In the Nick of Time

In the Nick of Time. "Nickers". American Saddlebred rescued by Kathe D. When his new mom removed that tailbag in the picture of Nickers at the feedlot, his tail flowed 2ft. behind him! That's AFTER it hit the ground....2ft. of tail on the ground! My goodness! After Kathe helped Nickers get healthy, shod, vetted, she had him entered in a show in March 1999. He placed 2nd in his class and 3rd in his class! Not bad for a horse that had been thrown away huh?

Update 5/30/00: Well, here is Mr. Nickers at his first AHSA rated show ... showing sidesaddle! Not bad for a "throwaway" Saddlebred! How do you like the action?

Update 10/20/00 - Attached is a photo of Nickers and me from Reno. Who says you can't post sidesaddle? and, the look on his face is "Rick, she's making me set my head and I'm not happy about this!" He may not be "hocky" but 1) there's no trailing hocks and 2) this is not a horse anyone should throw away.

anyway, thought you guys might like to see this ...

Kathie

Update 11/11/00 - Just a note to give you the latest update on our boy, In the Nick of Time. We are still searching for his papers, but I am bound and determined to find them. But, here's the good news! Nickers is the Northern California American Saddlebred Horse Association HIGH POINT horse of the year for Open shows. This is given to Saddlebreds who are competing in Open (non ASB) shows. Additionally, Nickers is going to be a Saddlebred ambassador yet again. He will be going to EqWest in Del Mar on November 17-19th to be used as the Saddlebred petting horse as well as to participate in all of the ASB demos as a sidesaddle horse. At HorseExpo, we had at least 5 people approach us and tell us that they had heard of his story on TIER's web site. One lady was moved to tears by having seen him "in person." She couldn't believe that it was him ... and when she heard the announcer give out his story, she literally burst into tears.

He is quite the fellow. Mom adores him as do all the children at the riding academy. He is truly what Saddlebreds and horse rescues are all about ... courageous, kind, intelligent, and more than willing to forget his past for a bright and promising future.

Thanks to all who made him possible

Update 7/24/01 - Here are photos of Nickers from last year's horse expo, taken by a very nice lady who had heard about him via the web site. I've also included one of Miss P ... may she never experience what Nickers did.

Miss P & Kathy Dunn -

Another Saddlebred Rescue - Impulse

This is what he looked like when he was showing ... the other is from this winter when he was still fuzzy from the thyroid problem. But, it does show you his color and his gorgeous face!

P is much more burgundy ... true chestnut than Nick. But she's a beauty in her own right.

Update 11/27/01 - For the second consecutive year, Nickers is the high point champion for the Open division for NCASHA (Northern California American Saddlebred Horse Association). Because he does not have papers, he must show in open breed classes against other breeds. He has done very well at these shows.

At his last show, he was the 10 and under Walk/Trot Pleasure Champion and Grand Champion. I have attached a picture of him there. Additionally, I have attached a picture of us sidesaddle at the California Futurity in Pomona. It was a night class, so "we" went formal.

Again, thank you for helping me to rescue this beauty. He is an ambassador for both TIER and Saddlebreds wherever he goes.

Kathie

Update 8/11/03 - Do you recognize the proud boy in the photo?

Opening ceremonies each night at the Charity Fair Horse Show in Del Mar, CA featured Nickers & Kathie! - Read about it.

2/24/04 - Nickers at Equine Affair in Pomona, CA.

Mmmmm....good cookies... :)

Update 6/15/04 - Kathie, Nickers' mom, has spent 5 years trying to get Nick's registration papers. She did research which entailed blood typing and finally found out who he really is. The hard part was getting the person who had his papers to transfer them over to Kathie. This was the person who dumped him and he ended up in a feedlot. It's been a long road for Kathie, she perservered, and Nickers will have his name/heritage in place. Kathie has not told her mom that she finally got his papers (Mom has been diligent in helping Kathie and absolutely loves Nickers. Mom used to show ASB's in her early years). So, at Del Mar on June 18th, Kathie is going to suprise her Mom with Nick's heritage.

Anyway, the class Nickie normally shows in is English Open Pleasure. Now, he is eligible for all of the ASB classes. They are going to show him in Country Pleasure. On Friday, the English Open Pleasure class is right before the Country Pleasure class. Kathie will take him out to warm up for EOP ... And mom will think he's going to be in that class. He won't showup. We're going to let her fret that Kathie screwed up or something is wrong. THEN, he'll trot in for the CP class ... She'll still be thinking that Kathie has screwed up and is now in the WRONG class. Then, when she figures it out, Dad or Mike will hand her an envelope that says "Happy Mother's Day," (she missed it this year - she was on vacation) and the papers will be inside.

Update 6/22/04 - Photos from the big day!

Introducing..... I'm W.O. Bentley!
http://www.asha.net/ASHASearchResults2.asp?Registration=097508G

Update 7/19/04 - Well here are photos, pre-parade with the new (old) rig. The rider will be getting more sparkly, but the horse looks pretty darn cute!

Update 12/16/06 - Check out Class #17 & Class #29 - 1st Place!! I'm W.O.Bentley, formerly In the Nick of Time/"Nickers".

http://www.bluebonnetequine.org/virtualshow/november2006show.htm
(They're still working on adding pictures.)

Update 9/21/09 - I'm W.O. Bentley, formerly known as Nickers or In The Nick of Time was found in a So Cal feedlot about 10 years ago. TIER helped facilitate his rescue from slaughter and his mom, CA ASB, has helped him become an ambassador for rescues!

Nickers went from an unknown Saddlebred in a feedlot to finally being identified after several years of hard work by his owner. Previous to his identification he was shown in English Open Pleasure and did very well. Now that his identity is in intact, he can show in classes for registered horses.

And.....now he is carrying the flag on the USEF site under the Parade Horse discipline!

Link to USEF page: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsDisciplines/discipline/allparade.aspx

Update 1/2/10 - Want to share my awesome day with you. Kathie, owner of Nickers (In the Nick of Time on our website) asked me to take a mental health day and go to Temecula , CA (about an hour away) where she has a Saddlebred mare & her daughter in training. I met the baby right after it was born, about 5 years ago, and the mother is Miss P who is absolutely a divine feminine horse. So, I went.

We get there and there are tons of horses of course. Some gorgeous Fresians, a Palamino Arab mare I saw being worked western, other Saddlebreds, etc. etc. At the end of the barn this looooooong neck with a horse's head sticks out of a stall and I gasp! I didn't know Nickers was there! It was such a joy to see him again!

First they worked the "baby" whose name is Moxie. Boy those horses sure have a lot of action! Kathie had an Adult Equitation class on Nickers with her trainer for a bit and then they got Miss P. ready for her training workout in Western Riding. While Kathie was riding Nickers I got to see him do that famous Saddlebred canter with his head collected, neck arched, high stepping, ground eating movement. Nostrils flared......the whole thing! Goose pimply stuff!

Then, as they were getting Ms. P ready for her workout, they switched Nickers' saddleseat saddle for a Western one, put him in a hackamore and handed me the reins. Kathie says "Take the boy for a ride. You made it a possiblity for me to help him and now he wants to help you!"

I had gotten on him once at Equine Affaire, but that was just to sit on him (and that tiny little saddle) and take a few steps. Today, I rode him all over the property. He is absolutely push button and I never felt safer on a horse. I haven't ridden in a almost a year (Weezer died earlier this year) and then only around the arena.

Just what I needed and what a gift. Just wanted to share that with you! WOOOOOOO HAAAAAAAW!

Update 2/2/10 - Nickers is now known in the UK!
He made the front page of Saddlebreds.uk Issue 62 (Feb 2010)