Skipper
Just loves to have a roll in our pond!
Skippa Kitty Kat (Skipper)- is a 16 yr old APHA reg paint horse, My family bought Skipper at an auction because she has a cribbing problem. Skipper is a pointed member of the paint horse association ( in halter and western pleasure) and now enjoys Trail riding and the occasional show.
Skipper's story with us begins on a warm spring day in May, the family packed in to the car and headed to Unidilla horse action to buy tack, when we got there we figured we'd look through the horses hoping to find a good horse for my father, In a corner pen we found a beautiful Ovaro paint mare, whom the dealer told us was a kid broke horse, She was and we bought her. Now came the getting her home part, not really expecting to buy a horse we didn't bring our own transportation, so it took us till 3am to find some one to trailer her home for us. At 6am Skipper was safely at her new home on Shellstone hill in Amsterdam, NY.
After we got Skipper home we found that she was a good broke horse but that she had other problems develop over her life time. She had a basic distrust and fear of people in general. When you went to touch her she would pin her ears and jump at you, and you didn't try to touch her head because she would flip over trying to get away from you ( head shy was not the word), upon further examination we found that the dealer who was selling her at the auction had decided that clipping her head and ears was a good thing and in doing so he burned her so badly she couldn't wear a bridle for almost a month. a lot of bag balm and time took care of that, but I think the dealer forcing it only made her more head shy than she already was. After contacting the APHA about her previous owners we came to find out that she had been transferred a total of 12 diffrent times, to different places around the US. Skipper was born in Ohio shipped to Florida then NH then Florida again and so on, now she is here in NY and learning to trust again!
It has taken me 4 years and all the love and attention I could give to get Skipper to the point she is now, she still has a distaste for people but now you can walk up to her and touch her any where on her head or ears, she walks freely in and out of the barn with no halter (just a hand under her jaw), you can pick up all her feet without having to tie her, and her attitude has come around a lot (Not perfect mind you, but a lot better).
Skipper is doing well at local shows and fairs, she loves going on trail rides and enjoys her retirement from the hustle and bustle of the big shows! My childern love Skipper and ride her often. She will retire here and be loved and cared for always.
The moral of this story (Dont they all have them ) is please don't hit your horses for not doing what you want, most times its a problem of them not knowing or understanding the cues you are giving, give them time to figure it out, and if you do have to hit them use sense and don't hit on or near the face it only winds up causing more trouble than its worth.
Thank you for taking the time to read my stories. I am hoping to add more as time goes on I have 5 total so if you enjoy them let me know via e-mail I would enjoy hearing from you! and stop back as I will be adding the other stories as I have time. Thank you again!
CLICK HERE TO SEE A SCETCH I DID OF SKIPPER!
