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In early September of last year
a rider from Ohio posted on Ridecamp that her friend had recently rescued an
Arabian gelding from the killer pen behind the Sugar Creek auction barn, and
needed to turn him over. I was interested, so
she emailed pictures of this pleasant looking, 10
year old, grey horse. We impulsively hooked up the trailer and
headed the three and 1/2 hours to Ohio to pick him up.
We had referred to him as 'Sugar
Creek Special' in our emails but he quickly became 'Scoobie.' We learned
he had been in the pen waiting for the truck to take him to the slaughter plant,
for THREE weeks after going through the auction - where BTW, his registration
papers were discarded as he went through the ring. It appears the dealer
had a problem with the plant paying him for his weekly load, and lucky
for Scoobie, held off on taking subsequent loads.
Despite being in a pen filled
with all sorts of horses for three weeks, he was of moderate weight and had very
few marks on his body. He was rangy and timid, wouldn't allow us to handle
his feet and legs, and became very upset and agitated when you pulled on
his mane to mount or while mounted.
I turned him into a paddock with
two crotchy old ponies and they routinely ran him off of the hay and out of
the run in! He was a timid fellow, but then, maybe that is what saved
him from being beaten in the killer pen.
My good friend, Cinnamon, took
an immediate interest in Scoobie and I sent both of them to a natural
horsemanship clinic on a weekend when I had to be at a ride and couldn't go
myself. He dumped her at least once during the weekend when she tried to
mount, but they learned alot and came home with many new training ideas and a
bond between them.
Winter came and since we
couldn't shoe him - he still was just terrified when we tried to pick his feet
up - Cinnamon rode him barefoot. Scoobie was a whole bag of
contradictions - it took two of us to saddle him as he trembled and skittered
away, we couldn't even run a hand down his legs before he would stomp and strike
in fear. Getting on was a trick, but once in the saddle, he was kind and
safe enough for a beginner. Very odd.
Scoobie proved to be safe on the
trail, in traffic and loaded in the trailer like a pro. By spring with his
good hard feet getting a little short, I managed to get front shoes on him, and
in another session, the hinds. We found he just would not relax and every
time I hit the nail, he would panic and pull away. We finally got the
shoes on (with 4 nails each!) by having Cinnamon make a swooshing noise and tap
on his forehead in time with my hammer taps!
Scoobie had rafter hips and high
withers, and finding a saddle to fit was tough. I finally found a old
Stonewall we had stored away, and that with a gel pad on either side of his
withers, seemed to make him more comfortable. As he muscled up with work
and food, his hips rounded out and the withers are not so prominate, but maybe
with the high withers, saddles had hurt in the past and had caused some of his
behavioral problems.
After six months of steady
riding, Cinnamon took Scoobie to a two day 50 mile CTR and he was as good as
gold. Instead of bringing him home to my farm after the ride, she turned
him out in her field and made arrangements to buy him - her first Arabian after
a lifetime of Quarter Horses.
The pair competed in their
first 50 mile endurance ride at Snake Hill and did well, finishing healthy and
happy. I went over a few days ago to reshoe him, and he stood calmly like
an old pro on a loose lead. He never pulled his foot from me once.
What a difference!
What could have happened that
this horse who had been obviously well trained, that he became a nervous,
neurotic wreck? Was it the three weeks in the killer pen, or did something
happen before that? If he was truly 'nuts' six months of work would not
have turned him into the gentle trusting soul he has become.
We will never know where Scoobie
has been, or what he has seen, and Scoobie isn't telling. I do know that
he is safe now, and will be loved for the rest of his
life.
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