Wheeler Performance Horses

For Once, I Can Thank A Kill Buyer...

2009-04-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

I got a call today from a friend of mine in Thorp, she's at a barrel race today and met a lady who has a horse I used to own named Gone And Got Cash. "Cash" was one of the 3 broodmares I purchased winter of 2001, and she came up on a truck with the other two. Cash was clear down in southern Texas, Butterfly was in north Texas, and Mouse was in Colorado. I was stoked when the 3 of them arrived. Cash however turned out to be a lot different than she was advertised, and I didnt really get along with her that well. She was pregnant when I bought her, and popped out a really, really ugly appendix colt (pictured above in one of his cute phases). He would have been a nice colt if it wasnt for his spider legs that went every direction but the way they were supposed to.

Anyway, long story short, sold the colt to a family member and traded the mare to a gal I knew in Oregon who wanted her as a broodmare for her very nice buckskin AQHA stallion Shammy.

The last time I saw Cash, she had a cute little buckskin filly at her side and was enjoying life out on a pasture with grass as tall as her legs.

Sadly, the gal who owned them died a few years ago, and the 50-somethin horses were left to her daughter. I always wondered what had happened to them. Now I think I know.

Somehow, Cash wound up in the care of Oly Olson, who is known for buying horses for slaughter. She was emaciated and in horrible condition. A guy that knows Oly pretty well was looking at the horses in the kill pen and asked about the very skinny chestnut mare. Oly said "yeah, she's got some really nice bloodlines, but look at her now". I'm told it didnt look like she would have survived another couple days in the kill pen, and probably wouldnt have made it to slaughter. The guy felt bad for the mare, and Oly sold her to him (thank you Oly!!).

Its sad that a mare as nice as Cash, with names like Go Man Go and Dash For Cash right on her papers, could wind up in a kill pen destined for slaughter. Its the worst feeling to know that a horse you used to own just narrowly escaped that fate. I am very glad Oly gave her a chance, and I thank her new owners for giving her a very wonderful home. Cash is now back to her normal self and is enjoying life as a barrel horse, and doing well.

Her new owner has my contact information now, and I cant wait to chat with her about how Cash is doing, and I'm hoping we can trade some photos of her. I cant wait to see how she looks, and I'm sure she'd love to see some photos from her past. I know i'll be hearing from her as she is curious to know more about Cash's background.

Someone was watching out for that mare that day. She was on deaths doorstep, yet an angel showed up to save her.

I just cant help but wonder what happened to the rest of the horses. If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Mystical Moonshine (96 black splash overo stallion), Dun N Cute (93 red dun AQHA mare), JB Buckleys Shammy (buckskin stallion), or any other horses that were once owned by Sherrie Smiley, I would love to hear an update about them. I just want to know that none of her other horses wound up in a kill pen.

A Lesson Learned

2009-04-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Cowboy and Hank went to a trainer last summer to be trained to ride. I really wish I had done more research on the trainer I sent them to, it might have saved me some heartache. (Cowboys left front pictured above, will get much better hoof photos tomorrow).

I should have known right away that things werent going to turn out well. The first 2-4 weeks they were there they were not worked (he did discount me for that month, I will give him that). And when he did finally start to work them, I was promised photos and videos of them under saddle since they are too far away to take a drive over to check on. Several times I called and he said he had a video he was going to send out. Never got one.

During the entire time the horses were there, the trainer NEVER called me to update on the horses. If I wanted an update, I had to call. That really frustrated me.

Then to find out he was having issues with Hank, and he chalked it up to him being too immature and gave up on him (when in reality, Hank was probably just too smart for him and was able to out think him).

On Labor Day weekend the trainer was supposed to have a sale, and the original plan was he was to put Hank in the sale. A few weeks before the sale I changed my mind about that and tried to call the trainer to let him know. Over the next few weeks I left messages on his cell phone and even sent emails to the ranch trying to get ahold of SOMEONE so I could let them know not to put Hank in the sale. Pretty soon trainers cell phone voice mail box was full and I couldnt leave anymore messages. I had no idea what was going on.

(Cowboy, pictured left, click for larger version)

It wasnt until OCTOBER that I was able to get ahold of him. He did put Hank in the sale but thankfully no one bought him. Board/training costs were paid up at that time. Winter hit and I ran into some major problems at home and wound up living in my car/hotels when I could afford it for a month and a half. When I finally got back on my feet I called the trainer fully expecting he would have sold the horses to pay back board owed. I was stoked to find out he still had them. I explained my situation to him, apologized for not getting in contact sooner, and asked him how much I owed expecting it to be a lot. He told me to pay $1000 to cover board and we'd call it good. I sent him the check. He said he had to come to this side to pick up a horse for training and he'd bring my horses over to me that weekend, I told him thanks and said I'd give him a couple hundred for fuel when he brought them over. Weekend came and went, no trainer. Called and he said as soon as the pass was clear he'd haul them over.

Every weekend I'd wake up in the morning hoping that was the day the horses would show up, but each weekend I was disapointed. My truck is not set up to haul a trailer yet or I would have gone and gotten them myself.

Last Saturday (the 11th) I woke up to a message on my phone from the trainer. I was immediatly excited because I knew it probably meant the horses were on the way. I called in to check the voice mail, and had to listen to the message twice as the first time I was too shocked and thought I'd heard it wrong. He said he was bringing the horses over but he was dropping them at some guys house in Ellensburg and I had to get them from there. He left the first name of the person and a cell phone number and told me to call that person and coordinate pick up. I called, no one answered so I left a message.

After a brief freak-out, I called my dad and told him what was going on. He told me to call the trainer back and tell him if my horses were indeed dropped off in Ellensburg that they would be called in stolen and we would press charges. I told the trainer that, and he came back with "bring it on". He said he'd use the training contract I had signed last summer to get more money out of me, even though the training stopped last fall. After several bad phone calls back and forth to the trainer I was getting nowhere.

Later that day I recieve a phone call back from the guy in Ellensburg. I asked if my horses were there, he said no he thought they were on their way to Wenatchee. My friend and I hop in the car and go flying up to my barn to see if the horses are there. They are not.

Finally get ahold of the trainer and find out that he hauled them an hour and a half north of Wenatchee to some ranch way the fuck out in the boonies and left them with some people there. He gave us the phone number, and we called them. We asked a simple question: "How do the horses look? Are they ok?" We asked if we could come get the horses that evening but they said it was getting too late and it would be dark by the time we got there. Asked if we could come Sunday but they said no since it was Easter and his wife didnt want anyone coming over to get horses. I was pissed but had no choice but to wait until Monday. Not 5 minutes after we hung up with the guy, the trainer calls us back completely pissed off that we asked how the horses were doing. He said when we pick them up on Monday that it has to be "no questions asked" and he "just wants to be rid of everything". That made me worry.

Sunday night around 9pm I get a phone call from the trainer saying I need to call the property owner where my horses are first thing Monday to line up a time to pick up the horses. Again, he says it has to be "no questions asked" and said the horses are fine. Monday comes around, I'm out with the flu so my dad offers to go pick up the horses for me. He headed out about 4pm, had to wait for the people to get home from work. About 7pm he was back with the horses and I met him at the barn. At first it didnt seem like anything was wrong with them, but it was getting dark, I was sick and freezing cold and just wanted to get back home so I could lay down. I would check them out in the morning.

So, that next morning when I head up there to feed, I really checked them over. Both horses are COVERED in bite marks, so its obvious they were turned out with some horses that bullied them. Their feet havent been done in at least 6 months by the looks of them. Cowboys feet are the worst, they are very long and dont even look like normal hooves anymore. Hanks arent as bad, but his are more brittle and break off easier. Cowboy has extremely hard feet and his dont break off well. He is also thin. Not OMG thin, but thin indeed. Hank too, but not as bad. Now we know why he said "no questions asked".

I'm not even sure either of them actually recieved any training while they were there.

Trainer told me sometime that weekend (think it was Sunday, but not sure) that I owed him more money, so I asked him why did he only tell me $1000 was all I owed if I owed him more. His answer? He said he never told me that. My roomies and my best friend were around me when I had that phone call with him and they will verify that he told me $1000 was all I owed. He even said he could use the contract to come after me to get more money if he had to. We think he regrets telling me only $1000 and wished he had asked for more. Which is why he decided to be an asshole in the end and hide my horses from me for 3 days. I didnt even know their exact location until Monday.

(Hank, pictured left)

Bottom line, I have learned my lesson. I will NEVER send my horses so far away that I cant run over and check on them whenever I want. And I will research the hell out of any trainer I send a horse to. This trainer moved here from Montana, I'm almost wondering if there is a reason why... bad rep in Montana? Too many horse owners pissed off at him? Maybe he even got banned from competing over there, I dont know. It would not surprise me if the reason was something like that.

I will not say who he is on here, nor will I say what ranch he works at (they have a website) but I will tell every horse person I know IN PERSON who he is and what he did. All I will say is if anyone is sending a horse to a trainer in Sequim... choose wisely.

One thing I forgot to throw in there, a couple months ago the trainer DID finally call me for once, but only to ask if I would price out the horses as he had someone who wanted to buy them. I told him I wasnt ready to sell and I sure as hell wasnt going to price them when I hadnt even seen them in over half a year. He got pissy with me and tried to pressure me into selling them, saying he was going to give my number to the interested person so they could try to talk me into it. The more he pushed the more I refused to sell either of them and the more upset he got. I think now I know why. Same reason he didnt want to deal with me face to face and had to take the chicken shit route and drop my horses off at some other place and tell me "no questions asked." He may be a so-called "professional" trainer... but there is NOTHING professional about the way he treats his clients... or the horses for that matter. The fact that I was paying $900 a month PER HORSE for training, and he couldnt follow through with his promises of sending photos or videos, should have sent up MAJOR red flags. I will not be surprised if neither of the horses know what to do under saddle.

Some people might say this is my karma, I deserve it for things that have happened in the past. Maybe that is so, but do the horses have to suffer because of it? They werent dewormed, their feet werent taken care of, and they basically look like shit. Manes & tails were knotted, they havent even been groomed in God knows how long. Their coats are NOT soft to the touch and are dull. Cowboy only looks shiny as he has show sheen on him, his mane and tail had some pretty wicked knots that needed worked out. I still have to do Hank tail, but his mane doesnt need it.

I will bring them out on the pavement tomorrow and get better pictures of their hooves. Hanks arent long but each hoof is a different length, he is uneven. Farrier will be out next week to trim and I will post the after shots too. I am very worried about Cowboys club foot (left front), it is much, much worse than its ever been because they havent been done in so long. I am furious.

_____________________

For those still checking here hoping I will post my side of the story (everything that happened in Ephrata), I dont know if I ever will. Writing it up was much harder than I thought it would be and I just cant do it. Its difficult trying to explain what happened as I dont fully understand WHY everything happened. It was a very dark time in my life that I very much want to move past. I will never forget, but I have to move on and focus on the future. I see a therapist on a regular basis, have been on medication since late last summer and I am back to enjoying life. Now that spring is here I am out with the horses a lot more, plan on getting Luv going under saddle as well as Cowboy and Hank, so I can go riding with my dad in the mountains this year. I miss doing that. I am debating selling Sparrow, but either way that little brat is losing his jewels. Still waiting for the Ephrata place to close, but as soon as it does I will be buying another place where I can have my horses at home again.

I am going to try to keep this blog updated for those who want to keep tabs on whats going on. I am hoping it will be good motivation to keep me out there working with the horses and actually RIDING for a change. I havent gone on a ride since I moved away from Cashmere - 2006. I plan on logging a lot of miles on Luv and Cowboy this year, and plan on getting tons of photos as well.

Here are some links to current photos of the horses. Farrier will be out next week to trim everyone.

Foxy (forgot to get one of her, will have tomorrow)

Hank pic 1 - feet

My Horses: Cowboy & Hank

2009-02-14T02:24:00.001-08:00

Instant Three

2004 APHA solid bay gelding

Sire: Instant King

Dam: Mitys Sugar Fancy

-and-

Double Barred Hank

2004 AQHA chestnut gelding

Sire: Instant King

Dam: Gk Double Badger Bar

Cowboy & Hank have been best buds since they first met as foals. They are five years old this year and both have been started under saddle. They spent 8 months at the trainers (the last 5 just being boarded) and are coming home in two weeks. I am stoked! I havent seen them since they left, and it hasnt really sunk in that they are finally coming home. Now I have to find a place to board them as I don't have room where my other horses are.

I dont have any recent photos of the boys so I will wait until they get home so I can get some. I cant wait to have them home again! Here are a couple foal photos of them:

My Horses: Foxy

2009-02-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

Foxy
1979 Arabian cross gray mare
Sire: unknown
Dam: unknown

*Not for sale*

Foxy has been in the family since 1992, and she has been one of the best horses I've ever owned. We've done showing, jumping (for fun), endurance riding, roping, barrel racing, she's been a lesson horse, a babysitter, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot more. She'll be 30 this year and she is still going strong and will be giving my neices' and nephews' rides this summer. She is retired from everything else and spends her days hanging out with the mares.

My Horses: Luv & Fancy

2009-02-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

(pictured left) Miss Luv And Tell
1996 APHA black tobiano mare
Sire: Two Eyed Chico
Dam: Peppys Lil Paint

*Not for sale*

"Luv" has been in the family since 2003. We owned her dam and had sold Luv when she was a foal, and was able to buy her back when we lost her dam to colic in '03. Luv has mainly been a broodmare but did have some saddle training when she was younger. She has given me three beautiful foals: two toveros and one solid. Luv is open this year but I may breed her later this spring depending on what happens with the Ephrata property. If not, I have a stud picked out to breed her to in 2010.

(pictured right) Mitys Sugar Fancy
1990 APHA buckskin overo (minimal white) mare
Sire: Midas Straw
Dam: Palleos Lil Sugar

*Not for sale*

"Fancy" has been with us since 1991 when we purchased her as a yearling at the county fair. Since then she has been a show horse (western pleasure, english, trail & halter), a trail horse, a barrel horse, and a broodmare. She has produced 7 beautiful foals, her last one was foaled in 2006. She is retired from everything now and gets to spend her days hanging out with her buddies Luv and Foxy.

My Horses: Sparrow

2009-02-11T16:36:00.001-08:00

2008 APHA chestnut tovero colt

Sire: Dun It Perfect

Dam: Miss Luv And Tell

*Not for sale*

"Sparrow" is my only foal from '08. He is Luv's third foal (for me) and Dodge's first foal (ever). He was foaled in May so he's not even a year yet and he's pushing 13.2 hands at the hip. And boy does he have some thick bone! Sparrow is a fun colt to work with and I can't wait until he's old enough to start training under saddle. I am leaving him intact until fall before I decide whether or not I'll have him gelded. I most likely will, but I'd like him to get the bigger jowls before I have him cut. I know, silly reason. But I'm stickin to it.

Sparrow playin around:

New Posts Coming

2009-02-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

I should have some new posts and a long overdue update coming very soon. Everything else has been archived and deleted.
Stay tuned.