Reducing sugar and adding real, natural ingredients to boost energy and overall wellness has performance horse owners flocking to feed Crypto Aero.
Sponsored By Crypto Aero
Horse owners tend toward overzealous when caring for the investment made in their partner, no matter if that horse is running patterns at the National Finals Rodeo or carrying a grandchild down a trail. Time and again, horse owners have proven that nothing short of the best is required to fuel our athletes, protect them from injury and provide comfort. When it comes to feed, Crypto Aero, a wholefood horse feed, checks all the boxes.
The name doesn’t scream “feed company,” and that is fine with founder and creator Anna Frensemeyer. Crypto Aero feed is named for a special horse, the horse that started her down the path to aiding all horses by providing an all-encompassing feed option for their owners.
“I adopted an off-the-track Thoroughbred in 2012, Crypto Aero, that the feed is named after,” she says. “He had a lot of ulcers, and it eventually turned out he had stomach and hind gut ulcers. He had to receive medicine every eight hours, so I put him in a higher performance barn closer to where I lived, and doing that, I realized that all the other horses had issues, too. There were a lot of ulcers, recurring colic, Cushings, insulin resistance, non-healing wounds, suppressed immune systems, you name it! I was surprised the horses were so unhealthy.”
A deep dive into the ingredients on the feed bag’s list shocked Frenesmeyer, who at the time was a registered nurse and involved in whole health care with patients. Her patients resembled the horses in the barn: diabetic, heart disease, gout and other ailments stemming from poor nutrition or diet management.
“When I read the feed bag, I thought ‘no wonder these horses are sick! It’s basically a vitamin pill, fillers and molasses.’ For Crypto Aero, I took him back to hay and whole oats, a feed style I grew up with, and began to research how to add other ingredients hat specifically support the immune system, joints and everything else,” she explains.
Frenesmeyer began to create a whole food, chemical-free healthy food in her kitchen. One that required less of the actual feed but more nutrition. The change in the Thoroughbred was drastic: foot growth, shine to his coat, weight added and more energy. While the horse couldn’t overcome all his issues, when Crypto Aero passed away, the necropsy showed he’d been cured of all ulcers and intestinal issues.
Her patient had shown the hunter-jumpers and other high-performance riders, and owners, there was a better path to overall equine nutrition.
“I knew I couldn’t [make feed] for all the horses the way I was doing it for mine,” Frenesmeyer says. “I was shredding papaya and cabbage and making all these ingredients in a time-consuming and expensive manner. One of my human patients gifted me $2,500 to start my business and put it in a bag. It took me about a year to find a mill because everyone about hung up on me when I said I wanted a horse feed with papaya in it!”
Armed with seed money, a recipe of human grade, natural food and a mission to help horses live better lives through overall wellness, Frenesmeyer launched Crypto Aero from her home base of Wellington, Florida.
Locally Made, Nationally Desired
Change is not always met with enthusiasm when it alters the vision of what we know, much like a colorful horse feed that is much different than the basic browns of typical whole oats, pelleted grain or sweet feed. Yet, the change is more easily accepted when it is backed by tangible results. This is the case for Frenesmeyer’s Crypto Aero.
“The [barn] veterinarian and also the other boarders started asking me about feeding what I was feeding [my horse] to help him get better,” she says. “In the beginning they were suspicious. I mean, what is rose hips for horses? I’ve grown by word of mouth, and it is because people see the change in the horse. There are fewer issues with feet, less occurrence of Cushings, insulin resistance and other such issues.”
What she needed was not to create the feed in her kitchen but to find a mass maker. So, Frenesmeyer began calling feed mills in the area. For many, the thought of including the ingredients like papaya, green cabbage, sunflower seeds, rose hips, flax seeds, green and yellow peas, and more, sounded like a prank call rather than a legitimate business proposal.
Yet, one family operated mill took a chance and said yes, Walpole Feed. Today, Crypto Aero is created in its own mixer as to not cross-contaminate with other ingredients and has its own storage room due to an increase in demand for a non-GMO, wholefood horse feed.
“They always had to clean the mixer because I was against synthetics and molasses, so they built a mixer for me. I am very much a pain in the back for my mill because of my beliefs she says. “I started the company not for profit, truly, but to give people an option to feed their horses not only to make them fat but to benefit the horse. Everything in the horse feed is human grade and the best option to put in there.”
Word spread and soon Frenesmeyer’s business was in demand not only in Florida’s horse country, but in neighboring states. It wasn’t purely high-performance English horses but also Western focused riders that wanted better nutrition for their trail and competition horses.
“My goal in the beginning was for local people to be able to obtain the food. People called [national pet food and supply company] Chewy because their feed store wasn’t going to order it for them, and Chewy brought it on so people have access to it,” says Frenesmeyer. “I believe that people should know they have the choice for a better feed. It is available for those, like me, who were frustrated with their feed choices. There is a healthy option!”
Crypto Aero is Performance Horse Approved
Kristy Lee Cook wanted her competitive barrel horses to look fit but also have the energy to compete at the highest level. Her feed wasn’t doing the job.
“You are what you eat, I believe. A person that eats better feels better and performs better, so I started looking into different kinds of feed,” says the Amarillo, Texas, barrel trainer and competitor. “I came across Crypto Aero and after researching it, I reached out to them.”
Cook joins Olympians, Laura Graves and Thorsten Zarembowicz. Team Crypto Aero riders can be found in all disciplines. This team includes esteemed dressage coach Ruth Hogan Poulsen, liberty horsemanship trainer Luke Gingerich, as well as International 5-star Eventer, Ariel Grald.
Now, all Cook’s horses are eating the original Crypto Aero feed. Cook often purchases a horse that she trains on barrels as a second career. Some of them come in looking underweight or not bright in their expression. She says that all changes on the Crypto Aero Wholehorse Feed.
“Horses that came in underweight looked amazing within a month; all my horses have shiny coats, long manes and tails, and great feet. The hoof growth is faster, and they are overall healthier. Everything improves when a horse is on Crypto Aero,” she explains.
Before and after images easily display the benefit to Kristy Lee Cook’s gray horse when it was fed Crypto Aero original feed. When Cook runs the horse, he has more power.
“In a 30-, 45-, 60-day transformation, I have seen all my horses just make the best improvements. There is more natural energy. I’ve had my horses on the feed for four years now and it has made a difference. I love that feed; it is such great feed.”
It is not only the horse feed that Cook relies on, but she has also fed the company’s Crypto Aero Top Chick Layer Feed. The entire Cook animal family relies on the chemical-free, healthy feed. And, it has made a difference.
“I haven’t seen a feed work better on all my horses before. I feed that grain and hay, nothing else. They all love it and all eat it,” she says. “It is healthy, good and a whole food for them. There is no need to feed anything else.”
Challenge, Accepted
When Frenesmeyer started her company, it was not to sell feed but to support horse health. Today, Crypto Aero offers two kinds of horse feed, Crypto Aero Wholehorse Feed and Crypto Aero Wild Forage, as well as horse supplements. She also offers chicken and goat feed, and even Crypto Aero Canine.
The desire to feed animals without synthetics, chemicals, GMOS or sugary fillers like molasses matches most people’s desire to eat better for long-term health care.
“The biggest testimonials and feedback we get is that the horses are able to digest it and feel better,” Frenesmeyer says. “Horses that are girthy or kept having repeated colic or gas colic, those horses improved. Mood changes is also one comment I hear over and over; the horse is happier or more willing to work. I believe that goes directly to having a healthier gut. There is nice hoof growth on the horses on this feed, too, and their immune systems improve, and many have less allergies.”
With a mill that believes in her product and a business model that stresses putting the money into the feed and not into the marketing, Frenesmeyer is able to provide care to unhealthy horses like her own Crypto Aero to enrich their lives.
“Sometimes, I miss nursing because it was always nice to take care of someone that needs your help, but it was a bit sad because the patients kept coming back,” Frenesmeyer says. “With Crypto Aero feed, I see a horse get better and stay well. That is a positive change for me, personally. The horses just get better and receiving those messages it truly uplifting.”
With national distribution through Chewy, SmartPak and in close to 150 stores, and a passionate team invested in creating products to benefit horses, and all animals, Crypto Aero is more than feed. It is providing wellness to equine athletes that give their all to their riders.
For more information, visit cryptoaero.com.
