Coloring Pages:
Coloring Book Cover
True Blue in the Woods
True Blue Running
True Blue Misses His Family
True Blue Welcomes Autumn
Happy Halloween from True Blue
Boo! True Blue
True Blue on Thanksgiving
True Blue’s Introduction
True blue was born on a horse ranch in Texas. The ranch bred a special color of blue horses. Some people call them blue roans, and some call them gray roans. The term “roan” is a type of color in which white hairs are mixed in with the base coat. True Blue did not have any of the white hairs in his coat, so instead of the usual roan coloring he was all blue with a white mane and tail.
His owner was very upset about his color and kept telling him, “If you don’t change colors when you shed out this spring you’re going to the auction!”
This frightened True blue because he had heard bad things about going to auction. He heard that some of the horses that went to auction ended up with owners that didn’t treat them well and some ended up being killed! True Blue did everything he could to try and change his color. One day he rolled in the mud and turned all black. When his owner arrived at the ranch, True Blue pranced up to greet him with his head held high. Feeling certain that this was what his owner wanted True Blue said to him, “Neigh, neigh.” Which meant, “I’ve changed colors!”
True Blue’s owner didn’t look happy at all, instead he called True Blue a dumb horse for rolling in the mud. True Blue dropped his head and slowly walked away wondering what he had done wrong. True Blue thought maybe his owner just didn’t like dark colors, so that night while thinking of a new plan he decided to roll in the grass and try and turn green! True Blue fell asleep that night feeling sure that his owner would like him if he was green.
The next day True Blue rolled and rolled in the tall green grass. When his owner came to the ranch that morning True Blue again pranced up to greet him. True Blue’s owner was even more angry with true Blue for turning part of his body green. The man yelled at True Blue ” That’s it, horse, you’re going to auction this week. Not only is your color wrong, but you are too stupid to even stay clean!”
True Blue dropped his head to the ground, and walked away slowly with tears pouring from his eyes, all he ever wanted to do was make his owner happy.
True blue had never been anywhere but this horse ranch where he could visit with his Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters. He could not imagine a life without them. Never seeing his family again was worse than he could bear, but on top of that he knew he could end up going to a slaughter house where he would be killed! True Blue could not believe that the owner that he loved so much would sell him at an auction knowing that this could happen to him. True Blue decided to try one more time to make his owner happy, so he stood in the water sprinklers all night so he would be clean the next time his owner saw him.
The next morning when True Blue’s owner arrived he had a trailer attached to his truck. This meant that either a new horse was coming to the ranch or that a horse was leaving the ranch. True Blue’s heart pounded and his legs trembled as he gazed at the trailer wondering what was about to unfold. The owner stepped out of the truck, glanced at True Blue and walked back to the trailer. True Blue wanted to run and hide! Instead he watched carefully to see if anyone was coming out of the trailer. Maybe they had a new friend coming to live with them. Suddenly out stepped the prettiest blue roan horse True Blue had ever seen. She was gorgeous! True Blue let out a sigh of relief and went to meet the new arrival . As his owner put the new horse away he looked over at True Blue and said to him, “Since you’re leaving, I can afford to feed another mouth. At least this one is the right color and will make me some money”.
True Blue suddenly realized what was going on and his poor little heart began to race and he couldn’t get his legs to stop shaking, “Oh, no!” Cried True Blue, “He really is going to take me to that awful place called an auction barn!”
True Blue looked into his owners eyes and began to cry, but the owner did not know that True Blue was crying. A horse does not cry real tears, instead he cries inside and you have to look into his eyes to see it. True Blue’s owner didn’t look as he began walking toward him. True Blue backed up trying to show him that he did not want to go. The man just kept coming at him with the halter, so True Blue ran off. True Blue had never run away from his owner before because his mother taught him to come to people. Seeing True Blue run made the man scream and yell.
True Blue never saw his owner act that way, so with watery eyes and his head hung low he walked slowly back to the only man he had ever known and loved. As the man was putting the halter on True Blue’s head, True Blue nickered back to his family and friends telling them good-bye. Then he told them all he loved them and would never forget them.
When the trailer finally stopped at the auction barn, True Blue was unloaded and put into a stall with some other horses. These horses were very skinny and sad. Their eyes were dull and they didn’t look up or nicker to him when he said hello. True Blue wondered what could have happened to make these horses so sad. Why would anyone own a horse and not feed it? He looked over the stall wall at some other horses and saw a horse that could hardly walk because his feet were so overgrown. He had never seen anything like that before and he wondered once again how something like this could happen. True Blue felt sure that his owner wouldn’t leave him in such a terrible place but as he looked around he couldn’t see his owner. The more True Blue looked around the more he could not believe his eyes, their were all kinds of animals waiting to be auctioned off. Someone came up to True Blue and stuck a sign on him. That was when he realized that his owner really did leave him there. True Blue could not believe that his owner had left him and had not even said goodbye.
One by one the other horses were led out of the pen, until there was just a few left, and True Blue was one of them. Finally a man came for him and said, “You’re turn, fella.” True Blue was led out into the middle of an area where there was a lot of noise and a lot of people all shouting. True Blue was so scared he was shaking all over. He could hear some people saying “look at that ugly blue horse, who would ever buy that ugly thing!”
True Blue just hung his head. He could hear his Mom and Dad’s words in his mind telling him how beautiful he was and what a special horse he was. How could their words have been wrong?
Then True Blue noticed a lady starring at him, and somehow her gaze made him feel that everything was going to be OK. She kept raising her arm, but he didn’t understand why. Then there was a loud bang as a man struck a board with a hammer and said, “sold for 17 cents a pound.”
He had been sold for less than the price of horse meat at the slaughter house! True Blue couldn’t believe this was happening to him and he wondered if he was going to go to a slaughter house now. Next he was run down a shoot into a large pen with all the other horses to wait and find out what was to become of him.
After what seemed like forever the lady who kept starring at him and raising her hand came over and walked up to him. True Blue backed up into the corner trying to get away from her. The lady just kept walking up to him quietly and slowly. She never looked him in they eye, but instead she approached with her eyes down in a non threatening way. She finally reached up and touched his neck. True Blue could feel the love in her so he let her put a halter on his head and lead him away.
As the lady walked True Blue to her trailer she kept telling him nice things about how he would be O.K. and that she would take care of him. She told him her name was Feliz, which meant happy in Spanish. True Blue felt better, but he was still scared. Feliz just kept talking to him in soothing tones until he started to settle down and accept being loaded into her trailer. That was when she told him he was going to live at T-bar Ranch.
It was a long ride to True Blue’s new home. True Blue did a lot of thinking as they traveled down the road. He Wondered what was going to be in store for him when they arrived at the T-bar Ranch and he wanted to know what T-bar meant. As they approached the Gate to the entrance of the ranch , he saw a big sign that said, “Welcome to True Blue Animal Rescue.”
True Blue couldn’t read the sign because horses don’t know how to read, but somehow he knew he was safe. There was peace on this ranch, and all the horses that ran up to greet him whinnied and neighed to tell him that he would be safe here and that everything was going to be just fine.