Sponsors For Blossom And Fundraiser

Tractor Supply and Byrds Western Wear of Melbourne, Fl are helping sponsor Blossom.

On Saturday August 2, we will be holding a car wash and picture taking with Blossom at Tractor Supply on 192 in Melbourne, from 10am to 2pm.

Come out and meet Blossom, get a picture taken with her, view her wish list, get your car washed, learn about Mustangs and see how wonderful a Mustang can be.

Three Days And Finally She Step's Up

Blossom On The Trail

Here is Blossom on a Florida swamp trail. We have to take the road to get to the trail so the last picture of her she has no fear and she is saying, " I'm a Mustang and yea I own this road."

Blossom and Me

Blossom and I have really bonded. I already have the mind-set that I won't be bringing her back to Florida, and it is going to be really hard to let her go.
Whoever adopts her will get a wonderful horse! I enjoy training this smart little (big actually) Mustang.


It's thunder and lightning right now and the weather channel is telling us Hurricane Dolly will be hitting southern Texas and Mexico. I feel so sorry for those folks, and especially Texas, I love Texas. If I did not live in Florida, I would want to live in Texas.

Well, that all folks..............................Have a good one.

Back At Home

Blossom is back at her home base now and was real happy to see her Freisien
friend. They shared nickers over the fence line and Blossom went in her stall and took a nap. To cute.

We have the arena set up as I will want it if I make the finals. We will just practice our routine until we are doing it in our sleep. We had to build, modify
and suffer heat strokes just to get the obstacle built, but it's ready!!!

Blossom had Friday off and Saturday we put a saddle on and went for a long, long walk. Nothing scares this horse. I was walking in the middle of the road to keep cars from going by to fast and a big truck that did not want to slow down until it was on top of us. It did not scare her, scared me, not her.

What's the world coming to, when I can't take a Mustang for a walk in the middle of the street? :) Slow down people.......lifes short...enjoy the ride!!!!!!!

Still Raining

Well next year I will think twice about training a Mustang during the summer months in Florida. Everything is soaked in rain!!!! It is real hard to train a horse in mud, electrical storms and all the biting bugs that come along with 15 inches of rain.

I forgot to mention yesterday when all the kids sat in the bleacher and I came out into the arena with Blossom, I began to introduce her as a once wild Mustang from Nevada and that little turkey Blossom dropped to the ground and rolled and rolled.

Blossom is hilarious, the kids all laughed and laughed at the Wild Mustang!

Harmony Farms

Blossom and I had such a great time at Harmony Farms in Rockledge. The kids ranged in ages and all of them had an interest in the "Wild Mustang".

I heard when the camp director told them a "Wild Mustang" would be visiting, they all cheered but when we got there Blossom was not wild. She was cool, calm and collected. All the children got to love on her and scratch her favorite spots and Blossom was so sweet. Those kids loved her and she loved those kids back!


Blossom had the best ground manners but she did not want to do anything but stand around and be loved and look pretty. I was able to pull off a short Demo with her and move her around a bit but she was lazy about it. She has actually done that once before, she acted like she didn't know anything, so I taught her something new. Today was a lot like that except the new was having kids all at once love on her and I made the kids clap a lot.


Harmony Farms is a therapeutic riding school in Brevard county. Today though, the children were at regular camp and all rode well. I think at least one of those kids will end up with a Mustang at some point in their life.

Thank you Pam, Della and everybody that has helped with this Mustang, together we can make a difference in a Mustangs life. Save one at a time!

Donations

I want to thank everybody that has been so helpful in getting me and Blossom ready for our big event in Texas. With out the help of friends, family and strangers I would not be able to do this. If anyone would like to sponsor or help out with cost's your donations and time would be very, very appreciated. Our Mustangs are in a fragile plight right now, I can't save them all, but with your help, we can save one at a time.

Thank you,

Joan Fisher

Rain, Rain Go Away

I live in hurricane alley so all this rain is helping keep the hurricanes away so I'm thank-ful for that, but otherwise it stinks! Go rain in California and Nevada where they desperately need it.


There is about 3 inches of standing water in all the working areas and common areas of the barn. The only place that is dry land is right in the middle of the round pen which I call the island.

So, I walked blossom threw the "rivers" to the island in the middle of the round pen.
She stayed in the middle and cried. Every time she thought I was leaving and leaving her on the island she would neigh louder. It broke my heart, but I had to clean her stall. I would never forget my Blossom on an island, but she doesn't know that yet.

We have spent time taking walks out on the road to get her used to traffic and let her feet dry. (Her stall is also nice and dry)

We have an exciting week planned, rain or not, we will be visiting Harmony Farms a riding facility for hadicapped children. Harmony Farms has done wonderful work enriching the lives of children here in Brevard county through horsemanship. I know Blossom will enjoy the outing too.

I will be taking Blossom back to her home base barn on Friday. It will be good for her to learn that she can leave home, go places and return to a place called home.

Under Saddle

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Little Blossom Wants To Play

It has rained every afternoon in Florida since June 5th. It would be nice if it would stop for a little while!

Blossom had her feet trimmed this week and she was so good for the ferrier.

I also put a full saddle and bridle set on her this week. She was also very good.
There was no buck, she was a little faster in the round pen than usual, but I saw that as a good sign that she will move out. I will remind you that I won't ride her, but the new owners will have a well started horse and they will not have a difficult time finishing out her training.

Blossom Likes Her New Place

I moved Blossom in a thunderstorm today and she was ok with it all. She handled it much better than I did.

I used a round pen three times today and got so much accomplished! She side passes and is doing great at the obstacle course. I think I need to be a little bit secret about my Mustangs progress. I saw where a trainer taught her Mustang to bow and so now I have to teach my Blossom to bow, I won't have another trainer have one up on me!!!! heheheheehe

I can't wait until tomorrow to see my Mustang. Have a good one!

Blossom Side Passes

Today was like any other day working with a horse in training. I got Blossom used to the first few steps of walking latterally. She will cross over her front and back legs walking sideways. It is not super graceful and I did not want to teach her that yet. I had to because it seems that she has forgotten everything else I have trained her. She did not want to back up, I tried to bathe her and she rolled, she dropped right to the ground during her bath. It was funny but a bad habit. She wouldn't run or trot in a circle. She wouldn't pay attention to me in the areana, she would stop and eat the dirt. Now a Mustang is the last horse that I would crack a whip at and scare them to death and go backwards in the trust issues. I just decided that if she was not willing to do something that she knows how to do than I would teach her something new and it worked. She now has the foundation for the sidepass. As a trainer I'm not concerned that she had a bad day. It is ok to take one step forward and two steps back when training a horse. It happens all the time. Tomorrow she is going to a busy barn for a week. They have a round pen that I will utilize all the time, her not wanting to run has to change and thank gosh I have almost 2 months to change that!

Blossom Under Saddle

Great News, I put a saddle on Blossom today and had her walk and trot with it on.

I wish I could say that it was a real rodeo and just the most thrilling thing to watch. It was so uneventfull that I swear I saw her yawn. That's good actually that she started so perfectly, I'm sure the first ride taken on her will go smoothly for her future owners. Really the only thing that I 'm concerned about with her behavior is that she hates bugs. I mean really hates bugs! If you want to see a rodeo, watch her reaction to a bee or horse fly. She looses it! She gets very angry at the bug and does not pay attention to anything else. What am I going to do you ask? I'm not sure, this is the first time ever I have seen a horse react like this to a bug. Will she grow out of it? Maybe. I don't ever want to be on her when a bug lands on the wrong spot though. Her little display of not liking bugs has not happened when I was handling her but she has left two other people quite concerned about bugs. I will call or email a few other trainers to see if they have any suggestions. There is a product you can feed your horse that discourages bugs from landing on your horse, but I try to do all natural. The ferrier is coming back tomorrow, I will let you guys know how that goes. The quality of my pics and video are very amatuer I know, but it is not easy training the horse and being the one to take pictures. As a matter of fact most trainers would think I was nuts to video and train at the same time. Well, I must be nuts! Oh, look at her fancy USA freezemark.

Under Saddle

Under Saddle

Message From The Foundation

...from the Mustang Heritage Foundation

In the midst of all the email and information you receive, we want
you to know how much we appreciate

your support and how thankful we are for the freedoms we all
enjoy.



We are especially thankful to our supporters, fans and trainers
and their famiily members who have or are currently working to
protect our freedoms in our armed forces.



We thank you for your service.



Have a wonderful Independence Day!

Happy 4th Of July

Thursday was rainy, so I just worked on Blossoms feet inside the barn.
Everyday she does get better at picking up her feet and keeping them up for longer periods.

Today looks rainy too, we have decided to not haul Blossom around in the rain. Not that it is bad to haul horses in rain, I've done it a thousand times, but if I have a choice not to than I take it.

((((((((HAPPY 4TH OF JULY))))))))))))

Pictures Of Oyster

Front and back leg view of oyster on a horse.

Farriers Visit

My buck off from not doing ground work last month has prevented me from moving forward with Blossoms feet. In order to teach a horse to have their feet trimmed or shoed you have to go through several steps. You don't just dive in with your hands and head putting those body parts in a dangerous situation. You have to bend your legs, bend over and pick up the horses foot and a lot of times a horse will strike out with their leg to prevent you from picking up their foot. They are afraid to give up their footing, so you go slow and take your time. You have to have a lot of patience. Please don't try this unless you fully understand that equine activites can be hazardous to your health and if in doubt, call a professional. Here are my steps.

I put a halter and lead rope on the horse. I then take him to an area with no grass but with soft footing. I take my handy stick and attempt to rub it on the horses legs everywhere. Some horses freak out and move around, others stand still. I keep the stick on the horse no matter where the horse moves to and when the horse stands still I remove the stick. That is conditioned response. The horse soon understands that if he stands still the stick goes away. When he is used to the stick I move onto using a soft rope
and put it around the horses leg and pull the leg up, and yes, there is moving and kicking at this point sometimes too. Over a period of time the horse will stand there with the rope around his leg and his leg off the ground. I then get rid of the rope and start using my hands. I start rubbing his legs and feet with my hands to get him used to hands touching that area. Then I squeeze his oyster, no joke, there is a part on the horses leg, kind of like a callous, called an oyster. Squeezing it makes him lift his foot. Then I see how long he will hold his foot up in my hands. After all those steps are complete, I emulate the ferrier by putting the horses foot between my legs and holding with my thighs and pretend like I'm working on the foot by tapping it, cleaning it, etc...

Since I have a lump the size of a softballl on the inside of my left thigh I can't do the final step to help my ferrier stay safe and do his best he can do. Good news though, you are allowed to have help training your Mustang, I don't want to because it is a personal journey for me, however I broke down and hired my ferrier to train her to pick up her feet. So thats what we did yesterday
just kept picking and holding those feet. Our next visit is Tuesday and we are hoping to trim her feet then.

FYI: I have been told over the years that the oyster on the horse dates back to prehistoric times.
That at one time the oyster was part of the horses hoof when prehistoric horses had split hooves.

Have a great day!

Ground Work

All the things that I have done with Blossom so far is called ground work. In my training program no matter what the horses age, I put them through a lot of ground work and take them
all over town so that they have a been there done that attitude. Ground work is a way to make your first ride on the horse safer. It is a way to see just how much control that you have over the horses body parts. Like his feet, head and neck, hind end, barrel and shoulders. Some horses complete the ground work in a day, some take 30 days, it just depends on the horses temperment and how well they handle pressure. Blossom has done wonderful. Her ground work was completed in a short amount of time. I enjoy working with the Mustang!