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I know, that the words just can not cut it - words can only cut deep at this point. But still, I am terribly sorry for your loss. Making this decision for Cinnamon couldn't have left you unscathed as it was probably one of the most difficult ones in your life. I wish you strength and healing from the wound - the wound that I felt even without knowing about Cinnamon prior to watching this. It really did shine through. Your very special relationship. I felt it. At least the very small part of it. There are lots of things that can be said here and most of those will sound like cliches. You know them without me saying. Just like I know that Cinnamon appreciated everything that you ever did for her. Can not save them all unfortunately. But it is still very much worth trying. Thank you for sharing the pain. I really do hope that it has helped.

One of the hardest life lessons is that you can do everything right and the wrong thing still happens---and that horrible things happen to good people(and animals) and it cannot be prevented. Cinna didn't deserve the cards she was dealt, but she did deserve the beautiful treatment that you gave her--that not everyone would have made the effort to do. I work in healthcare and let me tell you, people don't often get the gift of a pain free, humane death that you gave Cinna. And it is a gift, never forget that. I'm so sorry for your loss <3

So beautiful

All these mustangs have attacks just to live so glad yours has a home

I am truely sorry for your loss ❤

I'm so sorry for you loss of a wonderful beautiful special horse . She will gallop free in the green pastures in heaven pain free and she will watch over you 🌈🐎

Beautiful 🥹

I'm so sorry you've gone through this. I too had to put down my first mustang😢😢.

I admire you as a horse trainer, I admire your courage and strength to put your needs aside and Cinna’s needs first. I’m your biggest fan!

Ellen, this is so beautifully done. I sincerely hope this was the hardest and most brave decision you will ever have to make. Sending you all the love. I cry for you.

She certainly came into your life in a divinely timed manner---and she left just as divinely. She's taught you so much about equine health issues, as well as making the tough (and correct) decisions when one is the steward of another life. How can we learn to say good-bye to our parents, our siblings, our old selves---if we don't stay the course and move through with integrity the deaths of our beloved companion animals. She transformed you, just as you transformed her. Not one moment was wasted. God Bless.

Well Ellen you certainly took me on a special journey. Hard to write with tears in my eyes. My heart goes out to you what a very special girl. Pure SOUL ❤️❤️❤️

I'm so sorry for your loss. Losing one never gets easier. I'm so happy that you had such wonderful adventures and she knew love and was never hungry again. Cinnamon was a beautiful and deeply loved horse and we all know that you did everything in your power to make her life happy and comfortable.

Peace be with you Ellen, she was truly a special girl.

Horses are so beautiful. Wild Mustangs are among the most beautiful of all...❤❤❤

Just to freaking sad.. I hope your heart heals soon..

cinnamon, where do i even begin? it was friday the 13th and a full moon, september 2019, when camille and i left for oklahoma early in the morning to pick up our makeover horses. we joked about the bad luck canceling out and giving us good horses. i had moved barns because i wanted to do the youth makeover and needed the facilities for an ungentled mustang. i would be receiving a random draw and wouldn't know anything about my horse until the day of pickup. the plan was to sell my yearling when i was done, at least that's how i convinced my parents to let me sign up. when i got my paperwork, i saw that i had gotten a silver king filly. silver king! the same hma as camille's incredible mare, aurora. she was listed as plain bay and it wasn't until i took her home that i saw markings on her legs. i was so excited to see a sweet little rain-soaked filly trotting down the alleyway into the viewing pen. she couldn't have been more perfect. it wasn't until months later that i learned that weeks prior to pickup, when camille had sent me a picture someone had taken of the yearlings in the oklahoma corrals, not only was my cinna in the picture, camille had actually circled her and said "i bet you get this one". everything felt like it was fated to be. i wanted to name her something with cinnamon, she was sweet and a little spicy, and someone on fb live suggested cinnamon twist. it was perfect. cinna was the perfect first mustang. even though at first she seemed like she had no life left in her. she was emaciated, pictures don't always show how thin she really was because her wormy belly hid it at some angles, but you could see all her ribs. she had no energy, she seemed depressed. when i got her on a good diet, dewormed, her hooves trimmed, and good weight on her she started to perk up and show that she actually had tons of playful personality. i loved her more the more i got to know her. our trainer helped us prepare for the 2020 fort worth youth mustang makeover which would be in january. we had approximately 134 days to train and cinna blew me away regularly with how willing she was to learn. she is to this day the bravest, most giving, independent, and all around perfect mustang i've ever trained. we had our struggles, mostly due to it being my first time, but she was always very forgiving. when the competition came around, i was more nervous than i could have imagined. but cinna was as cool as can be. that year, the makeover was held during the fort worth stock show and rodeo, with the mustang magic celebrity freestyle going on in the same building as the makeover. if you've never been to the fwssr, it's an incredibly intense, busy environment, sure to make the most seasoned of horses a little overwhelmed. during the days there were hundreds of people, children, dogs, etc flocking through the stall areas, crowding around the warmup, watching from the stands. and sharing the tiny warmup with the adult trainers and the celebrities made it all the more chaotic. cinna took everything in stride. when we went out there and performed she seemed to enjoy it and i was way more nervous than her. i was the only one of us to make any mistakes, the only thing she did was not lay down during our freestyle because she was too busy admiring her audience. the morning we practiced our freestyle at 4am while the celebrities were out practicing theirs, bobby kerr's car was in the arena, along with people dragging giant tarps, and other props that should have scared her. but she didn't bat an eye at any of it. we were top ten in our first two classes, and after how close we’d grown i knew i had to keep her. finding out we placed first in the freestyle, and third overall in a very competitive youth division with lots of experienced trainers was the cherry on top. i was ecstatic. i hadn't been expecting to place, i just came to show off my horse as best as i could, and i couldn't believe we did it! when we came home from the makeover, she got plenty of time off and we would just do some free lunging, liberty/tricks, or hang out and not do any sort of training. it wasn’t until about that april i started noticing something was off… intermittent lameness and postural changes (standing a bit knuckled over in the front with her pasterns upright) pointed to a potential problem. i took her to a vet for lameness exams. the videos of her in a stall at the vet showed a much more extreme version of what i had been seeing, exacerbated by the trailer ride and sedation for her x-rays. rest assured i had not waited until it got that bad to have her checked out, as it had been rather subtle before that day, it simply hadn’t been anywhere near that bad at all until the trailer and the sedation made it very obvious! the vet found that she had tendon contractures due to growing too fast- her tendons had not caught up to her bones. but what was worse was what came up on x-rays. advanced arthritis in both front pasterns. i asked him how such a young horse could possibly have arthritis, especially so far along, and started to worry if i’d over-trained her, despite having always kept sessions light and never working her very hard. she was at most a long yearling, coming 2yo, likely born late in the year. the vet told me it could only have started developing in utero, most likely due to malnourishment. her dam didn’t have enough nutrients, especially calcium, for cinna to develop her joints properly. we went over all the options, and surgery was not an option for her partially due to her tendons, partially because we didn’t know what else could have been caused by her lack of nutrition early in life. the wild is cruel, and she was gathered during the harsh winter of 2018, in a gather where about a dozen horses were euthanized due to extremely poor body condition (1-2 BCS), where pictures show very, very little forage out on the range. it is most likely the case that her mother was one of the emaciated mares i saw in the pictures, and she was one of the skinny, underdeveloped foals… we had a treatment plan in place and she began to improve, she was on medication for a bit to help her be more comfortable until her tendons started looking better, we adjusted her diet to slow her growth, and she was sound again, but i knew then that i would never ride her.

Please could you explain this thing of getting a mustang with a lead rope . Is this a new regulation ? I have noticed that in Germany all mustangs are introduced with a lead rope and it looks cumbersome. I love your videos and keep up this saintly work .

Gorgeous horse!!

I actually think a trimmed mane in the summer is better regardless, just because the long mane traps so much heat. I usually trim them in spring/summer and then let them grow out for fall and winter. Do you think he'll darken up or change color as he gets some better nutrition? He's gonna be handsome!

Beautiful confirmation !

Once he's all groomed and trimmed up and brushed he will be beautiful!!

Kirby is magnificent!! 👍🏼💕😊

I was at the fort worth mustang show! It’s so impressive to see these mustangs after such little time to train

Odyssey is a gorgeous horse and a beautiful friend !! ❤😊

Mustangs can be beautiful capable horses.👍🏼💕

Hope you weren't hurt!!!

Looking great!

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Awesome---Odyssey must have loved getting out to run the cross country and jumps! He's looking gorgeous.

Odyssey is beautiful!!! Great job !!

Incredible ❤

You guys were tied!

He looks like a Throughbred. Gorgeous. Built for English.

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He is looking good! I like the shorter mane on him. I thought about cutting my mustang's mane, but I just can't do it because her's is so long and thick, it would be too sad.

❤ He is a very beautiful Mustang!! You are a very good kind gentle trainer to him. You are both incredibly lucky to have each other!❤❤

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This guy's got a wild child mane for sure! It's very thick and goes to both sides. A very nice-looking horse, he is.

Awesome love mustangs

Wow he is very willing to learn. And you are doing amazing as a teacher. So mindful about the smallest signs. I believe that this approach goes a really long way with these sensitive creatures. Letting them know that you are not just telling them but are also listening and letting them correct the pace, breathe a little, turn in into a dialogue. This in my mind is already crossing the border between training and building a relationship.

He is a baby boy ❤️❤️

Here before this blows up!

He would do anything for you. He’s not afraid at all. I like his jump action - those little hind quarters up in the air.

Look at that little Mustang GO! Yeah, Horse Power!

he looks like he is gaited.. cute fella

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Kirby is a beautiful Mustang!! You are taming him down and training him so fast!! He is going to make somebody a wonderful horse and partner! ❤❤❤

Kirby has such a good brain! He learns so fast.

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