Braveheart
When my husband, Curtis, and I decided to move to Missouri to be closer to my mom, we had a non-profit, WHY Ranch, in Las Vegas. Moving a ranch across the country is a lengthy process that requires a lot of patience. And you really have to have people you trust to look after the animals throughout the process.
Our move took over a year and a half, and during that time, we moved our remaining four elderly horses to a boarding facility near our new home. The horses loved the rolling hills blanketed in lush grass as far as the eye can see and the kind-hearted staff who loved, brushed and fed them while allowing Curtis and I to carry the weight of the move.
We got a call from the vet in the midst of our move about our Percheron, Braveheart, and immediately made a trip from Vegas back to Missouri to meet about Brave’s sudden weight loss.
Although majestic in nature, horse’s systems are very delicate and their well-being can change very quickly. When we saw Brave, our gentle giant who seemed to be in perfect health just a month ago had lost so much weight, his ribs, hips and spine were visible. His face was sunken in and his black coat had faded.
Our vet said he had run every test he could and found no reason for Brave’s sudden condition. At the time, Brave’s teeth needed to be floated, but the vet wasn’t confident Brave could handle the sedation and feared he wouldn’t make it through the harsh Missouri winter.
We were devastated. Of course, there are a myriad of questions that flood your mind when getting that kind of news. Brave had access to all the rolling pastures, he was eating all his grain, yet, still no answers to his weight loss.
We made the decision to do everything we could to save Brave’s life. Since Brave didn’t have a diagnosis, the only thing we could do was increase his grains and use beet pulp to try to gain some weight.
But, we took a step further. I had been giving our older dog, Mercedes, a supplement called MushPuppies that contained the Coriolus Versicolor Mushroom (CVM). It supports the immune system and we saw a miraculous change in her health within a few weeks. I was so impressed with how Mercedes was feeling, I started taking CVM myself.
Because I was feeling so amazing, I thought, “why can’t we use this same product for Braveheart?” I contacted Petclub 247, the company that turned me on to CVM and for which I became a Brand Advocate, to see if it was available for horses. At that time, the product didn’t exist.
So, I’m not a math wiz, but I thought if I calculated how many Mushpuppies I feed per day to Mercedes, I could figure out how many Brave would need. We were willing to try anything to save him.
Within a few weeks of giving him the CVM, we saw a positive change in Brave’s health. His color was turning back to black. His ribs, hips, face and back we’re starting to fill in and his energy was increasing. Normally, it takes a while for a horse to gain weight, but Brave continued to gain his weight back over the next few months.
The vet was so impressed with the change in Brave’s health that he said he felt safe in floating Brave’s teeth. Yay!!
Still concerned about Brave, we sped up our plans to fix our barn and moved the horses to our property. That way, Curtis could keep a close eye on Brave. Brave gained all his weight back and with a clean bill of health from the vet, Brave no longer needs the other meds he was taking.
Earlier this year, PETCLUB 247 formulated a proprietary blend of CVM specifically for horses called MushPonies. We continue to feed Brave and all our horses MushPonies for their health and are confident we have many wonderful years ahead. Everyday we see Brave grazing and trotting in our pastures, and we are so grateful for being introduced to CVM and MushPonies.
If you have any questions about the CVM, Mushpuppies or Mushponies, feel free to send me a note at amy@healinghhp.com and check out PetClub 247 to shop the products.
Be Greatly Blessed & Stay Groovy!
Amy