Ella and her Allergies: an Interview with Lucy Pingree
After dressage rider Lucy Pingree tested our newest supplement Aller-X EQ with her horse Ella, we interviewed her about her experience:
How were you introduced to BioStar?
I met Tigger 10 years ago in Wellington — She helped me with nutrition for my horse who is an English Thoroughbred/Dutch Warmblood cross. She was an easy keeper but borderline insulin resistant.
What allergies has your current horse Ella dealt with?
I got my mare Ella eight years ago. She’s half Lusitano and half Hanovarian, from Brazil. She was an easy keeper at only 4 years old and still growing. She actually grew until she was 10! I was tentative in what I was doing for her diet, and I was doing so much research on allergies because Ella is allergic to twenty-two different things.
She’s been on allergy shots for two years. One of the most horrible things for her was alfalfa, plus orchard grass and timothy hay, so I called Tigger. I steam her hay now to get rid of the pollen, and I steam or soak the timothy and the orchard grass. We tried Standlee Teff Pellets, which have been a godsend, and then we added Renew Gold. I found out that she had such problems with allergies in her breeding, she was also on two different inhalers, so we suffered through all of that last year. The inhalers help, but not 100%. I switched her to BioStar’s Optimum, so she was getting spirulina, plus Renew Gold, and everything was really good.
What made you interested in being a beta-tester for the new Aller-X EQ?
This past October we started Ella on a new inhaler that is not a steroid, so it’s legal to compete with (Airzervo Equihaler). She would get a ten day treatment and then go six weeks without inhalers. I got in touch with Tigger in February to make sure I was using the right BioStar supplements to support her, and she told me that they were developing this new respiratory supplement, offering to let me test it on Ella. I started her on it in February. She had just finished the inhaler and was due for a new inhaler six weeks later. She has gone through all the really bad allergies here and she’s doing really well, except that it has been so dry and there’s so much pollen floating around in the air. I realized that all I needed to do was up the BioStar respiratory formula to twice a day.
Aller-X has been a godsend. This is the only way I can describe it, this horse has been suffering for so long with allergies and I just can’t believe the difference, it’s amazing and her coat is beautiful. It has not looked this good in years. I’m sure that has a lot to do with it, as well as being on the Optimum and the rest of her diet.
Do you compete with Ella?
Lucy: The original plan was to compete. Ella has competed very little because she’s also had other issues. Ella competed [with Nora Batchelder] when she was five at First and Second level and won! Then I competed her at training level and she did really well. That was the last time, because we found out she had a fractured molar and I haven’t been able to get her to take a bit; but she’s taking one now and everything is going really well. We found out that she also developed Condol defects. I’ve been working with an incredible vet and we’ve injected it with Milltrex which has been a lifesaver. She’s getting so much stronger and now she’s really coming together again, so I’m hoping to start competing with her again next year.
What other BioStar supplements do you have her on right now?
Lucy: She’s on Aller-X EQ, Chia Seeds, and Optimum GI. She was scoped for ulcers in February and she has the cleanest stomach the vet has ever seen! I had her retested for allergies and she’s no longer allergic to alfalfa, but she’s highly allergic to flax. Now she’s on Coolstance instead of the Renew Gold for a little bit of energy. She’s been a tough horse and this has been an incredible journey for us. She’s amazing, beautiful and has incredible movement — I’ve just always known she’s really special. Tigger has just been incredible, I don’t know what I would have done without her. The vets just look at me like I have six heads, they don’t even know what to tell me. So I’m very, very grateful for Tigger’s help. I’m so excited that the respiratory formula Aller-X EQ is actually a product!
