By Britney Grover
Elizabeth Ehrlich and Kimberly Ercius operate completely different aspects of their company, Equine Elixirs, but together, they’ve created a thriving, cohesive company beyond anything they could have imagined growing up together in New York. “Building Equine Elixirs together is only the tip of the iceberg for our partnership,” Kim said. “When we were kids, our parents had us alternate weekends showing and grooming for each other so that we were always partners on the same team. That experience set the tone for a lifetime of teamwork.”
From her base in Orinda, California, Kim manages the digital and customer-facing aspects of Equine Elixirs, from e-commerce and branding to social media and marketing. In Wellington, Florida, Liz oversees research and development, creation of new products, manufacturing and distribution. Their winning combination results in Equine Elixirs being what it is: a customer-centric company providing natural, effective products to support horses of every discipline—including for riders like McLain Ward, John French, Victoria Colvin, Jimmy Torano, Georgina Bloomberg and Kristen Vanderveen.
How did you become part of the horse world?
Kim: Liz and I grew up riding together in North Salem, New York. Since our parents started us out so young, it’s impossible to remember a time before horses. It was love at first ride for both of us, and that led to a childhood filled with horse shows, tack room camaraderie and a passion we would never shake. From one horse, it quickly became two horses, three horses, breeding horses—and now we both have careers with horses, which is exciting beyond our wildest dreams.
What is your involvement with horses now?
Liz: I spend part of every day with my own horse, Bella. I ride most days of the week, but even if I’m not riding, I’m very involved and hands-on in her daily care, grooming, turnout and feeding. I usually keep a folding chair outside her stall so that I can even take calls and respond to emails from the aisle. My background was in hunter-jumper but I also really enjoy dressage.
Kim: These days, the majority of my time is spent working with our customers to improve their horses’ health. It’s an enormous joy to be welcomed into their programs and given the ability to follow along with their incredible transformations.
When did you start your company and what gave you the idea?
Liz: I started the company about 8 years ago. Bella had ulcers that didn’t respond successfully to traditional gastroprotective therapies. I tried several supplements on the market at the time with little success, and was determined to create something that worked. After having done a tremendous amount of research and consulting with veterinarians and trainers, I created Ulceraser. Bella has remained ulcer-free since starting Ulceraser 8 years ago, and that was the first supplement in the Equine Elixirs product line.
What part does your company play in the horse world?
Liz: Equine Elixirs is focused on providing innovative, high-quality and effective all-natural, whole-food-based supplements. Many companies create products with a one-size-fits-all mentality, or products that are non-palatable, full of fillers, very expensive and ineffective. We listen to what our customers—and their horses—want, and have the flexibility, desire and ability to provide high-touch service. For example, we can often substitute ingredients in our products to remove an allergen, or we can customize pre-mixed bulk blends.
What’s the best part about having an equestrian company?
Kim: Spending so much time interacting with our customers and their horses makes me feel like a kid at the barn again. You might be surprised at the level of detail that we know about many of our customers’ horses—everything from the quality of their local grass to medical history to treat preferences, etc. The time that we’ve invested in getting to personally know so many of our customers has turned into one of our biggest strengths.
Liz: I love being able to take equine nutrition, a topic I’m extremely knowledgeable and passionate about, and share it with people and horses who can truly benefit from a change in what they feed. There is tremendous satisfaction that comes from knowing that we can improve the daily lives of horses and their riders.
What challenges do you face?
Kim: The departments that I manage—e-commerce, marketing, PR, social media, and branding—are notorious for changing constantly. Staying on top of trends and trying to continuously innovate is one of the biggest ongoing challenges. The other big challenge within my departments is finding ways to take the products that Liz formulates and make the entire purchasing process joyful. Even though the products address very serious equine issues, we want our customers to have a surprisingly enjoyable experience during every single touch point with us, from social media to email communication to website chats.
Liz: These days, just finding enough warehouse space is a big challenge! Something that makes Equine Elixirs unique in the supplement industry is that we do zero contract manufacturing, and we have a retail storefront as part of our warehouse where customers can come by and purchase the products in person as well as take taster samples from our supplement bar. Every Equine Elixirs supplement is manufactured in-house in Wellington, Florida. Not only do we have a lot of machines and moving parts, but to ensure we have a steady supply of ingredients, we import our own ingredients from across the globe.
What great things have happened because of your business?
Kim: One of the best things about what Equine Elixirs has become is that we have built a world-class infrastructure in terms of people and facilities, which allows us to dream big. We’re at a point where we can take on large, innovative projects, and that excites us to no end.
Liz: On a daily basis I feel honored to be able to consult with riders and trainers that I admire. It’s such a thrill to be included in the nutrition-related decision-making for their top horses.
What advice would you give to other women considering entering the business world within the equestrian market?
Kim: Surround yourself with people who are experts in their respective fields. The conventional wisdom “cheap advice is the most expensive” is critical to understand when building a business. We’ve surrounded ourselves with experts in everything from food science to e-commerce to custom machinery design. I would always recommend taking on the extra expense of working with the very best in each field, and am certain that much of our success has come from that.
What’s the best-kept secret about what you do?
Kim: We joke that we are each other’s secret weapon. With such vastly different skill sets, there is almost nothing we are both good at—but between us, we feel like we have the ability to build just about anything we can dream of. Since we manage such different departments, we almost never take meetings together. We have a clear delineation of who the decision maker will be on any given topic, so unless we’re looking for advice from each other, we rarely need to discuss most decisions. You might also be surprised if you saw the volume of texts we send to each other throughout the day—a large portion of which are .gifs—and how our phone calls either last five seconds or one hour.
What’s the best thing about your life?
Kim: My family, of course! In terms of my “work life,” the best thing is having a business partner who feels like an extension of myself.
Liz: In some ways, every day is both predictable and different so I get the best of both worlds. I know that every day I’m going to be surrounded by horses and people who are passionate about improving their horses’ lives. But on a daily basis, I also have no idea whom I’m going to meet, and what issues we have to solve.
For more information, visit equineelixirs.com or follow @equineelixirs on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Photo by Giana Terranova Photography
