Bella Comes Full Circle with Ella: 21YO APHA Mare Zippabella returns to the show pen with 6 YO Ella Burns.

By Delores Kuhlwein

They call them packers, the trustworthy, steady, angelic horses who breathe life and passion into the hearts of future horse lovers. When Amateur Katrina Burns was growing up in California, she was fortunate enough to have those positive experiences with her own mom’s show horses.

“I was so blessed in my childhood,” says Katrina, “so when I found out I was pregnant with Ella, I told my husband, Cliff, we needed one of those horses.”

Fast forward to 2026, and Ella Burns is six years old. She’s also definitely hooked on horses from doing leadline since she was tiny with her trusty pony, Callie, and her mom’s show horses, Louis, aka So Darn Lazy, and Linus, aka Bet The Line. The time to find one of those packers was imminent.

It just so happened when Katrina was winning a World Show title in November 2025 with Louis, her former youth trainer, Laura Thornton, was there to see it.  “Laura is best friends with Judy Bonham, so Laura was there at the World Show with her, and she said she had the perfect horse for Ella.”

That perfect horse, Zippabella, had been living since 2010 at Midnight Dawn Ranch in Yucaipa, California.

“Bella,” a 2005 chestnut overo APHA mare by Zipparock and out of SkipsSouthernBelle, had been purchased by one of Laura’s customers, Laura Warfield, as a two-year-old.  “She showed her as a futurity baby, and then she had another horse ready to go show, so she leased her to a lady at my ranch,” says Laura Thornton.

Fran Paxton, who was 80 years old in 2010, leased Zippabella that year, and never looked back, realizing she’d found the perfect riding horse and companion. “Fran couldn’t take a chance on falling off, and she trusted her,” Laura explains. “She had her for 16 years at the ranch, and the mare is still world caliber, and super sweet.”

But at age 96, Fran was told by both her doctor and her kids to quit riding.  Letting her best friend leave had been a source of strife for Fran, but as the saying goes, the right things are meant to be, and Ella coming along at the right time gave Fran an enormous sense of relief.

Bella is now at the Burns’ home in Scottsdale, Arizona, after living on the same property from age five to age 21.  While Katrina is giving her time to settle in, Ella is having the time of her life.  “Bella hasn’t been schooled in 16 years, and she went right back to work,” explains Katrina. “Ella just loves her. She doesn’t have to wear spurs; she just clucks and Bella goes where she points her. She has one speed, and she’s just really easy.”

Ella is also enjoying all the therapeutic aspects of horse ownership, such as stuffing Bella’s Jolly Hay Ball, which she’s gotten really good at, and brushing her. “She’s really shedding,” says Ella. “We’re going to have a Bella Brushing Party.”

While Katrina will slowly start to take Bella off the property to ease the transition, doing local shows at Samantha Walker’s R & R Ranch in Scottsdale and potentially Arizona Paint Horse Club shows at WestWorld, the team of Ella and Bella are practicing their rhythm together.

“Ella is in dance classes, and she practices her recital dances at home,” Katrina reveals. The team is currently practicing together as horse dancing, practicing Ella’s recital dances while riding, walking, jogging, and turning to the music.

“She’s my best friend,” says Ella.

And the full circle has closed, because as the saying goes, “All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl.”