Gumbits: A Recipe for Success

Having tried the known methods, Elizabeth Kane turned to an idea of her own and from that idea has emerged a whole new product and a whole new business – GumBits, a sort of chewing gum for horses. Partnering with her in this venture is her good friend, Shereen Fuqua of Collecting Gaits Farm in Alpharetta, Georgia, Collecting Gaits Farm is well-known for its sponsorship of events such as the annual Festival of Champions in Gladstone, New Jersey. And in fact, this year, GumBits joined as a sponsor. Although Kane won’t divulge her recipe, she will say that GumBits is made from the highest-quality ingredients, of which sugar and sweeteners are a big part, and everything in it is safe for humans. “I encourage people to chew on some themselves to try it out.”

The business of GumBits started in Kane’s kitchen more than two years ago. “I formulated some ideas and then I got in my kitchen and just tried to figure out something I could feed her every day that was palatable and that she’d take as a treat,” she said. “And, I wanted something that would last so it would address the teeth grinding.”

If you feed a horse a handful of GumBits right before tacking up, it will last about 45 minutes or more, long enough to get through a schooling session or a warm-up and test ride.

As Kane’s secret recipe took shape, she decided she’d need a bit of help and hired a professional consultant from the food industry. “I kind of had an idea of the ingredients I wanted to use, but I didn’t know how I would process the product because there are so many machines out there. It’s just amazing the different machines used to make food for humans and animals. There is this one huge machine that just makes dog food nuggets.”