As many of you remember, Grace was my 2014 Equine Comeback Challenge horse. She was a 20 year old Percheron cross from a PMU facility who had been a broodmare and had twelve foals. Through no fault of her own, she ended up at Mountain Valley Horse Rescue.
Grace came to Bit of Honey Training to learn to be a riding horse, proving that even at age 20 you can still learn to be an athletic citizen!
She also picked up some extra skills like working over small jumps, then I took her to the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo last March.
After the expo in Denver I was invited to attend and teach at a small exhibition in Eagle, Colorado, where I met Marleen. She is from the Netherlands, and was missing her older draft cross gelding she had to leave when she moved to the US. Marleen’s riding background was english, and so Grace fit precisely into a spot in her heart!
Marleen adopted Grace, and they returned to the mountains for pleasure riding and lots of love. I’ve been privileged to keep in contact with Marleen, who takes photos of Grace regularly and keeps me up to date on their fun rides. I’m so glad Grace found her forever home with someone who loves draft crosses, who is enjoying having such a sweet mare. They ride around the ranch, play with obstacles in the arena, take lots of photos, and Marleen does her best to keep Grace (who LOVES MUD) as clean as is reasonably possible.
One email message from Marleen said this:
“Hi Kim, I wanted to let you know how well Grace is doing. She loves to get out in the pasture to play and we have been doing some obstacles in the outdoor arena. It has been so much fun. She is moving forward nicely and needs less encouragement every time I ride, which is about twice a week, and then I lunge her two times. We started small trail rides this summer. She has become quite attached to me and follows me everywhere, sometimes no need to tie her because she will stay next to me at all times. The bond we have established is amazing.”
Grace is also getting acclimated to Marleen’s little dog, and the animals even made the annual Christmas card!
I’m so grateful to have had the pleasure of working with Grace, who was a wonderful example of how a rescue horse who had numbers against her (20 years old, 12 foals, 0 riding experience, only 45 days of training with me) could have the greatest happy ending a horse could ask for. Here’s to many more Equine Comeback Challenge horses finding their forever homes.
To see more pictures of Grace and Marleen and follow Kim’s current journey with her Equine Comeback Challenge horse Dewey check out Kim’s blog: Bit of Honey Training Blog
