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.