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Sun 1st November

S&B have been at the house paddocks for 4 days now, they came up the day before the farrier came to trim their hooves and have stayed up a bit longer as Mark and I had a job to do in the big field…

The mud outside the shelter has, over the years, become worse and worse. We put down rubber mats, doubling them up last year BUT they just haven’t done the trick and the mud has been slippery on the top making it a bit worrying if S&B trot in or out of the shelter. SO, we bit the bullet and bought more Mud Control Mats. These mats are hard recyled plastic, they slot together at the sides and take huge weights in muddy conditions. We bought 4 lines of them before (put outwith the rubber matting) and they’ve been fantastic, grass now growing through them and very stable (but not cheap at all but worth it) 😉

The mud was awful. The old rubber mats were hard to get up as the old ones were deteriorating and all were mud laden ;( We bought 100 new Mud Control mats…

The hardest part was cleaning the edge of the old mats (ones on the right with grass in them) to allow the new mats to be connected correctly into them. Exhausting, on your knees work…but we did it 😉

The last pic is of the sides filled with cut up bits of old rubber mats and covered with sharp sand. We relocated some of the newer old mats to the sides of the new mud control area.

I was over the moon to know my calculations of mats was correct and that they fitted into the area between the shelter and older mats…phew, that could have been a disaster ;( 😉 lol.

SO, now the heavy work has been done dearest S&B can go home to their big field and their new, improved, shelter opening 😉

Ready for a hack back to the big field with S&B and Mark 😉

It has been a beautifully sunny day and S&B were quite fresh and eager to be back in their big field

Sunshine, horses and hubby….what more could I need or want 💖

Getting back to the big field and Ms Bella could almost not contain herself and got quite excited SO I quickly jumped off and led her down the field to keep her feet on the ground and myself safe (I dont’ bounce like I used to and leading her keeps our connection grounded) 🙂

Mark and Stormy just rode over the new mud control area…no problems.

As I was leading Bella I just familiarised her to the new mats with her following me for confidence.

Stormy made himself quite at home with his usual roll to get all muddy 😉 lol

Wed 4th

Today we started off with a clover leaf pattern warm up in walk

We then moved onto fig 8’s in trot (she felt a bit lame again to the right)

But finally we did some P2P’s between obstacles and Bella offered CANTER, she wasn’t lame in canter 😉

I jumped off after 3 to reward her for her spirit and speed 🤠

What a good girl.

Thurs 5th

Today is some fun with Stormy 😉

Just trying to keep him exercising as regularly as I can. He’s 23yrs old now so keeping his muscles, joints and brain working well I need to exercise him regularly…same for me too. To keep me supple to ride, my muscles need exercising by walking and riding regularly so this is good for both of us 💖

While mucking about on my phone taking pics of Stormy I managed to put the phone/camera into ‘FUN’ mode….

This is the pic it took! lol. Quite like the filter and flowers 🙂 🙂 lol

• Shelley – HorseSavvy.co.uk

Thurs 1st

Lovely day weather wise and decided I wanted to have a ride….but getting a bit bored going around their field SO…

Saddled both S&B up and walked them home to the paddock for the afternoon 💖

S&B ground tied waiting patiently for me. I saddle both so that (1) I could change who I was riding if I wanted and (2) Mark can ride Stormy back to the field this afternoon while I ride Bella 🤠👍

Walked them up the field hill to get them ready for the ride (saves trying to lead one up if the other decides they don’t want to go) lol

Mounted Stormy on the track (he carried the black bag which holds Marks riding hat…..no excuse for Mark to not ride him back now) 😍

Bella did a great job following Stormy the whole way, with only one stop which we all stopped for.

AND HOME….it was so lovely having a ride out of the field today, especially as the sun is shining and there was a lovely breeze keeping the flies away 💕

AND THEN A FEW HOURS LATER….

Mark/Stormy and me/Bella ride back together to their big field.

It was LOVELY to have Mark riding Stormy with us, and me concentrating on my own riding with Bella 👍😊

Fab way of seeing if Mark wanted to ride today too 😍🤠🏇💖

Mark giving S&B a groom and a peppermint after our ride.

Tue 6th

Another lovely day weather wise for a wee plod about on Stormy (first) 😉

Just enjoying being with the horses at the moment, taking the opportunity to do that when I can.

Just chilling with the big babies is always a lovely thing to do 😍

Bella was good too, it was nice and cool this morning so no sweating and she did some really nice trot to canter to trot transitions 🤠👍

Wed 14th

Sometimes you have to readjust your plans and do what’s necessary for your horse OR YOU

The walk did me good too

This mornings glorious sunrise while S&B ate their breakfast 💕

Then I had a wee ride on Bella and she was happy to oblige 🏇😍

Wed 28th

Thank goodness the big weather storm has finally gone…now it’s time to have some horsey Storm time (and Bella of course) 😍

I rode Stormy home leading Bella and the weather was great…so were S&B 💕

Waiting to be tacked up / Walked to the top of the hill / Just before mounting up at a gateway

Just before home Mark came out and took some lovely pics of us 💖💖

• Shelley – HorseSavvy.co.uk

Sat 5th

Sunshine with a breeze = nice ride on Bella this morning 😉

I’ve been asking S&B to come to the top of the field to get their dinner over the last 2 days….they are good at ‘getting it’ quickly 😉

Tues 8th

You never know when something interesting crops up and time for a wee bit of ‘training’ 😉 I LOVE when this happens and it’s good to see that our training foundation is good that Mr Stormy learnt a new thing very quickly. What was that thing? Well…S&B are used to the quad bike going around doing things, moving agility bits and daily poo picking with the tipping trailer behind it BUT I had not realised until today that they’re NOT used to me moving it while walking along side it. They’ve always seen me RIDING the bike to move it SO when Stormy baulked when I walked with it he must have thought it was moving on it’s own!!

SO, what did I do? I slowly moved the bike and as he stayed with me I stopped regularly and treated him for his obedience to me asking him to stay. As we went along I didn’t move faster but stopped regulalry again to treat him for RELAXATION and CONFIDENCE in the situation 😉 He smashed it 😉

What a clever boy he is 😉

Wed 9th

I woke up late this morning (not a problem, we don’t have schedules as such) and I managed to ride Stormy and then Bella just before lunchtime 😉 LOL

Stormy first….

He was a bit sluggish to start with, it’s been a while since riding him so understandable. We start slow and build up to trot.

Bella 2nd…

She was also a bit sluggish even though I rode him more recently and we had a good play session with her yesterday. Again, like Stormy, we start slowly to get her muscles warmed up and then start doing more trot.

Fri 18th

SO, it’s been a while since riding S or B and it’s because of the weather, it’s been either too hot with flies or midges or drizzling/raining. It’s quite frustrating when you want to ride and exercise your horse and the weather is just against you BUT just being available to grab the opportunities when they arrive is such a blessing 😍🐎🤠 AND I took that opportunity this morning. It’s definitely feeling like Autumn and for us that’s a bonus as no flies and cool enough to not cause S or B to sweat 👍

I started by riding Stormy and leading Bella from him. We did about 16 1/2 mins in walk and a bit of trot.

I then took the saddle off and put it onto Bella and rode her on her own for a bit 😉

Storm saddled, Bella waiting to be led.

Storm was a great leader and Bella followed like a pro.

AND then Bella on her own for some one-on-one time 😉

And finally I lead both S&B from the quad bike back off the paddock grass and onto their track….amazed how well this went 😉 🙂

Viewing the cattle and sheep nearby 😉

Tue 22nd

It often looks like I’m just wandering around when I ride Storm or Bella and the maps often show this madness BUT is it madness??

What am I looking for when I ride.

1. Relaxation – shows up as soft neck/body and rhythm in a gait.
2. Co-operation – the partnered willingness to go with the flow.
3. Impulsion – seen when there is balance and energy in motion.
4. Flexibility – to be flexible to the left/right which brings about straightness. 😉

   If starting the ride and I check the above 4 things  and one or more of them are out of kilter then THAT is what I work on and often it’s all about checking all 4 and getting them all back into balance, even if only one is out, as they all rely and help each other for a soft, easy ride 🙂

< Waiting for me to mount up

Bella having and after ride graze >

• Shelley – HorseSavvy.co.uk