"Arrow - He rescued me as much as I rescued him"!
We love telling the story of our products through your stories. Through your horses. And every now and then we come across a story that not only gives us validation in what our company does, but it also simply brings us joy.
This is the story of Gabriela and her rescue horse Arrow.
“Arrow was just one of the rare horses you get that are…well, your soulmate.
He rescued me as much as I rescued him.”
Gabriela was living in Burbank, going through one of life’s rough patches, when she found Arrow at a local rental stable. A black roan, which we learned is quite a rarity, Gabriela discovered that Arrow was being shod incorrectly to keep him in pain so he couldn’t run off with the riders.
“His feet, the angles were all wrong, and also because of the poor nutrition for over a decade, over worked and in dry conditions, and standing in urine and manure, his feet were just not right, they were kind of a mess.”
Having grown up with thoroughbreds and three day eventing, coming across this 24 year old mystery breed, in his broken state, put Gabriela in unchartered territory. But she knew she had to rescue him for fear he would be sold for meat.
Already an old horse, she knew there was only so much she could do to correct his feet. Farrier after farrier recommended brands they liked, and every one she used caused burns on his feet.
“I thought, this horse simply can’t take anything that’s chemically based. When I started researching organic hoof products, Equsani’s Hoof-X was the first one I found. And I used it every day. Whether it was really dry or really wet, it just kept the condition of his feet perfect. It perfectly balanced the horse’s hoof. And you won’t have an issue with thrush or anything else.”
“In the beginning a lot of people wouldn’t take me seriously because of the kind of horse he was. Why would I want to take care of such a broken down horse? So it was sometimes difficult to get the reputable farriers to come out and help me. But every farrier I used, and I always used really good farriers, they would marvel at the fact that he was sound, and at the condition of his feet, the frog, the heel, everything was so well moisturized but not over moisturized. Once they tried it and got it, they swear by it and claim it’s the best hoof product they have ever used.”
Eventually Gabriela and Arrow found themselves living in Oklahoma, where she actually discovered Arrow’s history from his original breeder. A Spanish Morgan, called an Oklahoma Heritage Horse, Arrow is genetically related to horses dating back to the Spanish Conquistadors, and whose ancestors rode the Trail of Tears, from South Carolina to Oklahoma.
She explained that they were endurance horses, and could travel long distances, with very similar dispositions to Arabs.
Knowing his history, and seeing how much he had improved in her care, she tried her hand at endurance with Arrow, and explained that even vets were floored at the quality of his feet.
“They couldn’t believe he did 25 miles at his age, even placing in the top 10!
Even after dramatic results with the Hoof-X product, Gabriela still runs into skeptics. Currently residing at a nice boarding facility in Oklahoma, the young woman running the facility was unconvinced of the product, poking fun at her use of “organic” remedies.
“But once you can get them to use it, and not just look for the mainstream brands at a tack store, they understand once they see the difference and the results.” With her thoughtful recommendation, she has her whole barn now using the Hoof-X.
A holistic practitioner for people and animals for the past 20 years, Gabriela loves finding products to recommend to her clients. But she explains the importance of it being a “clean recommendation.”
“I don’t want to sell products, so the customers know that I am not being sponsored or swayed by a company. That my recommendations are coming from real life experience and I can honestly promote good products like Hoof -X.”
Even though her sweet Arrow has passed, his breeder, so thankful to her for bringing him back to life, gifted her Arrow’s nephew and a Paint from the same heard. She’s hoping once weather and conditions permits she can start getting into shape to do some endurance events with them.
“And they both go barefoot. And anyone who’s trimmed them, always tells me they’ve never seen a horse’s feet wear this well. And so Hoof-X for a barefoot horse is an amazing product, and I imagine Endurance riders would really benefit from it. Because no hoof no horse!”
Thank you Gabriela for that fantastic story and recommendation. We are going to have to steal that tagline!
