Fri 1st
Well Mark trimmed big Storm’s feet today and I gave Bella a bath.
She’s been rubbing her tail over the year and I’ve been washing her tail area then trying some creams to help stop the itching she’s obviously having. I’ve tried pure cold pressed Neem oil, then Sudocrem but after this wash today I’m going to try to find what’s causing the itching. It could be midges (this can cause what’s known as ‘Sweet Itch’), it could be dandruff or it could be an allergy maybe SO, today we’re not feeding any pony nuts in her food, or give horse herb treats or mints for a nice ride. All these things have sugar and the treats and nuts have wheat feed so those are out for now. We’re supplementing now and then their feed (speedi-beet and TopSpec Zero) with some hay and they’re enjoying this. SO we’ve gone back to just fibre forage to see if that makes a difference for her 😉
Nice and clean and her mane and tail are all silky and fresh smelling again 😉
B&S chasing Mark and the hay………..nom nom nom, hay is good 😉
Sat 2nd
Yeehaa…weather nice and we’re all up for a wee hack to the house and back.
The weather got rather hot on the hack so we just stuck to walking but it was LOVELY to be out and about.
Up the big steep hill to get out of the field
On the track 😉
Opening/closing 3 gates along the track at the moment…tiresome BUT good chance to check our dismount and mounting skills. Here Mark used the wooden stile to remount Stormy and it was a perfect height 😉
A really lovely walk out, think S&B enjoyed themselves too…different bits to snack on and change of views for a bit 😉
Sun 3rd
Ride Bella early morning again…getting better with her canter work 😉
Tue 5th
Rode Bella and then Stormy this morning…really nice rides from both
Sun 10th
Lovely to get a bit more trot and canter work done today…almost full circles of canter (red bits on map)
Also rode in her fly mask today to see if helps with keeping flies off but TBH it really wasn’t that much different and think she prefers to not have it on ;(
Nice ride in the sun this morning…lovely to have our shadow following us 🙂
Tue 12th
Up early again to have fun rides first on Bella and then on Stormy.
Bella: Checking standing still to saddle up at liberty, then same at mounting block and after I get on 😉 Riding was pretty good and canter work was fab.
Started trai
ning: passenger lesson (she goes where she wants I have no say in it, only thing I can do is ask her to go back up into walk when she stops for a graze) 😉 Then onto active trot work and finally worked on our fig 8’s…walk then trot and finally canter…almost a full circle…yeehaaa 😉
Stormy: Just having fun and then full length field trot serpentine work 😉
Love these two so much <3
Wed 13th
Today we have a vet visit to see Bella.
She’s been rubbing her tail constantly for a few weeks now and we suspect Sweet Itch which is an allergy to midge saliva on the skin and has no known full cure. Knowing what it is helps start us on the process of helping her.
SO….we take this opportunity to hack both B&S to the house where we’ll meet the vet 😉
We have a lovely cool day with a great breeze (so no flies or midges today) 😉
We go past a field of Highland cows with calves and they both have a good look but don’t worry about them 🙂
Vet visit over and we hack back to the field 😉
Back past the cows.
We have to open/close 2 gates on the track and it was a great opportunity for Bella and me to show how well we do this now. She sidles up to the gate for me to get off, gets around the gate opening and then sidles back up to the closed gate for me to re-mount…PERFECT 🙂
Managed to get in front of Storm and Mark for a nice trot up to the 2nd gateway 😉
Managed a bit of riding almost 2 abreast
Then I got in front again for a last wee trot 😉
Showing Mark and Stormy riding down the big hill in the field…shows how steep it is
Bella taking a break looking across the glen 😉
…AND…..so great to ride right back to the mounting block for me to dismount. Bella is SO good at getting spot on with her measurements…I don’t have to halt her at all, she knows EXACTLY what to do for this 😉
Map on the right is from field to house and back….we had a 20 min stop over at the house for vet before riding home 😉
Fri 15th
Today Bella and I did a shorter training session but there was more canter work. Unfortunately my Equilab GPS wasn’t working properly so I have some of the stats but not the mapping which is a real shame.
We did trotting serpentines across the short sides of the field and then copied that with canter work. I wasn’t sure what canter lead she was on (must film it again) but mostly it felt very balanced and when it didn’t I asked her down to trot and restart the canter 😉 🙂
Thurs 21st
SO….I’ve been away from home for 4 days and the horses 5 days. Last night I reconnected with S&B with their dinner and it was so lovely to see them again. I always say that they’re the best horses in the glen but often they’re the best horses ever. I love how well they’re trained, how calm they are, how they connected with me and how I love them so.
1st: Today I gave them their breakfast and then decided to have a nice PLAY session with Ms Bella…..firstly we ‘touched’ a flag and then went around the cone/flag with just a suggestion…nice and light.
2nd: touch big flag then backup between them
3rd: circles…..one lap each in walk with a lovely light COD (change of direction) both ways. I did all this whilst holding the rope in one hand and the camera in the other so it was done on body language and voice cues 😉
Continuing circles we went into trot on a voice cue 😉
AND also voice cues for canter 😉 🙂 Her canter today was FABULOUS 🙂
4th: JUMPS….low jump to start and continue the canter. This was lovely, calm and connected
5th: I put the jump pole up another notch and she rose to the challenge with 2 big jumps from canter 🙂
6th: slowed it all down with some sidepassing over cones and then a drink from the rain water on the barrel
7th: Backing up over a pole, onto the tarp and back 😉
8th: and finally some extreme familiarisation with the flag in the windy weather. The flapping was something she worried about but we’ve been working on it a lot and today, ground tied, she stood or grazed as it flapped all about her 😉 🙂
Sat 23rd
SO… a week since riding Bella and we rode today with lightness, connection and precision that I’ve been waiting for. I’m SO proud how far this beautiful girl has come. From a brood mare with not much handling, food or basic ground work to a lovely light riding horse that is a true pleasure to be around, handle and ride 🙂
Pics from today range from –
Warming up, one handed, loose rein in walk and trot around the round pens.
Cantering around the round pens on the correct canter leads.
Trot weave on a circle with lovely bends.
Sidepassing over a raised pole and next to flapping bunting.
Cantering through flapping bunting lane.
Pics…..
Tues 26th
A fun early morning first with Stormy. There were a lot of noises coming from the farm area, cattle moving and shouting at dogs SO he was a bit distracted but we ended on a really good note 😉 He’s such a star 😉
There was then a car driven into the field below ours…a couple of guys out fishing for the day SO that was interesting and I just hung out with S&B while they checked it all out 😉
I then rode Bella in the ‘arena’ to check out her walk, trot and canter curves and circles 😉
Stormy stood in our arena for ages and we just rode around him 😉 lol
OH…and I forgot I took this video the other day after I’d done Bella’s feet…..
Weds 27th
Well, today was a challenge and not sure why!!!
Firstly my Equilab app is not working properly so I’ not getting all the data or the map (map below is another cycling app used as backup to show where we rode)
Secondly Bella was a bit hyper-alert. Not really seen her like this so it was a bit of a challenge. You can see from the map that we literally just stayed in one place, working on small circles around one obstacle, taking it to doing fig 8’s around 2 obstacles and then building to where we can weave around 4 obstacles BUT had to continue going back to where she could be relaxed and attentive (and close to where Stormy was resting on the track). At one point we went a wee bit away from the obstacles and she had a ‘shoosh’. A shoosh to me is not a bolt and not quite a run but a ‘wheeeeee’ back to relaxation. She did a spin, run back to her safety spot and I took her left rein and brought her calmly back down to a walk then halt, big breath out and continued back to the circle and weaves.
Not our best ride out but did what we could in the circumstances.
I have a worry that again the farmer was making a LOT of noise, shouting while moving cattle etc AND that we have badgers nesting and roaming the nearby fields. These two things seem to be a bit worrying for S&B so not sure what I can do about either of them.
Today I did work on familiarising her to the shouting noises, building up the volume and big singing noises all while asking her to relax and treat train when she brought her head down in relaxation 😉
Fri 29th
SO…firstly I just decided to take them both in-hand and walk/graze about the main ‘riding’ field that they seem to be worried in. We just hung out, walked together and breathed lots. Then when we were walking I moved them about away or towards me in shapes such as fig 8’s and weave.
We also had a few ‘fun’ games with hula hoops, jumps and flags.
I did the poo picking and they were quiet so I saddled Bella and had a 2 min ride where she could not leave Stormy’s side much and when the farmer started shouting again I called it a day, went back home and watched RuPaul’s drag race instead!!
4) Badgers roaming at night causing S&B to spook at strangeness of them being in field, maybe causing them spooks when snoozing etc
Back after their walk and still a bit alert but also connected to me 😉
Bella under a rainbow >
Then again when farmer shouting they both ran away from the noise then stood and stared for ages.
- Shelley – HorseSavvy