Amy Hassinger, Horsewoman, Entrepreneur

Amy is the CEO for Hassinger Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation she also owns and shows a collection of horses in various disciplines.  I think you will enjoy getting to know this tremendous horsewoman and brilliant business woman.

Transcript

Rose Cushing 0:31

Good morning, this is Rose Cooking with today's Horsewoman Podcast. Really excited today. My guest is Amy Hassinger. And Amy is a very successful horsewoman. So, Amy, tell us a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Hi, um, well, thanks for asking, Rose, and thanks for having me. Uh, again, my name is Amy Hassinger. I am a female equestrian entrepreneur who's leveraged her um love, or let's call it an addiction of horses into uh various businesses. So I've spent most of my adult life uh creating ways to give back to the industry and to enjoy the industry at the same time.

Rose Cushing 1:15

That sounds great. I know you've been a big part of the industry for a long time. Uh when I first met you, um you you were doing some kind of things for the horse's ears.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, for many years I was a uh a professional. Um started years ago and purchased my first horse farm when I was uh 19 years old. I I traded in a full four-year scholarship at the University of Florida and some funds that my grandmother had set aside for the for the preplayed college program and uh used that money to buy a barn when I was 19. Wow and started a kid, I started a training business uh under the promise from my with my parents that I would continue to go to college while I was running this. So in doing that, I learned a lot of incredibly valuable skills um that really shaped the woman that I am today as a business person. Uh but fast forward a number of years and in uh 2007 created a company called Equine Healthcare International. And this company was based simply on uh the premise that when we felt that we needed items in our horse farm or our veterinary hospital. Again, my husband is an Equine Sports Medicine veterinarian and we have a rehabilitation center. If there were items that we didn't have, um we would just invent them, create them, and bring them to market, realizing if we wanted them, it was a really good chance that you might want them as well. So that's where Equine Healthcare International was born in 2007 initially, and through that company we brought numerous products to market. One of the most notable ones that you alluded to, Rose, was the POM premium equine earplugs. Those were actually developed in our hospital as a way to um use an acupuncture effect of the five acupressure points in the horse's inner ear canal to cause a bit of a relaxation, sort of a sedative relaxing effect, specifically because they helped release endorsins. So we used that in the hospital um so that when we introduced our underwater treadmill to the horses, it was a little scary. We didn't have to administer uh an injectable form of sedation. We would simply use the horse's own natural endorsements to help them relax so that we could train them and uh utilize the benefits of the water treadmill. And so it kind of spread uh like wildfire. And so these palm beer plugs are used by uh horses all over the world. Uh in fact, they're on every continent, not covered by ice currently. So that was initially a first product for us, and and the company's expanded from there, and we've developed numerous other um health care items and performance items uh for the market. So that's uh sort of the first company that uh developed from this crazy passion for horses.

Rose Cushing 4:05

Now, I remember your underwater treadmill, it was just coming on the market when I last met with you down at at the hospital. So tell us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Absolutely. We are super excited. So um the underwater treadmill, again, much like everything else that we do, uh, was developed in response to um a horse named positive action. My husband was riding at a horse show. He got distracted with uh some people running in the bleachers, looked away for a brief moment while he was jumping and fell and broke his left leg. Uh, not completely, but in such a way that it could have been career in. So we were looking for a way to um, after surgery, rehabilitate him. So we worked with a company called Ferno and developed the Aquapacer, equine underwater treadmill. We were trying to develop um an above-ground treadmill that horses didn't have to go into a pool of water where it's a bit uncontrolled. We wanted a means which we could control the water depth, the speed that the horse walked on the machine, and the placement of the horse in the machine. So again, we developed the aquapacer. Again, they're sold all over the world now, and we got really um really lucky and sold our part in that company to develop other companies. But the aquapacers revolutionized uh equine fitness conditioning and rehabilitation worldwide, and it simply, like everything else, it was a byproduct that burst from a problem that we needed a solution for.

Rose Cushing 5:33

That that is so brilliant. You guys have done so many wonderful things for the industry and in that arena alone, not to mention all the other things that you've done to be successful. Tell me how you fell in love with horses.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

You know, thank you for asking. It's a funny thing. Um, when I was a little girl, I would spend summers at my grandfather's farm in Tennessee. He raised whole Hereford cattle, and in order to move the horses around this large farm, he would ride a Tennessee walking horse by the name of Don and would take me with him. He'd set me behind the saddle, had a little piece of hay twined hind onto the back, and I was like a little pack and sat behind the saddle. And I would just hold on um at a very young age and spend the day with him on horseback, literally just sitting behind my grandfather on this smooth walking horse, and just observing him moving the cattle around and dealing with the farm. And it was just so interesting to me the bonds that he had with his horse. This horse was his vehicle, and the horse had a purpose and they worked together. And I think observing that so young in life, and then just seeing his passion for the cattle, his passion for the horse, and the joy that he would take in the care of this horse, because this horse was his partner, was really instilled in me at a very young age. So I in turn grew up with him and started riding, and um, the more I rode, uh the more my mother feared that I was uh doing things that I probably had no formal knowledge to do, but just got on and rode. So she enrolled me in writing lessons when I was about seven or eight years old. Um, because at that point, prior to that, I was already teaching lessons to all of my cousins, although I myself had never had a formal writing lesson, but somehow felt like I knew what I was doing at an early age. So it was pretty much at that point my mother enrolled me in a writing academy so that I could gain some practical, educated knowledge, more so than this uh see-to-my pants style that I was developing as a young, uh a young child.

Rose Cushing 7:34

What a wonderful memory to have been on the back of your grandfather's horse and in a walking horse, so it was a comfortable, easy ride. I can't imagine a better way to spend your days.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

It was beautiful. We'd pack a little lunch, we'd ride all across the farm, and it was a beautiful uh in Tennessee it was a beautiful stream that ran through the farm with large boulders, much like something you'd see in the Gatlinburg or Smoky Mountains area, and we would sit on the rock together and have lunch, and it was a little divot in a special rock, but he would actually pour grain that he would bring with his horse horse in this little divot, and we'd all have lunch together before we went back to work. And it was just I dreamed of life being that. And if I could ever have a life that was like this, where I was working, working with horses and doing it in a way that was inspiring and passionate, that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Rose Cushing 8:26

I can share that dream with you, yes, ma'am. No, no, you can't. You've done a beautiful job. Oh, you're very kind. Now, you you've done a lot of amazing things in your riding career, so can you tell us some of those things?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Oh gosh. Um, again, I I have a passion for horses and it's not necessarily breed specific or industry specific. So while I've had uh some wonderful success in the hunter-jumper world, I again was a trainer for many years and brought uh numerous riders up through the ranks. Many of my students are actually professionals today. But in turn, I also rode myself. I had a lovely stallion by the name of Rackus. Uh, Rackus was a wonderful hunter-jumper stallion, confirmation stallion that I competed up through Devon and indoor competitions uh and the like, and subsequently bred him and raised a lot of his offspring. Um, later on, because my husband was attending numerous HUHA shows with his mobile hospital, we have two, um, and I was spending a fair amount of time with him on the road. I really gained an appreciation and love of quarter horses. So I started breeding and raising some quarter horses while I was showing my hunters and jumpers and became really deeply entwined in that particular industry. I had a wonderful horse, still a wonderful horse name, uh Truly Graceful, that uh wins numerous hunter derbies. I drive her, I do all of the English classes on her in HAB. She's been a world champion numerous times, and I've also participated with some Western Pledger horses. But through that and through the love of the quarter horse that I developed and the people in the industry, I had an opportunity to be so kindly invited to be the chairman of the National Snaffle Bit Association Foundation. I really got to tap into uh a philanthropic side where we were raising money for the National Snaffle Bit Association with some key programs, one namely of our Heroes on Horses program, that we are so proud of raising money for veterans that utilize horses in their therapies. Another one called Riders with Disabilities, where we give riders that have a physical um uh disability or something that maybe prohibits them from competing sort of on equal grounds. We created a platform for them to compete at the NSBA and HUHA World Championships is very protected specialized classes for them. So they've gained the recognition they deserve, and their families had a place where their talents would shine, and numerous other programs, including horse welfare, education, and then a general uh overall program to raise funding in support of uh the trainers crisis fund. So numerous trainers that would have encounter a crisis in their life, whether it was a flood in Louisiana, a rider that has a heart attack, or has a stroke, and their business is interrupted through no fault of their own, we jump in and provide financial support, education, resources to get them back on their feet again. So that's probably one of my um passion projects is being involved there.

Rose Cushing 11:41

What a great organization that is. I I've had a chance to do a few things with them in the past, and um bravo, because that's a really good one.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Thank you.

Rose Cushing 11:52

And so what are you doing these days?

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Oh gosh. Lots of crazy things. Um, again, we're continuing to expand our Equine Healthcare International company. We um have some relatively popular Equine supplements to EquaCalm and Equa Focus. They're unparalleled in the industry. Um through the success of those products, it's provided an opportunity for us to develop um more products that will be coming on the market this year under Equine Healthcare International, under a uh Dr. Hassinger's line. So Dr. Hassinger's been developing um a new special uh electrolyte formula. We have a gut and digestive health formula, so we're excited we're developing that. We're also developing our pro series line of uh hunter and jumper products, including girth, boots, that seems very specialized where there's very little competition in the market because no one has met the need of the market in that area. So we're developing our pro series line for both horses and ponies. One of my most exciting projects that we have coming up, actually, two. Uh, one is we're developing a equestri a stylized um athletic equestrian line under the AP Hassenger name. And this is a beautiful stylized lifestyle brand of uh equestrian English hunter jumper, etc. Clothing, uh equestrian clothing, suits, breeches, uh riding clothes. It's very stylized, but it's meant to provide comfort and functionality, and there's really some beautiful designs and fabrics and pieces that are unparalleled in the market. So that's exciting. But the biggest um reveal that we have that I'm super excited about actually lies within our company, Passenger Biomedical. So I'm the CEO of Passenger Biomedical along with um some partners that worked together and collaborated and ironically developed a product if they're right in the middle of COVID, unfortunately. But we developed the world's fastest um regenerative therapy device, and we discovered something called etologist platelet concentrate, and it is game-changing in the market. So we were able to harness a technology we you utilize horse's blood in it in a specialized centrifuge, which we were um involved with to produce the highest volume and concentrate of platelets and healing properties in the world unparalleled. Um we were it was a game changer healing horses um in ways that veterinarians had not seen and foster because the next closest product on the market that had been developed up to that point in time took 45 minutes and only yielded about three C C's of volume, which i is not enough to really even do a stifle. Our system actually utilizes this vertical centrifugation system that produces eight C C's over nearly three times in only 90 seconds. Veterinarians literally cut the time down tremendously with a better quality product and more volume, so we were able to treat more joints without using steroids in all natural way with a horse's body. We were harnessing the horse's body and their ability to heal itself. Got very, very lucky um in October of last year, and uh DECRA purchased our uh our product. So we don't earn that one anymore. Um but we're excited because in doing that, uh funding that came from that actually allowed for some new research and development. And we have something even far superior to that that will be coming out at the end of the year. Again, the likes of the veterinary industry worldwide have never seen. Um I can't talk too much about it yet, but just know that at this year's um American Association of Equine Practitioners Conference that'll come up here in December in San Diego, California, we will be revealing a technology for which the medical industry, not just the veterinary industry, has never seen before. It will revolutionize how soft tissue and bone injuries are treated globally. So that's sort of something to be watching out for that Hassan Provide Medical Um has worked in collaboration uh to develop. So that's kind of my pet project right now. Wow. Um because it's gonna benefit people, it's gonna benefit horses, and it's gonna benefit people worldwide, which previously our other um and this device was primarily targeted toward animals, which is now used in the human market, but this one in the same way will really it's gonna be a big game changer. So that's what I'm working on.

Rose Cushing 16:52

That is so fantastic, and it's so good to hear that people are doing research and development in ways of natural healing and not all chemically induced. And I I'm I'm really proud of you for that because that's so important to our survival.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Thank you. I I agree. Our our bodies have the ability to heal themselves if we can harness the components that are already within us and the horses in them to heal ourselves. I mean, there's there's a huge place to harness that. And I think technology is under we're understanding that more. Technology is harnessing that more, and it's much healthier for the survival of not only animals, but but people.

Rose Cushing 17:32

Yes, yes, definitely. Definitely. That is so exciting. I can't wait until you make it public and we'll talk again about it and tell all the horse owners about it. Absolutely. So are you in the show now?

SPEAKER_01 18:46

I am. We are in Venice, Florida. My husband, Dr. Jim Hassinger, is the veterinarian for the Venice Equestrian Tour. Um, we have been um driving each week back and forth to Wellington, the Wellington International. We have a uh stallion by the name of Kadush Z, bar named Patty, that we were so fortunate to acquire almost 11 months last year from a wonderful Belgian writer named Boy Van Belgren. This stallion had over 53 starts and Grand Prix in Europe and really looked like he wanted to come and be a hunter. So once he retired from that life, uh Boy was so kind to let us purchase him. And since he's been in this country, um, in fact, Saturday night was his sixth score show in this country, he has won nearly every hunter derby he's competed in. Was fourth at International Derby Finals in Lexington, Kentucky this summer. Um, showed in Wellington in uh 3-6 performance hunters last week. Um we skipped the first day because we just shipped him in and he needed a day just to relax. Only showed the second day, was division champion, which was literally only one day of showing. That's how wonderfully magical this stallion is. And then we were so fortunate that he was given an invitation for a coveted spot in the Peter Weatherell $100,000 Hunter Spectacular during Hunter Week, week six in Wellington, and was able to compete Saturday night under the light. We were uh on the edge of our chairs because it's so exciting to watch him show. He's got a bit of a fan club, a bit of a social media presence to do the breeding stallion. So all of his fans were following on Live and Live Beats. And in his handy round, he qualified to go back as one of the top 12, um, laid down a 97, one of the highest scores that they've ever seen, and ended up um fourth overall. The top horses literally in the nation, hunters where they're competing in. We were just super excited. In fact, the day before to qualify, he was first out of 130 horses. These are horses that have been doing hunters their entire life, and Kadush has only been into the country uh less than a year. But his natural aptitude to display all of the characteristics one wants to see in a top hunter, he ironically has all of them. So uh we were excited. So it was a very nail-biting, exciting night for us. Um, but he was very successful with his riot or Tori culvin. So we're breeding him. Uh this year he'll be standing along with our other black stallion that Dr. Hassinger shows named Sandro. So an exciting new twist in that is that um as we speak while we're here, a new equine reproduction and fertility center is being built as we speak on ground at our campus in Aberdeen at Passenger Equine Sports Medicine. So we have a whole new building that'll be completely dedicated to equine reproduction and fertility that will open April 1st, once we get home from the Showing Floor. So we're excited. There's nothing from Maryland where Select Breeders is located to Ocala, where Peterson Smith is located. So we're going to be sort of the minute-Atlantic stop for all of your equine high-end reproduction needs from embryo transfers to ICSE to be dealing with uh stallion and mare fertility issues, fowling. So this is sort of a new fun twist to the passenger equine veterinary family of services that we offer.

Rose Cushing 22:34

That is fantastic. I'm so excited to hear that and can't wait to see their first full crops.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

I know. It's gonna be wonderful. So thank you for asking about that.

Rose Cushing 22:44

Definitely so. So you're such an amazing woman, and I I follow you on social media all the time. You probably don't see me, but I watch what you do because I'm so impressed with you. And I want you to give our listeners out there some advice to young women coming in the horse industry as to how to leave their mark on the world.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Gosh, thank you for asking. Um, sorry, that's a bit of a humbling question. How do you leave your mark on the world? Well, I think the most important thing, if I can offer any advice to a young man, a young woman, or even a mature man or woman, is that I think in society today we are taught that we must toil, sweat, and be unhappy, be stressed in order to earn success or a sense of pride or a sense of joy in what we do. I feel that that is wrong, I feel that that is counterproductive, and I think society as a whole is slowly moving away from that to a paradigm that I've embraced most of my life, not that I've messed with and taught it, but what I've discovered is that when you wake up every day, what gets you out of bed? What motivates you, what inspires you, what's going to make you feel good inside? Whatever that is, whatever you hold in your mind as a dream, you hold in your gut as an inspiration, just put action behind it. You don't have to have money, you don't have to be a genius, you just need a dream. And then just put a little action behind your dream. And surround yourself with people who will support your dreams. When I was little, I would always have ideas. I'd walk in the house, my mother's name is Pat, my father's name is Ed, and I'd walk and say, I have an idea. And my mother would look at my father and go, Edward, Amy has another idea. And I would stand on the little foot of our fireplace, and I would present my idea to them, and they would look at me as the crazy kid with all of the harebrained ideas of how she was going to change the world. But I did it.

Rose Cushing 24:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

There isn't anything that I said that I wasn't that I was going to do that I didn't do. They're average middle-class people, never put a dime into any company, never provided any funding. It was just simply, if I could encourage people, follow your gut. Don't always follow what people are telling you, what you're being told, what society says. You do you. If you do you and you have an inspiration for something, just put a little action behind it, just a little. And in doing that, the universe will line itself up. You will draw, utilize the law of attraction to draw to you all of the things you need to make your dreams come true. And in doing that, I firmly believe that society as a whole will experience less depression, less anxiety, and subsequently more inspiration. This is how people change the world. The Einstein, have an idea. And when you have that idea, don't overthink it. Don't think about all the barriers. Don't feel like you have to make all the steps line up. Just embrace that gut feeling, that inspiration, and don't think, just go. Just go down that road and see where it takes you. And if more people would do that, we would have people that could change the world in their corner. Doesn't matter what it is. You have to have to have to follow when the universe gives you inspiration, you have to follow it. And in doing that, you will feel joy, you will feel happiness, you will feel inspiration. And from that mind place, more great things were developed. And the money will follow. I never developed any one of these companies because I was seeking money. I did it all because of the passion for what I was doing. It made me get out of bed every day. But the money followed. Because I was doing what I love. And so when you hear people tell you, do what you love and the money will follow, I guarantee a thousand percent, that is what will happen.

Rose Cushing 27:06

I agree. If you don't cave in the peer pressure and and you stay true to yourself, you know, you'll be amazed at the things you can do.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

And it will it will reveal itself if you just don't overthink it.

Rose Cushing 27:19

Yep. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Follow your inspiration, and people will be drawn to you that will help facilitate your hopes and dreams. Situations will line up that you could have never possibly created had you tried.

Rose Cushing 27:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

You just utilize the law of attraction and stay true to your inspiration. You'll surprise and shock yourself.

Rose Cushing 27:41

I think that's really great advice, Amy. Thank you so much for being on the show today. Is there anything else you want to leave our listeners with?

SPEAKER_01 27:50

I just want to really just finish up on that one note. For young people that are coming along, young women entrepreneurs, be mindful. If you're going to be strong in any area of your life, be strong in protecting yourself. Protect your dreams, protect your goals, protect yourself because that is the most you have to only rely on yourself. So I encourage you to follow your dreams, follow your inspiration, be of service to others, and you will find a life filled with purpose and joy. And for me, it's with horses.

Rose Cushing 28:27

Absolutely. So how can people follow you and reach you if they have questions? Oh gosh, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

Well, they can become my friend on social media. I don't have a personal um page other than a private personal page, but I'm working on developing that. You can easily follow us on many of our business pages. If you have interest in what's happening with our horses, follow us on Hassinger Farms on social media, both Instagram and Facebook. If you'd like to see what we're doing in the Vecinary Clinics, please follow us on Hassinger Equine, sports medicine and rehabilitation. You can see everything we're doing medically. If you'd like to know about all of the innovations in the veterinary biomedical sphere, follow us at Hassinger Biomedical. If you'd like to learn more about our product line, follow us on Equine Healthcare International. And then again, if you have interest in one of our two stallions, either Kadoosh Vee, who is one of the winningest hunters in this country, he has his own page. And again, our big beautiful black stallion, Sir Sandro, he has a page under Sandro Stallion. So on social media, both Instagram and Facebook, you can look at any of these pages and see all of the fun, exciting new things that we're doing again to get back to the industry.

Rose Cushing 29:45

That's really awesome. And folks, do follow those pages because you will enjoy the journey very much. Thank you. Thank you for being on the show, Amy.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Well, thank you for having me, and I'm so excited to be able to connect with your listeners and hope that I can be an inspiration to them.

Rose Cushing 30:03

You have been without a doubt. And as always, guys, thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed today, guys.