The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Amid the noise and chaos of the Sisters Rodeo stood a small mare, quiet, peaceful, and obedient. Under the banner 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 current owner, Kerri Raymond of La Pine, Oregon.

Raymond describes Minnow's early years with her as "a train wreck." The young horse appeared impossible and was plagued with medical conditions, including 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 horsewoman 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 professional trainers, while learning from them herself and applying 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 frequently, and avoided her for years. She couldn't touch the young mare without causing her to tremble and struggled to develop trust and a relationship. Developing Minnow became a slow, painful process. Raymond eventually tried to sell her, but with no success.

The hard work and dedication Kerri provided took a slow turn in the mare. Developing her trust took years, and her medical barriers slowly came down. The growth of Minnow would eventually take a team effort of professional trainers, chiropractors, 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 functional 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 activities. 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 people. 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 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 the weekend as, "truly amazing" and herself as glowing with pride.

"My ultimate reward was watching Minnow perform over the weekend," Kerri said. "I couldn't ask for any more."

Konze entered the weekend on the horse she knew little about. Her personal horse she felt wasn't ready for the distractions and stress a rodeo environment puts on animals, leaving her in need of a horse able to represent the Sisters Rodeo Association and the American flag well. Minnow came as a lent horse to the rescue of the queen.

Minnow was the second horse of Raymond's she has ridden and Konze knows full-well the trust and bond created with them. Safety is never a concern atop one of her well-trained horses, leaving the Rodeo Queen always knowing things will go right.

"I wanted a horse that would make the Sisters Rodeo Association look good, as well as my flag and rodeo," she said. "And I needed Minnow to do that."

Both received numerous compliments throughout the weekend: People would say they have, "never seen such a wonderful queen horse."

For a horse barely 14 hands tall and dwarfed by comparison, the little mare showed impressive speed and agility in the arena, too.

"When we started running with the flag, all I kept telling myself was 'I have to keep up,'" Hailey said. "For such a little horse, she's really impressive."

If Hailey could take Minnow, she would. For the 22-year old queen, who doesn't care for mares in general, she found Minnow was not a tool; she felt a deep bond between human and animal - the only mare she likes to date. While Raymond intends to "use Minnow as long as she will let me," she also agreed to helping Hailey train and develop her own personal horse in hopes of making her similar to Minnow.

Kerri Raymond couldn't ask for anything better of her little mare.

"I don't need any reward," she said. "Minnow is my reward."