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Wednesday, June 20, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Miracle horse took to the arena at Sisters Rodeo
By Cody Rheault
Correspondent
Amid the noise and chaos
of the Sisters Rodeo stood a
small mare, quiet, peaceful,
and obedient. Under the ban-
ner of red, white, and blue she
stood with the 2018 Sisters
Rodeo Queen, Hailey Konze.
The flag drifted in the breeze
as the national anthem was
sung and the crowd stood in
honor. The mare stood below,
ears perked and body calm
after running the arena twice.
She represented the Rodeo
Association and the American
flag at the start of every show.
But Minnow, the 14-year
old horse everyone saw, has
more story than what people
see.
Minnow is small — just
like her name indicates. Her
coat is a dark chocolate color
and smooth to the touch. Her
mane flows with rich black
hair with a vanilla stripe down
the middle. Unassuming in
presence and peaceful in the
arena, few would take this
small mare as a miracle horse.
At 14 years old, Minnow is
a product of hard work and
nine years of unrelenting
dedication.
Definitive as they were,
her first five years before her
current owner have largely
been a mystery. What is
known is that she came from
Montana with three previous
owners and was sold over
Craigslist in 2009 to her cur-
rent owner, Kerri Raymond of
La Pine, Oregon.
Raymond describes
PELLET PATIO
HEATER
The Lil’ Timber
Minnow’s early years with
her as “a train wreck.” The
young horse appeared impos-
sible and was plagued with
medical conditions, includ-
ing serious pain, and needed
chiropractic work. The young
mare could only lead in one
direction, and Kerri found her
back, hips, and neck to be in
bad shape. Minnow wouldn’t
take a saddle and trembled
at the touch of a human. She
had no foundation for Kerri to
build upon.
Raymond is no stranger to
raising horses, but Minnow
presented the seasoned horse-
woman a unique challenge.
Growing up around horses,
Kerri doesn’t describe herself
as the trainer type. Instead, she
finds her value in developing
relationships and trust with
her animals. For advanced
training and development
she sends them off to profes-
sional trainers, while learning
from them herself and apply-
ing them in her own way.
She strives to develop well-
rounded horses. They may not
be professionals, or ribbon-
winning horses; instead, she
works for consistency.
Minnow challenged
Kerri’s lifelong skills. She
recalls falling off Minnow
more than any other horse in
her life; a total of eight times
to date.
“I hit a lot of trees with
her, too,” she said with a
laugh. “And she broke a lot of
fences.”
Minnow ran from her fre-
quently, and avoided her for
years. She couldn’t touch the
young mare without causing
her to tremble and struggled
to develop trust and a rela-
tionship. Developing Minnow
became a slow, painful pro-
cess. Raymond eventually
tried to sell her, but with no
success.
The hard work and dedi-
cation Kerri provided took
a slow turn in the mare.
Developing her trust took
years, and her medical barri-
ers slowly came down. The
growth of Minnow would
eventually take a team effort
of professional trainers, chi-
ropractors, and a relationship
with her owner.
The young horse did
change though, and she
quickly developed into the
horse Kerri believed in.
Minnow no longer ran from
her, instead she now looks
for her and comes without
fear. Utilizing her approach to
developing relationships with
her horses, Kerri patiently
nurtured Minnow into a func-
tional consistent horse.
From there Minnow began
to blossom. Her story of abuse
to performing took shape as
she started to participate in a
variety of groups and activi-
ties. Kerri introduced her
into the world of Deschutes
County Search and Rescue
where she worked for three
years in numerous missions
to find lost and hurting peo-
ple. She and Kerri now serve
as a backup unit for the team.
She then went on to become
a member of the Deschutes
County Sheriffs Posse as
well, where she still serves
Queen Hailey Konze presented the American flag on Minnow for each
performance of the Sisters Rodeo.
today. Minnow also went on
to be involved in the La Pine
Rodeo, OHSET, and Drill
Team in 2011.
In the 2018 Sisters Rodeo,
she introduced the American
flag for every rodeo event
over the weekend, leading
fellow queens and their horses
through a show of respect and
honor. Saturday morning she
and the 2018 Sisters Rodeo
Queen, Hailey Konze, walked
the parade among cheers,
noise, and distractions. Yet
Minnow never wavered.
Raymond described
Minnow’s performance over
See MINNOW on page 6
ONTHE
CORNEROF
SPINEST&
WHOOD
AVE
Featured artist: Local pastel artist JoAnn Burgess and sunstone
jewelry by Elyse Douglas. Sunday arts-n-bites, June 24.
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PHOTO BY CODY RHEAULT
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