Injured wild horse couldn’t keep up with Outer Banks herd. Now Blossom has a new home
An injured wild horse couldn’t stick with her Outer Banks herd — so now, she has a new home, an organization said.
Blossom the aging horse was “was unable to bear weight on her front left leg and was unwilling to move and keep up with her harem. Based on her physical symptoms and her advanced age, our vet advised that we remove Blossom for treatment,” the Corolla Wild Horse Fund in North Carolina wrote Oct. 8 on Facebook.
Now, Blossom is showing signs of improvement as she receives care at the organization’s farm.
“Her limp is a bit less severe today and she is putting significantly more weight on the leg,” the group wrote in its Oct. 8 post. “Blossom definitely isn’t out of the woods — there is always a lot that can go wrong especially with the added stress of being removed from the wild.”
A veterinarian stepped in after a resident called to report an injured wild horse. The group discovered Blossom had a torn ligament in her leg. They don’t know exactly how she was injured, but they don’t think a car ran into her.
“We believe that she got caught up in something and tore the ligament trying to get free, or possibly twisted it walking through deep sand,” officials wrote.
The Corolla Wild Horse Fund manages a herd of horses on the Currituck Outer Banks, part of a series of barrier islands off the North Carolina coast. The wild animals are believed to be descendants of mustangs that Spaniards brought to the area in the 1500s.
Blossom is at least in her late 20s and has “deep” roots in the Corolla herd. While the organization is using DNA to try to confirm her lineage, the group says she’s living near other rehabilitating horses, including one believed to be her daughter.
Over her years on the Outer Banks, Blossom has become known for boasting a “a big knot in her mane.”
“Even though she’s at the farm now we’re not sure if we’ll be able to bring ourselves to brush it out — it’s such a part of her personality and identity,” the organization wrote.
Blossom reportedly is taking pain medication and had one of her hooves trimmed as a part of her treatment. She may have to get surgery, and she could “have a limp for the rest of her life.”
