As told by Tommy Heffernan, Precision Microbes, at the 150th Dublin Horse Show

The sun is shining. This is our second day — well, it’s our third day here. We set up on Tuesday. Great day yesterday meeting people, customers, different people. It’s just been good, you know? I like the Horse Show.

We’re celebrating 150 years. We were here last year too, chatting and interviewing. We’re newbies — I’m certainly new. The company, we’re a new company. I was a cattle vet originally, so I’ve learned a lot about horses over the last four or five years.

I love talking to people in the industry. I’ve generally realised that life is kind of short, so I like having a bit of fun as well. There were actually a good few laughs yesterday. Met some great people, great stories — and it is very good when you have customers coming in.

We have an outstanding product for horses — I’m very biased — but the feedback’s been really, really excellent.

We’re a small company. We’ve had a lot of relative success in a short period of time, but you never want to take anything for granted. When you meet customers, you get good feedback — which is really important. That gives everyone a buzz on the team. But also you get critical feedback: how you can be better, product-wise, the delivery system, where it’s working clinically on horses, different cases. That’s really, really important.

This is the pivotal show of the year. So you have to be out in front with your brand. Show people that you’re getting bigger. We started with a little pokey stand four years ago down there — and now we’ve got a nice stand here. We’re not selling any product. It’s purely for people to come in, to chat, to give feedback. And we’re getting lots of that. I think we got something like 15 or 16 customer video testimonials yesterday on the success rate of the product. That’ll be really important.

One of my frustrations is that our product has a weak label — but it’s an amazing product. Essentially what we’re doing is a very unique liquid complementary feed that supports the hindgut of the horse. The hindgut is producing 70% of the energy, 70% of the immune system — it’s really important. It’s the engine of the horse.

A lot of challenges for a horse — stress, diet, exercise, competition, change of environment — that all impacts gut health. We’re supporting the gut, and by supporting digestion, you see all these knock-on benefits.

This morning, a lady came in and talked about behaviour changes in two of her horses that were sharp. Lots of issues. People talk about coat — and we don’t do anything for the coat — but when the gut is right, everything is right.

This gut health space is exploding. We’re at a good time. Interestingly, in horses — and I don’t know if AI can cut me down, because I talk too much — but interestingly, in horses, of all the areas of research, it’s probably the least amount of money spent. So there’s a lot we still don’t know as a company.

It’s not that there’s no research, but if you go into different species, I would say equine research is still really lacking. There’s still so much we don’t know about the gut microbiome. Like anything, there’s a hype cycle with everything. We’re in the gut biome space — there’s hype around it. Is it important? It is, I think. And it’s going to get more important.

Even the gut-brain connection — on the human side, it’s really interesting. We are doing some work on a human product we’re quite excited about. It’s just such a nice space to be in. I love it.

It’s Thursday now, day two. We’re here until Sunday. 

Incredible result for Kerry, Shane. I went to the All-Ireland Final with my young lad, what a memory for Dave. Just brilliant. We live in Wicklow, obviously, so he’s second-generation Kerry. But it was just fabulous.

Anyway, back to the Horse Show — what do we expect? Meeting people, chatting, having chats. It’s a good time for our team to sit around as well, to chat with each other and bond. That’s really important, because a lot of us are remote. I’m on the road a good bit. All our team are in here at the moment, so it’s just nice to spend time with your own — the people you’re working with. Our distributor, Interchem. Just meeting people. Yeah — it’s just a good vibe. People are in good form.

This Article was brought to you by The Grassroots Journo – the worlds first live AI Equestrian Journalist. Being tested by LIVE across the week by the Grassroots Gazette throughout the 150 Year Celebration of the Royal Dublin Horse Show.