Thurs 1st
Have had my brother, Paul, and nephew, Alex, up for 10 days holiday so have been doing things with them. Today is their last day with us before going home tomorrow so it was horsey-time today 😉
Paul did really well as hasn’t done a lot of riding and none recently 😉 Stormy was grabbing for grass but Paul managed a decent bit of riding including a wee impromptu trot 😉
Bella (and me) were quite distracted with Paul and Alex in the field and Mark taking Stormy behind the shelter, which worries Bella sometimes when she can’t see where he is BUT we managed in the end to connect a bit.
Alex has passed his Level 1 Parelli years ago but he slowly started to remember it all and it was lovely to see his balance and cues come back in 😉
Bella happier nearer to Stormy and gave me some nice connected riding 😉
Ended well on a good note and I must try my best to get back to daily riding…after trimming her hooves 😉
Weds 7th
Another few days has passed by, heavy rain making it impossible to do much apart from trimming Bella’s hooves the other day in the shelter. So today’s gap in rainfall got Mark and I out and on a short, lovely hack out to the house and back…YEEHAAA 🙂 🙂
< Up above the field and ready to hack out
Lovely grass to walk on and snatch at too >
< Breeze and a wee bit of sunshine…perfect
Following Stormy >
< Grabbed for the heather, they love it this time of year as well as thistles and rosebay willow herb
Home for a wee rest >
< Half an apple each then back on the track
Walking for home nicely >
< Bella such a lovely hacking horse
Follows Stormy but takes the lead sometimes too >
< Loves walking on the grass not just because it’s softer under barefeet but also because they can snatch at bits as they walk along 😉
Nearly home, a lovely wee ride out
< Last bit of track above the field
Bella enjoying the view from the top of her field >
There were a few gates to open along the track today so it was a FAB opportunity to check and practise our sidling to be mounted from gates, stones and anything else we could find 😉 🙂
Bella stands perfectly still for mounting from the left or right AND waits once I’m on until I ask her to walk on 😉 perfect manners 😉
Another gate and another perfect partner waiting for me to get on the gate to get on her 😉
Mark and Stormy showing they too are perfect partners with the mounting game 😉
Got on Bella from a large stone on the side of the track 😉
Stormy waiting for Mark to climb the gate
Mark on the gate and Stormy sidles over to get into the perfect position…..he moved from Mark being on his right to Mark being on his left…this side is easier for Mark to get on from
Another fab mounting stone we use and Stormy showing how to stand still for dad while he gets on and then asked gently to walk on 😉
Fri 16th
Well I was away last weekend and then the weather has been really windy so managed to do a short play with Bella but today I decided to film some Agility. I put together the course I put to students in Aberdeenshire last month…here is how Bella & I did…
I scored it at 84%, could do better but I’m SO proud of how well she did in really strong wind and with very little practise. I’ve only had her 3yrs and she’s 13yrs old now….truly blessed with her progress <3
Mark also did some Liberty work with Stormy…here’s the 10 obstacles we did…
Halter sitting down
Pick up all 4 feet
Through then backup a ‘Z’ bend
Jump
Familiarisation with a ball
Sidle up to mounting block on left
Sidle up to mounting block on right
Fig 8’s
Sidepass over obstacle, both ways
Over bottle bank
Familiarise with syringe and ‘apple sauce’ for preparation for worming 😉
Sun 18th
Today I changed the agility course to one I used in an Ayrshire Clinic and then decided to try it out with Bella 😉 I gave her 92% so very chuffed 😉
Mark then did it with Stormy at Liberty…and very well they did too 🙂
- Jump
2. Under curtain
3. Walk between narrow poles, halt then backup
4. Foot in hulahoop
5. Walk through scary lane
6. Walk through ‘S’ bend
7. Walk/halt/walk on tarp
8. Weave
9. Walk over noisy plastic bottles
10. Familiarise with Umbrella
We then had a lovely ride in the field…Mark and Stormy had a wee Yeehaa and Bella and I got re-connected riding after 10 days out of the saddle 😉
Mon 19th
Just a nice ploddy ride on Bella today in the company of Mark and Stormy 😉 Much better connection today, each day gets easier, better, more communication and balance. She has been trying to offer up more canter in our rides and today she offered it up going around the round pens…so a FIRST for her with a quarter of a circle canter…we’ll build on this great start to cantering circles/curves 😉 So proud of her, she’s such a bright star <3
Nice start with some big trot
Circle canter beginnings 😉 🙂 if she’s willing to offer this then she must be feeling much more balanced…felt really good too 😉
Tues 20th
Nice ride on Bella this afternoon.
Worked on consistent trotting using Serpentines across the whole field.
She did very well but needs more work on fitness. We have probably 3 months before Winter sets in so we’ll do our best to work on this consistency 😉
Enjoyed our ride and she offered more canter which I took. The serpentines consist of straight lines and curves so it was a good test of balance, consistency, lightness and fitness….we did very well but can do better 😉
Weds 21st
Nice trot serpentine continuation with Bella this morning.
Her willingness to canter was getting slightly in the way and I think I need to let her do the canter, get it out of her system so that we can find our nice big trot again.
At one point that big first canter step of hers was continued going around a curve to the left and I swear it felt like she was doing a canter pirouette! LOL LOL
Unfortunately this move tweaked my already weak back and I’m now taking some time out resting on the sofa with plenty of tv to keep me amused! 🙁 I have an Agility Clinic in Aberdeenshire on the weekend so hoping I can drive to that ok…..Fri: not quite so bad today, still tweaks a bit of a sharp pain when in wrong position but if I keep centred and upright as much as possible I should be able to drive tomorrow and put the course together for some Agility fun 😉
Tues 27th
Not been with horses since back was hurt and last weekend I was doing an Agility Clinic in Aberdeenshire so not actually been with herd for 5 days SO, yesterday evening when I went to feed them they were having a bit of a yeehaa around me, the wind might have had something to do with it too BUT they wanted to run off when I started the quad bike too and were kicking up their heels a bit. I spent some time using +R to get them to stand still near the bike, with me sitting on the bike and then sitting on the bike with it on 😉 I think that they were very pleased to have the 4th herd member back <3
Yesterdays sunshine in the late afternoon
Bella excited running towards me!
Today happily relaxed, happy to liberty play with me and then grooming each other before going off together to eat some nettles 😉
Weds 28th
Weather is not bad, the horses defo want to play SO we went down and played around with an agility task that has been stumping a few of my students…’place a foot’ onto or up onto something 😉
and Mark did it all with Stormy at Liberty afterwards too. Obstacles were: Cardboard, carpet, plastic lid, bucket, hulahoop, tyre, brick, wood block, medium and then large pedestals 😉
Thurs 29th
Well it’s been about a week since riding Bella (when I tweaked a back muscle and was in a bit of pain over the weekend away training) but it was such LOVELY weather for a ride out….nice and cool, no flies and dry 😉 I was a bit worried that my back would hurt but it was very good the whole ride, walk, trot & canter 😉
Back in the field. What a fabulous wee ride that was, great paces, my back didn’t hurt and Bella was a star as always 😉
- Shelley – HorseSavvy