Jennifer Boles – Stress Fracture – Throwing Shoes - Hoof Growth – Softer Coat – Dapples
John Dowdy:
Hello and welcome to this week's Equinety Podcast, number 139. This is part of our 30 day Equinety Challenge Series. We've got Jennifer Bowles out of Louisville, Kentucky. Jennifer, welcome to the Team Equinety Podcast.
Jennifer Boles:
Thank you for having me and letting me share my story.
John Dowdy:
Absolutely, and it's a pretty amazing story. We're going to be talking about a couple off the track thoroughbred rescues. So give us a little bit of your background and your life around horses, and how you acquired these off-track thoroughbreds.
Jennifer Boles:
Of course. So I've been riding since I was two years old in all kinds of different disciplines, but I started rehabbing race horses when I was in high school. And then when I graduated from college and got into horse sales and thoroughbred industry and really started hot walking and then worked my way all the way up to being a trainer on the race track. So I spent about 12 years on the thoroughbred race track, working with them, learning all the different techniques and supplements and feeds, but also how to train them.
So when I retired from the race track in 2008, I started back into rehabbing rescues and training them. I have a background in eventing polo, as well as barrel racing, and pole bending, and flags. So whatever the horse that I could get off the race track, whatever fits them or that they enjoyed, then that's how I would teach them their second career and then either flip them or keep them.
John Dowdy:
Nice. So you're no stranger to being around horses, obviously, supplements and the whole gamut that comes along with that?
Jennifer Boles:
Yes, all of them. There's a lot of them.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. Now, what are some of the challenges? Maybe you could share with some of the listeners some of the challenges of taking care of off the track thoroughbreds?
Jennifer Boles:
The first thing that I have learned when you first take them off the race track is that you have to keep them fed at that level of feed and supplements that they were receiving while they were on the race track. A lot of them, when you first get them off the track, a lot of people will cut their feed way down and they won't be getting those high performing supplements that they were getting on the race track and they will lose weight immediately and their coat will get really dull and they'll fall off.
You actually have to keep them fed at the same level and then wean them down. And which is kind of the opposite when you have this high, strong, very fit race horse that you just pulled off the track, and that you're trying to rehab, you're trying to get them as calm as possible, but you have to keep them fed, so that they don't lose that weight. It's a lot harder to put weight back on than it is to take it off.
And I've even had a race trainer who... I rescued one of his horses and he came back and he saw the horse and he said, "Wow, I should have kept him and kept him racing because he looks so good." But you do have to keep those supplements at that level so that you don't lose and have to work backwards with them.
John Dowdy:
What [inaudible 00:03:07]-
Jennifer Boles:
You're also dealing... Sorry.
John Dowdy:
Go ahead.
Jennifer Boles:
You're also dealing with hooves, a lot of hoof issues. Thoroughbreds, they don't have the best hooves a lot of the time. They've got a very quick turnaround on chewing. A lot of them are being chawed every four weeks, so they don't have a lot of growth. A lot of heels cut off, so a lot of toe but no heel.
So when they come off the race track, you're trying to fix their feet, take care of any arthritic issues, as well as maintaining their weight. So those are the three biggest things when they first come off.
John Dowdy:
Oh, that sounds like more than a few handfuls right there.
Jennifer Boles:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
What I was going to ask is, what is a typical weaning off time? You were saying you got to keep them on the same feeding program and supplements when you bring them off, and then slowly wean them off. How long does that typically take?
Jennifer Boles:
I've seen anywhere from three to six months. I have one of the races I had taken off, wow, I think he was like 12 to 16 pounds when he first came off the track and it was about three months that I was slowly weaning the feed down. And I normally keep them on a hoof supplement, like an MSM or a glucosamine chondroitin, something for their joints, and the arthritis, and then make sure that they might have a Via-calm, or something to keep them calm on top of all the feed. But then within three to six months, you can get them down.
And I've had the one thoroughbred off the track, he's different kind of breeding. Also, you can go by their personalities, by who their ancestry is. He was much quicker. He was definitely within three months, I had him down to five pounds of feed in a day and he was fine. So it also depends how much work you're doing with them, and how quickly their bodies are stabilizing after. Because they may have been on a thyroid medication or something that plays with their metabolism, and you really have no idea when you're rescuing them what you need to feed them.
John Dowdy:
Sure, sure. Yeah. So what were some of the issues that were going on with, was it Coa? Is that the one that-
Jennifer Boles:
Yeah, Coa.
John Dowdy:
Okay. So what were some of the issues that were going on with him specifically that you had been dealing with? How long have you had him from the time you rescued him? What were some of the challenges with him specifically?
Jennifer Boles:
So I rescued him in December of last year in 2021, and he had a left hind stress fracture in his tibia, and he had really short like pony hooves, very small, definitely a clubby hoof, and not enough wall, was losing shoes every two to three weeks. Well mannered, but slight. He has that [inaudible 00:06:10] build where he's very sleek and slender. So I was trying to get weight put back on him, trying to grow his hooves out, but as well as making sure that we could take care of the stress fracture and heal that, and make sure he had plenty of time to have that.
The other thing is when you have a stress fracture in one leg, you need to look at the other legs to see what might have been hurting, where he shifted that weight to that leg that caused that fracture, and it happened to be the right front of where we were having all the hoof issues. So he probably was coming off of that right front to put all the weight on the back left, and that's why it fractured. He's very successful race horse, did very good, and made a lot of money, but we definitely had some issues that we were trying to fix. So that was December and then I did the challenge in July of this year.
John Dowdy:
So we, as a company with Equinety, we decided to do the Equinety 30 Day Challenge. So we're running commercials on the Cowboy Channel, which started in July. And so you saw this commercial and what was your initial thoughts when you first saw this?
Jennifer Boles:
So I've been watching Equinety XL for a while and it was a powder. So some of my thoroughbreds were very picky eaters, so I was worried that they wouldn't eat the Equinety. I'd heard great things about Equinety XL, and I wanted to try it, but also financially, I didn't know if I wanted to add another supplement and if I had that kind of financial comfort to be able to try something during a challenge, and not, one didn't have to pay for 30 days. And then they said that you could see results within 30 days, which was great. So I could try it to see if my horse would actually eat it and then I could actually see if it was going to work within 30 days. So that's why I jumped on the chance to do the challenge with Coa.
John Dowdy:
Sure. So for those of you who are tuning in, the Equinety 30 Day Challenge, we were giving away 30 days of Equinety horse XL absolutely free. And then we just requested pictures on day one, day 15, and day 30 as well as document the changes that you saw during those 30 days and hence, why we have Jennifer Bowles here talking to us.
So you received your product, and then how quickly did you see results? Or I guess we could back that up. The first test was just going to find out if they would eat it or if Coa would eat it. So how'd that go?
Jennifer Boles:
Yes. So I had made sure that I did it as a topical and then mixed it in really well, and the very first time he smelled it and was questioning it, but then went ahead and ate it. So he did eat it that first night and then I kept watching him because sometimes they'll eat a supplement, and if they get enough of a certain maybe vitamin or supplement, they'll be like, "Okay, I don't want it anymore." But he continued to eat it every day. So that was a positive right off.
And then within four to five days, I could see his coat got softer immediately within that first week. And I could see dapples start coming through his coat. And all of us, we always... As soon as you see dapples, you know that they're getting what they need within their feed, and it makes you feel so much better that their coat's healthy, and it made me ecstatic to see dapples in him in the first week.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that's pretty incredible. I mean we hear horses dappling out. And we've been on the market now going on nine years, and so it happens quite often. That's probably the fastest that I've heard, within four or five days. Typically, it's 30 days-ish. So that's pretty incredible. And then what was the next thing that you noticed, and how quick did you notice?
Jennifer Boles:
So I had started the challenge in July. So it's pretty hot and dry in Kentucky and especially this year, it's in early summer. So with the shoes and his hooves, that was one of my biggest concerns. We wanted to make sure that we could get hoof growth, that he could get solid walls, don't have to worry about the white line disease, and being able to have enough wall to keep a shoe on more than two to three weeks. He was throwing his right front shoe literally every three weeks.
And then what we had noticed is, I had started the product and we were like just chawed him within two weeks. So on the third week, he still had his shoe on. The fourth week, he still had his shoe on. And I was like, "Wow, let's just see how far we could go," because sometimes on thoroughbreds, you're doing them every four weeks, just not to rip off anymore wall. And by five weeks, he still had the shoe on that we were losing every two to three weeks since December.
The other three hoof, they were able to keep the shoe on the front left for six and a half weeks, and the two behind were not breaking or getting chipped or anything and they lasted six and a half weeks.
John Dowdy:
Wow. And again, that's pretty fast. I mean, we typically, we know that the product helps with the hoof growth and the overall hoof quality. And we typically tell people the six to eight week mark is when you can really start noticing that. So the fact you saw it that quickly is also pretty amazing.
Jennifer Boles:
He had an abscess where he had thrown a shoe and you could see where... had broken through the coronet band, and you can literally see how much foot was being grown by the breakage through the wall of the coronet as it was growing out. And as I watched it go, it's already an inch down. So it's growing out the hoof pretty quickly.
John Dowdy:
Wow. So at the time of this recording, we're at the end of September here, so we're talking about eight weeks roughly.
Jennifer Boles:
Mm-hmm.
John Dowdy:
And so we've got an inch of growth in eight weeks. That's pretty amazing.
Jennifer Boles:
Yeah.
John Dowdy:
So one of the other things you told me, you had started seeing the results in Coa and then you decided to start your other horse on them?
Jennifer Boles:
Yeah. So I have an 18-year-old thoroughbred that I rescued. He had a left front fracture off the race track. I've had him over 13 years. He is an eventer, and definitely bred a little bit hotter. He's got 49er, he's a distorted humor. So he's definitely hotter, and a little bit wilder.
So I had taken him off of the via-calm to see... So I withdrew him from a calming supplement and I wanted to see if the Equinety would work, because I had heard that the Equinety could calm horses down. So I withdrew him from his supplement while I was doing the challenge with Coa, and noticed how great Coa's coat was working and his hooves were doing great. And I said, "Okay, let's try this on the more high strung thoroughbreds."
And he also has had hoof issues over the years. He has had some white line issues. So I thought it helped Coa's hooves, it would definitely help Phil's hoof. So sure enough, I started him on it. And I never had to go back to the calming supplement with it. So I didn't see as big a difference in Coa, because Coa's a more calm horse than Phil. But I definitely saw the calmness with Phil with the Equinety. His coat was the same, I could feel the softness within five to six days in his coat. His dapples took maybe a little bit more than that first week, but he definitely started dappling out the second week. And his shoes had been able to last almost seven to eight weeks with his feet.
So we definitely worth it with those three areas. And I was very worried about him eating a powder because he does not like powder. He normally goes the pellet route, and he did eat the powder.
John Dowdy:
Wow, that's fantastic. Now, for those who are tuning in and maybe you've been seeing Equinety around, I'll give you a quick overview of exactly what this product is. And it's unique in the fact that it doesn't fit into a specific supplement category. So in other words, it's not just a shiny coat supplement, hoof supplement, joint supplement, calmer, et cetera, et cetera. It's 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 a teaspoon, regardless of the size of the horse. And what makes it unique from anything else that's out there is the formula, it's specifically combined to stimulate the pituitary gland, which is the gland that releases hormones. And when this happens, which typically in hours, we're allowing the body to send its own hormones to its own problem areas. And this is why it works in so many cases, in so many areas.
And you had mentioned, Jennifer, with your second horse, you took them off the one supplement and just used the Equinety. This is a big question we get a lot of times is, should I stop using other things and just use the Equinety product?
What we always recommend is not changing anything because you already have a baseline of what you're using, what you're doing, and just add the scoop of Equinety. And that way, you're only changing one element. So now with that being said, we have people that they just go cold turkey and take them off everything and just use the Equinety. But we always recommend don't change anything, just add this one element. And then within 30 days, people are typically noticing the changes.
And at that point, you can decide whether to reduce or stop using other things. But that's completely up to the horse owner. And so it's really amazing hearing these stories just over and over and over. I think we've been running this podcast now for a little over four years, and it was a way to capture all these types of stories and they're all over from one extreme to another and performance horses and rescues. And it's the same types of stories and the same elements are coming in time and time and time again. And with your extensive background and all the different things and the challenges with off the track thoroughbreds, I would have to guess that you're... were pretty surprised with the results you saw how quickly and especially within 30 days?
Jennifer Boles:
Yes. I was very surprised, especially when you've been using specific supplements for over a year or more and not seeing the results that you saw within 30 days and using a different supplement. Just like you said, I didn't change my hoof supplement while I started the Equinety XL, because I didn't want to go backwards and see or cause any lines in the hooves or... So there were certain things that I didn't change. And you do get leery of what do you add, what do you take away, what's working and what's not. But when you see such a big difference within 30 days, then it does make you start rethinking, "Well, okay, what should I really be spending my money on? And if I should take all those others that I've been feeding them off for the past years or more."
So especially, and the other thing was the ulcers. [inaudible 00:17:56] are known to have a lot of ulcers, and that was something Equinety XL had talked about that they could help work with.
And my most recent horse that I put him on, he's much more high strung. I actually had just taken him last week to a hunter pace. He had not been off the farm in a while and I was kind of leery of like, "Okay, how's this going to go?" But he was acted so well at the hunter pace. He was amazing. And I have to think back, was that the Equinety XL that made that difference that I've... He's always been pretty high strung, and he jumped right in the trailer, and he went, and he behaved really good. So I would highly recommend it. I mean it's worth it. And then now, I don't have to go back to the other calming supplements and maybe now, do I take off the hoof supplements and just stick with Equinety XL and the oil.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, we're blessed in the fact that it helps in so many ways. And you had said something about being leery of adding things and adding supplements and things like that. And when you look at just the Equinety Horse XL, amino acids are the building blocks of protein. And animals have to have these things. All mammals in general, we do. But the animals we're specifically talking about, they have to have these. And what we found through the years of almost nine years on the market with talking with thousands of horse owners around the country, different feeding programs, different disciplines, different ages of horses, and in different countries, when they add this little scoop of Equinety Horse XL, they're seeing changes really, really fast.
And it's 100% safe to use with any other supplements, any other medications, feeding programs. And we're just finding they're not getting the right amount of amino acids. And it's not that this is everything that they require, but what we're doing is a very specific function by allowing the body to help repair itself at the cellular level. And this is why people see so many changes so quickly.
Jennifer Boles:
I agree. Yeah, it's an amazing product.
John Dowdy:
Yeah. Well, awesome. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your stories. I know this is going to be very beneficial for those... it might even deter somebody from rescuing an off the track thoroughbred.
Jennifer Boles:
Well, they're amazing. I've always been an advocate for off the track thoroughbreds. And a lot of them, they don't come with all the issues that I take on with the fractures and some of the injuries, but their jobs are just beginning. You think about them when they first come off the racetrack. Some of them are two and three years old, they're just starting their lives, and they're so versatile. They can do western, they can do...
Literally Coa, the one that I just took, he started the barrel pattern, he neck reigns, he does everything western. But then I've also got him jumping and trail riding. He does everything. Anything you put him, and he loves it. They're so smart. They just want to take on another job. So I wouldn't want anybody to be deterred. Just definitely do your homework on their breeding and try them out. Normally, I don't recommend a green person with a green horse, but definitely make sure that you're choosing the right animal.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, I think that's great advice as well. And making sure that they have everything that they need to especially make that transition. And if you can obviously put them on the Equinety Horse XL, that's going to help speed a lot of things up. And specifically when you're talking about hoof growth, for sure, which is a big problem with the off-track thoroughbreds. It just helps give your [inaudible 00:21:48] a lot more to work with in a shorter amount of time. And at the end of the day, as a horse owner, it makes you feel good knowing that your horse feels good, and which is what you want and that's what your plan is.
Jennifer Boles:
Right. And when they feel good, a lot of the behavior issues go away.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that's true. That is very true. Yeah. Well Jennifer, if there's anybody that's tuning in that is listening to all this and they still might be on the fence about giving it a try, the Equinety Horse XL, is there anything that you could say that you maybe haven't already said, to maybe get them off fence?
Jennifer Boles:
I would say go ahead and try it. You will not be disappointed. The results will be immediate. You'll definitely see... even if it's just the coat, you'll see that immediately. And all the other things that I've seen between the two different horses, it was well worth the try.
John Dowdy:
Yeah, that is great. Well, Jennifer Bowles out of Louisville, Kentucky, thank you so much for taking the Equinety 30 Day Challenge and sharing your story here on the Team Equinety Podcast.
Jennifer Boles:
Well, thank you. And thank you for having such a great product.
John Dowdy:
All right, thank you. Bye-bye.
Jennifer Boles:
All right. Bye.
