The story of Belle

The story of Belle
February 13th, 2001 Pat and I brought home a skinny paint filly which we named Crystal. She had the prettiest blue eyes I have even seen on a horse. Poor thing was barely 14 hands and weighed about 600 pounds. She was in a mud lot with 15-20 other fillies and mares. The smallest one there, she did not get her fair share of food. We get her home and turned her out in a winter brown field where she proceeded to gain weight rapidly. The vet came out and gave her a clean bill of health. Said she could stand to put on a few pounds but other than that she was doing good. Gave her shots, wormed her and that was that.
Fast forward 4 months... Father's Day June 17th, 2001 I am riding Precious whom we had bought the week before when I am thrown from her and break several bones in my back. While in the hospital I get a phone call from Pat telling me that we had a baby. Of course I assume it is the drugs hearing him! LOL He keeps telling me that Crystal has had a baby. After 4 days in the hospital I am home. Sure enough there is the cutest little white horse I have ever seen! She was peeking out from under her mama looking at us then back to nursing!
One day when she was about 2 months old, Pat had Crystal out grooming her. I was down in the garden with my walker picking tomatoes and green beans. Brook was running around being a kid when all at once she started screaming! Belle being a baby herself, had kicked her in the belly!  Poor thing had a bruise the size of a fist square in the middle. This did not set well with me. Not one hour later Brook was giving Belle her very first bath. She had decided that Belle was her horse.
The days and months passed. She was petted on and played with. She was taught to lead and back on voice command. She learned how to give us her feet for cleaning and trimming. She learned not to kick us. She got kicked back! Soon we had her wearing a blanket, then a saddle. One day Brook comes running in the house hollering that she rode Belle! I was scared and mad. I went outside to give Pat whatnots when he put her on Belle again! She was barely a year old.
Times goes by and she reaches 2 and half and Pat started riding her. Never did do any bucking. She always rode out smooth.
One day she was running around the field. Hollering because we had Crystal and Precious out riding. I was filming Pat riding up the driveway when I noticed a commotion in the fields. Belle was running up the fence line next to the driveway coming right towards me. I started filming her and to my surprise she jumped the fence! She cleared it so easy, it was like watching a bird fly! After that she jumped the fence on a regular basis. Time after time we had to chase her down. Soon she started getting further away before it was discovered she was out. We locked her up in a stall but that proved to be no good. She knocked the door down several times and kicked the wall out twice. Finally we locked her up in our backyard. This was rather inconvenient. After all that grass was gone we moved her to the front yard. There she spent the better part of a year. Thinking that she was finally cured we put her back in the field with the other 2 horses. This lasted for awhile but not long. Soon she was back at her old tricks and back in the front yard! We used hot wire, barbed wire and hog wire, all to no avail.
Time after time we go get her. Time that could have been better spent. A lot of that time equaled lost hours at work for Pat too.
We always forgave her. She was our baby. We petted her and loved her. She would follow us around like a dog. She played with the cats and dogs. I even caught her tossing a can around playing like a cat or dog would.
      She is going to a home of someone that will love her. She has watched her grow up and has admired her for a long time. We will go see her at her new home.  She was bought by Brook's bus driver. She will only be moving a few miles down the road.
I am going to miss her so much. I know it is for the best that she leave. It hurts so much for us to get rid of our baby.