Cannabidiol is everywhere—online, in stores and top-of-mind for personal care product formulators around the world. But Trove CBD’s backstory is truly unique. Co-founders Sam Carter and his mother Deborah created the company after searching for a way to cure their horse’s severe muscle twitching which was uncontrollable and constant.


“After nine months of veterinary care, nothing was working,” recalled Carter. “As a last ditch effort, we began an oral trial of CBD and the results were nearly immediate! She was a totally different animal! Her head was out of the stall and we could touch and pet her.”


CBD was nothing new to Sam; he had been using CBD for a couple of years to treat various sports injuries. Realizing that there wasn’t anything like it on the market for animals, Sam, a project manager, and Deborah, an attorney, formed Trove; they were aided by Sam’s father, a retired PhD chemist who created lab standards for the US EPA.


“Our quality control standards are a cornerstone of our brand,” insisted Carter. “We’ve moved CBD out of the seedy world of head shops and into cosmetic counters and natural food stores.”


According to Carter, many of the products available on Amazon don’t contain CBD; instead, they contain hemp seed and Omega-3 oils.


“They’re misleading. We wanted to create something that is trustworthy and has effective CBD concentrations. It all started with a horse, but now we make products for people, horses, dogs and cats.”


The Carters moved quickly. Star was successfully treated in early 2017; by the end of the year, Trove was formed and products debuted in September, 2018.


Colorado is a hotbed for CBD, and before starting Trove, Carter had tried many of them to alleviate his aches and pains.

“There are a lot of products out there, but they taste and smell like weed,” he explained. “Our products smell great.”

Trove is available in a range of fragrances like peppermint, green tea and lavender, and bergamot and jasmine. For people, there’s a body balm, which contains 750mg of CBD per 1.7oz jar; capsules, which contain 25mg of CBD per capsule; massage oil and CBD extract in organic medium chain triglyceride coconut oil.

“There are only about a dozen top-shelf CBD companies out there making good products. Others make unscrupulous claims and they won’t be around long,” Carter predicted. “It will be very interesting to see where FDA regulation goes and what new science will come into the space. It is very exciting!”

And should make for an interesting horse race, indeed!