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One of The Girls, and our resident brainiac
Meet Bella...
She is a half-Arabian (really she's 97%). She is a Padron (you can google him, he's a big deal :o) great granddaughter and has definitely inherited her great grandpa's tricky genes.
When the time drew near for us to wean Rina, I made a ginormous (that's a technical term, by the way :o) error. I contacted that same wonderful farm where we had gotten Lady and Rina to see about the possibility of purchasing another young horse from them to put with Rina and ease the weaning process. She had to have company, didn't she? The idea was to sell her within a year at the most. Bella was two when she came disguised as Rina's temporary roommate (um, she turned six last month :o) Thankfully even though he made me swear an oath to sell, Rickey knew I was lying through my teeth when I made that promise (since I absolutely thought I meant it at the time, it shouldn't count against me - should it?)
She loves to do tricks and her favorite game is to play with the feed buckets. I will take a stack of 3 or 4 buckets and place them here and there on the ground for her to pick up. Bella will stack them back in my arms one at a time (in exchange for a treat, of course; because nothing in life is free :o) If I don't put them back out after she's handed me the last one? She'll just do it herself by taking them from the stack one at time and flinging them everywhere so she can start again.
I think the hardest part of surgical procedures was being separated from the horses for an extended period of time (the first time being the absolute worst). Following my cancer diagnoses came two successive surgical procedures which rendered me unable to "get out there" with the horses for about 6 weeks. Not because they were intentionally dangerous, but because even a tiny bump when it's from an 800-1,200lb horse can be a disaster.
I'd watch them through the windows on the side of the house (missing them terribly, of course) and one time spoke to my daughter with Bella grazing right outside. The moment she heard my voice, her head popped up and nose started flaring as she looked all over trying to find me. She called once or twice looking all around, but when she neither saw me nor received a response she returned to grazing (I was still at the window but with the sun I guess she couldn't see in - I'll confess to some serious pouting at this point; I really missed the horses, especially Bella!)
After an agonizing amount of time, I felt well enough to walk outside one morning and watch them eat breakfast. I had no sooner stepped outside the door when I heard greetings all around and watched Bella's head snap up and whip around before her eyes locked on mine. I opened my mouth to tell her I missed her, but instead felt my jaw drop in shock as Bella (who was whinnying like mad) tried to climb up the side of her stall - my girl was coming to see me. She made it to the third slat (which was pretty impressive as it was about halfway up the side of her stall) before dropping back down. She tried a couple more times, but when that didn't work she stood with her head stretched all the way out towards me, calling and calling. Of course by this time I'm absolutely bawling and saying, "I looooves you BellaBella; oh, I miss my girls; I loves you BellaBella..."
Pictures: Bella in the riding area, with Rina on a "pasture outing", running to me (same outing), at the gate for supper, asking for a kiss (I cropped myself out :o) mowing the grass, and kissing Rickey on cue.
She is a half-Arabian (really she's 97%). She is a Padron (you can google him, he's a big deal :o) great granddaughter and has definitely inherited her great grandpa's tricky genes.
When the time drew near for us to wean Rina, I made a ginormous (that's a technical term, by the way :o) error. I contacted that same wonderful farm where we had gotten Lady and Rina to see about the possibility of purchasing another young horse from them to put with Rina and ease the weaning process. She had to have company, didn't she? The idea was to sell her within a year at the most. Bella was two when she came disguised as Rina's temporary roommate (um, she turned six last month :o) Thankfully even though he made me swear an oath to sell, Rickey knew I was lying through my teeth when I made that promise (since I absolutely thought I meant it at the time, it shouldn't count against me - should it?)
She loves to do tricks and her favorite game is to play with the feed buckets. I will take a stack of 3 or 4 buckets and place them here and there on the ground for her to pick up. Bella will stack them back in my arms one at a time (in exchange for a treat, of course; because nothing in life is free :o) If I don't put them back out after she's handed me the last one? She'll just do it herself by taking them from the stack one at time and flinging them everywhere so she can start again.
What has she taught us?
- That some horses just don't enjoy being petted; they were born that way (isn't that interesting?). For whatever reason, Bella does not care to be petted - she never has. She will let me do it certainly, but does not care for it. She does not have any skin disorders, nor is she spooky; she just doesn't like it. She does like to rest her chin in my hand when I am talking to her, though. We generally ask people not to pet her out of respect for her wishes (although she will tolerate it). She often sticks to me like glue, loves for me to talk to her (with words), and will often seek me out to chat; sometimes without words (see photo on homepage of us "talking").
- That exaggerated breeding for show can come with a new set of problems. Bella definitely got that desired "teacup muzzle" for the Arabian show ring, but got retained caps as a result of a too tiny mouth and now has her very own orthodontist. She also has considerable trouble with her thyroid and is on a special diet.
- That horses can definitely enjoy learning, often appreciate a challenge and trust is a very powerful thing. Working at liberty with a tarp one afternoon (we had just started this exercise), Bella was crossing it back to me. She did not pick her feet up high enough, and managed to scoop up the tarp with a back foot sending it straight up her leg to the hock - if you've done any training, you know things like that can be a recipe for disaster. What did she do? She gave a mighty leap (I was suitably impressed :o) to clear herself of the crackling thing crawling up her leg, landed on the opposite side of the tarp, and immediately stopped and turned to look at me to see what to do next - WOW, what a good girl!
I think the hardest part of surgical procedures was being separated from the horses for an extended period of time (the first time being the absolute worst). Following my cancer diagnoses came two successive surgical procedures which rendered me unable to "get out there" with the horses for about 6 weeks. Not because they were intentionally dangerous, but because even a tiny bump when it's from an 800-1,200lb horse can be a disaster.
I'd watch them through the windows on the side of the house (missing them terribly, of course) and one time spoke to my daughter with Bella grazing right outside. The moment she heard my voice, her head popped up and nose started flaring as she looked all over trying to find me. She called once or twice looking all around, but when she neither saw me nor received a response she returned to grazing (I was still at the window but with the sun I guess she couldn't see in - I'll confess to some serious pouting at this point; I really missed the horses, especially Bella!)
After an agonizing amount of time, I felt well enough to walk outside one morning and watch them eat breakfast. I had no sooner stepped outside the door when I heard greetings all around and watched Bella's head snap up and whip around before her eyes locked on mine. I opened my mouth to tell her I missed her, but instead felt my jaw drop in shock as Bella (who was whinnying like mad) tried to climb up the side of her stall - my girl was coming to see me. She made it to the third slat (which was pretty impressive as it was about halfway up the side of her stall) before dropping back down. She tried a couple more times, but when that didn't work she stood with her head stretched all the way out towards me, calling and calling. Of course by this time I'm absolutely bawling and saying, "I looooves you BellaBella; oh, I miss my girls; I loves you BellaBella..."
Pictures: Bella in the riding area, with Rina on a "pasture outing", running to me (same outing), at the gate for supper, asking for a kiss (I cropped myself out :o) mowing the grass, and kissing Rickey on cue.
