Caroline Willard and Zen Max | BioStar US

Caroline Willard Tests Zen-Max

by BioStar Staff Writer · June 21, 2021

Caroline Willard is a Professional Hunter Rider and Trainer who was lucky to be beta-tester of our newest calming supplement, Zen-Max.

Zen-Max is formulated for horses who experience more extreme reactions to common stress, to help support their balance and focus. It will be available on July 1, 2021 at BioStar.

How have you built a relationship with Tigger and BioStar over the years?

I started working with Cathy McEnroe four years ago at Capital Challenge. I was having an issue with a horse of mine and she recommended I use the BioStar product Alixir EQ, which I fell in love with immediately. The relationship evolved from there and I pretty much just use everything from BioStar! What is so important to me is that all of my horses love the BioStar products, to the point where when they see me pull out one of the Alixir EQ tubes they start pawing. Of course, I have a couple of horses who are not fond of anything, but at least half of our barn will just suck everything right out of the tubes and then beg for more! I felt so bad for the horses thinking about products I had used in the past and how they hated them so much that they would run to the back of the stall when I came in with them, it’s just so nice when I go to give them something now and they actually really enjoy it. And the new Zen-Max is the same way, they all love it!

What was your experience with beta testing the new Zen-Max?

I had been using the Zen-X, which I love, it works the best on horses who deal with stress. Any of our horses who are stressed out, it works perfectly on! I approached Tigger about getting the effect of the Zen-X with a little extra punch for a hotter horse, which is when she created the Zen Max and added a few extra ingredients on top of what were originally in the Zen-X. When I started using the Zen-Max on several horses in the barn, it made all the difference in the world.

What was your first impression when using Zen-Max?

Zen-Max really seems to help the horses focus. My client, the Rein family, own a Derby horse who would feel the calming effect of the Zen-X, but he struggled with focus. He always went around looking outside of the ring and the Zen-Max just really helped him focus. Another horse in the barn who is one that typically has to work more than others, the Zen-Max has helped to cut his work in half just because it takes him down an extra notch. He went to lunging just for ten minutes when previously we would have to lunge for 20 minutes. Zen-Max really, really seems to do the trick and on top of it all, it is so great for their stomachs which is really important to me. I love that BioStar products are preservative-free, it makes me feel really good about giving them to my horses.

What other BioStar products do you use in your barn?

BioStar products are the only products we use in our program. We have completely switched everything over. Any supplements or prep that our horses get are all BioStar products. We love the Thera Calm, and every horse in the barn lives on Optimum GI. Alixir might be my favorite though. We were just in Tryon and it was miserable, temperatures were in the 90’s and the Alixir was key for recovery. It helps prevent the horses from getting sore and it helps them rebound as well. I also really like the Tri-Gard, we switched all of our horses over to that as well and its made a huge difference!