Border Lion, a 9 year old son of Lion King, stands tall at 17 hands. But behind this regal form is a delicate, emotional animal.
For Cathy Wieschhoff, a three-day eventer with 20 years in the profession, Border Lion is a work in progress. “He came to my barn in the summer of ’07,” says Cathy. “His previous rider had taken him to the CCI* level, but he needed work on his dressage. The owners were look- ing to sell him, so they wanted my help in training.”
“He was a natural jumper. Almost to a fault,” she says. “He would jump over everything. He was a free spirit on the cross country course, but a disaster in dressage. He just couldn’t connect the dots.”
Cathy quickly determined that the bay gelding was telling her something. “He just wasn’t able to concentrate in the ring. He had difficulty engaging and collecting with his back legs. He was always talking back, resist- ing. He had even reared up on his previous rider,” Cathy explains.
That’s when Cathy connected the dots.
“A few months earlier, I was introduced to this product, SUCCEED®,” Cathy recounts. “I had tried it on a few of my horses, with good results. So I decided to put Border Lion on SUCCEED too. I was beginning to realize that maybe his problem was an internal one. That maybe he was having trouble because of a digestive health issue.”
The results? “Unbelievable. Not overnight, but little by little,” Cathy says. “His body is better, he looks better…and his ability to stay focused in the dressage ring is improving dramatically. He’s really stepping up to the plate.”
“Border Lion has progressed now from Preliminary to Intermediate, and is heading toward Advanced within about eight months.”
What Cathy discovered is that a horse’s digestive tract maintains a delicate balance. This can easily be altered by the challenges of modern performance horse care. SUCCEED® Digestive Conditioning Program® is a unique, daily nutrient program that maintains the health of the entire digestive tract. And as Cathy has learned, that can directly affect the horse’s appearance, temperament and performance.
“Our program now is good feed, good care and SUCCEED,” says Cathy. “Every horse in training should be on SUCCEED.”
