Their bond was undeniable. So strong, that when it was time for 14-year-old Hannah Welch to give up the unwanted horse that she had trained since May during an auction held by the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation this past Saturday, she had to put in a bid.

It ended up being enough, with Hannah’s grandmother — who’s Harmony Ranch home in St. Mathias housed the horse named Rojo for the summer — confirming Hannah’s bid brought Rojo back to the ranch and back to the owner it’s known.

“Well he (Rojo) ended up coming back with us,” said Holly, who added that 11 horses were auctioned off by the nonprofit organization that specializes in retraining neglected, injured and old horses for a second chance at adoption. “We knew it was going to be hard to see him go, but we had no idea that she was going to try bring him back.

“But it’s great to have him back at home.”

JESSI PIERCE, staff writer, may be reached at 855-5859 or jessi.pierce@brainerddispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jessi_pierce (@jessi_pierce).