WRITTEN BY: Shauna Lawyer Struby
Two years ago, Cheryl Grisier, a pro rodeo champion from Nowata, Oklahoma, decided to retire her
17-year-old horse, Jax, because he wasn’t performing well.
“I assumed this was due to his age and arthritis. He was diagnosed with arthritis when he was 8 years old and recommended to have synthetic management for it. I never could bring myself to inject him full of labcreated material,” said Grisier.
Instead, Grisier sought treatment for Jax with a chiropractor where the horse received acupuncture, and for most of his life, that worked well.
“Jax started his team roping career as an 8-year-old and became a very good heel horse,” said Grisier. “He even performed in the top five perf at the WPRA finals two years in a row. We did well together but never were in the top 10 in the WPRA.”
Team roping (also known as heading and heeling) is a rodeo event that requires close cooperation and timing between two highly skilled ropers (a header and a heeler) and their horses as they rope a steer.
A roping team’s success depends on clear communication and teamwork between the header, heeler and their highly trained horses.
“A heel horse has to be quick and sharpminded as well as be able to slide to a stop on demand. He needs to feel well and be wellmuscled in order to take the hit of stopping the steer multiple times,” said Grisier.
Grisier first heard about Sat-A-Vet EquiPellets, equine cannabidiol (CBD), from a friend who relayed stories about CBD helping barrel racers and cutting horses. CBD
is one of many cannabinoids or molecules produced by the cannabis family. Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive element in marijuana, CBD is non-psychoactive, meaning it doesn’t alter cognitive brain activity or cause the high associated with marijuana. Sat-A-Vet contains CBD derived from hemp, which under U.S. law must contain no more than 0.3% THC.
Grisier started giving Jax Sat-A-Vet’s EquiPellets with his regular feed in September of 2018 and noticed an improvement in his wellbeing within three days. She has continued to provide Jax with Sat-A-Vet Equi-Pellets ever since and fully credits his recovery and healthy condition to the product.
Because of his dramatic improvement, Grisier pulled Jax out of retirement. The two have since racked up an array of impressive wins, including in 2019, Reserve World Champion in Women’s Ranch Rodeo Association, J Bar team; first in the Prairie Circuit Heeling in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA); and fourth in the world standings at the WPRA finals.
“He is now maintaining his weight so well that my team roping partner of 10 years stated she’s never seen him look so good,” said Grisier. “He was always a great roping horse, but now he is a phenomenal rope horse. He acts, works, eats, rides, focuses and feels better now than when he was young.”
SAT-A-VET CBD BY CAN-TEK LABS
James Barnes is a director of operations with American Wholesale Hemp, the distributor for a range of products produced by Can-Tek Labs, the first registered hemp manufacturing
laboratory in Oklahoma. Can-Tek makes SatA-Vet pet products.
Barnes is not surprised by Grisier’s story. He hears similar accounts in his job, managing distribution logistics for Can-Tek Labs products, education and training for pharmacies, medical facilities, veterinarians and other communities about the usage of hemp products.
“We are a completely vertically-integrated operation, which means we have partnerships with several companies like Sat-A-Vet, all owned by our CEO Ryan Early and all based in Oklahoma City,” said Barnes. “Vertical integration gives us quality control over our products from seed to patient. We distribute the hemp extract product line for pets for Sat-A-Vet. This line includes oral tinctures, topicals and edibles for residential and agricultural animals and pets.”
Part of the challenge facing CBD manufacturers like Can-Tek Labs is the murky legal status of CBD. While 47 states have passed laws legalizing it to one extent or another, a lack of empirical research on the benefits of CBD for humans and animals means at the federal level, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still has reservations. Aside from one prescription drug approved to treat two pediatric epilepsy disorders, no other CBD products are FDA approved.
The complicated status of CBD is why Can-Tek Labs uses hemp grown in the U.S. that is high in cannabinoids like CBD and cannabigerol (CBG), according to Barnes. And it’s why Sat-A-Vet products are tested internally and independently by third-party testing facilities to confirm and maintain accuracy and consistency.
In his education efforts, Barnes said he encourages his distributors and consumers to research how CBD works along with its potential benefits, talk to a vet and read product ingredient labels.
Matthew L. Mintz—MD, FACP, an internist, primary care physician and clinical associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine— explained cannabinoids, CBD and CBG in a recent article in Real Simple magazine.
“… the term ‘cannabinoid’ refers to substances that interact with cannabinoid receptors in the human body. The two main cannabinoid receptors in the body are CB1 and CB2, the former being more associated with the nervous system and the latter more associated with inflammation. Cannabinoids and their receptors are part of our own body’s systems of helping regulate a variety of normal functions including pain, appetite, and inflammation. This system is called the endocannabinoid system (ECS).”
Mintz said CBG, like CBD, is also nonpsychoactive, but there is little research on the effects of CBG. Interest is growing in research to determine whether different nonpsychoactive cannabinoids may have distinct clinical uses. The few studies done to date indicate CBG may be beneficial in a range of ways, such as helping to prevent colon cancer and supporting sleep and appetite regulation.
A January 2019 research article published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science conveyed the results of a study that used the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) to gauge the knowledge level of U.S. vets and their views and experiences related to the use of
cannabinoids in the medical treatment of dogs. The study found that overall, CBD was most frequently discussed as a potential treatment for pain management, anxiety and seizures.
Kathy Evans is an operations manager with Can-Tek Labs, founded in 2016 by CEO Ryan Early. Evans said the idea for Sat-A-Vet came about when they discovered people were using Can-Tek’s tinctures for humans on their animals. After researching how to adjust products for animal use, Sat-a-Vet launched in 2018 with the mission of providing people with a safe, authentic CBD product to help their animals.
“One of our goals is transparency and authenticity. On our website, people can read about the high-quality ingredients we use to manufacture our products. We also invite customers to email or call us if they have questions. We’re always available for consultations,” said Evans.
Word-of-mouth is how Sylvia De Leon and Tracy Burch, co-owners of Groomer A GoGo Pet Market & Salon in Oklahoma City, came to use Sat-A-Vet products for their pets and in their business.
Burch heard about Sat-A-Vet from a Can-Tek Labs rep working with a naturopathic doctor. Burch tried a Sat-A-Vet pet product to see if it would help her 16-year-old dog who had disc problems. Improvement came quickly.
“She had a little kick in her step that I hadn’t seen in a while, so we decided we wanted to carry it at the shop to offer to our clients,” said Burch.
De Leon also used a Sat-A-Vet pet product to help her 17-year-old dog who wasn’t resting well during the night.
“She was up all night, going back and forth from one dog bed to the other. I started giving her some CBD in the morning to let her rest and relax and then some again in the evening,” said De Leon. “It would let her relax because her hips were hurting so she wouldn’t have to get up and adjust and go to another bed. She ended up sleeping all night.”
In addition to selling Sat-A-Vet pet products in their market, with permission from their clients, De Leon and Burch use Sat-A-Vet CBD with dogs who exhibit anxiety or fear about the grooming process.
“Because we want them to have the best experience in our shop, with a client’s permission, we give our dog clients a dose of Sat-A-Vet for pets. It changes the whole dynamic. We had a client who told us their 90-pound Aussie got kicked out of four different grooming salons, so we gave the dog the CBD oil in a bit of canned food, and now that dog enjoys the experience of getting groomed,” said De Leon.
Given the intense interest in CBD for human use and now that cannabis is enjoying a research renaissance by way of legalization efforts, science is gaining a more detailed perspective into the potential benefits of CBD. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, a federal database of accredited clinical trials worldwide, there are about 150 trials in progress that are testing CBD as a treatment for a wide variety of health conditions, including autism, alcoholism, skin conditions and schizophrenia.
For now, shared experiences from people like Grisier, De Leon and Burch are one way those interested in CBD for pets can gauge the potential benefits of Sat-A-Vet and other CBD products.
“Sat-A-Vet has changed our lives and improved Jax’s health and spirit in ways I would never have dreamed,” said Grisier. “It brought him out of retirement. It helped us reach goals that I never thought we could.”
“This is a product that I believe in. I believe it can help a lot of animals,” said De Leon. “I believe that it helps a lot of people because they’re looking for something to help their animals, but they don’t want to drug them up before they bring them for grooming or for pain management. Truly, this is a game changer.
