How it all began - With one woman and her horse
How it all began - With one woman and her horse
Poseidon Animal Health was created by Linda Goldspink Lord, the proud owner of 12 horses, with over 40 years of riding, training, breeding and competing experience across various equestrian disciplines.
In Linda’s words, here is the story of how Poseidon Animal Health was born.
It started with my own health crisis. I had previously suffered from encephalitis and over ten years later I was still having major problems with my health, energy levels, and my memory and concentration.
I decided to look into dietary changes and learnt about gut bacteria and its link to health and emotions, and when I started looking after my gut with my diet I was amazed at the improvement I then started to experience.
Horses have always been a big part of my life, and I had always been keen to feed my horses as natural as possible. But I had one particular horse that I was having ongoing troubles with.
He was losing weight.
He had trouble getting the right canter lead.
He would grind his teeth and tilt his head.
He even randomly one day bolted out from underneath my daughter, putting her in the hospital.
I spent thousands on getting a custom saddle made and getting it regularly re-checked. I had his teeth treated routinely. I even had moulds done of his mouth and got a customised bit made.
All important steps; but my horse was still having issues.
I couldn’t work out what was wrong
I thought it might be gastric ulcers - the prescribed vet treatments seemed to work. They stopped the weight loss and crankiness, but then the symptoms reappeared even worse once I stopped treatment.
I spent a fortune on various supplements and I finally got some breakthrough when I tried an equine gut supplement with him. I was impressed that finally something was starting to help him.
Yet he was still grinding his teeth, scooting and having inconsistencies with canter leads.
And his head started to shake incessantly. He had been grazing in a paddock with paspalum - which at the time I wasn’t aware contained mycotoxins (invisible toxins produced by moulds that can cause neurological changes).
My own success with improving my gut health gave me enough motivation to start my journey of learning about the horses' hindgut and the role of nutrition for horses.
I reached out to leading animal and equine nutritionists
I spoke with them about everything I’d learnt with my own experience of improving my gut health. We talked about what effect diet, mycotoxins and stress have on a horse, and in particular how a horse’s gut health can be impacted.
So... We decided to create the best possible gut health product available worldwide, that would end the need for lots of different supplements, saving horse owners time and money - an equine gut supplement that would deliver real results for their horses health.
We sourced incredible evidence-based ingredients from around the world and began a trial among 17 horses - mostly our own.
Within a short time, the changes in all my horses were significant - even amongst the ones that I thought were looking and performing their best prior to the trial. These noticeable changes included:
- Weight gain
- Calmer behaviour and manners
- Improved appetite with the fussy eaters
- Improved feed conversion
- Improved, shinier coats
- No more headshaking
- Improved hoof quality and growth
- Greater elevation in movements; and
- Less scouring while travelling.
We tweaked and tested the gut supplement formulation, and once we were satisfied that this product was of high quality and impact, we trialled it across various disciplines and approximately 40 more horses to test it further.
We then trialled the Digestive EQ gut supplement under the guidance of a leading Equine Veterinarian Professor on a number of horses where we collected evidence around weight gain, health changes and palatability.
The feedback was positive and with a few adjustments to the texture, Digestive EQ was ready for distribution to horse owners across Australia and New Zealand.
The rest, as they say, is history!
With one life changing equine supplement in the market we couldn't stop there. We added Digestive VM for equine Vitamin and Mineral support, and Stress Paste to provide a swift way to protect and support the gut of horses in competition, travelling and more.
In 2023 we updated the Digestive EQ formulation in response to new research, and developed the Digestive RP equine gut supplement formula with enhanced protection and support for the horse's gastrointestinal tract, specifically designed to support high level competition horses, racehorses and horses on higher grain levels.
We also created a toxin binder for horses, EquiBind, which takes the same mycotoxin protection as in Digestive EQ and RP and combines it with other ingredients to help support horses on mycotoxin affected pasture or feeds.
And, we launched MetaboLize® to help support chunky horses living with metabolic issues like laminitis and Cushing's disease.
And we're not stopping there.
Our mission to enhance the wellbeing of horses all over the world, and simplify the work of horse owners through providing effective equine supplements and free educational resources, has only just begun!
From experiencing some of life’s biggest challenges, Poseidon Equine's Founder, Linda Goldspink-Lord has seen her fair share of tragedy and triumph.
In her words, Linda shares the story of how her determination to find a better way to care for her horses, personal resilience, and unconditional support from her family and friends led to the creation and success of Poseidon Animal Health.
Click on the play button above, or click to watch here.