What a World of Merriment

Please Welcome the newest Addition to Spider Cove! Thank you Kalmakoira!

Hear the sledges with the bells -
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
Edgar Allen Poe- The Bells

<sup>It had been Nobuo this time who had spotted the ad in the paper. Zero Gravity Stables was hosting another horse up for adoption through Guardian Angels. Nobuo knew his boss/not offical girlfriend would see it at one point so he decided to show it to her.

"Hey, I. Have you seen this?" he asked showing her the ad in the horse magazine that Inu read. She took a quick glance at the paper with her almond shaped eyes and then went back to girthing up the newest addtion to their stables. She let the new rider, Jodi Ponder, finish getting the tack on the spirited gelding. Dusting off her hands she looked to Nobuo with the same devious light in her eyes. Nobuo knew what she was up to already so he decided to come right out with it, "So when are we going to see her?"

"After Jodi works Frog here," she chirped happily and checked on the strapes of the Shetlands briddle. The small red-headed eight year old had done well. She sure knew how to pick out the good ones. Jodi lived down the long dirt road with a poor mother. Her mother often worked late into the night so Inu let Jodi come spend her days after school at the stables. The red-head seemed to be blissfully happy and the stables new pony seemed to fit her perfectly, for now.

Jodi's bright blue eyes lit up like disco balls. "Where are you going?" she asked, Inu knew right away what her intentions were. The brunette knew that there was no use in hiding it unless she wanted to be pestered by it during the whole lesson.

"We're going to go to Zero Gravity to see a mare that's up for adoption. Hopefully we'll adopt her," Inu said with a smile and helped the girl get on the shorter horse. She could see what Jodi was going to say next so she interuppted her, "You can go if you ask your mother." The girl had a smile that would clear a rainy day away.


The three of them sat in the truck as they neared the now familiar stables. Inu admired Zero Gravity's beauty and charm. The scenery was stunning, the horses breath taking, and the people amazing. It was a very relaxing place to be. When they pulled up one of the stable hands directed them to the mare that was up for adoption.

It was Jodi who was the first to gasp out in awe, "WOW! She's gorgeous!" Inu chuckled and watched as the girl climbed up the fence and perched her self on it like a roosting chicken. The red head pulled out a sugar cub out of her pocket and offered it to the mare who was off in the distance. She started making a kissing noise by puckering her lips. The appoloosa percked up her head and stared in the girls direction. Apparently she knew what the sign for treat was because she trotted right up.

The mare nibbled the sweet cube out of her hand and searched for more. Inu's heart throbbed with bliss. It looked as if a new friendship was bonding and it would be magnificent.

Jodi went to pet the mare's head but the mare shyed away quickly. The eight year old looked at the mare as if her world had been taken away. "What's wrong girlie?" She asked holding out her hand once again. Slowly the mare came back licking the empty hand, searching for another treat.

It was Nobuo who reassured the girl, "It looks as if she's a bit head shy, but she can be worked out of it. She's a good girl, right Jodi?"

Jodi laughed as the horse nudged the hand wanting more treats, "Yes! A very good girl! And pretty too!"</sup>

This is my entry for *kalmakoira's Guardian Angels. I really love this girl she's so cute and cuddly looking. She's head shy but that's easily worked out.
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Horse Info
Name: PMU-05022002-B, Miss Grimhound named her Belleza
Called: Belle or Bell
Age: 7 years
Sex: mare
Breed: Appaloosa
Height: 162 cm
Colouration: Bay varnish few spot blanket
Markings: snip over nostrils, star/stripe, fl stocking, fr pastern, br fetlock
Genetics: Aa/Ee/LpLp
Bloodlines: N/A - foundation
Discipline: broken in, low level in English riding. She could do well in quite low level dressage
Temperament:
Belle is a total sweetheart. She was not always treated kindly and with respect, but she still has remained affectionate and trusting towards people. She is a little bit passive and quited, and also gets spooked by fast movements. She likes to be with people and other horses and gets very restless alone. This is why the person who buys her must have a nice companion horse/animal (donkey, goat) for her, preferably a horse (mare or gelding). Belle is very easy to handle apart from her headshyness and a big fear of loading into trailers.
Current Condition:
- slightly overweight, but not badly obese
- weak muscular condition - needs exercise to get fit
- her womb stretched during pregnancies, so she has a big stomach that looks like she is still pregnant. You can tell she is not obese from the rest of her body. (this does not affect her life or usability much)
- headshy, has tendency to pull panic so soft halters and quick (breakable) locks on leadropes must be used - never to be left alone when tied from her head
- afraid of trailers, apparently because of some trauma that occured in some point of her life. She can overcome this with patient training, we have started to her used to loading already here in ZGS so her transport will be possible, but a lot of work still needs to be done in her new home (if you can put a trailer in her pasture and a bucket with grains in the back corner and leave it there for a few days, this is what we have been doing here in ZGS)
Background:
Miss Grimhound was paying a quick visit to a slaughterhorse she had heard of, she had not informed the staff there to see if the conditions were ok or filthy. Her friend had contacted her about it and asked if Miss Grimhound could check it out. She had the authority to report if anything was wrong with the way animals were treated there. This slaughterhouse mostly took in cattle and pigs, but every once in a while some horses got sent in as well. Even though Miss Grimhound hated the thought of going there, she has promised.

So she arrived, and saw only one horse in pen outside, next to a larger pen with some cattle in it. She of course went closer, and when a staff member came to ask her to leave, she asked about the mare. The young man noticed that Miss Grimhound was not some crazy activist and did not have any cameras with her, so he told her that this mare was a PMU import, apparently lost too many foals or something. He didn't know more and didn't seem to want to either.
"Where can I purchase this mare from?" Miss Grimhound asked, trying to stay calm.
"What, you wanna buy her?" the lad asked in stun.
"Yes, that is exactly what I want. Now show me where I can get this thing rolling."
Apparently Miss Grimhound was demanding enough, so the young man took her to the main office and after some debates and call to the PMU farm (Miss Grimhound could only barely keep her cool) she was able to purchase the mare. She would receive her papers within a week.

She first found out that the mare was headshy, but worked through it and once one of the stable hands had droven in a trailer she started loading her in. The mare backed up, tried to take off and she even reared. Miss Grimhound let her calm down before trying again. A little by little, a step by step she finally got her in, but it took more than an hour.
"Worthless piece of meat that horse is, if you allow me to say", the slaughterhouse manager, who had come outside to watch Miss Grimhound struggle with the mare said.
"As a matter of a fact, I couldn't care less what you think about her," Miss Grimhound snapped back and the mand left.

After a long way to ZGS the mare was unloaded from the trailer with a BANG, she so badly wanted out. She stood outside the trailer for a while, inhaling and then exhaling deeply, head held high and ears perked. A neight from the stalls was welcoming her, and she was quick to respond. It was clear she had missed some equine company, even if Miss Grimhound had been in the trailer talking to her all the way. A roomy stall with a lot of bedding was prepared for the mare and she seemed very happy to lay down and even roll a little bit. She also was very quick to get to her hay. She didn't seem to have any troubles settling into this friendly environment where there were healthy horses in stalls next to her. In the other was Sky Touched, and in the other Sun Paw. Both seemed very interested in this spotted mare.

Five days later Miss Grimhound received the mare's papers. She is an appaloosa, born in the farms and used as a PMU mare. There was no data about how young she was when she first got covered, but Miss Grimhound suspected it was before she turned five for sure. She was sent to slaughterhouse because she lost her 4th foal in row. All in all we suspect she has had at least 3 foals, but none of this data is in her papers. The next days the mare Miss Grimhound had named Belleza to replace that ugly code name was turned out in a paddock every day and her trailerphobia was slowly started worked on. This mare has well overpaid her debt for humankind and only deserves the best she can get for the rest of her life.

Design (c) to *sealle
Bio (c) to *kalmakoira
Art (c) to ~ClineVanMark