:
Well, where I live there was a feed store and these people who owned it were into breeding minis, and things weren't going really well with that side of it so they decided to get out of it. This little guy was one of their first. I went to go get feed one day and they put him on my feed ticket as a free Mini Haha, which was his name at that time. So of course I kind of refused at the beginning and then we decided, well, okay. We decided to take him. We did change his name to Jack-Jack instead of Haha. That's been 16 years ago.
John Dowdy:
Now, did you know Haha before? I mean, being there at the feed store all the time, did you know who he was?
Christy Miller:
I never got to really see him as a little guy. Of course, I was working all the time. But I did know his parents. The dad was like 29-incher little mini, and the mom was a little bigger. I did know those, but I never got to see him as an itty-bitty baby I guess, or [inaudible 00:01:57] yearling, so.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. So you're going to the feed store, you get your routine things, and you notice this extra line item as a free Haha on your feed bill.
Christy Miller:
Yes.
John Dowdy:
That is pretty funny. Well, I think it would be important to note when you're at the feed store, anybody listening in, when you're at the feed store, make sure you check the ticket.
Christy Miller:
Exactly. You never know what you're going to end up with.
John Dowdy:
Yes. So, although you try to not take home this free Haha mini, they twisted your arm, you brought him home, changed his name to Jack-Jack, and that was 16 years ago.
Christy Miller:
Yes. He was already pretty much broke to halter and stuff like that. He was a little stallion at that time, and we changed that when he got a little older because he was a little bit of an obnoxious little stallion so we decided to change that. Ever since then, he's just been an awesome little boy, so.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, so what was his demeanor like and personality and everything?
Christy Miller:
As a little guy, he was still very calm and stuff. Of course, there was some of that stallion quality and it doesn't help when you have mares. So, we had to deal with that a little bit, and finally one day he was picking on one of my mares and she pulled back and broke her halter, and I told my husband, "That's it. It's a done deal. He's got to be a gelding." So, after that, he's very laid back. Nothing gets him riled up. He's very sweet. He's very kind, gentle. He's not afraid of dogs or cats or anything. Not mean to any of those. He's great with the little kids, our grandkids and stuff. He's just an awesome little boy and that's why I had to do everything I could to get him through this problem.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, for sure. Now, do you have any other minis or is this your only one?
Christy Miller:
No, I have two other little girls, a little paint and a little black one, and they're from another friend of ours that she contacted me one day, and she was of course breeding minis at that time too, and she decided to get out of the breeding of the minis and went into milking Jersey cows.
John Dowdy:
Oh, all right.
Christy Miller:
So, she called me and asked me if I wanted these and my husband said, "Sure."
John Dowdy:
What's another couple minis?
Christy Miller:
Here I am. I have another couple minis. I have a big horse too, so.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Christy Miller:
I was always, when the minis were big I thought, "I'm never going to be able to afford a mini ever. They're just going to be so expensive," and now I have three freebies.
John Dowdy:
Yes. See, it didn't cost you anything to acquire them.
Christy Miller:
It did not, no.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. Okay, now let's skip ahead. So Jack-Jack has been doing fine all these years up until this last winter and he acquired winter laminitis. So, how did you first notice that something was going on?
Christy Miller:
Well, that's correct. He's been awesome. He's never had any issues. He's never colicked, he's never had any problems. I just noticed probably end of September he just was a little off in his walking. He just seemed like he just wasn't his normal walking. So I just kind of contacted a friend of ours who is a veterinarian and she came over and we hoof tested him a little bit. He was a little sore, and she's also into the natural healing, so she did some acupuncture on him, which seemed to help. I always knew when he needed another. I think we did three times.
He would be laying flat out and I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh, I lost my little Jack-Jack," and he'd pop back up and it would take him forever to come down the hill or wherever he was at. I just knew something was just really wrong, and had contacted my farrier and we discussed things. Of course, he was not in the area at the time. He was doing snowmobile guide, so I had to wait to get him back here and he confirmed what he was talking about as winter laminitis that he had zipped over to me while he was out there so I could be up on things.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, so one of the things that he had you do was, or he sent you this article on winter laminitis and then suggested doing a particular kind of wrap to increase blood flow?
Christy Miller:
Yeah. According to this article [inaudible 00:06:45] keep the blood flowing to the area was to wrap, especially in the wintertime, their legs all the way down to the hoof, not covering the whole hoof or anything but just down to the hoof. So, my vet friend had some wraps and they were six feet long, so-
John Dowdy:
Yes, a non-
Christy Miller:
... that's a lot of wrapping on a little mini.
John Dowdy:
... a non-mini wrap.
Christy Miller:
Yeah. But since then, I've actually found some four footers that I've actually purchased just in case I ever have an issue again. But six foot, that was a challenge. Luckily, he's really a nice boy and stood there the whole time while I was doing it. If anybody knows about wraps, you have to get them the right way to make the Velcro stick.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Christy Miller:
Yeah, it was a little bit of a trial and error, but he was so awesome. He just stood there.
John Dowdy:
That's great. Now how did-
Christy Miller:
But yeah, we did that.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, and how'd that work?
Christy Miller:
Pretty much he kept them on. He was really good about it. A couple of times, I had to wash a couple because it was just all muddy and mucky because of the snow. But I do believe that helped tremendously and he thinks that helped also because it just keeps that ... If you stuck your finger up there, it was pretty nice and toasty. So, according to the article that was one of the things to do, and keep him blanketed if it was bad. So, he had really, really thick fur so I never did blanket him. I do have a blanket for him but I did not blanket him because his fur was so thick, and there's always the issue of you don't want him getting used to a blanket because then they rely on a blanket, you know.
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Christy Miller:
But I believe that helped him at the beginning, yeah.
John Dowdy:
Okay, so, for those tuning in, maybe you're just at this point right here, so we're dealing with a mini pony acquired winter laminitis. You did some acupuncture, that seemed to help. You did that three different times. Now you've done the full wrap down to the hoof, which is also helping. Did your farrier have any other suggestions to maybe help with the hoof issues or what else was he saying?
Christy Miller:
Well, basically we talked about the whole laminitis concept of how the coffin bone can rotate and can be pretty nasty, and ponies are more prone to it. Of course, he's a mini, so he's still really pretty prone to it. And he was a little bit of a chunky monk, and of course some of it had to do with his hair, and we talked about metabolic changes. That was one of the key things is like nothing's changed in his life. He's been eating the same hay off the same field for 16 years. He gets hardly any grain other than just to get him into the corral at night.
So, nothing changed in his lifestyle, so that's why we pegged it as winter laminitis. I guess it's a common thing. I've never even heard of it, and I'm a vet tech. In all the years that I've done out calls with the veterinarians that I've worked with, never even heard of the winter laminitis. But obviously a thing.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Christy Miller:
So, basically we just discussed keeping him comfortable, what could happen, what we need to look for, keeping him trimmed, and at that point I told my farrier, "Whatever we're doing, we're going to do it to plan because this little guy's awesome." He was on board for it, so we just went from there. He trimmed him up as much as he could at that point without making him super sore. Took the toe off, you know, snubbed it off so he could break over easy. That helped tremendously at the beginning. [inaudible 00:10:42] stride out a little bit more at that point when he took the toe off.
John Dowdy:
Sure. Did he have any other suggestions for supplements or anything like that? Where I'm going with that is how did you end up purchasing Equinety or find Equinety to begin with? Were you just looking around for different things or how'd that all come to be?
Christy Miller:
Well, we never did talk about any type of supplements. He said there's really nothing out there that can, other than relieving pain you know. I had on hand the Absorbine Bute-Less product, just because if you use Bute too much it can cause other health problems and stuff, and them being little guys and stuff. So, he was on Bute for a little bit. Probably maybe two weeks at the most, just to get him through it. Then, I just weened him off of it a little bit. So he, at that point, when I took a photo of this little guy walking and sent it to my farrier, he was on absolutely nothing at that point. He wasn't on any buted anything, which my farrier was pretty astonished at.
But as far as finding the product, I wasn't looking for anything. Like I said, I'm a vet tech, and in all the years basically for laminitis, of course you've got to keep your hoof in good shape and keep them comfortable. There's no miracle ta-da, we're done with laminitis type drug.
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Christy Miller:
I've seen a few of them in my lifetime. I've been, like I said, a vet tech for 34-plus years and have not seen anything that's comfortable and making sure the hoof is in good health and your farrier on deck.
But I wasn't looking at all. It just happened to pop up on my Facebook, and there's this picture of a hoof talking about laminitis, and it's like, okay, well let's read what it says. I was impressed about how it took care of everything at a cellular level. I thought, well, why not. So I just started seeing where I could find this product and I think I, I can't remember if I got it off Amazon [inaudible 00:13:07] I don't know where I got it at the beginning. I bought two little jars and I thought, okay, well seems to be doing pretty good so probably my best bet is to [inaudible 00:13:16] the big jar.
John Dowdy:
Awesome.
Christy Miller:
But I wasn't actively looking for anything. Nothing.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Christy Miller:
I just know that this is what we had to do and I thought, well, what the heck? So here I am.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. So, you started this back in around mid-March, so he's been on it about three months. What things have you noticed since you've been using the product? We're talking specifically about the Equinety Horse XL, which is 100% pure aminos, so-
Christy Miller:
Right.
John Dowdy:
Yep. So what have you noticed?
Christy Miller:
Well, I think actually I started probably maybe February with my first little jar, and then I bought the big tub in March. He's still on the big tub. I think he just has his overall wellbeing with this whole problem. It's just 100% better. I mean, he's happy. Well of course he's not happy about not being fed as much but-
John Dowdy:
Who is really though?
Christy Miller:
He's out playing. Yeah, exactly. He's out running with his little girly friend and he's part of the herd again. Before, when he was having this problem, they would just go off and leave him and he just couldn't keep up. I felt sorry for him so I kept him in the corral. Of course, that didn't make him any happier either because his friends were still gone. He tried to go out there and he just couldn't go. So, he's back to running with his girly friend and being a little pony. I think his whole demeanor was the whole thing. I could just tell it in his eyes he didn't feel good.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Christy Miller:
I noticed also at one point, and I don't ... We had talked to my farrier and I talked about it being maybe a metabolic change too that ... One time, I don't know if somebody stepped on his tail or what and pulled a big old chunk out, so it was really kind of thin and wispy. I thought, oh, you're going to really suffer this summer when you ain't got not tail. Since he's been on this product, his tail is full again and it's beautiful. So I think that's helped. Maybe I'm wrong, but he has a really nice full tail.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. We've actually heard that quite a bit.
Christy Miller:
Yeah. Actually, my other two mini girls have really super long manes. I mean, they're almost to the knees and stuff and really long forelocks, and his has always been kind of short. But I've noticed that it's longer than it has been.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Christy Miller:
To the flies, it's not a good thing. But I think overall his whole body looks, his coat looks different.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Christy Miller:
So, I think it's really helped him a lot all over.
John Dowdy:
Sure. Yeah, and specifically going back to the hooves, being a vet tech you've seen a lot of different things through the years.
Christy Miller:
Oh yes.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, we hear a lot as well. But do you personally feel that this just helps speed up the healing process or the repair process overall?
Christy Miller:
Oh yes. I would have to say tremendously. I've seen horses that go shoeless, they're on Bute and different types of pain relievers for months and months and months. Some of them never even come out of it. Some of them aren't usable horses anymore because of that fact. They just can't walk. The horse owners get frustrated with that because here we're feeding a horse that we can't use. So they give up on them and they don't get the stuff that they need, which is kind of sad. I see a lot of that.
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Christy Miller:
This wasn't going to happen to Jack. I wasn't ready to put him in the ground, so.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, absolutely.
Christy Miller:
But yeah, I think this stuff ... Like I said, I think it was December when I started on this. I'm pretty sure it was probably February, and here we are, June, and it's been a month with actual ... Thinking, gosh, I got him through it, you know?
John Dowdy:
Yeah. Now he's out there running around like a wild child and chasing his girls.
Christy Miller:
Yeah. Yeah, he's chasing his girl and he's a happy little boy. He's back to his normal sweet self.
John Dowdy:
That's funny.
Christy Miller:
I would have to say that, yeah.
John Dowdy:
That's awesome. Well, for those of you who are tuning in for the first time, maybe you've just learned about the Equinety products. We actually have two now, but the one we're talking specifically about here is the Equinety Horse XL, which is 100% pure amino acids. There's no fillers, no sugars, no starches. There's no loading dose. Serving size is 5.2 grams, which is about a rounded teaspoon equivalent.
What's interesting is, although we had some conversations pre the call, but the reason why this product is so unique is the amino acids are specifically formulated to target the pituitary gland, which is roughly the same size in a mini pony and a draft. So, they all get the same dose, which is the one scoop. What's really going on in the body is when the pituitary is stimulated, it releases the necessary hormones, which then go throughout the body for repair.
So, since we're giving the horse the product and the horse is releasing its own hormones, it's that horse's body that's sending the hormones to the problem areas. So in this case, not only did it help with the faster repair when it comes to the overall hooves and the laminitis, but you also notice a difference in the coat, the fuller and growing faster main and tail.
Now, with all that being said, when was the last time your farrier was out and what has he noticed since Jack-Jack's been on product now for three months?
Christy Miller:
My farrier was out about, it's probably been about two weeks ago, he just happened to be in the area fixing on a shoe for a friend of ours, and I told him to send him on over because I felt that he was a little long. So he came over and he confirmed, and what he took off was astonishing of what he was trimming off, which was kind of ... I knew he was long, and so he trimmed him up on the front and stuff and got more off than I was anticipating, which made him look normal versus that little elfish looking curl to the feet.
When he got to the back foot, because he was affected on all four, he had his helper hold him while I looked around the back and he says [inaudible 00:20:27] he handed me the part of the hoof and it was quite a chunk that he took off. He said, "See, here's the old blood," and he says, "Look. We're down to healthy hoof." He said, "This is amazing. It takes a long time to get to that point." He says, "I'm amazed." We talked about the product again and he said, "Well I'm going to research it," and he says, "I'm going to recommend it to my clients."
I said, "Well, call me. Have them call me, because I'm 100% on board with this." When we let him loose, he was back to looking like a normal horse before this all happened. He didn't have the boxy hoof and he didn't have the little curl like an elf and stuff. So, he was just astonishing when he moved out. Of course, his friends were up on the hill and he wasn't happy that he was left behind so when we let him go he took off running up the hill, so he just couldn't believe it.
John Dowdy:
Oh man, that is an awesome story. Wow.
Christy Miller:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
Like you said, the recovery time was pretty phenomenal. One thing I want to point out here before we wrap up, I tell people all the time this product is not a miracle supplement. You could have the best farrier on the planet standing in front of your horse, but if there's nothing to work with, it's difficult for everybody. So, this product, the Equinety Horse XL is just a fantastic complement to anything that you're doing for your horse or ... If you're adding it to the things to really help your horse, it's going to help give the farrier a lot more to work with in a shorter amount of time, in this particular case. I tell people it's not a miracle supplement but it sure has done some miraculous things. I think the-
Christy Miller:
Oh yeah.
John Dowdy:
... the repair process in this case is pretty astonishing, about four months thereabout, five months.
Christy Miller:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
So, awesome. Well, Christy Miller out of Colorado, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your story here on the Equinety podcast.
Christy Miller:
Thank you and you're welcome.
John Dowdy:
All right. Well thank you so much. Bye, bye.
Christy Miller:
Bye.
