Poor Bella got stuck in quarantine. Why, you ask? Not because she failed a test or showed anything funny in her bloodwork, temp, (or any other stat). But because of the ice storms in the Southeast slowing down FedEx and delaying the first round of tests. I guess all I can say about it is that I’m grateful to not have been IN the snow storms and that the only impact to me was a horse who was delayed for an additional week.
But she (finally!) made it! My 10yo daughter, Sadie, and I headed out at 7pm one night last week to meet the shipper at Emerald Downs. Bella, ever the professional, was completely unphased by the late night parking lot unload and reload, and was happily munching hay in my trailer 5 minutes after the shipper pulled in. We brought her home with no fuss and she was happily munching hay in her new stall before midnight. See the trend? “Will work for food” 🙂
Her first ride was a dream. I guess I should mention here that I haven’t purchased a horse who was trained for the job I bought it for since I was a young kid. That’s not to say that they haven’t been trained at all….some of my off-the-track TBs came with a pretty decent background. Just not trained in a dressage-friendly (let alone jumping) manner. Bella is an absolute dream who exudes the confidence and ease of a horse who has mastered her job, and all I can say is that I could get used to this! Here are a few short clips from her first ride about 12 hours post haul-in:
A few days later we cantered over our first few jumps. I haven’t had the chance to upload the videos to youtube yet, but a couple of stills from our first jump session:Â 
Suffice it to say that I am completely and totally taken with this mare! She is absolutely rock solid and a blast to ride. My assessment after the first few rides is that she is an equitation rider’s dream horse. Loads of scope, a killer brain, and simple enough that I would put my own mother (or daughter) on her and feel good about it.
Welcome to Flying F Sport Horses, Bella! 🙂