Great story! Wish I had met Scoobie at Snake Hill.
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.
