June and Sadie and Chip -- "The Cinnamon Man" -- have been together a little over a year. Chip is 21. Until he came to live with June he has spent his life living through a series of abusive homes. He almost died in the last one.
"They had to scrape him off the floor in a corner of a dark stall." June says.
You can see in this photo that Chip "The Cinnamon Man" is a bit wide- eyed.
But even at the time of this photo, his face is a lot softer than the totally buggy-eyed look he once had when he came to live with June Nishi in Oregon.
Look again and you may also notice the lighter color hair around Chip's nose.
"Previously, a halter was placed on him and never taken off so the the halter cut into his skin," June wrote me.
So Chip is understandably leery of halters. He has a lot of other scars on his body, too.
"But I think he is adorable," June says. Thus, her nickname for him: "The Cinnamon Man."
These days, Chip the Cinnamon Man, and Sadie, another beautiful rescue pony, are Skode's customers. These horses have experienced the worst in life. Now they are experiencing the best.
"He's the sweetest little mini you'd want to meet," she says. "He is just so gentle and kind even though he has his fear issues. You can tell that he just so wants to bond with you if he can get over his fear issues and when he is in the present he literally will latch onto me like velcro."
Sometimes The Cinnamon Man likes to get a hug. Other times the demons inside his head get the better of him and he bolts at the thought of human touch.
Sadie, his friend, is bold and confident and funny even though she, too was once a rescue mini.
"She really takes care of Chip," June says. "She tries to help him out of his shell, particularly when stuff from the past crops up all of a sudden here."
The flashbacks can be so frustrating.
"He goes along well -- and then boom..out of the clear blue...it's like he has a psychotic attack," June says.
June works with a woman who trained in Linda -Tellington Joan's T-Touch. The trainer is an animal commmunicator and while she and June and Chip have made a lot of progress the trainer admits that Chip is one of the most difficult horses with whom she has ever worked.
"She tells me never to give up though because even though it seems like Chip is regressing at times, he loves it here and does not want to leave."
Luckily, June works from home so she is able to spend a lot of time with her Chip and Sadie.
"All I want is to give him peace and some happiness for the remaining years of his life and to have him experience joy," June says.
To do the things she wants to do -- like take him for long walks in the forest and clean his feet for the farrier, June needs to be able to halter Chip. Given all the The Cinnamon Man has been through with halters, the task can be challenging.
"But truly," June wrote to me, "Your cookies are doing wonders. He LOVES them. He is calm and lets me put his halter on in the pasture. That may seem like a little thing but it is HUGE for him and for me. I am so proud of him and he seems very calm nowadays ever since the cookies!"
What a great blog entry. I just rescued a horse from a feed lot on Sunday, and I'm hoping to give him the good home he's been missing. Of course, I already ordered two types of cookies to spoil him rotten with :)
Posted by: Kristen | 01/25/2012 at 09:59 AM
Thank you Kristen. Someday -- someday soon -- I hope to rescue a horse! I would like to hear about your experiences if you are okay with that. I am sending your treats tomorrow. Thank you so much for posting here. I will send extras for your new horse :) "SKODE"
Posted by: Lori Yearwood | 01/25/2012 at 09:35 PM