Bella has settled into her new home well and is enjoying having the kids fuss over her.

Thanks to Liz and family for offering Bell a wonderful new home.

I think the time has come now for Bella to find a new home. She is doing very well and I'm absolutely amazed at her progress. She is very quiet to handle and easy to catch - she waits at the gate for you!  Bella is approx 15hh and aged around late teens/early 20's. She would be best suited as a companion horse but can also be used a lead rein horse for pony rides occassionaly as she is quiet to ride. If ridnig her off the lead, she requires a rider with some experience as she is forward moving. No kick, buck, bite, etc... ***Light Occassional riding only***

I am offering Bella "FREE TO GOOD HOME" to an experienced horsey home only. She doesn't require any more attention or care than any other horse, but in summer she does need to wear a cotton combo rug and fly/sun mask to ensure her pink skin doesn't get burnt. She still is missing hair on her wither, croup and white patches on her shoulders, but the fungal infection is all cleared now and its just bare skin basically.

Please call Bree on 0419 118 840 for further information. (email's can be sent to HORSESwithHOPE@yahoo.com.au but I'd prefer that genuinely interested people ring first).

Bella is located in Lydnhurst, Vic.

Bella is going so so so well. Her knee sore is almost healed - just a small 2cm x 2cm scab now so hopefully in the next few weeks or so it'll heal over completely. It doesn't bother her at all. Her skin is good - still a bit crusty but the summer rug helps keep it all at bay. Her weight is good and she is looking fabulous.

I even had a little ride today on her!! I wasn't sure if she would ever be able to be ridden since her wither was so badly infected in the past, but I made sure the saddle had good clearance over her wither and she was just fine. We only did a couple of laps as I didn't want to push her, but from what I could tell she didn't want to finish. We went for a walk, trot and little canter and she loved it. She was extremely well behaved and didn't put a foot wrong. Really impressive considering it's been months and months since she's been ridden - possible even years - who knows???

Bella is doing very well. Her condition has picked up quite a bit and she has nice weight coverage, which is good to see. She is a lot happier within herself and she has gained a lot of trust in me. She’s really come around in the last few weeks and has just the sweetest kindest nature. She happily follows me around the paddock, or if I am riding another horse in the same paddock as her, she just plods along behind me – even when I go over trotting poles – she still follows – its VERY CUTE!!!

Her skin isn’t coping too well with the weather now that its starting to really heat up, but we have just bought her a new cotton summer rug combo to keep the sun off her skin so it doesn’t burn. Due to her old wither injury, she is rather sensitive so I have bought a large piece of sheepskin and have stitched this by hand into the wither section of the rug to ensure it does not rub her and so far this seems to do the trick nicely. She has also got a full-face mask to stop her pink nose and the hairless strip on her face from burning, this is also working well and Bella doesn’t mind wearing it, which is helpful.

Her leg is slowly getting better but it is taking a bit longer than it usually would because her condition has been down for so long that her immune system has also been down, but slowly but surely it’ll heal. All in all, I’m happy with her progress.

RECENT PIC FROM EARLY NOVEMBER 2005:    What a stunner!!!

Bella is an aged pinto mare. She's approx 15hh and has had a pretty hard time of things in the past.

Bella's background is that she was kept in a dirt paddock and was wearing a thicky heavy old canvas rug for over a year without it ever coming off. Becuase of this; poor Bell had lost a lot of hair on her body and had a severe fungal infection. Her wither was extremely infected and was just one big sore that was an absolute mess. Because of her poor weight condition, she had a rather prominent croup area which was rubbed raw by the rug right back to the flesh. The rug was not waterproof either so it was a good breeding ground for infection all over her body as her skin and hair was constantly moist and sticky. It was just one problem on top of another for this poor mare. Not only was Bella chronicly neglected; but she has also been abused in her past, which has made her cautious of humans. What an awful situation for this poor girl to be in. She must be felt absolutely helpless and forgotten about.

Thankfully Bella's horrible situation was noticed by a caring lady who managed to get the selfish owner to sell Bella to her. Once Bell was in her new owners care, her rug was removed and her symptons were treated. This lady got to  point where she was no longer in a position to continue with Bella's care due to the needs of her other horses. She contacted us here at Horses with Hope and surrendered Bella to us to continue with her rehabilitation.....  To this lady (you know who you are), I Thank-you for being such a caring horse person and rescueing Bella from a once hopeless situation and giving her a second chance at life.

And so the story begins.........

Here are photo's of Bella when she arrived here at Horses with Hope:     21st September 2005

   ABOVE: Bella's overall condition was very poor

   LEFT: a pic of the sore on her croup - what a mess

   BELOW LEFT: a close up shot of the fungal infection

   BELOW RIGHT: a photo of her injured hind leg