Well, it has been officially decided. Bella will be heading to greener (actually drier, heh heh heh) pastures this weekend.
Cowboy H and I have actually been discussing "re-homing" Bella for a while now. At first, the owner of our ranch was very interested in her as a cutting prospect. We hemmed and hawed about that. Then, a high school girl needed a horse for high school rodeo (cutting) and we tried to work that out. We considered leasing her, putting her on DreamHorse.com, making flyers and posting them at cutting/cow horse events.
But, we always balked when it came down to actually trying to sell or lease Bella. The problem was, we liked her too much. As Cowboy H kept saying, "She's just such a
nice horse". So we decided that we wouldn't actively pursue selling her, but we keep our eyes and ears open for any opportunities that arose. We weren't
opposed to selling her, we just weren't in a big rush to do it.
Our reasons for getting rid of Bella have nothing to do with Bella herself really, but mostly with us. Cowboy H doesn't ride as much as he wishes, sometimes he can only make it out there once a month. I already have my own horse, who I barely have enough time to work, let alone another horse. Basically, Bella deserves a better home than we are giving her. She is a great little work-horse, she really likes to work, and was just going to waste in our hands. I mean, when we first got her, she really needed time to decompress and we were the perfect people to let her do that, but now that she is ready to go again, we're not so perfect. Fortunately, we've been able to keep her out on pasture, so she's not cooped up in a stall and she has some buddies to hang out with.
On top of that, the news that we had another horse waiting for us was revealed. And when Cowboy H and I learned who (or rather, what) was being given to us, we started rethinking a new home for Bella. First of all, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Maria was given to us (by the same person as the new horse) and I wouldn't trade her for the world. Secondly, we can't afford board for 3 horses. But we still wouldn't give Bella to just anyone in a desperate attempt to get rid of her. It had to be a good-fitting, good-loving home, otherwise she would stay with us.
Then, out of the blue (but maybe with a little help from the Desert Rose) the most wonderful couple sprung an interest in Bella. I'm talking good horse people. Real good horse people. A day later, they decided that, yes, most definitely, they wanted Bella (they're thinking about breeding her!). So, Cowboy H had to decide if he wanted to trade out his dependable, reliable, hard-working, trust-worthy, sweet little (tiny) mare for, well, his newly-gifted horse. And let me tell you he thunk on it. He thunk on it hard, for about 2 days, because like I said before "Bella is just such a
nice horse" and he really likes her. And I suppose you can guess what his decision finally was.
As much as I don't have a bond with Bella, I will be sad to see her go. She is such a sweet little mare, gentle, giving (oh so giving), quiet. However, knowing where she's going, and who she'll be with makes me happy too. She deserves it.
As for the new guy, well, I'll just wait to introduce him until I get some proper pictures this Sunday. Because, let me tell you, he deserves a proper introduction.
