Honeycutt

age: approx 11 years old
sex: gelding
breed: quarter horse type
color: chestnut with large blaze and 3 socks
height: 15 hh

Purchased from Columbia Basin Equine rescue in 2005

Status: AVAILABLE TO A NON-RIDING HOME ONLY

Located in Silverdale WA
Adoption Fee: $1 to an approved home as a companion animal ONLY

15 hh flashy chestnut QH-type gelding, approx 9 years old; three white socks and a blaze shaped like a seahorse! Honeycutt was purchased from an Eastern Washington feedlot in 2005 and bears all the marks of having been abused. Honeycutt needs someone who will help him slowly regain his trust in people. He is sound, and up to date on shots, farrier care, worming and has had his teeth floated.

Honeycutt is a young horse who has apparently suffered some ill treatment at the hands of people in the past. In the time he has been with SAFE, he has come very far in terms of being able to be caught and handled, but he has remained a very scared fellow...not mean, not dangerous, just scared.

SAFE initally sent Honeycutt into training as a riding horse in November 2006. After spending several months making good progress with his first trainer, Honeycutt started to backslide a bit. Most times he was fine, and his trainer was riding him out on the trails which he really seemed to enjoy. But sometimes, out of the blue, he would start bucking after being saddled or being mounted in the round pen. This began to occur more frequently, until finally his trainer told us that she felt she must have missed something in his training...and she didn't know what that something might be. She recommended that we send Honeycutt to her mentor, Bill Basham, and have him finish the work she had started.

Bill and Angie began working with Honeycutt and discovered a few things. One, Honeycutt was very sore through his back. Two, Honeycutt's conformation was such that his back sloped downward towards his withers, making saddle fit very very difficult. And three, Honeycutt was a very talented bucker. In addition to these things, Bill felt that Honeycutt did not have the solid foundation of ground work that he would need to establish trust, and that his previous trainer had been "riding his good will" rather than riding a solid foundation of training. And because Honeycutt was so very very tense, they decided that it would be best to go back to basics for a while before trying to ride him.

While Angie did bodywork on Honeycutt to try to relieve his soreness, Bill worked on the saddle fit problem. In the end he tried about 17 different padding solutions, but nothing really fit this hard-to-fit horse. And Honeycutt continued to escalate his episodes of bucking in the round pen, despite every attempt to saddle him in a way that he would be comfortable. He did make progress while with the Bashams, he started to relax and let go of the tension he carried in his neck and back, and with continued groundwork, they got him back to the point where a rider could ease onto his back from the rail of the roundpen. But Bill said he never felt that it was safe for the rider to even move the horse forward off the rail more than a step or two. Some days Honeycutt would be fine, and some days he would be explosive. It could not be predicted. So rather than risk anyone's safety, he chose not to push Honeycutt past that point.

Bill's final assessment of Honeycutt was that he likes him, but feels that he is too damaged, that HC won't make a saddle horse, that someone will get hurt. HC is very committed to his phobias and fears. By the end, they had the saddle on him every day, and some days he would buck, some days not. His rider sat on him every day, and they would have him move forward a few steps, but sometimes he balled up and was very explosive.

So Honeycutt made the journey back over the mountains and is now living here at Jaybird Acres. He's been here before, and seems to remember me and accept my presence. I can approach him and pet him and handle him without a problem. On the ground, he is fearful and cautious, but not at all dangerous. He's actually very gentle. He gets along well with my other horses, in fact yesterday I watched him and Jay grooming each other over the fence. He's a perfect guest -- he keep his stall clean and eats all his hay. And he is so beautiful to look at. He is very sweet and doesn't seem the least bit like a dangerous horse. But he may never be a riding horse.

For now, Honeycutt is going to stay with me, and I'll work him on the ground a little bit every day, just to see if I can help him relax and be more trusting. In the end, Honeycutt may have to live out his days as a beautiful pasture pet, and really, that is not such a bad thing if you think about it.

We are still willing to look at applications for Honeycutt, but we will only be adopting him out if the perfect situation for him arises, and that cannot be with someone who intends to ride him. Our number one concern is that this horse be safe and well cared for, and we will not risk setting him up for failure because in the end he will suffer and someone could get very seriously hurt. SAFE and Honeycutt have been through a lot together, and even though his progress was not what we'd hoped for, we remain committed to the well being and happiness of this very special horse.

Contact Bonnie at bonnie@safehorses.org if you are interested in adopting Honeycutt.

If you are interested in sponsoring Honeycutt, please click here to learn more about our sponsorship program.

Please read SAFE's adoption policies prior to submitting an adoption application for any SAFE horses listed on this site. SAFE Adoption Policies can be found HERE.