Horse Feed Testimonials

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  Clinton Anderson

  Nationally Acclaimed Clinician and Horse Trainer

  Belle Center, OH

  “I want the best for my horses. My horses have never looked better than they have since starting on Kent Group™ products. In addition to their great feeds, we've been using Omegatin®, Winning Touch® EZ-Hoof®, Rounders® Horse Treats and their Equine Choice™ molasses buckets. Try ‘em mate! Your horses will be glad you did!”

  
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  Skibereen, “Skibby”

  Different Drummer Farm – Jodi Fortier, Owner/Director

  Candia, NH

  I would like to introduce Skibereen, one of our special ponies. “Skibby” is a 30 year old Connemara gelding.

  Skibby has led a varied life. He started as a breeding stallion and produced a few wonderful Connemara babies. After a short life as a Sire, he was gelded and turned into a show pony. Skibby competed in the Connemara working hunters at 3’6” which was an amazing feat for such a small guy. At only 13.3 it took some courage to labor over those large courses.

  Courage was not always Skibby’s strong point, so later in life he was made into a children’s short stirrup pony. In this division he worked confidently for many years until retiring as a school pony.

  As a school pony, skibby has carried many children around safely and taught them the ins and outs of learning to ride. His sweet and gentle manner has allowed countless children the opportunity to learn to lead, groom and saddle up. Skibby has been used for years of camp demonstrations at our farm.

  Skibby is now aging and we were very concerned with his loss of appetite and weight loss. Sadly, we had considered laying him to rest. We started him on Blue Seal Senior feed last year and have noticed a new life in Skibby. He cleans up his grain, has put on weight and is feeling like his older self again. We combine the senior feed with Blue Seal Hay Stretcher for an added boost. The results were so great that we started all of our senior horses on this combo.

  Thanks to you Blue Seal, Skibby has a new lease on life! Pictured is Skibby with young rider, Bronte Biron at the Different Drummer Farm School show on October 24th, 2004.

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  Jasper & Rose

  Elspeth DiFurio – Owner

  Southampton, NJ

  Rose, a large thoroughbred mare, is permanently crippled (shot by an errant hunter, we believe). She has been on Blue Seal feed since she was 2. At age 16+, she is able to get around happily without injections or supplements. Her coat shines and she is incredibly healthy and always in good weight (no supplements there either). She started eating Blue Seal Vintage Senior at age 15.

  Jasper is simply the best pony God ever made – a superb athlete, a supreme gentleman. He is now retired, after many later years as a handicapped – therapy pony. Jasper is about 34 and has been on Vintage Senior for at least 9 years. Some senior horses may be thin, but not Jasper. Vintage Senior has kept him the perfect weight. He’s spry, happy and enjoying his golden years. A bit gray, but still able to run with his friends.

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  Main Memory – a.k.a. “Rambo”

  Holly Lane Ferguson – Owner

  Suffolk, VA

  I am writing regarding my senior horse, Main Memory (a.k.a. “Rambo”) If he could talk, he would say he was far from being a “senior”, and I, daresay, you wouldn‘t know it by the way he acts!

  Rambo is a 3-gaited American Saddlebred who will be 23 in 2005. He is retired from the show circuit now (as am I), but he was in competitions all over the country. Not only was he a great show horse, but he has personality plus! Whenever I go to horse shows to watch my niece compete, people still remember Rambo and ask about him. He is extremely sociable and loves attention.

  I have had many offers from people who want to purchase Rambo, but I wanted him to have a relaxing retirement and, truth be told, I couldn‘t bear the thought of being apart from him. This horse has provided me with countless pleasures and priceless soul-soothing moments.

  Even though we aren‘t showing anymore, we are getting ready to take Dressage lessons – not for competition (I don‘t think!!), but for the exercise and the pleasure of spending time together. As you can see from the pictures, he is a beautiful, healthy boy. I plan on doing everything I can to keep him that way – that‘s where Blue Seal Vintage Senior helps! I have to watch what he eats extra carefully due to esophageal blocks and the dreaded colic issue. The properties of Vintage Senior help to ensure he doesn‘t eat too fast and the added amino acids and vitamins are essential to his continued good health. I don‘t have to convince anyone who loves their horse the way I love Rambo that we do whatever it takes to keep our animals healthy and happy – this is a bond that defies description. Thank you for helping to make it easy.

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  “Ozzie”

  Barbara J. Lamb – Owner

  Portsmouth, NH

  I currently own two thoroughbreds one of which is 27–years old. We don’t know his exact age but his vet and dentist put him at at least 27. He does have a tattoo but is unfortunately too faded to read.

  “Ozzie” as he is known, used to be a school horse at the University of New Hampshire. He was a top event horse there for many years and he carried many students around cross-country courses, stadium courses and dressage tests. In early spring of 2000, my former boss at the University contacted me and asked if I was interested in adopting Ozzie as he was due for retirement – a retirement well deserved. I had worked in the UNH barns for a few years prior to this so I knew Ozzie quite well and jumped at the chance to take him home. I knew that at his age, he would just be a trail riding buddy for me but that was fine. I had owned many horses while growing up but at the time, I hadn’t owned a horse for many years so just having a horse to take care of that was mine was more than I could ask for. Ozzie earned the right to just hang out, be spoiled, and of course loved. And loved he was…

  Not having owned horses for many years, I was not up-to-date on the feeds that were available. I originally bought him feed from another manufacturer (one that we used on our ponies and horses growing up). I was not happy with the results I was getting. I needed to find something that would make Ozzie look like a youngster again, something that was easy to chew and digest, and something that would make him shine. So off I went to Blue Seal. I read the pamphlets on the Blue Seal feeds and decided to start him on the Vintage Senior and that is what he’s been on for more than four years now. He looks amazing as you can see from the photos I have enclosed. One vet who saw him said he didn’t look a day over fifteen!! Others who see him are equally impressed. He looks healthier and better than horses half his age. The only way to really know he is so old is to look at his teeth. The vet could tell he was on an extruded feed and both he and the dentist said his teeth are in great shape despite his age. Not something you see in a horse reaching almost thirty.

  His photos were taken during the past year (except the jumping photo which was taken two years ago). The photo of us jumping was the last time I ever jumped him as he pulled his suspensory while out in pasture a week after that photo was taken. We only jumped once in a great while – it was something he and I loved to do. He would see the jumps and just eat up the ground going at them!! I have ridden many hunters and jumpers in my time and he was one that definitely knew his job. He did make a full recovery from that injury which put him on stall rest for more than six months. Now his only job is to be a companion to my 5–year old off-the-track thoroughbred mare and maybe an occasional ten minute trail ride around the field. He watches over my mare while she naps in the field and does not like it when she is out of his sight. He keeps a close eye on her all the time – he’s like a big brother to her and she a little sister to him. I could not have asked for two nicer horses to own – I can only hope my 5-year old will have the talent and personality like Ozzie. On a side note – my 5–year old TB also eats Vintage Senior (and Vintage Sweet). I put her on the senior feed to help ease her transition from track life to my new riding horse. The Vintage Senior feed is much easier to digest it has helped her tremendously.

  Thank you Blue Seal for creating such good, quality feeds!!

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  Frosty Bear

  Suzanne D’Azurio – Story Writer and mother of current Frosty riders, Natalie & Shaina D’Azurio

  BJ Rogers – Horse Owner

  West Bloomfield, NY

  I have a horse that I feel is a true testament to the Vintage Senior Horse Feed product. When you read his story I am sure that you too will be amazed by all that this horse can accomplish and it is at this point in his life, all due to him eating Blue Seal Vintage Senior Feed.

  “Frosty Bear” is a POA, which stands for the Pony Of The Americas breed of horse. Frosty, as he is known for short, is an incredible 42 plus years of age! That is not a typo error. This horse is indeed 40 plus years of age. He was around when John F. Kennedy was President of the United States. What is more amazing about Frosty is that he is totally active. He is a lesson horse for several beginner and advanced beginner riders at Sterling Stables in Honeoye Falls, NY. He does walk, trot, lunge lessons and trail rides and has never been unsound! He even can still canter! He was a Pony Club mount for my daughter Natalie D’Azurio this past summer (2004). Not only did he accomplish all that the other horses in Pony Club participation did, but he took home the blue ribbon in the games rally event!

  It was at a Pony Club qualifying session that a woman named Heather visited the barn Frosty resides at. Almost 30 years old, Heather was one of the advisors for the Pony Club session and was at the barn to help rank the Pony Club members. Heather was introduced to Natalie and Frosty and upon finding out that the owner of Sterling Stables and Frosty’s current owner BJ Rogers was the same BJ who taught Heather lessons as a 9 year old child, she also realized that this Frosty that she was ranking for Pony Club is the same Frosty she rode herself as a child almost 20 years earlier! What an amazing moment that was and such a testimonial to how active and vibrant Frosty is at such an advanced age! In fact there are several adults that have children who come to visit the barn to show their children this horse they rode themselves when they were little children. And here he is still teaching children and even adults how to ride.

  According to BJ Rogers, Frosty would rather be outside frolicking in the pasture than be cooped up indoors. So a few years ago when he started to fail in his advanced age, they were greatly concerned. He no longer had any back teeth to chew with. Being an extremely smart POA, he has this instinct not to swallow the hay that he cannot chew up into a small enough portion to get down his throat. So he chews, sucks on the hay and then spits it out. Smart horse, but this meant that he was no longer getting any nourishment. Our vet advised BJ about Vintage Senior Feed for Frosty. If Frosty was not on Vintage Senior Feed he would, without a doubt, had already crossed the rainbow bridge into horse heaven, as this feed is the only thing he can ingest besides the apples he loves to munch on and the water he drinks. Vintage Senior Feed has definitely saved and prolonged Frosty’s life and not only has it done that but he is still bringing home blue ribbons against other horses that are often a quarter of his age! He goes outside daily with several mares that he feels he is the king stallion of the wild frontier with and he must keep them in check and protect them! He is a truly amazing horse to see.

  Sterling Stables does rescue and abuse cases frequently and because of how well Frosty has done, there are several other horses that have been fed Vintage Senior Feed and have thrived and come back from retirement into active careers as lesson and show horses and sometimes a child’s first horse, or a first horse for that adult who wanted a horse all their life and finally decided to go for it! This would not have happened without Frosty and how well he has done and his progress would not have been possible without Vintage Senior Feeds.

  Frosty is truly an amazing horse. One would have to see him to believe that this horse that was born before there were computers like we have today, before man even went into space or landed on the moon, and has been around for the terms of 9 United States Presidents, was around before the fall of Communism and the Berlin Wall, Vietnam, the Flower Child Era, etc. is still 100% active and healthy and teaching beginners the same fine points of horsemanship that he taught their parents. He may even be around to still teach a former child students grandchild! Anything is possible with a special horse like Frosty, who is an amazing and true testimony to the success of Vintage Senior Feeds.

  Thank you for this life saving product and for reading Frosty’s story.

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  Kemper Knoll Farm

  Darlene Kemper – Owner

  Brooke Kemper – Rider

  McGaheysville, VA

  Purchased in 2000, from the moment I first saw her, I knew this mare had real potential. She was bred to be a winner; she has incredible “ring” presence and a desire to win.

  She could be a handful at time. Sweet feed was no good for her; it made her too energetic and a little unmanageable.

  I talked with Jon, and he introduced us to Blue Seal's Hunter™. It is a 14 percent protein product in a pelleted format. That made an immediate difference in the behavior of this mare.

  Since then, we have discovered Blue Seal's Sport Formula®, a 10 percent protein, 6 percent fat product. This is the best one yet for keeping this horse in good flesh, with just the right amount of workable energy.

  Brooke and I feel that Jon Almarode, Draft Feed and the Blue Seal Feed company have helped us manage our horse's feeding program, and we would recommend them highly.

  2003 Awards:

  • Show Jumper of the Year : Southwest Virginia Hunter/Jumper Association
  • Year–end Champion Schooling Jumper–SWVH/JA
  • Year–end Reserve Champion Modified Jumper–SWVH/JA
  • 2nd : Keswich Jumper Classic
  • Champion : Roanoke Valley High Jr./Am. Jumpers
  • Champion : Keswick High Jr./Am. Jumpers

  Kemper Knoll is a boarding, training, lesson and breeding facility in McGaheysville, Va.

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  Lois E. Overton

  Thetford Center, VT

  Meet Rose. She is a Morgan who was born June 3, 1999 and is registered as GV Rose Noble. Rose was raised on Blue Seal Vintage® Mare and Foal and she grew up straight and strong. Her mother also enjoyed Mare and Foal while she was lactating and it kept her in fine shape, too.

  Rose was born with an attitude. It took proper, persistent and consistent training to turn her into the horse she is today. She works hard as a trail horse and this past spring she learned some dressage moves and how to jump. Jumping is a new love of hers!

  We credit Mare and Foal with getting Rose off to a good start and Blue Seal Feeds have continued to keep both her mother and her in good condition. Momma is due to foal again in June, 2005 and we will again employ Blue Seal Vintage®Mare and Foal to ensure the same great start for our new baby and her (his?) mom.

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  Hazell & John Fuller

  Alstead, NH

  Like the New Hampshire based feed that is included in our diet, we are a product of generations of New Hampshire pride and excellence. We are the extended family of JHF Stable’s senior stallion and IBHA Supreme Champion, AQHA–IBHA–NFQHA–FQHR registered Poco Tango Dell. We are a third and fourth generation New Hampshire grown on a diet which includes Blue Seal Vintage® Mare & Foal and Demand®.

  Some of our mom’s are daughters of Poco Tango Dell who is featured on the center of the Blue Seal Feed bags. The rest of the gang are sons and daughters of Tesigned To Tango, a grandson of Poco Tango Dell. Our goals are to become acclaimed show horses like “Tango” who is one of only a handful of IBHA stallions to ever achieve the status of IBHA Supreme Champion; or “Tease” who is an AQHA Superior Halter Horse and 2001 Top Ten Open & Junior AQHA Stallion. We might even follow “grandpa’s” footsteps and become equine models!

  Vintage® Mare and Foal is an important part of our diet at JHF Stable due to its specific formulation for optimal mare lactation and foal growth. With it’s carefully formulated ingredients including 16% protein, amino acids, essential minerals, probiotics, and antioxidants in a highly digestible mixture, it is a very good mare and foal feed. JHF Stable has had much success on the show circuit as evidenced by their many foals who have become multiple Futurity winners, AQHA & IBHA point earners, ROM’s and Superior Halter horses who were grown in part on Blue Seal Feeds. Check us out!! We may become the next winners!!

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  Kathryn A. Burke

  Fredericton, NB, Canada

  When Eldon Leslie and Ida Stackhouse learned that the Arabian mare MS Plesket was scheduled for euthanasia due to foundering caused by laminitis, they were heartbroken. Not only was she a beautiful mare with a wonderful bloodline, but she had originally been owned by Eldon’s dear friend Eugene Moffitt. They made up their minds they would try to save her.

  Once a vet check concluded the mare was not in pain, they bought her and brought her home to Pine Creek Arabians. The first step was to put her on a proper diet that included Blue Seal Charger®, which would help her hooves to grow and give her strength. Although both fore feet were affected, with care and nutrition, eventually one hoof was righted and she was able to walk on it normally.

  Now, it just so happens that Plesket’s bloodline is a superb match for crossing with their stallion Red Tshadow, a son of the great Red Tape++/ and grandson of *Bask++. Thus began Plesket’s new life as a broodmare.

  Her first foal, born two years ago, is the 2004 Atlantic Canada Yearling Halter Champion. And on March 29, 2005, the 19–year–old mare foaled a second spectacular baby, Tshades of Red, a very typey filly, and allowed this photo of the new foal with the proud mom just minutes after the birth – in a pose as if to say, Welcome to the world, Little One.

  Of course, Blue Seal Vintage® Mare & Foal is her feed of choice these days, with an extra little mouth to feed. Blue Seal Feeds and motherhood have given Plesket a new lease on life, and she in turn has blessed all those who love her.

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  Nolene Yertaw

  Hatley, PQ, Canada

  On June 29, 2002 life changed overnight when our daughters 18–year–old Quarter Horse mare gave birth to twin foals. An ultrasound had been performed on Dells Boots at 28 days of gestation, but only one fetus showed on the screen. So, you can imagine the shock after 348 days of pregnancy, when Boots delivered two healthy foals during our daughters high school graduation ceremony.

  Della weighed 60 pounds and Solomon weighed 40 pounds, both alert and capable of nursing their mother. They never required supplement bottle feedings and Boots had an ample amount of milk to supply them until they were weaned at four months of age.

  We attribute the thriftiness of this trio to the fact that Boots had excellent prenatal care, and has eaten Blue Seal Vintage Gold® for many years. On our vets sound advice we continued to feed Boots Vintage Gold® throughout her pregnancy and lactating period.

  Within one week of age, the twins were nibbling the extruded feed from their creep feeder, and even to this day they savor every morsel. On May 10, 2005, Dells Boots turned 21–years–old but she is far from retired. She is a dependable school horse five evenings each week for eager young riders, ranging from 5 to 15 years of age.

  Della and Solomon are out in the show circuit competing in both showmanship and conformation classes in halter, and are gradually being worked under saddle at home.

  When we look at their shiny coats and bright eyes we know in our hearts these three horses are living proof that regardless of age or job description, Blue Seal Feed has the right diet for everyone.