Bella – November 2022

Fri 4th

Wow, it’s November already….where did the year go? Anyway, it’s been a couple of weeks since riding Bella and only managed to play with her the other day SO today with the sun shining was a great opportunity to get back in the saddle 🙂 I started off by leading Bella online and Stormy caught up with us at Liberty so we did some ‘Stick 2 Me’ game with walk/halt transitions and also weaving around some obstacles…they were both fabulous 😉

I then decided to ride Stormy first and then Bella…again both were very good. Stormy started to stretch out and his walk, trot and canter were lovely and rhythmic. I did some quick walk/trot transitions with Bella to pre-empt her attempt to go into canter as I just wanted to get the walk and trot good today 😉

It was a really lovely day and both horses were F.A.B

Thurs 10th

A dry day means….PLAYTIME WITH BELLA <3 😉

Just a slow start with some ‘placing a foot on something’ game

Build up the energy with some fig 8’s in trot

Stormy doing his own thing at liberty 😉

Stormy LOVES being a part of the play sessions

Throwing a rope over Bella’s head, from the belly but also from the tail went well…worked it into a nice rope around spin game 😉

More fun with some w/t and canter circling

Sidepassing over some obstacles, here with a cone 😉

Then some canter to jump

S2M mirroring to connect while we move about the field

Canter..into another nice jump

Mon 21st

Well, it’s been a weather filled week or so up here, and everywhere I think. We’ve had rain, wind and flooding all around and the horses have been patiently waiting it out with rugs on then rugs off. Today, finally, we have a minus degree temperature and frosty ground so although cold it was quite pleasant to be out in and the horses are grateful to have dry coats at long last 😉

I did do a wee bit of play with B&S yesterday just before their dinner time and an impromptu Liberty play with Bella as she mirrored me on the quad bike which was a lot of fun 😉

Today we gave them their first winter hay which I think they loved as it’s full of nutrients and dry to eat which will make a huge change from eating wet grass 😉 SO, just a few pics to show off their loveliness <3

Weds 23rd

Actually managed to have a wee online play session with Bella this morning, it’s been a while and not really possible with all the recent wind and rain going on BUT today the morning is calm and dry 😉

The main things I’m thinking with play today are:

Are we connected
Is she relaxed and attentive and once we start playing its more
How light can I offer the cues
How engaged is she mentally and then physically
Is there flexibility on her left and right sides
Can I ask for some transitions by the slightest of cues AND
Are her higher gaits on a circle calm and flexed around me 😉

It was a lovely play session and she was very happy to play. We found relaxation through the games and played the following:

Backup/draw. Sidepass. Leg yields. Circling in walk and trot including COD’s and fig 8’s. S2M halt/walk/backup/trot 😉

Really really nice to reconnect to Bella with some nice play. If possible I want to try to do this every day now so that soon when it’s dry we can have a wee ride.

Thurs 24th

Another lovely morning and S&B really calm today. They’d eaten most of their hay in the shelter so I gave them half a bag full with their breakfast which they loved 😉

This was S&B a bit on their toes when the wind/rain was constant the other day….today they’re calm, happy and almost dry 😉 <3

Fri 25th

YEEHAA……managed to get a very small bareback potter on both Stormy & Bella this morning. So worth getting a wet bum doing it too as they were still a bit damp from last nights rain. Just jumped on each and rode using rope halter and 12′ rope for reins and it was fab. Have so missed being high up looking at the great scenery…mostly those gorgeous furry ears 😉

Wed 30th

Well it’s the last day of November and at last, after 3 and a half weeks of rain and bad weather I finally got to properly RIDE Bella (last time was really just a quick sit on her). It was FAB.U.LOUS. Lovely slow walk work with poles and some obstacles and we did:

Walk over poles
Halt and back up over poles with front feet and then all 4 feet
Sidepass over poles and sidepass around U bend of poles
Small trot jump
Turns with the hq’s and fh

and we did it mostly with a loose rein, one handed through breathing, energy, focus, body dynamics and weight and then leg but lastly the rein 🙂 Really great fun and after so long dear Bella was a super STAR <3