Sat 1st August
Well what a fab way to welcome in the new month with a hack to the house and back. First time hack in 6 weeks and Bella did it like she has done it every day….so proud of her. Our FIRST today was to walk up the big main hill in their field 😉 Yeehaa
Sun 2nd Aug
YEEHAA….what a GOOD day today was. Didn’t go out for long and didn’t intend to ride as been a busy morning at home BUT got on Bella and just wanted to go around some of the obstacles near the shelter for some fun….she had some nice energy and trotted nicely over the poles and tarp but then these two things came together…..
She stood with her front feet on the pedestal for a while, I could feel her shifting her weight, putting her front feet further forward and then without me asking she just put her back feet up…you can see by my face that I wasn’t expecting it…so proud of her, she’s so clever. Then we did the small jump a few times with her doing her very big trot over it nicely and then I decided to go the other way, towards her stopping point for motivation, and put my legs on gently just before the jump and she did her first ridden jump for me 😉 🙂 SO proud of her, she’s amazing and she’s really thinking about what we’re doing together more <3
Thurs 6th Aug
SOOOOO very very hot today SO just did grooming, fly spray and then seeing if Bella could put all 4 feet on the pedestal online….well, yes she did….we now have a solid ‘up’ cue word for going on the pedestal 🙂 🙂 yeehaa 😉 🙂
<Bella on pedestal first with Stormy watching and then Stormy on it at liberty with Bella watching > 🙂
Fri 7th Aug
Another hot day today but with a small breeze and a chance for a short ride with Bella. She did a lovely canter up the hill again and a raised jump which she flew over 😉
Love that they love their shelter.
Lovely springy trot today
Lovely strong canter up the hill and a big bold jump afterwards 😉
Sun 9th Aug
Today, although warm, has a fabulous breeze which makes it a nice day for a ride. Mark/Stormy and me/Bella rode the perimeter of the field fence very nicely. We started off with a lovely loose rein walk then a nice energetic trot around the large fig 8 and finished off with a huge striding canter up the hillock. Last, but by no means least, I asked her to step onto the pedestal and again she amazed me by putting all 4 feet up on it 🙂 WOW 🙂
Tue 11th Aug
Very hot here at the moment so short sweet play sessions…revisited the curtain today, she was sceptical of it last time we played with it but over time I’ve been working on our connection and partnership and this time around she trusted me and didn’t baulk at it at all..so proud of her and how far she’s come in just over a year 😉
She backed up through it nicely and very straight AND also went through it, hard side first, on her own 😉 🙂
Then we played with some fig 8’s in the meadow area and she decided that trying it at canter would be fun 😉
Very attentive and happy to play…LOVE this pic of us two >
Sidepassing over the tyres and then fig 8’s with two obstacles really close together.
It was a fun filled session but really not that long so it didn’t sweat her up or tire her out 😉
Stormy showing how it’s done at Liberty 😉 🙂
Thurs 13th Aug
Another stonkingly HOT day today….went out to just be with the horses and to connect. Took Bella into the round pen for some grazing and she LOVED all the long grass in there so it became a game of S2M and then she’d walk off, graze and then Draw back to me 🙂
Some really lovely draw moments
And some lovely wait with me moments too 🙂
She also decided it was time for PLAY…which was lovely to see <3
And her draw back was still great, energetic but great 😉
Then we did a wee bit of ‘pedestal’ play to end a lovely short session and she put all 4 feet up again on it
waited on it while I walked around her too 🙂
Fri 14th Aug
Not quite so sunny/hot today but it started to get ‘clammy’ so we got out into the meadow and did some fabulous RtR and Cloverleaf patterns on both reins and mostly in trot before it got unbearable. So proud of her, she has become fitter and lost a bit of weight in the process (bit like me) and she gave a lovely energetic trot for most of the ride. She also did some fab warm up play with this great jump where she decided going into canter before it was the best option 😉 clever girlie 😉
*Shelley- 
She’s lost weight and is much fitter 😉
trot
trot
trot
trot
trot
waiting patiently for her reward
reward time 😉 <3 🙂
Sat 15th Aug
“Practise makes Progress”…..today Bella and I practised our RtR w/Cloverleaf patterns in trot in the big meadow. It’s the 1st repeat from yesterday and we are practising it with progress for the next few days we ride together. This will give us the Consistency of Learning so that the pattern comes easier and easier as we do it and Bella gets more confident with the pattern, my cues and our connection. I will then change the pattern slightly (probably RtR with Fig 8’s) so that we have variety and we start to find more of the partnership I’m looking for when riding…where I can think something, my body adjusts and she adjusts beneath me. To get there this practise creates a solid foundation to work from for later exercises 🙂
Riding the Rail in trot is good, her trot is becoming much more consistent
Cloverleaf pattern is a series of 4 circles one after the other joined by 4 straight lines through the centre of the pattern. Her trot on circles is really solid now
Clover leaf around my two big round pens and then my two made up circles of 8 batches of tyres and 8 cones 😉
CL
RtR trot
Resting after quite a quick set of patterns >
<3 Me and the kids <3
Tues 18th Aug
Today was fab…great for riding with a nice breeze and Bella and I cantered up the hillock very well and then cantered for the first time on the flat….boy has she some powerful energy but she listened well to my calm vibe 😉
Thurs 20th Aug
Today was another early morning hack to the house for the farrier visit and then a lovely hack back to the field. Bella was FABuLOUS…lovely soft walk all the way there and back, sometimes following Stormy, sometimes leading but always calm and happy. I really love this big girlie a huge amount, she is just perfect and I’m LOVING being with her, playing with her, grooming her, hanging out with her, riding her and training her but most of all having FUN with HER <3
Ridden quiet and calmly up the fields big hill and then walking with me to our mounting block (gateway)
Following Stormy nicely and Storm taking a water break
Such a lovely morning for a hack out 😉
Waiting patiently for the farrier
Happy to wait calmly for Mark to mount Stormy 🙂
Lovely to see Bella’s confidence growing when she takes the lead a few times on the way home today 🙂
Waiting for Stormy to catch up and then taking the lead again
In the lead and then fine with Stormy re-taking the lead
Almost side by side on the narrow track above their field and then she took the lead again when Stormy decided it might be his last chance to snatch at some long grass 😉
Last leg and nearly there
Lovely view from the track
Field gate in sight and she figured out how to sidle to the gate for me to get off easily…what a great girlie she is <3
Mark and Stormy
Fri 21st Aug
Raining today but we’ve been asking the horses to come up the big hill in their field for breakfast and dinner SO they’ve been getting regular exercise up and down this. It’s great to have this as it not only keeps them fit, their stream is up here too, but it gives them some fab familiarisation so that it’s easier to ride it, as I did yesterday. Here’s pics from today’s breakfast, calling them up the hill for food and them following me down as I go to poo pick 😉
Bella first up for her breakfast today….with Stormy a very close second
Breakfast with a fab view…took my own breakfast down and ate it too so it was a lovely picnic with the herd this morning 😉
Following me down the hill so some really good exercise this morning 😉
Sat 22nd Aug
Decided today was a day I thought would be good to start putting more effort in to Bella and my Liberty play. She did very well for the first bit of the session which was lovely. She got a bit confused, or bored, after this so we ended on a good note with 4 feet on the pedestal with the aid of a savvy string over her neck 😉
Great job with the pedestal today
Sun 23rd Aug
Went down to the horses around 1pm but they were both snoozing in the shelter, neither Mark or I had the heart to ask them to play/ride today. Instead we gently groomed them to make them feel good, hung out for a bit and then left them to it.
Sleepy horses today
Mon 24th Aug
Out today hoping to have some play and maybe a ride around the field BUT we got there and groomed them and it was starting to drizzle…then heavy drizzle…then rain 🙁 🙁 SO, when it slackened off a bit we played with them in the drizzle a bit but no riding today. Mark and Stormy played beautifully at Liberty and Bella and I played in and around the shelter online first and then around the agility arena with just a neck-rope. She did marvellously well, the rope 99% of the time very loose and our connection soft and tangible 😉
After our play, Bella and I watched Mark and Stormy at Liberty. Horses can learn a lot by watching others so it’s always good to hang together to see what Mark and Storm get up to.
Storm was definitely on form today 🙂
Drizzle outside…fun playing in and around their shelter…
…AND…going back to basic’s working towards better, longer, liberty sessions….going from online play to neck-rope play…
Sat 29th Aug
Well it’s been 9 days since I last rode Bella although we managed a couple of small play sessions. Today the weather is good riding weather so out to play and ride and what a good play and ride it was 😉 Pics….
PLAY…Spirit with control. Attention with fun. Try with heart…
Sidepass over obstacle
Cantering with balance and relaxation
4 feet on pedestal
Attentive sidepass
Trot and canter through narrow gaps
Knows where her feet and obstacles are
Cantering to a jump, her own idea 😉
Relaxing quicker after energetic exercises now 😉
RIDING….Balanced energy. Controlled power. Relaxed games
Weaving through the flag poles
Bella wasn’t fazed by the flapping flags at all
Trot fig 8’s around the large round pens
Trotted the whole way around today without stopping 😉
She’s got a lovely trot now, free and powerful and her left and right bends are much softer now 😉
AND CANTER…..yeehaa
What a wonderfully balanced, powerful canter we had today and we did it up the hillock and then further onto the flat….enormous fun 😉 <3
Mon 31st Aug
Last day of August already and we’ve already noticed a very Autumnal air for about a week or so up here but out we go to catch up on some play and riding with the horses while it’s not too cold or raining. Lovely catch up on some lovely play with Bella and then a really nice, easy ride around the track system with obstacles along the way.
Lovely soft sidepass today, her diagonal legs working beautifully together.
Leg yields coming along very nicely too, it’s time to start trying these ridden I think.
Great circle transitions with the start of drawing at canter now 😉
Fig 8’s with walk, trot and a bit of canter in them….we tried fig 8’s in a few ‘different’ ways, always up for variety on a theme as it shows the connection and communication between us.
Lovely togetherness
And some nice riding today too…we went around the whole of the track where all many agility obstacles are laid out now…up and down hillocks, weave around cones, scary narrow gaps with bunting on and some low and high trotting poles.
Nicely over raised trot poles and between narrow gaps now, she is learning about spaces and how much effort is needed now.
Raised trot poles or small ‘jumps’, she knows the distances and how to tackle them without worry or over excursion 😉
Getting better with sidepassing but much better going to the right than left still
Focused on the pole box and trotted over it cleanly no problems. Then we managed to turn in the pole box whilst turning around.
Very clever girl moving so tightly. Then to get a nice canter we went out into the main field and did a fabulous trot fig 8 around the large round pens and a canter back to the track 😉
…AND CANTER….
- Shelley – HorseSavvy