On (almost) Wordless Wednesdays,
I feature a rescue animal in north Texas.
This past weekend was a great weekend because we took Blossom to her new adoptive home! Blossom’s new mom is looking forward to lots of fun times with this sweet little mare.
Some of you probably remember Blossom from past articles on the blog. Blossom is a little breeding stock paint mare who has been at the rescue for awhile. (Breeding stock paint means that she was suppose to have lots of spots, but got the wrong genes and ended up solid colored. This is one reason why she ended up at the rescue. She was “worthless” because she didn’t have flashy spots.)
Blossom came to the rescue with a large group of quarter horses and paints that we rescued. She arrived as a yearling, skinny, wormy, and knowing nothing about humans. She was initially curious about people, but was also somewhat shy and unsure. It took us awhile to get her halter trained and to get her to the point where she really trusted people.
For comparison, here’s a photo of Blossom when she first came to the rescue and then a photo from this past summer. It’s amazing what a bit of hay, love and TLC can do for a horse!
Last spring, Blossom participated in a special foster program with a local high school. She learned lots about ground work and got exposed to lots of new things while she was at the high school. When she came back to the rescue at the end of the school year, we had a lot of fun starting her under saddle.
Blossom is a brave and pretty laid back little mare, especially for a three year old. After lots of rides in our round pen, we started riding her on our horse obstacle course and taking her for fun rides around the property, sometimes even bareback. (You can see a video of Blossom on the obstacle course here.) The second picture below is me on Blossom (on the left) and my friend Meghan on Tex. Both ponies got their start with clicker training and are turning into awesome riding horses.
The very first photo in the post, of Blossom’s ears sticking up over the hay bale, is one I took when she first arrived at the rescue. Although you can’t tell it’s her, it’s always been one of my favorite photos. She does have pretty cute little ears!
I know Blossom’s new mom and her family are going to have a great time with this sweet mare. This is one of the best parts about rescue work–watching the horses learn to trust people during training and then finding great new homes.
When was the “before” photo taken? How long did it take Blossom to go from abused, neglected horse to adoptable horse? Is Blossom just an ordinary horse now? Or, does she still suffer from some of the after-effects of being abused?
Joy
resolutewoman.com
Thanks for commenting!
Did you recognize yourself in that first picture? 🙂
The before photo was taken in the early fall of 2009.
Blossom is doing great now. She was never actually abused, just neglected. So, although she didn’t know much about people, she had never been badly handled. Once she learned to trust people, she was pretty easy to train!
cheers,
Mary
I get it clear idea about your topic.Above all the points are explained very clearly.
Congratulations Blossom!!
Awesome, I hope she has a wonderful life with her new human. She certainly got a great start with you!
Thanks for commenting!
I think Blossom and her new human will be a perfect match.
Blossom was a lot of fun to work with and I especially enjoyed working with her last summer and fall when we started riding her and really got her training going. She is a smart little horse and a quick learner! I lot of our other volunteers, especially last summer, also helped with her training, so it was a team effort.
cheers,
Mary
Very useful information. I love this article. I have hunting it for a long time. So happy I got it today. I hope that our owners can share more good things with us.
Hi
Blossom is doing great now.  I have hunting it for a long time. So happy I got it today.
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