The Story Behind Queen – A Holistic Approach to Restoring Balance
I would like to share the story of “Bit of Ritz,” or as we call her, “Ritzi.” Ritzi was born curious, friendly, confident and very sweet. As a foal, she accepted all lessons quickly and easily. In short she is what dreams are made of beautiful, engaged, and never says no
For the first 3 years of her life, she enjoyed being in a small herd. She was handled regularly and occasionally spent time staying in the barn. As a three-year-old she had a pasture accident requiring stitches and medication. This accident highlighted her incredible temperament. She had practiced loading previously but had never trailered alone. She handled the trailer ride and all treatments like a pro. Through everything, she remained bright, happy and her sweet nature earned her a fan club.
Later that year, she was slowly introduced to becoming a riding horse. And again, her temperament remained her finest quality.
As a four-year-old Ritzi developed allergies. Initially the vet treated the allergies and she seemed better. But they returned the following year. We worked with the vet and eventually figured out how to manage the allergies and everything seemed fine.
Now six, we begin to notice small changes in her character. It started with a couple of little things and then several more minor things, followed by more significant issues, until my sweet girl was replaced with an unruly basket case. It was as if she was not comfortable in her own skin. She became herd bound to the point I was concerned she would injure herself. Under saddle, she went from overachiever to protesting to the smallest request. She was much more interested in what was happening outside the arena to the point that she would just stop at the gate. All this was entirely out of character for her. Until then, she had been a sweet horse that never said no. She loved connecting with everyone and was especially interested in learning.
The vet ruled out any physical problem, trainers provided advice, we tried different management, but Ritzi was not herself. I was devastated. I felt that I had failed her. Desperate to find some relief for my mare, I told my story to the team at ScoopRX. A week later, a 3-pound jar of powder arrived marked “special delivery for the Queen.”
Ritzi started on the loading dose of 2 scoops twice daily, and within days, my sweet girl returned. But how?
Looking back at Ritzi’s history, on the surface there is nothing alarming. With a deeper look two things jump out:
- As a three-year old she had a pasture accident requiring stitches and medication.
- As a four-year old Ritz developed allergies. The vet treated the allergies, and she seemed better. But they came back. We eventually figured out how to manage them, and everything seemed fine.
Ritzi healed from the pasture accident. However, several forms of “stress” contributed to an imbalance in her digestive system (medication, trailering, a change in her environment). As the imbalance continued, her once healthy intestinal tract became inflamed. That lead to permeability, which allowed toxins into her system. Eventually, her immune system became overburdened, and she developed allergies.
The vets approached the allergies by suppressing the immune system. This worked great on the surface, but underneath, an inflamed leaky gut, and a compromised immune system triggered her hormonal system. It went into overdrive and she was what I refer to as a hot mess!
When the allergies had been treated the approach only treated the symptom it did not address the root cause of what was going on in her gut. From there things snowballed, leading to hormonal and behavioral issues.
The reason things changed so dramatically when she started Queen is it provided her body the nourishment needed to address the underlying causes that were responsible for Ritzi’s symptoms. The Queen product treated her body as a whole. It did this successfully with several active ingredients working together to restore balance in the systems of her body. It started by providing the digestive system nutrients and active ingredients targeted to fight inflammation. This set up Ritzi for success in her recovery. Providing therapeutic amounts of support to her entire system allowed it to heal and rebuild. As that happened many of her “symptoms” disappeared.
Today Ritzi is back to being her amazing self! And I learned my lesson, I am more proactive when it comes to maintaining her health. She is still on 1 scoop of Queen twice daily but I enhance her support during times of “stress.” I grab products for her digestive system when she travels or when I sense she needs more support. Recently Ritzi has started transitioning from a lower-level dressage horse to an upper-level horse which is extremely exciting! But it also requires a lot to keep her from becoming depleted. I have added ScoopRX’s Sport product to her supplement program. It gives her body what it needs to pull every bit of nutrition out of her existing diet. Sport it also reduces inflammation, protects her against cellular and tissue damage, supports muscle turnover & collagen formation, and keeps her digestive system in balance.
They say horses teach us. Ritzi has taught me a lot already. She was born in my barn, and I promised her I would always do my best to take care of her. I may have let her down, once but I am grateful for the lesson it taught me.