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but, decided to focas on the horse instead.

My mother decided at that moment that this was going to be her new project horse. She didn't know if the horse would make it but she knew she would do everything she could to help the sweet mare for as long as she could. Every day that we possibly could we made that long drive out to Hytyme so my mother could work her magic with this horse.

It was heading towards winter and the sun would show itself on a rare occasion. My mother's new project horse was recovering well. Her cuts and scrapes almost healed up and her hoof growing out nicely. Still in quarantine she was getting restless. Another reason we could tell she was feeling better. That day we decided to take her out into the round pen to get some exercise. Not too much, her foot was still being watched carefully. We let her loose and she ran from one end to the other and back again, and to finish it off a good roll in the dirt. Even through all that dirt we could see the bright copper of her coat shining through in the sun. "That's it", my mother said. "Penny, she's like a brand new copper penny". The nameless mare finally had a name. From that point on she was called Penny.

Over the next weeks my mother worked on Penny's training, riding her, ground manners, lunging, and was falling in love with her through every minute. We found that Penny was one of the most gentle and sweet natured horses we had ever worked with. We would look back on when she had first arrived, think of how good she was when we had to flush out her wounds and change bandages. She would just stand there, even though we knew she was in pain, she would still just stand there and let us do what we needed. We would joke about how "wild" she was, as the previous owners had said; not understanding how someone could do such things and then blame the horse. It was amazing to us how far she had come since then.

It was almost Christmas and Penny was doing great. Hytyme was having a Christmas party for all the volunteers in one of their barns. There was everything you could imagine to eat. It was so cold we had a propane heater with all of us huddled around it, sipping our coffee and eating our goodies. My mother was nervous that night and for good reason. She had told me earlier that day what she had planned to do. Saving all her pennies, she had gotten enough money to adopt Penny. She was going to give the adoption papers, filled out, and a signed check to the owners for their Christmas present. So there we sat shivering with anticipation, waiting for the right moment.

When the moment finally arrived, tears and hugs were shared. My mother became a volunteer never thinking she would adopt a horse for her own. That night was a special moment for my mother, the night she became a horse owner.

My mother has adopted another horse now, saved from the feed lot. Another registered thoroughbred mare neglected through her younger years, now named Swingtime. Young and shy, my mother is working on gentling her and showing her that people aren't all that bad. Penny is all healed up without any scars to be seen and loving her new mom. With her foot in good shape she is being trained for trail riding and is doing great. Both girls are now boarded close to where my mother lives, are getting along great and living the good life.

Learn more about this author, Rachel French.
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