Foreign.
Speaker BYou are listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Equine Network family.
Speaker CThis is episode one of the Horse healthcast by Smarty Kwine.
Speaker CI'm Ashley lacompt Lazic, the head of R D for Smart Equine.
Speaker AAnd I'm Jenna Boss, garden manager of digital marketing for Smart Equine.
Speaker AAnd you're listening to the Horse healthcast by Smart Equine.
Speaker CComing up on today's show, we'll talk about consistency and why it matters and how it affects everything from nutrition to training.
Speaker CAnd in our Meet the Pack segment, we'll chat with our customer care supervisor, Tanner Pry.
Speaker BSmart Solutions, Trusted Voices, your source for equine health and wellness.
Speaker BThis is Horse healthcast by Smart Equine.
Speaker ASo this is it.
Speaker AThis is our very first episode.
Speaker BWe made it.
Speaker CThis is so exciting.
Speaker ASo exciting to be here.
Speaker AAnd for anybody listening in with us for the first time, thanks for joining us.
Speaker AWe're super stoked to have you too.
Speaker CYeah, I. I know some of you are probably looking at the podcast name and logo and thinking to yourself, this looks familiar.
Speaker CAnd you're right, you already know us as SmartPak, but now we are Smart Equine.
Speaker ASo it's the same company, I promise.
Speaker ABecause Ash and I have been here for a minute, so it's the same company, you know and trust.
Speaker AWe're now just rededicated to the horse and to horse health, which gives us some really cool opportunities to do new things in like, the health and wellness spaces.
Speaker AAnd this podcast is one of them.
Speaker ASo welcome to Smart Equine.
Speaker ABut don't worry, smartpaks are going nowhere.
Speaker AThey are too near and dear to our hearts.
Speaker AAnd for Ashley and your 60 stall boarding barn, probably very near and dear to your feet room too.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker CI always like to say that horses don't have credit cards to swipe, so we always have to keep the rider and the owner in mind too.
Speaker CSo don't fear, we have not forgotten about you guys.
Speaker CJust re solidifying our focus and.
Speaker CAnd advocation for the animal, that's all.
Speaker AYeah, honestly.
Speaker AThank God horses don't have credit cards because I.
Speaker CNo kidding.
Speaker COh God.
Speaker AThe amount of things that TikTok would get my animals to buy.
Speaker ABut speaking of the feed room and smartpaks and things, one of the core tenants that we as smartpakers and now Smart Equine employees have always toted is like the consistency of supplements and feeding.
Speaker ABut that's not like the only thing that really is important with consistency.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASo that's what we're here to talk about today is consistency, why it matters, and the foundation that it really provides guides for our horses.
Speaker CYeah, I, I couldn't agree more.
Speaker CAnd when I think about when we say consistency is key in horse care and why a routine is so important to horses, I think, like, the main thing that I drive home is, like, we don't, they don't speak English.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CLike horses.
Speaker CIf I could tell my horse, like, hey, today we're getting on a trailer and going to a horse show, so don't freak out and colic on me, that would be so easy and so nice.
Speaker CBut we know that that's not reality.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CSo creating an environment where your horse can rely on a routine to know what's going to happen every day sets them up for success, sets up us up for success, reduces stress in their life.
Speaker CAnd I think not only in training, but in health, the more consistent we can be with a horse, the better the outcomes are going to turn out.
Speaker AYeah, absolutely.
Speaker AI know.
Speaker ASo my, my heart horse's name was Hershey.
Speaker AHe was a creature of routine, as the rest of us were.
Speaker ABut something I didn't learn until much later in my relationship with him was that it's not just about the routine, it's about the right routine.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASo, like, he had a great routine of, you know, certain amount of turnout, certain size pasture, certain, you know, level of life and moved Barnes.
Speaker AAnd all of a sudden he was in a massive field.
Speaker AAnd all of a sudden the horse that I thought was really hot and really, you know, took a lot of work, dead quiet.
Speaker CGreat point.
Speaker ASuch a cool dude all the time after that.
Speaker AAnd I think that was something that I've really taken to heart after that.
Speaker AAnd I'm sure you've experienced that with all the horses that you've worked with in your lifetime too.
Speaker CThat's a great point.
Speaker CThe right routine is so important, and it's not a one size fits all scenario.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CSo ensure.
Speaker CI, I, whenever I'm bringing a new person into my barn and I'm explaining, like, what our boarding operation looks like, I always use the term like boutique and a get that.
Speaker CAnd they're like, so when do you change blankets?
Speaker CAnd I'm like, I change blankets when your horse gets hot.
Speaker CLike, I don't, you know, like, we, we do things based on when your horse needs them, and we try to tailor it to each horse.
Speaker CSo I think that that is really important.
Speaker CUnderstanding that routine can mean different things to different horses and that having the right routine is, is just as Important as having one to begin with.
Speaker CSo when we talk about like feed consistency, right?
Speaker CLike have you guys ever been in a scenario where you're like, oh my God, I haven't taken my multivitamin in two weeks.
Speaker CAnd like you take one, you're like, oh, I feel so healthy.
Speaker CGood for me.
Speaker AI don't want to confirm or deny that in case my doctor ever list, but let's just.
Speaker COur doctors are definitely not listening, I hope.
Speaker CBut I mean hypothetically we'll say, yeah.
Speaker AI totally know what you're talking about.
Speaker CYeah, it's like exercise, right?
Speaker CLike you eat one salad and go to the gym once and you're like wondering why the £10 hasn't fallen off.
Speaker CSo I think very similar with horses, right?
Speaker CWe can't tell them, we can't talk to them.
Speaker CSo the language that we share is our routine and ensuring that their feed program is something that they can rely on and that their bodies can rely on.
Speaker CYou know, like Pavlovian responses like their conditions, you know, you listen, we've all been in the barn and that horse who knows that feed time is 4:30 is staying standing there, weaving in his stall, waiting for kicking the door.
Speaker CExcuse me, ma', am, you are five minutes late.
Speaker CSo they know, right?
Speaker CLike they get really connected to that.
Speaker CSo anyways, yeah, consistency is so important.
Speaker CAnd to be honest, the consistency that the SmartPak feeding system can offer was like a huge impetus to why the creators of SmartPak created it.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker CTo be able to have an auto ship product that shows up at your door every 28 days, you don't have to think about it, you don't have to wonder if the horse got it.
Speaker CIt is such an easy set it and forget it way to make that there's no disruptions in that feeding pattern.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker AAnd I know we've joked over the years like it's a husband proof system, but one it is.
Speaker AI asked my husband how husbands aren't listening either.
Speaker AIf he is, mine knows that he's done a good job and I appreciate him greatly.
Speaker AThank you so much, Zach.
Speaker ABut it really is like it's, it's making it work for everybody.
Speaker ASo whether that's the staff, the, the summer intern, the pony kids, the barn manager, you as a horse owner, you as the rider, the horse themselves.
Speaker ALike so much of that really does mean it has to work for everybody.
Speaker AAnd I love what you said about like your barn being the boutique system, right?
Speaker ALike because blankets off at 8pm doesn't work for everybody.
Speaker AFeeding at 5 has to happen because they're all used to it.
Speaker ABut, like, we have to be able to take all those different things in stride, which is really complicated, but so interesting and so important for keeping them happy and healthy for, like, the long term.
Speaker AAnd I think that's something that we forget.
Speaker ASomething that you touched on is, like, it's not a. I ate a salad.
Speaker AI'm down ten pounds.
Speaker AOh, my God.
Speaker AHashtag healthy girl.
Speaker ALifestyle.
Speaker AIt really is.
Speaker AWhere have we started?
Speaker AAnd how long can we keep this up until we're done?
Speaker AI saw something a while ago where instead of somebody considering it, like a lifestyle change, he's like, it's a challenge.
Speaker AI'm challenging myself to.
Speaker AHow many days in a row can I do this for myself?
Speaker AHow many weeks in a row can I do this?
Speaker AI thought that was really cool.
Speaker CYeah, I like that.
Speaker CAnd I mean, I'm sure, you know, as humans, we can also talk about, like, what happens when we fall off the bandwagon or something changes or we find ourselves going to a wedding and we didn't eat salads that weekend.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CSo that happens.
Speaker CThat's real life, and you can't always avoid it.
Speaker CAnd with horses, it's gonna be the same story you had mentioned when you moved to a different barn.
Speaker CLike, who would have thought that a pasture size would have had such a implication on a horse's wellbeing?
Speaker CAnd in your case, for the better.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CBut then there are Situations where AECs are in California this year.
Speaker CSomeone qualified.
Speaker CAre they going to be hauling three days across the country to go compete?
Speaker CProbably.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker CSo there's a lot of negative implications that are associated with a change of routine.
Speaker CStress levels, digestion, behavior.
Speaker CI know that.
Speaker CTilly.
Speaker CI've been off track.
Speaker CThoroughbred mare named Tilly.
Speaker CChestnut mare named Tilly.
Speaker COh, yeah, the trifecta.
Speaker CExactly.
Speaker CShe's actually, like, sweet as sugar, but just a super antsy, super antsy mare.
Speaker ACan relate and.
Speaker CYeah, can relate same.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CShe takes up her mom.
Speaker CShe's my biological horse, actually.
Speaker CI did not adopt her.
Speaker CI carried her like my daughter.
Speaker CSo, yeah, I mean, Tilly thrives in an environment where everything is dependable every day.
Speaker CAnd when we change that up or we take her off, like, off campus to a horse show, or we, you know, put her in a new paddock where she's neighboring, you know, a buddy that she didn't know before, like, you can.
Speaker CIt's.
Speaker CIt's palpable.
Speaker CYou can feel that there's just a change in the air, and it takes Them a little bit.
Speaker CIt takes them a little bit to adjust to that.
Speaker CAnd we're actually dealing with potential little bit of ulcery.
Speaker CUlcery belly eye.
Speaker CAnd we're having her scoped next week.
Speaker CBut I mean, I think it, it just goes to show you that, like, you know, we don't take the mare off site very often.
Speaker CShe's not often in a trailer.
Speaker CSo like, even the smallest minutiae of change in their own environment, in their own paddock, in their own stall, you don't think about the tiny little things that really do cause disruptions in their day.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd like, what do you, as somebody who has this, this big boarding operation, who has personal horses of her own?
Speaker ALike, what do you do with a horse like Tilly?
Speaker ALike, what are your go to's to make sure that whatever can be controlled, can be controlled.
Speaker AAre there things that are like the must haves for her?
Speaker AAre there things that, you know, you can fluctuate?
Speaker AHow does that work with her?
Speaker CThat's a really good question.
Speaker CI'm kind of still figuring that out.
Speaker ASuper fair.
Speaker CI mean, I think again, with every horse, things are different.
Speaker CAndy is like so stoic that you never know anything is a problem until he's like ready to die.
Speaker CSo like, I mean, like, he, he's just as a trooper until he's very sensitive and like, she'll let you know.
Speaker CShe'll let you know right away in that moment, like, hey, I'm.
Speaker CI'm uncomfortable.
Speaker CSo the things that I try my best to keep, I can't change that there's a buddy next to her that she doesn't love.
Speaker CI mean, I can, I can move them tomorrow, I can move them now.
Speaker CBut like, that's not something that I'm going to be able to control every day.
Speaker CLike if we're at a warmup ring at a horse show and, you know, someone tracks into us and she's just not like that.
Speaker CThat's not an element of her life that I can control.
Speaker CBut what I can control is her stall placement within, like, okay, she does really well when she has things going on all around her.
Speaker CSo I want to put her on a corner stall and inside of the barn so that she's getting a lot of attention through the day and she can kind of see what's going on all the time.
Speaker CHer feed routine, I mean, that is the most important thing.
Speaker CI have her again because she's like kind of a ulcery mess right now.
Speaker CWe have her on Smart, perform, advanced, and that's like, actually, they're both on that.
Speaker CI love the product so much, not because I made it, but because I think it's great.
Speaker CBut yeah, I mean, I think that keeping the feed routine consistent helps a lot too, because that's something that isn't going to change no matter where we are.
Speaker CYou know, my trainer has her eating alfalfa cubes.
Speaker CWe grow our own timothy hay on, on site at our barn.
Speaker ASo cool.
Speaker CWhich is neat, right?
Speaker CBecause then I get to control.
Speaker CI get to control her, like, not just her hay, but everybody's hay.
Speaker CNow, does the average boarding barn have that?
Speaker CNo, like, for the listeners here that are like, oh, well, I don't get to grow my own hay, so I can't control where it's coming from or what the nutritional profile is.
Speaker CThat's okay.
Speaker CLike, you know, don't.
Speaker CDon't focus on the things that are not within your control.
Speaker CThe things that are.
Speaker CAre your training program.
Speaker CLike, yeah, not asking too much of your horse, not, you know, putting them, set them up for success, not putting them in a position where, you know, they're.
Speaker CThey're confused about what you're asking.
Speaker CAnd, you know, keeping their feed routine the same, making sure that their turnout is the same.
Speaker CThat's pretty much how we do it at Oakwood.
Speaker CI mean, and the horses that have been with us for a really long time, they are cool as a cucumber, like the newbies come in for, and they're a little hot and they're a little confused.
Speaker CAnd then within a week, they all seem to settle down because it's clockwork.
Speaker CYou know, when you have 60 horses, everything becomes very reliable.
Speaker CThey're fed at the same time every day.
Speaker CThey go out at the same time every day.
Speaker CAnd while we do do the boutique offerings of like, this one needs a fan and this one doesn't, and this one wears fly boots and this one needs bell boots.
Speaker CYou know, we are able to customize it, but for the most part, those macro elements are never changing.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd I know, I mean, I really took advantage with my horse.
Speaker AI just took for granted really, that he, he was able to be anywhere in the barn.
Speaker AAnd I forget that that's not everybody's case.
Speaker ALike, he was the horse that greeted everybody as you went.
Speaker AHe was the mayor of the stall island, whether you wanted him to or not.
Speaker AIt was just.
Speaker AIt could not be contained.
Speaker ABut, like, knowing that your horse can or can't handle that, so important.
Speaker AAnd what you said, too, with just knowing who they are and giving them time to settle in.
Speaker ALike, you get in new borders, they start out a little like, oh, God, it's for things new.
Speaker ABut, you know, you hold your hand for two weeks and all of a sudden you have a new horse that.
Speaker ATaking a deep breath and enjoys their life and their routine.
Speaker AAnd I think, like, the time aspect is something that is.
Speaker AI personally, as somebody who's very impatient and loves instant gratification, is the hardest part for me.
Speaker AAnd I'm sure I'm not the only one out there.
Speaker AAnd if I am, don't tell me it'll hurt my feelings.
Speaker ABut something like that is, is something that we all kind of have to stomach earlier rather than later.
Speaker AAnd that's with, like you said, but training, with boarding your horse somewhere new or just with changes, but also with.
Speaker AI mean, we're a supplement company, so we gotta mention with feeding any kind of supplements or changing their nutrition in any way.
Speaker CYeah, absolutely.
Speaker CAnd I mean, listen, when you think about a horse colicking, like, what's the reason?
Speaker COh, he got into the feed room.
Speaker COh, he's got a different kind.
Speaker CA sudden change.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker ASo wind blew.
Speaker CYou think about a horse being ulcery.
Speaker COh, he, he has a soft tissue strain and he's on stall rest.
Speaker CAnd he was on a trailer for three days to and from California.
Speaker CI mean, you're, you're looking at these disruptive ailments that happen, and they're typically correlated with a change in the environment or a change to the routine.
Speaker CSo, you know, keeping things status quo, I think is, you know, one of the, one of the best things that you can do for your horse.
Speaker CUnavoidable sometimes, but on a day in and day out basis, you know, trying to keep things reliable and dependable.
Speaker AOkay, so we've talked to Ashley, the horse owner, Ashley, the barn owner.
Speaker ABut I want to talk to Ashley, the head of research and development for a second, because when it comes to consistency in feeding, like, we're going to talk about supplements.
Speaker ASo I want to talk about what it looks like when you start stuff the way a lot of us do with our own, you know, supplements and nutrition, things like that.
Speaker AIs there, is there something that we need to be aware of?
Speaker AThere are things that you would want people to know about the start stop versus the consistency.
Speaker CYeah, abs, absolutely.
Speaker CSo, I mean, it kind of goes back to the same idea of, like, you cannot take your multivitamin once a week and expect it to be super efficacious.
Speaker AI set a calendar reminder.
Speaker AYes, thank you.
Speaker CI'm glad.
Speaker CI need to Follow suit.
Speaker CAnd you can't eat a salad and expect to lose the weight.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CSo like, for at like a very granular level.
Speaker CThe reason for that is that the more you're.
Speaker CI mean, the half life of some of these, of some of these molecules is really short.
Speaker CLike, for example, the half life of Butte is 7.22 hours, which means hours hours.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CSo within 7ish hours, half of that, half of your dose, if you gave a gram.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CHalf of that dose is out of their system.
Speaker CSo you might think that like, oh, I've been giving my horse this supplement for four months and now he's like, good to go.
Speaker CBut in reality, those serum levels are titrating up every day that you're feeding them and some of circulating through their body really quickly, so making sure that they're getting it every day.
Speaker CAnd again, a generalization because it varies by the ingredient.
Speaker CBut in a lot of cases, you know, the reason we have AMPMs for some ingredients is because you have to, like bicarbonates, for example.
Speaker CIf you're using bicarbonates for a gut product that needs to be fed twice a day on an empty stomach.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CSo the, the utilization of that product is helping to increase that circulating serum value and make sure that whatever those active ingredients are, they're circulating through your h horse's body every day.
Speaker CSo if you abruptly stop and then start, you're just putting your horse at a disadvantage.
Speaker CAnd to be honest, you're spending a lot of good money on your supplements and you want them to be working, right?
Speaker CYeah, yeah.
Speaker CAnd I mean, at the end of the day, it is an investment in your horse's health and you want to, you want to make sure that it's not in vain.
Speaker CSo I think that the consistency there, from a scientific standpoint also helps to increase efficacy.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASo knowing that these things do only last so long in the system, is there a general timeline that you would give people on, like, waiting to expect results.
Speaker AAnd I know some supplements and some nutritional things you're not going to see.
Speaker ALike supplement is going to all of a sudden make your horse go Grand Prix.
Speaker ABut like, of course, just in general.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CI mean, I'd say that on average, eight or so weeks is a reasonable timeline.
Speaker CAnd again, like you said, some of these things are really subjective.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CLike, is my horse shinier?
Speaker CDoes he.
Speaker CBut then there are things that are actually very objective.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CLike, so for Smart Stride Ultra, for example, we did some clinical trials on that product that demonstrated that consistent use over time increased the motion of the hock angle, which is a quantifiable measurement.
Speaker CAnd we know that objectively.
Speaker CSo that's not just saying, like, oh, yes, his color looks more rich.
Speaker CMy smart, dark, and handsome horse looks darker.
Speaker CLike, we're now able to show you that, you know, this product in this controlled clinical trial.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CObviously, we're not trying to diagnose, treat, cure any problems, but in this particular instance, we were able to demonstrate an improvement in that one measurable KPI of health.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CSo.
Speaker CBut you're only going to achieve that if you're using the product as directed, because that's how it was used in the clinical trial.
Speaker CSo, yeah, that was just.
Speaker CJust one example of how being super consistent with a product as it was intended to be fed just, you know, leads to optimal results.
Speaker AYeah, I think that's really cool, though.
Speaker AAnd there's something really interesting, too, with the timing of this episode.
Speaker ALike, we're.
Speaker AWe're hitting close to the end of summer for some folks.
Speaker ASome folks are still very much in the heat of it, so bless you if you're suffering through that.
Speaker ABut we're getting closer to, and I'm so sorry to say it, winter in winter is when a lot of us.
Speaker AOh, Jenna, I know, I know.
Speaker AI promise there's a point to it.
Speaker ABut when a lot of us take a little bit more of a backseat, we let the horses, you know, come down, if we have the ability to do so, or we start the winter circuit.
Speaker ALike, there's a lot of different things that happen the winter for our horses.
Speaker AAnd you might say, like, oh, my gosh, eight weeks.
Speaker ALike, if anybody heard you say eight weeks, and it's like, oh, my God, like, that's so much time.
Speaker AThat is one winter circuit.
Speaker AThat is one winter season.
Speaker AReally, that gives your horse this.
Speaker AThis head start into the next year of stuff.
Speaker AI mean, if you can start, you know, whatever.
Speaker AWhatever you've been holding off on starting, starting, start now right after you hear this episode go click, whatever you need to click.
Speaker ABut I think there's something just, like very bite size, about eight weeks versus the initial reaction that a lot of people might have to that.
Speaker ABut it's really worth keeping in mind, especially when we have measurable results like that.
Speaker AAnd maybe it's only going to be, you know, my horse is fatter, my horse is shinier at the start, but at the end of eight weeks, all of a sudden your vet's like, hey, your horse is moving great.
Speaker AAnd you're like, yeah, I've had some really kick Ass rides.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker AI mean, how worth it is that?
Speaker CYeah, I couldn't agree with you more.
Speaker CI couldn't agree with you more.
Speaker CIt seems eight weeks seems fast and then you're in it and.
Speaker COr it seems slow rather, and then you're in it and it, you know, it's a blink of an eye.
Speaker CSo, yeah, I mean, I think that the longer you can give something to do what it's supposed to do, let those active ingredients go to work, you know, the better the outcome is going to be.
Speaker ASo that was our chat about consistency with Ashley.
Speaker AThank you guys so much.
Speaker ABut we are not done, so please don't go anywhere.
Speaker AWe still have Meet the Pack with Tanner, who is from our customer care team.
Speaker AYou definitely want to hear what she has to say about her horses and her routines.
Speaker AAnd in future episodes, we'll be talking about things like gastric health, overall wellness therapy, gear.
Speaker AIf you have ideas that you want to hear us talk about, find us on Instagram, find us on Facebook.
Speaker ALet us know what you think and what you want to talk about.
Speaker ABut you can definitely expect a lot more to come from us in the future.
Speaker AAll right, Tanner, welcome to the Horse healthcast.
Speaker AWe're super excited to have you here and let's start it out easy and let people get to know you.
Speaker ATell us about you.
Speaker AWhat do you do for Smart ET Absolutely.
Speaker BThanks so much for having me, Jenna.
Speaker BI am one of our customer care supervisors here at Smart Equine.
Speaker BSo I manage a team of direct reports, all the folks that our customers call and get to chat with on the phones.
Speaker BI help them make sure they have what they need for their day to day.
Speaker BAnd I also help keep them educated up on our products and kind of the new and up and coming that Smart Equine is going to be carrying.
Speaker BAnd that's a little bit about what the day to day looks like for me here at work.
Speaker CWork.
Speaker AThat's awesome.
Speaker AAnd remind me, how long have you been here now?
Speaker BGosh, I've been with SmartPak three and a half years, which sounds crazy.
Speaker BI know they always say time is flies when you have fun and I guess that's what we've been up to.
Speaker BBut yeah, I think it'll be, it'll be four years in just a couple months.
Speaker AWell, happy early Smart Equine anniversary.
Speaker BThank you so much.
Speaker BAnd it sounds so crazy.
Speaker BI. I can't believe that I get to chat about horses and product all day long and, and really get to follow my passion.
Speaker BI knew, you know, that I wanted to, to maintain a role in the equine industry.
Speaker BAnd that's hard to do.
Speaker AYeah, because you have a background in horse health and nutrition, right?
Speaker ALike you have.
Speaker ATell me about your degree.
Speaker AI feel like you've got degrees in this.
Speaker BYeah, absolutely.
Speaker BI've been a lifelong rider.
Speaker BI started riding when I was four and I swear it's just in my blood.
Speaker BMy family was not a horsey family, but I just wanted riding lessons so bad when I was a kid man, and was lucky enough to have that become a reality.
Speaker BSo I've ridden ever since.
Speaker BI didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I ended up going to Virginia Tech here in Virginia, where I'm located, and got my bachelor's in animal and poultry sciences with an emphasis in equine production business.
Speaker BI wasn't really sure what I was going to do with that degree.
Speaker BI didn't really have a breeding interest.
Speaker BI thought I wanted to ride and train and manage a barn.
Speaker BAnd I went through undergraduate, got graduated, did go and work in the field.
Speaker BI worked at a few barns and trained for some people and that was a lot of fun.
Speaker BI learned a lot, but I just felt like it wasn't super sustainable long term for me.
Speaker BI felt like I needed kind of, you know, what in my parents eyes might have been a big girl job, you know, something a little more corporate, if you will.
Speaker BAnd so I started talking to some of my professors and ended up going back to get my master's in equine nutrition.
Speaker BI always had a nutrition interest.
Speaker BI was always the one at the barn feeding a bunch of supplements, feeding different feeds, kind of researching on my own.
Speaker BSo it was great to be able to go and get that education to kind of back that passion.
Speaker BStill didn't really know what I was going to do with this now second degree, but it felt like the right, the right area to go into.
Speaker BSo I've got equine and dairy nutrition degree from Virginia Tech as well.
Speaker BAnd I was out looking for jobs and really locally here they talk about Virginia being horse country and it absolutely is, but it's a lot of smaller farms, at least in the local area where I am.
Speaker BSo with an equine nutrition degree, all that I was finding around here was opportunities for feed sales, feed rep positions.
Speaker BSo I applied for a few of those.
Speaker BIt didn't really seem to fit with what I wanted.
Speaker BI think I was having a hard time jumping from the true industry side and getting to be hands on with the horses every day to going and selling feedstuffs and that's when I saw the remote ad posting for Smarty Quine.
Speaker BAs a customer care representative getting to talk about product talk to customers, that felt a little more connected for me in the industry and kind of right up my avenue.
Speaker BSo that's how I got started in my position at Smart Equine and kind of worked my way up from there.
Speaker AThat's pretty crazy that you went through two degrees, not quite sure you're gonna do with them, and then ended up at an equine nutrition company.
Speaker ALike that does feel very full circle, right?
Speaker BYeah, absolutely.
Speaker BAnd, you know, there was a time in there where I thought I was just gonna ride and train forever.
Speaker BI thought I was gonna go and be an equine vet.
Speaker BSo I really, you know, wasn't, wasn't sure, but it couldn't have worked out any better.
Speaker BAnd I really feel like, you know, the, the takeaway for me was go with your gut and, you know, you can try different things.
Speaker BAnd, and it worked out.
Speaker BSo it's been, it's been quite the journey.
Speaker BYou're right.
Speaker AWell, we're glad that you ended up here because now all of our great customers get to work with you.
Speaker AAll of our other customer care team members get to learn from you.
Speaker ASo it feels like a win, win overall.
Speaker ABut you obviously, lifelong horse girl, grew up riding.
Speaker ADo you have a horse of your own now?
Speaker BYeah, I do.
Speaker BI have a small farm here in Fincastle, Virginia, kind of middle of nowhere outside of Roanoke.
Speaker BI've got eight horses on the property right now, seven of which are mine.
Speaker BI mainly show on the hunter jumper circuit.
Speaker BI do a little bit of, of eventing here and there just for some cross trains.
Speaker BWe event a little bit, we fox hunt with a couple different hunts.
Speaker BBut really I'm, I'm a hunter at heart.
Speaker BSo I've got, got eight horses now, most of which are off the track.
Speaker BThoroughbreds, they, they hold a special place for me.
Speaker BI've ridden thoroughbreds since I can remember.
Speaker BI've got a couple warmbloods too that are, that are really great.
Speaker BBut it's the, it's the thoroughbreds that I really have an interest in.
Speaker AYeah, they're pretty special.
Speaker AWhen you find those right ones that click too, it really, it really keeps you coming back to the breed.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker AAnd so you've got a couple horses under your care.
Speaker AAre there any that are on SmartPak?
Speaker BThey all receive Smartpak supplements.
Speaker BI've got one in particular.
Speaker BI call him my problem child.
Speaker BHe is a 5 year old off the track thoroughbred named Ajar.
Speaker BI adopted him from a new vocations rescue organization about a year ago.
Speaker BHe is five this year and came to me with some behavioral issues and he needed a lot of consistency in his care, consistency in his handling, consistency under saddle, and that I was able to give him.
Speaker BAnd we've really clicked.
Speaker BHe is currently showing in the three Foot Hunter, which has been great watching his progression of, you know, not wanting to move forward at all under saddle.
Speaker BAnd I attribute a lot of that to his nutrition regimen.
Speaker BHe, you know, takes a very specific and consistent routine in order to keep him functioning and performing at his best.
Speaker BSo aj, we call him around the barn Ajar.
Speaker BHe is on two SmartPaks, two SmartPak products in a SmartPak.
Speaker BHe is on Smart GI Ultra and Smart Appetite, a newer product for the company.
Speaker AOh, Smart Appetite, I feel like, is one that's like a very undersung hero.
Speaker AWhat, what made you pick that for him specifically?
Speaker BYeah, it, you know, so I learned a lot about the product working here, of course, and, and it sounded like a supplement that really was gonna fit into a super specific course.
Speaker BYou know, it is a complex B vitamin supplement.
Speaker BAnd I knew from experience, I'm a big fan of Perfect Prep products as well.
Speaker BAnd the Perfect Prep kind of calming supplements that I've used and seen really good luck with have been those that contain their VI vitamin B have they call it their B vitamin complex.
Speaker BAnd it just kind of dawned on me that if that works so well before horse shows when I, if I can use Perfect Prep and I see a good kind of calming response, there might be a good chance that this horse is either deficient or doesn't utilize B vitamins from his diet or make his own very efficiently.
Speaker BAnd so that's what made me try the product.
Speaker BCause I just thought maybe he really is a little bit deficient or not creating enough of his own B vitamins.
Speaker BLet me give Smart Appetite a try.
Speaker BSo I didn't, you know, really go about it from a horse that has a low appetite perspective.
Speaker BI went about it from I see benefit with other B vitamin supplements.
Speaker BSmart Appetites is a great one.
Speaker BThat's super comprehensive.
Speaker BLet me give that a try.
Speaker BAnd I've never looked back.
Speaker BI don't think I'll ever take the horse off of it.
Speaker BAnd I honestly do feel like it's increased his appetite too.
Speaker BThat wasn't the cause of me starting the product, but I do feel like it has, has helped keep him eating more, especially at horse shows.
Speaker BHe wants to munch all day long, which is great.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AThat's like a really unique way to come to that one.
Speaker ABut it's so cool that it worked for him as well as it has.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BI recommend it to everyone.
Speaker BI've, you know, have, have meetings with my team here and I've recommended it to all of their horses when they're like, oh, yeah, I need a calming supplement for the fireworks before the 4th of July or what have you.
Speaker BI'm like, oh, if.
Speaker BIf those work for you, you should really check out Smart Appetite.
Speaker BI think that, you know, we might be onto something here with some sort of B vitamin deficiency.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AI feel like as people who have worked here for like even five minutes, like, you just end up with that.
Speaker AYou're like, this is it.
Speaker AThis is the one that everyone needs to know about.
Speaker ASo we will check off that.
Speaker AIf we need someone to know about Smart Appetite, we're coming back to you.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BIt's underrated for sure.
Speaker ASo then let's talk just a couple of the, the horse people type things, right?
Speaker ALike, so if Smart Appetite is your go to, like, this is a supplement everyone should know about.
Speaker AIs there like one, one mantra, one just piece of advice, one thing that you live by that you wish everybody lived by with their horses.
Speaker AAs somebody who's been a life and rider who has a barn of her own.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd I think the biggest thing for me and what I talk to all the time about my friends is every horse is different.
Speaker BI am super type A and I want everything to just follow a set plan.
Speaker BAnd it, you know, this is what always works for me and what works for my program, but it's really not the case.
Speaker BI have just found that my horses are so unique.
Speaker BEach of them have something a little bit different.
Speaker BI've got some horses that need vitamin E and some that don't.
Speaker BAnd that's just really been hard for me to wrap my head around of.
Speaker BThey eat all the same forage, they're getting the same things.
Speaker BHow can they be so different?
Speaker BDifferent.
Speaker BBut it really is, I think, and I learned this in all of my education too.
Speaker BAll of my, all of my degrees taught me this as well, is that horses really are individuals and therefore should be fed that way.
Speaker BThey aren't like cattle that can all that do process things very similarly.
Speaker BFor example, that the horses really do break down and use different feedstuffs differently.
Speaker BAnd so with all of that, I feel like that would.
Speaker BThat's probably my biggest, like, piece of advice that I would give anybody in the horse world is don't be afraid to try new things.
Speaker BYour horse might, might just respond to it differently, even if that's never worked for you and it didn't work for the horse in the stall next to yours.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASo it sounds like every horse is maybe one of a kind.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BI would, I would, I would totally agree with that.
Speaker BEvery horse is, is one of a kind and, and therefore we can feed them that way.
Speaker ALove that.
Speaker AWell, thank you so much, Tanner.
Speaker AThis has been great to get to know you a little bit.
Speaker AHopefully we'll get to know you even more in future episodes, but for now, we'll.
Speaker AWe'll thank you for your time and give AJ Our best.
Speaker BThank you for having me, Dana.
Speaker BI look forward to it.
Speaker CI hope you've enjoyed the interview with Tanner and if you didn't recognize it before, she's also the intro voice, so extra thanks to her.
Speaker CYou can find links to today's guests and products in the show notes on your podcast player or on the website at www.smartpake.com blog.
Speaker AWe'll be here twice a month on the 15th and the 30th, but in between you can find us on Instagram and Facebook as Smart Equine or shop online@smartequine.com until next time, stay smart, stay.
Speaker CConsistent, and give your horse a cookie for us.