BELLE
1/2 Belgian, ½ Arabian draft horse cross mare
Foaled: 2002
15.3 hands, palomino
PRICE: $4,000 "Sold for $5,000"
Belle is a trail horse deluxe. If you’re a bigger person or if you’re looking for a horse with a lot of heart and the ability to travel, you’ve found it.
Some of you have ridden draft cross horses before, and you may have varied experiences. Some of the draft cross horses are so big and stout that it’s literally like riding a plowhorse, or liking driving a delivery truck to work. Not much fun. When the combination of saddle horse and draft horse works, it can result in a fabulous saddle horse, like a brand-new GMC diesel pickup with all the options—it can go anywhere and do any tough job, but it’s comfortable to drive as well!
Belle is a superb saddle horse and trail horse. She’s gorgeous to look at, with a beautiful dished Arabian face and the coloring of a Belgian—chestnut body and flaxen mane and tail. Belle is big and strong at 15.3 hands and about 1,200 pounds, but she’s not too big and heavy. She’s very athletic and has a beautiful trot and canter and she’s comfortable to ride. Belle is gentle and sweet and easy to handle, and we put dozens of guests on her this summer. She’s been in camp for overnight pack trips and seven-day elk hunts, and she goes up the trail like a champ.
She gets along easily with other horses, and we haven’t seen her exhibit “marish” tendencies. She’s smooth and easygoing and doesn’t pick on anybody.
Belle is completely sound. She has hard, dark-colored feet in excellent shape. She takes a size 3 shoe on the front and a 2 on the back. Belle has prominent withers, almost like a thoroughbred, so she holds a saddle very well, but you have to make sure the gullet of the saddle doesn’t sit down on her withers. She’s easy to catch and load, and is just an all-around very nice horse. Of course, she can carry all kinds of smaller riders, but we think the upper limit for her is a person 240-250 pounds.