Dawn Eliot-Johnson Severe Founder
John Dowdy:
Hello, and welcome to this week's Equinety podcast. We are swinging up into Maine and I tell you what, this is a very touching and exciting story, this one. We're taking a horse that was literally being told by all of the vets to just go ahead and put the horse down and long story short, started using the Equinety Horse Excel, and now the horse is being ridden again. That's the super cliff note version. So let's get into the details. Welcome to the podcast this week, Dawn Eliott-Johnson, thank you so much for taking the time here on the Equinety podcast.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Thank you for having me.
John Dowdy:
Well, it's always a pleasure. When I came across your comment on one of our Facebook ads, my mouth was on the floor, as it often is when I hear some of these stories and so I reached out to you and now here we are. I also think as we were having our, pre-call, your background, tell us a little bit about your background and what you do.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Sure. So my background, I work in veterinary fields. I'm a vet tech, also manager of other emergency small animal hospital and I worked with quite a few different veterinarian.
John Dowdy:
Okay. So yeah, being in that field, you got access to a lot of great knowledge that you'll be able to run by a lot of folks and not have to pay for it all the time, [crosstalk 00:01:41 Right, right] which is a plus.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
It is a plus. I get to pick their brain a little.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. That's awesome. Of course, they come back with other things that make up for that. Okay so tell us about your horse. How long have you had your horse Liberty and what happened to this Liberty horse?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Liberty, she's is a Mustang, she's about 18 years old. I've had her now seven years. She would spend the summers in beautiful lush, rolling fields and eat all day and all night and then in the winter time, I move her home and take care of them in the winter time. But this last November of 2018, she moved home and she was extremely overweight and in December, foundered, she started acting strange and walking backwards and then on Christmas Eve actually was true founder and was down and couldn't even walk at that point.
John Dowdy:
Wow. And the farrier that you have been using, how long have you been working with this farrier?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
So the farrier had known Liberty since she was three years old, she trimmed me her feet almost every six week since then. And she was the one that introduced me Liberty so that she knew that she was a great horse and she was a perfect fit for me. Being it was my first horse. It was just a wonderful fit, had a great time learning together.
John Dowdy:
Right. So when she came back, when Liberty came back and then you realize, okay, well, super overweight. And so you adjust the diet and everything to handle that, but then the founder sets in. [crosstalk 00:03:53 Yeah] So tell us about that whole experience and how severe it was.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Okay. So she founders, like I said, Christmas Eve, it was extremely severe that she makes down and being Christmas Eve, I could not get a vet out for quite a few weeks, but I had some friends that had some pain meds. So we went, made sure she was on pain meds, called my farrier, she came right out to look at her and say, "Yep, this is the problem, shes foundering and we need to wrap her feet, we need to make her comfortable," made her a soft stall which she had already, but made sure she was in it, and made sure it was really super soft for her and kept her in a smaller area so that the other horse wouldn't pick on her while she was resting.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
It was to the point of severe enough, that of that did come out. He pretty much said that you need to euthanize or you're just going to have a christmas lawn ornament. And that wasn't something that I wanted to have. I didn't want to give up on her. So I was desperate for any positive information at all. So I started researching and I found your product listening to all the podcasts. It just gave me a little hope, and finally decided to start with the sample product.
John Dowdy:
Before you get into that aspect, talking about the severity of the founder, you could actually see the bone.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yes. So the farrier came out and went to trim her feet and see if there was a flap that was on the bottom. And if you lifted it up, you could actually see the bone, and at that point she was like, "this is really, really bad." And we were thinking that this is probably going to be the end, but Liberty made sure that I knew through her eating and just her body language that she did not want me to give up on her. So we just kept pushing through, we kept on giving her the product and just wishing for some magic happen. And it did.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. So you came across the Equinety product to through your research and through Facebook ads you [crosstalk 00:06:41 Yeah] saw through there. So you [crosstalk 00:06:44 Correct] purchased the little sample tub, which is 15 days and started feeding that right away. What did you notice within those 15 days?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
15 days went by and she was up longer, standing longer she was more with it. Like her look on her face, she would be excited about food and she'd be excited about just being petted and just being loved. Those were encouraging signs to me, which she was slowly losing before I started, [inaudible 00:07:26].
John Dowdy:
Probably [crosstalk 00:07:29 It really gave me a little...] going through all of that, a lot of depression setting in because she was, or he was in pain.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
So within 15 days you're seeing demeanor change for the positive and...
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Demeanor change, Yep, it did, it changed.
John Dowdy:
Wow.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
She was definitely more with it.
John Dowdy:
Okay. So as you started seeing the progress, then you went ahead and purchase the large set that we have, and then...
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
So what was happening, we'll say around the 30 day mark... Because he was prone to abscesses and all kinds of abscesses.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah so she kept getting abscesses. And they were... She probably had, at least four different times, she had abscesses one right after the other. It would go from one hoof to the other hoof, just being the front two. And then after 30 days it was less and less than they were. They finally went away. She hadn't had any for a long time.
John Dowdy:
Wow that's... [crosstalk 00:08:42]
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah, it was just incredible that it... it was just incredible. I can't even explain.
John Dowdy:
And another thing before, let's back it up 30 days, because prior to this, with your connections in the vet field, and as you're doing your research and you're talking to many, many vets, what was your experience in those conversations, in what the situation you were having with Liberty? Were they giving you any kind of encouragement or what was their advice with however many vets you spoke?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
I didn't have much of an encouragement from any of them. A lot of them are saying that this was a very crippling disease and that... It was just a lot of negativity, and I just needed some positive, something to reach for. Some help.
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
And I wasn't getting it. And I just kept trying for something, somebody to give me some hope. And the farrier was just my support system. She just kept saying, "We're going to keep going." She said, "Most owners don't make it through this, but I think we can do it. We can make it through."
John Dowdy:
Wow.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
We did. [crosstalk 00:09:57] We did.
John Dowdy:
So within [crosstalk 00:10:01 yeah.] 15 days you're noticing a change, 30 days you're noticing more of a change, and then as you're progressing along, what was your farrier saying along the way? Or were there other little signs that you were noticing along the way while using the product?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah. When she's having all the abscesses and the lifting of the flap, she would think it's really bad, but we might want to, we might want to think about it, about euthanasia, but she was kind of, she was trying to be positive and look for hope and going off from what I was saying, how she was asking, like we'll keep going, but she kept saying, "It's not looking good right now with that flap." And then when the flap grew over, she's like, Oh, that's promising. So, that gave me a little hope. Just the little comments she would make when she was trimming. Liberty was standing longer, like I said, she was just more comfortable. We didn't have to struggle to get her foot up, she would just lift it like they're supposed to. Before I was like, I had to lean on her. I had tried to twist her around and just try in any way whatsoever to get her to lift her foot.
John Dowdy:
Sure.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
And it just got better and better for her and easier for the farrier to trim. And she didn't have to take breaks in between trimming. She could finish the whole foot.
John Dowdy:
So each time the farrier would come out. You just notice a Liberty being more...
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yup, very small, positive things.
John Dowdy:
Yup, going in the right direction?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah, that was enough for us to say, "okay, we got this, she's got this." There was one time that I will say when the farrier had left that day, [inaudible 00:12:09] she had said that we might want to consider euthanasia, and I made all the plans to have somebody come out and do the cremation of her after the vet would come. And then that evening, my husband and I were watching her out the window and discussing our option. Liberty was out in the pasture. It was a snowy covered pasture, but it was... she was rolling on her back, which she hadn't done in a while, and we were both like, "Oh, she looks so comfortable." And then all of a sudden she jumped up, shook off and ran across the field and we both looked at each other, like "what just happened?"
John Dowdy:
How long time, or how much time had passed from the time you started until this happened?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Let's see [inaudible 00:13:14] that was the beginning of April because it was still just a little bit of snow. It wasn't a lot. So it was [inaudible 00:13:28 April to March] maybe a little over 30 days when that happened. So she didn't have the abscesses anymore. They were going away. So yeah, it was roughly 30 days or 35 after.
John Dowdy:
Wow, that's incredible.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah it was incredible.
John Dowdy:
You skipped forward a year and eight months since you've been using the product. And how is she doing today?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Well today I'm actually getting ready to take her out on a trail.
John Dowdy:
Oh my gosh. [crosstalk 00:14:04]
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yup, going on a trail ride this afternoon. So, pretty awesome.
John Dowdy:
I've got to ask you this: have you spoken with any of the vets that you went to in the early days to update on how Liberty is doing?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yes. Most of them were like, "Wow, I've never heard that happened." Most of them have just told their clients to give up on [crosstalk 00:14:35 Mm-hmm (affirmative)] their horses and euthinise, it's something that they can't fix, but sometimes you can fix them.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, I'll tell you for those tuning in, for the first time, maybe you're just learning about the Equinety product. And we're specifically talking about the Equinety Horse XL in this podcast, which is 100% pure amino acids, there's no fillers, no sugars, no starches, and there's no loading dose. Serving size is 5.2 grams, which is about like a teaspoon. And what's really unique about this product. The amino acids are specifically formulated to stimulate the pituitary gland, which is the master gland in the body. And that's what releases the necessary hormones, which then the body sends those hormones to the problem areas. So in this extra severe case, we're talking founder along with the abscesses and things that were going on, but the founder it's probably, I would say if your horse has foundering or looking to go in that direction or just have thin soles.
John Dowdy:
So one of the great feedback, so we hear all the time is how this product really helps thicken the souls and ultimately makes for an all around healthier, faster, stronger growing hoof, which gives the farrier more to work with in a shorter amount of time. So with all of that being said if mother nature is too far down the path, then which of course listening to this story, you would think that it would have been so far down the path based on the... being able to see the bone and everything it's like Holy smokes.
John Dowdy:
But [crosstalk 00:16:09 (Yeah affirmative)] with with hearing your story, you did everything that I would think a horse owner would need to do, consult with vets, you're talking with everybody, you're doing your research. And [crosstalk 00:16:22 Mm-hmm (affirmative)] so many times we hear the Equinety Horse XL has been the missing puzzle piece. And I tell people all the time it's not a miracle supplement, but it's sure has done some miraculous things. And so, if you find yourself in a situation where you just seem like you're backed into a corner, you've tried all the other options, try this stuff. I mean, well, take it from Dawn. She'll tell you.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah. Why not? I mean, what else are you going to lose? It's perfect. [crosstalk 00:16:54 Yup (Affirmative)]
John Dowdy:
And, and as long as you're seeing the progress, like you were doing, you think, okay, well, you're reading your horse, your horse wants to live and then you added the product and you start seeing the small little signs and, and we're talking a year and eight months. There's so many people that they want an instant fix and a lot of times it's not going to be an instant fix, but you're seeing progress along the way. So to be able to go from one end of the spectrum, all the way to the other, now you're going out for a trail ride. That's pretty crazy.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
It is.
John Dowdy:
Yeah.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Amazing. I'm just so thrilled with it I just can't... Get me one, please.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. You have a gelding that was having some issues. What was his deal?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah, Buddy, he's a quarter horse, red head. I always just excuse his temperament being that he's a red head. This summer I started [inaudible 00:17:59 To decide?] "Oh, why don't I see... Maybe I should just try him on this." And so I did, I started the beginning of the summer, he used to bite me terribly, and he hasn't bitten me since he's been on the product at all. And he's so calm. I have been bareback riding him, which I've never imagined that I would be doing. Just wonderful, wonderful. We [crosstalk 00:18:24 Wow] bonded even more than I can even imagine. [crosstalk 00:18:28 Yeah]. It's definitely helped.
John Dowdy:
As you and I were talking because it's like, why was he being such a brat and biting and doing things? And I was like, well, it could be any number of things. Maybe he had some ulcer things [crosstalk 00:18:41 Yeah] going on or some kind of pain going on somewhere. And of course, he's reaching out to bite the hand that feeds him, which is [crosstalk 00:18:48 Right] common in our family. But one of the things that this product really helps with, because we're giving the body what it needs to help release its own hormones, and then we've had a lot of people tell us, it's like the best way they describe it: it's just helping to balance the horse from the inside out so they can be a horse again.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Yeah, exactly.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that is so awesome. Well...
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
It's made him a happy, gentle horse.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, Well, Dawn, if there's anybody tuning into this podcast that, they've heard this story and they're thinking, well, this is too good to be true. Or maybe they're just still on the fence about it. Is there anything that you could tell them outside of what you've already told that might get them off the fence to at least give the product to try?
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
I would say, just read your horse. If your horse wants to live, why not try it? There's nothing else you can lose. It's just worth doing. I had almost zero hope when I started and now I'm going to be riding my horse [inaudible 00:20:01 back in] a year and a half out. It's worth just trying.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that is so amazing. Through the years we've had stories like this that were horses were scheduled to be put down and they came across our product. Now they're riding the horse again. And again, I stress you got to go to your medical experts and talk with them and do your research and everything else. But at the end of the day, the Equinety Horse XL, it is 100% pure amino acids. There's nothing in there that will hurt your horse, it can be used with any other medications and anything because there's no side effects, it's amino acids. So it's just [crosstalk 00:20:42 Yeah] turned around so many horses in so many ways. And this is just another example, and I would say a severe example from a severe founder situation to now you're riding again and a year and eight months. [crosstalk 00:20:57 Mm-hmm (affirmative) ] That's incredible.
John Dowdy:
Well, Dawn Elliott Johnson out of Maine, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your story here on the Equinety podcast.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Thank you, it was a pleasure.
John Dowdy:
Well I thank you, I really appreciate it, and I know there's going to be a lot of people that get a lot of benefit out of this one. So thanks again.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
I hope so. Thank you.
John Dowdy:
All right. Bye-bye.
Dawn Eliot-Johnson:
Bye-bye.
