Benjie Sanders / arizona daily star

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The nays have it.

Bailey the miniature horse won't be living with her 11-year-old owner and his family in Skyline Bel Air Estates.

The dog-sized horse was barred from the Catalina Foothills neighborhood by homeowner association restrictions that prohibit horses of any size. But Alexander Gonzalez, who bought Bailey with money earned working summer and after-school jobs, wasn't about to give up on bringing the 1-year-old, 30-inch-tall, 180-pound roan mare home.

He learned from his mother, Mercedes Gonzalez, president of the Skyline Bel Air Estates Community Association, that the HOA's no-horse rule could be changed by a majority vote of association members.

So Alex proposed an HOA bylaw amendment that would allow miniature horses. He paid the expenses — several hundred dollars — for the special vote-by-mail election, and he campaigned a bit by walking the cute horse up and down Skyline Bel Air's streets. And he waited for the returns.

The vote went 102 against and 101 in favor, with more than 200 residents not returning their ballots, Alex's mother said. She said it wasn't the horse race it seems, because unreturned ballots effectively count against a change in bylaws. Changes require a majority of members, not just a majority of voters.

Although the campaign to legalize the little horse as a backyard pet didn't pull enough heartstrings in Skyline Bel Air to swing the vote, it did produce some generous offers of lodging for Bailey from outside the neighborhood. Among the offers was one from the Therapeutic Ranch for Animals & Kids, at 3230 N. Craycroft Road.

The not-for-profit organization introduces children to horses and other animals at its ranch and by taking animals to schools, said Jill Prickett, the organization's founder and executive director.

Bailey, for as long as Alex wants to keep her there, is now a resident at the ranch.

Horses and other animals often are soothing to emotionally troubled children, Prickett said, though she added that the program reaches out to all children.

She said Bailey already is a hit with visitors to the little ranch, near River Road.

"We had three different groups here last week," Prickett said. "She was wonderful with them — less intimidating than a giant horse."

Alex drops by after school to care for and walk Bailey — she's too small to ride.

Prickett said Bailey's first school visit will be to Sunrise Elementary, where Alex is a fifth-grader.