A hero for horse owners
Northwest Alabama’s Life Data Labs helps horses around the world By Jennifer Crossley Howard
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n first stepping into the manufacturing plant at Life Data Spencer said determining how to store energy to use on such days Labs, the clean, earthy aroma of teatree oil and alfalfa reis on the list of things to do. mind you of a natural foods store. But this place is actu“On sunny days, we make more energy than we can use,” he said. ally one of the most sought-after animal nutrition and healthcare The Northeast and California are the business’ biggest U.S. marproduct businesses in the world. kets. Clients include breeders, rodeo trainers in Texas and quarter The majority of its clients are concentrated in the United States horse owners in the Shoals who ride the trails. and the United Kingdom, and the bestselling The brand’s logo that adorns most of its slick products are made in Cherokee, Ala., populapackaging — an engraved drawing of a stepping tion: 1,050. horse — fits the business’ nod to old-school valAlong this three-mile stretch on U.S. 72 in ues and dedication to the future. It would look western Colbert County sit the manufacturing at home in the yellowed pages of an animal and office headquarters of Life Data Labs, the anatomy book. efforts of a local veterinarian who took a chance But for all its global reach, some of the most on an idea. loyal customers of Life Data live down the road In the 1980s, Dr. Frank Gravlee decided to in and around northwest Alabama. The Robgive up animal medicine to study a supplement bins family that operates the Bluewater Creek that nourishes and strengthens horse hooves. Polo Club in Killen uses it on their horses, as Called Farrier’s Formula, it is the business’ top does Bob Baffert, a thoroughbred trainer in selling product and is sold in more than 40 California, whose horses have won Kentucky countries. Its name is an ode to specialists who Derbies and Triple Crowns. care for horse hooves. As a story of risk typically goes, critics first The heart of Gravlee’s business philosophy Farrier’s Formula is Life Data Labs’ topunderestimated Gravlee when he debuted Farharkens back to the one he started his journey selling product. rier’s Formula. for: the horse. “When he first developed this formula, he “Dr. Gravlee has always said if you help a horse, he’ll help you called it Skin and Coat,” Spencer says. “Tack stores wouldn’t sell it, back,” says Darryl Spencer, chief financial officer of Life Data Labs. so he went it to the state farrier organization.” Gravlee’s business acumen follows a similar notion. Its marriage Changing the name to Farrier’s Formula helped by appealing to of local business and forward-thinking practices, such as solar ena hardworking trade, Spencer says. Farriers shoe horses every six ergy that drives production and vacuum-sealed products to preweeks, and found Gravlee’s formula worked and liked that it was serve shelf life, are what distinguish Life Data Labs. made in state. A yard full of solar panels sit out back, but today it is cloudy. A horse’s livelihood depends on its hooves. Properly tending to
Life Data Labs ships internationally from its headquarters in Colbert County, Ala.
20 AUGUST 2017
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