~ Welcome to Epic Farms ~
WooHoo Winter! Brrrr :o)
He came with Retta and Max from an owner who was no longer able to feed or care for them. He is an Appaloosa horse, stands about 15.1 hands high (what is a hand?) and was used as a trail horse (a dead broke one according to his former owner). Cinnamon suffered from back problems (which he informed us of by constant ducking and bucking) and some serious mealtime issues. Horses are definite creatures of habit and do best when they are fed consistently on a schedule. Because these three were only fed sometimes and they were loose when fed, they would all but attack anyone carrying a bucket and fight furiously over the feed itself. It took almost a solid month of consistent meals two times every day for them to settle in to the routine before we were able to move them into a position in the "chow line". The first couple of times we fed them felt like a suicide attempt, although they were in the riding area separate from the rest of the horses it was extremely dangerous as they were unused to a routine and therefore had developed a "get it while you can" attitude towards all feed. As a precautionary measure, we tied them along the fence for their own safety (and ours) at mealtimes for the first couple of weeks.
Even after they settled into the mealtime routine on the chow line, Cinnamon's bucket had to be placed all the way at the end with no one anywhere near him. It took weeks before he stopped beating up the tree behind him - every time he'd shift at his bucket it would catch the corner of his eye and he'd kick it thinking it was someone coming to steal his food (poor tree had umpteen dings and dents from Cinnamon's constant kicking).
Outside of meals he wasn't bad, he just didn't have any use for people at all. Not much interest in getting any attention he pretty much just wanted to be left alone. Now, of course, he will come and visit when we walk out in the pasture and willingly allow himself to be bridled...you've come a long way, baby!
What has he taught us?
- That horse people can rank right up there with the stereotypical used car salesman; telling you all manner of inaccuracies and half truths about their horses. You should be cautious of accepting people's horse histories, as they may be considerably less than honest (no matter how nice they seem :o)
- That there are definite consequences to the sporadic (here and there) method of feeding horses particularly when you add in a "winner takes all" dining atmosphere.
- That "hard mouthed" horses can be rehabilitated and ridden safely with less severe bits. Cinnamon came to us in a Pelham and after many long months of working our way backwards is now happy and responding well to a nice sweet iron snaffle.
- That if you are willing to do the work and spend the time, even the most uncooperative of horses can turn into a fabulous trail riding mount (it's been a long road, but the buck finally stopped here :o)
Favorite Cinnamon Anecdote ~ The Most Memorable Trail Ride Ever
I grew up in the North where horses are mainly hunters and jumpers and people went fox hunting in the country; the area I lived in focused more on english than western riding. Now, of course, living in the South I am the odd man out - so to speak. I did try western, but ended up making a beeline back to my comfy english saddle. Since Cinnamon had been touted as a "dead broke trail horse" (bet you can tell where this story is headed), we decided to go on a big trail ride with some friends. Of course never having been, I couldn't wait to hit the trail...
I remember our farrier telling me that he had been on several and they were a lot of fun. Of course he also told me I'd probably see some pretty entertaining rodeos as some people would show up with more horse than they could handle. Remember my dead broke trail horse? Well everything was fine until we started out, and then he decided that he didn't want to be a dead broke trail horse anymore. No, he wanted to make his fortune as a rodeo star and proceeded to rear, buck, jig, jump and shy (oh MY) all over the place. I must admit, I missed all those other entertaining rodeos; I was too busy being the main attraction. We did ultimately survive our first trail ride together - he didn't give up and I didn't fall off - but by the end of the day it was pretty hard to say which one of us would sleep better that night (actually I think we both slept really well). Thanks, man for the memory of my first trail riding rodeo - I think it's safe to say, I'll never forget it! :o)
