The Ponease Scam #1 – We’ve all been taken for a ride…

This article is an introduction to a fascinating web that’s unraveling in the world of equine supplements….

My original plan was to live out my life long dream of being a true crime detective and release it all in one juicy podcast.

However, it might take MONTHS to get through it all.

Meanwhile, it’s been playing on my mind that there are potentially thousands of people getting scammed and thousands of horses at risk…and to me, it didn’t seem ethical to keep quiet about what I’ve found so far.

Please consider this the prologue and be assured that every single thing I’ve said here, I can prove beyond doubt 😎

The Ponease Scam

Like most people who unwittingly get tied up in a scam, I had the usual feels. I was angry but I was also pretty ashamed. I felt like a bit of a twat for getting involved in the first place.

But that’s the great thing about scam stories isn’t it?

You get to hear about shitty people doing shitty things, all the while thinking…

“OK… But how could YOU be so stupid??“

And I agree – there were red flags along the way – but as is so often the case, the pieces only fell into place when I had the clarity of hindsight 🙄

When I release the podcast I’ll go into greater detail about the things that made my spidey senses spike – but for the benefit of this article, I’ll try and make it brief. 

How it began…

It all started about a year ago, in June 2023 when I was doing the marketing for an equine ulcer medication company.

For anyone playing at home who’s not into horses – let’s just say equine gastric ulcers are extremely common and the horse community are often, en masse, seeking a ‘miracle cure’. 

While doing that work, it didn’t take long for me to run out of stuff to say in my social media posts – so in order to come up with fresh topics, I joined a few horse ulcer groups on Facebook. 

By far the biggest of these was a group called Feeding Horses with Ulcers which had more than 30,000 members… 

And just before you click away to search it – I’ll provide all the links to anything I mention at the bottom of this article so you can do your own detective work. 

It was (and at the time of writing still is) run by an independent horse nutritionist called Lorraine Hughes who has a Masters of Science and is doing her PhD research into equine gastric ulcers at Hartpury University (at least according to her profile).

There was plenty of good info in the group and it wasn’t long before I noticed that there was a product called Ponease, getting rave reviews from what felt like hundreds of people in the UK. 

And right on cue, the good horse people from Australia became low key obsessed with this new miracle cure and the group was peppered with questions like:

“Do they ship overseas?”

“When will it be available in Australia?” 

So me – seeing dollar signs – started to wonder if there was a business opportunity there… 

And what eventually spurred me into action, was one morning when the group admin Lorraine, posted about Ponease and casually mentioned she’d seen some incredible results in a soon-to-be released scientific study. 

“Bingo!” I thought to myself

“Why don’t I become the Aussie distributor? There’s clearly huge buzz about this product and when this study is finally published, the demand will go through the roof!”

So off I went for 6 tedious months of liaising with Ponease, Australian Customs and the Australian Pesticides and Vet Medicines Authority in order to get this stuff into the country. 

Unsurprisingly, there were strict rules around how I could promote the as yet un-proven product and there were also rigid biosecurity hoops to jump through. 

I sold a few pre-orders while the freight was in transit and then eventually, in December 2023 the first shipment arrived on the shores of Australia.

But when I tore open the cartons for the thing that was surely my ticket to financial freedom and saviour of horses all around the globe – my heart sunk. 

Actually it didn’t just sink… It was gripped with panic and fear. 

I noticed instantly that the PDF product label I’d provided to Ponease (to ensure the product complied with Australian regulations) had been doctored. 

The messaging required from a legal perspective was missing and most alarmingly the entire ingredients list was deleted.

Gone.

Vanished. 

Not rubbed off… the whole part about what was inside the bottle had been removed from my allegedly uneditable document. 

How it even got through Customs is a mystery to me… but I digress. 

Quietly shitting my pants and conscious that I’d dumped a fair bit of our combined cash into this little venture, I went straight to Anth and said

“I’ve done something dumb…” 

And after listening for a few minutes he gave me some sage advice… 

“Look.. You can earn more money but you can’t earn back your integrity”

 “Can you IMAGINE what our vet would say if you said ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been giving Shades this stuff with mystery ingredients and now he’s lying on the ground groaning.. Don’t worry though, it’s got heaps of rave reviews on Facebook’’… 

“Only it could be SO MUCH WORSE because you’d be sending this to other people’s horses”

“Listen…It’s bad…But not the end of the world. Just pull it down from the website immediately and we’ll figure out another way to get by”

So that’s what I did…

 Surly and pissed off that I was now $20k in the hole due to some fibbing company on the other side of the world, I immediately suspended it from sale.

And just incase you’re wondering….there’s still a pallet of the stuff sitting in my shed smirking at me every single day 🤣 

Anyway, in order to move on with my life, I made a conscious decision to let it go with as little resentment as possible.

However, I did drop a line to the Integrity people at Hartpury University about the concerns I had with the Lorraine, their PhD student and administrator of the group. 

I believed that if it wasn’t for her supposed sighting of the ‘study’, her so-called independent advice and PhD credentials – I may not have ever been in this mess.

And there was something else I wanted to flag…

You see, earlier in the piece – the Ponease had suggested I pay Lorraine a commission on the sale of these products.

And I was ok with that 🤷‍♀️

She had clout because she was working in the research department at an equine University after all…

And from a marketing perspective – plenty of people work as affiliates and she had an audience of more than 30,000 people. 

So after the pre-order sales were complete, I sent through the commission to her Paypal as she asked.

But then I noticed something weird…

A few days after I made my first (and last) payment to her , I saw that Lorraine was denying having any commercial association with the product.

Furthermore, she kept insisting that she had NEVER received any money for her glowing reviews.

“Hmmmm…” I thought to myself. 

“That’s weird…Why would she do that”…

So I called her out over Messenger.

Anyway.. Over the next few months I just kinda moved onwards and upwards with my life… and so, fortuitously did my Google rankings. 

See… ya girl is a pretty good (albeit unemployed) marketer.

And during that time while I was waiting for Government approval, I’d put in a lot of legwork to ensure that my business would appear at the top of Google searches. 

And now that my websites had a big banner explaining that I was no longer selling the product due to ‘ethical and legal concerns’ it was causing a few problems for Ponease. 

Not to mention, the other Aussie supplier who was then (and apparently still is) OK with selling things that have deliberately obscured ingredients 🤷‍♀️

Anyway…while it did make me feel a bit smug when I saw questions come up like “What actually ARE the legal and ethical concerns?” 

I wasn’t quite so zen when I saw the responses.

I am human and I really did feel triggered when I’d see Lorraine (and other randoms) respond saying that I was a trouble maker, a liar… and my personal favourite 

“My friend knows her and she’s completely unstable”

All the while,  insisting the product was FINE… just fine. It was just me that had a problem with the truth 😒

So one day I decided to have a bit of a stalk…

I wanted to know who these weirdos were – especially the ones saying that they knew me.

And what I found was probably the greatest astroturfing situation I have see in in real life 🤯

Astroturfing…

‘Astroturfing’ is defined as an organized activity, intended to create a false impression of a widespread, grassroots movement.

In reality, however – it’s initiated by a concealed group or a single account with multiple profiles. 

Grassroots, fake… astroturf… Geddit?🤣

Anyhoo – while I’ve zeroed in on about 40 funky lookin’ social media profiles, there’s a couple that I’d like to draw your attention to. 

Namely the two administrators of the following groups:

• Ponease Fan Club

• Horses with ulcers Europe

• Horses with ulcers USA & Canada

• Horses with ulcers Australia & New Zealand.

First up we have, a chap by the name of ‘Edwards Stephen’ 

Yes, Edwards.

With an S.

According to his profile, he’s a vet scientist and equine scientist AND works at Kentucky Equine Research. 

Which you’d imagine would keep him quite busy… 

Well, mercifully he’s got enough spare time to keep us all updated about Ponease.

 In fact sometimes he even shares his own Ponease posts up to 17 times just to make sure we’re all across his favourite product.

It’s a bit weird though –  innit?

That Old Mate Edwards, the Vet, the one who allegedly works for arguably the world leader in Equine nutrition, finds all this time to post about another company’s product?

 Weirder still that Kentucky Equine Research creates their own research backed ulcer products (ones with ACTUAL proven results….🤔)

And yet…here he is, our mate Edwards… selflessly setting up groups around the world to keep us informed about Ponease.

The same Ponease that doctored it’s labels to get it into Australia?

And while I leave you to ponder the immense generosity of Edward with an S… Let’s take a look at his co-admin Sarah Hughes. 

Sarah, like many of the very vocal supporters of Ponease is partial to hair extensions.

In fact, A LOT of these perplexing profiles are nearly as enthusiastic about their favourite hair extension brand as they are about Ponease. 

It’s an odd combination to me… but if you’ve seen my abominable frizz on those sexy stories I do from my treadmill in the mornings, you’ll understand why I don’t quite get it 😜

And look..even though I’m not great with hair, I am pretty good with Google.

And I am quite confused about how so many of these profiles (who appear to live over the world) are also incredibly passionate about a few hair extension businesses, based just a stone’s throw from where Ponease is made. 

Sigh…..Aren’t these coincidences exhausting? 😩

Anyway, let’s move on…. I’ll link to a few of these profiles at the bottom of the article – including my personal favourite, Channel.

That’s her name.

Channel Louise..

CHAN-NEL 🤣

And while I was wondering whether her creator perhaps intended her name to be Chanel, like Coco Chanel, designer of all things glamorous in this world.. I became much more enchanted by this raving Ponease fan and her changing eye colour ( & missing mole).

But hey… As you know aesthetics is not really my thing so you be the judge.

The Actual Product & Ingredients

At this point I’m going to share with you a direct quote from the ingredients on the Ponease product listing as it stands today.

Mainly because it’s too good not to share. 

​​”A blend of various herbs and ingredients is meticulously prepared and cooked at a specific temperature to release their beneficial properties. 

After this initial cooking phase, the mixture is then subjected to a precise steaming process and allowed to rest and set over a designated period of time“

Fuck me sideways… 🤣🤣

It’s the ‘precise steaming process’ for me.

I can’t tell you how how many times I’ve been caught out by products that have imprecise steaming processes… and don’t get me started on the ones that rest outside of their designated periods 🙄

I mean, Jesus Christ, gals…we’re not gestating a child, here… It’s some clay and water… and yes, we’re getting to that.

So let’s say we’re using the flagship product Ulc Fix as an example…. In the USA, a 2 litre bottle retails for $130, in the UK it costs £90 and in Australia it’s $220.

Of that, approximately 93% is water and then there’s some calcium carbonate, bentonite and peppermint oil thrown in – amongst other things. 

So let’s do some very rough, back of the napkin maths, shall we?

Calcium carbonate costs about $1.50/kg and bentonite is around $4kg. Peppermint oil is oh I dunno… $15/litre. 

So if we take a 2 litre bottle and fill it 93% of the way full of water before adding all these things and even some gold flakes and saffron for good measure – it still wouldn’t cost more than $6 would it? 

And it sells for $220 😱

I mean, I do enjoy a good markup but… Sheesh that precise steaming must cost a FORTUNE! 🤣

Again, there is A LOT more to the backstory with the ingredients.. And it’s something I’ll cover in much more detail in the podcast… But for now, that’s what they’ve got on the website today – so that’s what we’ll work with 😉

So who’s the REAL person behind Ponease?

Well according to the slightly more truthful corners of the Internet, her name is Samantha Jane Kelly. And according to the mainstream media – she’s right into rescue dogs.

So much so that she included her dogs (and the media) in her wedding – which would be kinda cute if she wasn’t such a cunt.

And I don’t know about you – but I feel like there should be a ‘no cunts’ policy enforced with anything to do with rescue animals..although, I guess she might say the same about me when she reads this article 🤷‍♀️

Aside from that.. You guys i’ve found THE STRANGEST THING!

You’d never guess it.. but there was a hair extension company called SJK Hair Extenions based just near Ponease HQ about 10 years ago.

The business was given a few shit reviews and yet – there was this one profile that that just..kept…astroturfing on this Hair Extension forum I’ll link to below.

It was SO odd.. 🤯

And with those initials 🤔

What are the chances??

So what’s next?

Obviously I’ve been playing this over in my head and here’s what I think might happen. 

Needless to say there will be some deleting. Mass deleting maybe.

Aside from that, I think Edward with an S, Channel One (and Two), Sarah Hughes and their 40 closest hair extension, equine ulcer loving friends might go quiet.

For a while.

They might even remove themselves and their comments completely before coming back under a whole suite of new names. 

Secondly, I guess I should be expecting some kind of threatening correspondence from one or more of the actual people at Ponease. See, a few months ago they offered me $500 to shut the hell up..

But between you and me, I don’t think they’ll be so generous this time… 

Of course, when they do make contact, they might kindly satisfy my curiosity about why they have duplicate business addresses? And where they’re allowed to legally manufacture these products? 🤔

Who knows..💅

But the third and probably most disconcerting option I’ve been mulling over has the been the thought of a retaliation smear campaign, doxxing or something to that effect.

Hopefully they have realised how anti-climatic it would be to go sharing my nudes, when I tend to so willingly do that myself 🤷‍♀️

But as far as smear campaigns.. I got a little taste of one yesterday from Lorraine (remember her, the PhD Candidate from way back in the story?)…

Because the other day I contacted her with my findings… and asked if she wanted to share her side of the story before I posted it online.

To me it didn’t quite add up… 🤓

I couldn’t figure out why she’d risk her entire reputation and all those years of education to be associated with something like this… and so I decided that just incase she was coerced – she deserved the opportunity to share her side of the story. 

And you know what?

…if she happened to say “I have made a TERRIBLE mistake..” I probably would have left her out of it – because I’ll think you’ll agree, the astroturfing, the hair extensions, the cunt and the fake profiles all make this a pretty good yarn, don’t they?

But she didn’t…

So here we are 👍

Lorraine’s response was to not respond… Instead she made a dramatic announcement that I have orchestrated a deliberate and malicious hate campaign against her. 

Now Lorraine loves to play the victim so I expect she’ll get wind of this article and come back again with some kind of bullying and harassment claim.

Yawn. 

I think it’s worth remembering that when you grandstand about being a PhD Candidate and INSIST that you’re independent, and have never been paid to spruik a certain product….All to deceive 30,000 people into buying a product that you do, in fact get paid for… 

Well…people might call it truth telling – not bullying 🤷‍♀️

Because, what is happening here is that people are feeding their horses something that’s fraudulent and potentially unsafe.  

No one even knows what’s in it.

And even though us horse folk aren’t idiots..we can be easily persuaded when we get desperate.

And while we expect to be covered by consumer law and protected against this stuff happening – it’s clearly not the case.

The system seems a bit broken doesn’t it?

For what it’s worth, I’ve followed up with Hartpury University twice since February.

They have said both times that they’re unable to comment on the situation due to confidentiality… but I just cant help but wonder, with all this info… why they wouldn’t publicly distance themselves?

Obviously, it’s not for me to say… but I’d be cleaning that up quick smart if I were in their shoes 🤷‍♀️

Seriously – back when I worked for a University, we had to declare EVERYTHING….

(And yes, I’m hoping you noticed that subtle flex that I have not always been an unemployed nudist…it’s more a thing I’ve grown to embrace in my 40s) but seriously, EVERYTHING… right down to commemorative teaspoons had to be recorded on this register so we could be safe from allegations of conflicts of interest.

But hey… perhaps it’s different over there… 🤷‍♀️👩‍🎓

Are YOU worried about ME worrying about defamation?

Nope.

 Because here’s a universal truth. 

‘A statement is not defamatory if it is true or substantially true’ 

And also, just imagine…

If this is what I’m willing to publish now.. Take a guess at what else I’ve got going on behind the scenes while I get this podcast prepared 🤓

It’s juicy AF. There are more groups, more products. MUCH, MUCH, MORE… 🕵️‍♀️

Sign up to my newsletter below if you’d like to know when the podcast is released… or if I go to jail 🤣

Either way it will be a blast.

What happened next?

A few days later, I posted Part Two…

Read it here – Ponease Scam; The Fallout.

Important Links

Facebook Groups:

Feeding Horses with Ulcers

Ponease Fan Club

Horses with Ulcers Australia & New Zealand

‘Unusual’ Facebook Profiles 😜:

Edwards Stephen

Sarah Hughes

Channel Louise

Fiona Ferguson

Dana Smith

+ SO MANY MORE….

Seriously, just go and visit a few of those groups listed above (especially the Ponease Fan Club, Horses With Ulcers Australia and NZ & Horses with Ulcers USA & Canada).. You’ll be AMAZED at how many names seem to pop up repeatedly 🤣

Other Links:

SJK Hair Extensions on the Hair Extensions Forum