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Bella & Stormy – March 2023

Well, February was a great start to the year and hopefully it will continue through March. This month I’ll be trying to mix things up to keep training fun. We call this ‘cross training’ and it will help Bella cope with multiple training styles but I’ll do things more than once if the first time she struggles with the change so that’ll help her find confidence.

The types of training will be:
Loose rein riding, one hand riding and connected rein riding around the field with transitions and dressage moves such as leg yields.
Transitions around the round pens building up to canter SLC’s in fig 8 pattern (Simple Lead Change).
Agility, online, liberty and ridden (using one set of obstacles per month but working them in different configurations and/or different challenges per obstacle).
Dressage in my field arena (Consisting of many different transitions and shapes)
Hacking out (different routes with multiple gaits.
Rope circling in w/t/c.
Trec training (new for us but like agility)

So hoping this month will build on the last one nicely.

Weds 1st

Today I took S&B for another walk, after the last hack where Bella had a wee spook when a stone fell down the steep bank making a weird noise I wanted to make sure she was ok going in the same area again SO….groomed and haltered up we go around the fields. Then before we get to home I turn around and go back in the opposite direction letting them graze regularly for motivation and rewards. Because all goes really well, before we go over the wooden bridge again, I change direction and take them towards the river. This direction there a few distractions….there are often ducks on the river so they squawk and fly up when we get nearby (not today though, so all went calmly well). Then there is the ‘gateway’ we go through which used to give Bella some trouble, it’s often boggy (not today thank goodness), right next to the fast flowing river but also the fence next to it is just a few posts with a very thin electric wire (so it’s hard to see and has some ‘electric energy’ off it!). I hate the fence because if a horse bolted they would not see the wire and it could be disastrous, that’s why I hate it ;(

Anyway, the walk went really well, they were calm, connected to me and happy to have wee munchies of grass along the way ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just testing out my new phone/camera’s SlowMo mode…..

 

At the water trough after our walk ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 3rd

Such a beautiful day after a cold start today. Out for a hack towards the village, just wanted to do half way, to the big wooden bridge and build up their fitness so we can do the village shop later on in the year ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stunning views.

Mark got off and walked a wee bit….

 

 

 

 

….but got on again at the next gate ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both horses stopped before the wooden bridge, where we were going to turn for home. We just sat on them and waited patiently for them to get curious. Next time I asked her to walk on she did so beautifully. Once over we turned around for home again and she happily trotted over it for home ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bella dying to get in front….she did a fabulously calm, rocking horse canter up the last hill to the home gate ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy did a nice plod home <3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 4th

Another dry, blue sky day here….cold in the morning but ok in the afternoon for a ride in the field. Today I wanted to test our leading Storm from Bella and then try out my dressage test.

 

Bella has only done this a couple of times before and first time this year.

She did really well and although a moment of ‘whoa’ when I took Storm’s ropes and flapped them on her side, but she quickly calmed down again which was great.

 

 

 

Going through our ‘dressage test’ she found her strong trot again.

 

 

 

 

 

We worked on our curves with some 20m circles.

She did a couple of ‘skips’ into canter in our trot work so I just ignored it and continued working on the trot.

 

 

 

Then we did some canter work. This is the FIRST time she’s been balanced enough to canter in the ‘arena’ area and I am going to build on this so we can get the canter going along the long side, curve the short side and down the next long side ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Working on canter (and walk/trot) in a straight line too which is hard when one long side of the arena doesn’t have a fence to work from.

Really lovely that she follows me after our ride together….she knows there’s a peppermint when she’s been untacked and groomed.

 

 

 

Sun 5th

 

Today we decided we need to bring the horses back to the house as we’ve had snow and ice warnings for the next 7-10 days SO we decided to ride them back.

 

 

 

 

 

The weather is chilly and I’ll be happy to have them back at the house where we can check on them anytime we want and put on/take off rugs when necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

Went past some sheep and then through the field of Highland cattle….

 

 

 

 

 

 

….Bella looking back at the cattle. She did well and sidled up to the gate for me to get off to open it and then when through it she sidled up again for me to get back on ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Nearly home now and it was fun to take slightly different tracks along the way

 

 

 

 

 

Bella leading at the end and once in the field they ate some hay then went wandering to look for munchy grazing if any about….might be a bit early for munchies but they’ll have a good look for some ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

 

Mon 6th

This morning, Mark feeding theย  beasties. S&B had rugs on last night as forecast snow/rain and very cold but to be honest they probably didn’t need them as it didn’t really come down much. They were happy to have them off this morning but it will be a constant check on forecast for the next few days and on/off rugging going on ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weds 8th

We have snow warnings for tomorrow SO took the sunny opportunity to have a short walking hack out with S&B. Up the hill behind us to the moor gateway, back down and then into the field opposite our house and back. It was great to take advantage of the weather, albeit pretty cold, and to stretch their legs a bit before maybe being snowed in for a while ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lovely ride out, just walk as the ground is very hard, but a fab way to spend an hour in the afternoon with best buddies and a blue sky ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 17th

Well it’s been just about 2 weeks since S&B had to come back to the house paddocks due to snow, rain, wind etc. I’m glad they were here as it made putting rugs on and taking them off easier for us and it’s always lovely to have them closer to home for a while BUT today, with the days mild temperatures we rode them back to their big field again ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Bella and me waiting for Mark to mount…and we’re off ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

Taking the soft grassy route

Following Stormy with a nice steady plod

 

 

 

 

 

Bella leading…spotting the Highland cows with calves in the next field

I opened the gate to the cow field and decided to walk Bella in-hand through it as she was a
little distracted by the cows by the track and also the cute babies…Bella loves babies ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Through the cow field and used the gate to remount. The back pack I used today I’ve had for absolute years, my dearest uncle Laurence bought it for me when I used to ride my old horse Tara to the village and back. SO, to Uncle Lal…it’s still going strong and still the best backpack for riding a horse ๐Ÿ˜‰

Stormy waiting patiently for me and B ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

Last leg of ride and then smoothly back in the big field. I took Bella’s saddle and bridle off so she could stretch her legs and keep up with Mark and Storm ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

After having a lovely groom this morning Stormy is now a mucky boy after this roll in the mud ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 20th

We’ve been having drizzle and rain up here so not a lot of mild, dry weather to do much in BUT this morning I did the horses (feed and poo pick) and then decided to have a wee potter in walk around the field a bit on Bella. As it was just a quick plod I put Storm’s bareback pad on him, put my hard hat on and then rode in her rope halter and lead rope made into reins. It was a really impromptu moment, always the best moments, and I really enjoyed it. We just walked around the round pens then went around my circle of cones where we did some weaving doing turns with the outside rein, neck reining, and then did some circles where we stopped at each cone and side passed over it alternately left and right ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

Ready to ride with Storm’s bareback pad….I made this pad years ago and it’s been the best bareback pad I’ve ever used ๐Ÿ˜‰

Stormy decided to follow us around for a bit too which was fun

 

 

 

Storm waiting for his treat after I gave one to Bella ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

This was Stormy following us side by side for a bit

 

 

 

Bella doing fab breath out stops in between my two round pens

 

Working both horses, asking Bella forward whilst asking Stormy to back up at the same time ๐Ÿ˜‰ ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

Tues 21st

 

Started off the morning after feeding with some nice liberty play around the agility obstacles

 

Bella was leading but Stormy enjoyed coming along for a treat or two ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

Standing still in a pole box. Walk over low jump. Forwards & back along parallel poles.

Draw towards me over the pole square

 

 

 

 

LOVE horses that come to call….these two are fab.

Great energy

 

 

Superb FOCUS and willingness combined with desire to be with me ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

Ended the session with another wee impromptu bareback ride, this time I used a CORDEO rope (neck rope) to start teaching Bella to be ridden bridleless ๐Ÿ™‚ : ) ๐Ÿ™‚

It uses my own focus, body moves, weight and voice cues that we’ve been working on since backing her in 2019….now it’s all getting lighter and lighter…can we harmonise through our movements to get gaits and turns? ๐Ÿ˜‰

It was a good start today, just a bit of walk and turns in big fig 8’s….only used reins at the start to help associate those cues with the cordeo ones.

 

 

 

Thurs 23rd

Chilly but a nice day to do a bit more bareback riding on Bella ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Checking out our basic walk, stop, backups ๐Ÿ˜‰

A great, light backup shows you have a good halt ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Managed to get some nice transitions up and down from walk to trot

Glad I got to do trot, I’ve been suffering from bouts of vertigo (no….that’s not a fear of heights) which has me very dizzy and unbalanced so trotting wasn’t an option recently…mind you, riding wasn’t an option recently! lol

 

 

 

Nice turns and some nice neck reining in fig 8’s in the round pen

 

Also some nice sidepassing over cones, alternating left and right over each one we pass.

 

 

 

< LOVE this pic….focused, head up and nice energetic steps ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Another nice pic when we stopped >

 

 

 

Sat 25th

Another fab opportunity to familiarise to our friend’s digger as we asked him to come and scrape some soil from in front of their shelter, preparing form some Mud Control slabs to help stop it all being so muddy when it rains ๐Ÿ˜‰ They did so well and Bella was brave and curious enough to actually walk really near to it once the engine was off ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 26th

 

Went out and thoroughly groomed both S&B. They are both moulting madly so they thoroughly enjoyed their pamper time ๐Ÿ˜‰

I then decided it was early enough to maybe have a wee plod around on Stormy and then Bella…all looking good to start, looking forward to having some ride time with them both. I tacked up Stormy and we managed about 5 mins of walking about and then it started to hail down on us SO I quickly dismounted and called it a day.

 

 

 

Mon 27th

 

Sunshine and blue skies today (still chilly and very cold last night) but a great day for a ride or two ๐Ÿ˜‰

Asking Stormy to put some effort in to his walk, he really stepped up for me and started to walk faster which is what I was aiming for, to stretch his legs ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

He offered a couple of lovely balanced trots which I took and had a really lovely wee ride on him. Not much but a good stretch ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Bella showing she still fits onto the pedestal ๐Ÿ˜‰

Lovely light, balanced, rhythmic sitting trot today…really nice and relaxed

 

 

 

 

Got a wee bit of canter around the round pen to the left too today. Building up slowly to the challenge this year of full circle canter to the left and right around the 2 round pens ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Some very light leg yields on a circle today too…both to the left and right

And checking our connection after our ride too ๐Ÿ˜‰ : )

 

 

 

 

Thurs 31st

Today was hard work but well worth it…..next to the horses field shelter we have rubber matting that has been quite good at keeping the area from getting muddy BUT outside that section, outwith the shelter overhang, it was getting quite muddy and squidgy. We decided to invest in something more sturdy than rubber matting on this section. The slabs are from a company called Mud Control, they’re recycled hard plastic and are very good at going on squidgy mud and to keep the area from getting that way ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

First we got a friend in with a digger to take a small layer of the squidgy mud off the top to allow the MC slabs to sit lower…then we started to lay them, one row at a time ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy was very curious and brave and I put one slab out for him to investigate, also to keep him from getting in the way ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

He was so cool…standing on it and sniffing it ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

Bella came over to check it out too and went over the 3 lines of them back and forward easily.

 

 

 

 

 

First pic here just before the finish…we then put some of the old mud onto the edges so that they lay flat and the horses won’t clap their hooves on the edges….the free edge on the right (last pic) is set up ready to take another 5 rubber mats to hopefully complete it all ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

 

Bella & Stormy – February 2023

Wed 1st

WELL….today we have cold but sunny weather and I decided today was a good day to get out with the horses. The last week or so we’ve had noisy disruptions from pheasant shooting to chain sawing near the horses so understandably S&B have been a wee bit spooky and not wanting to go in their shelter for rest and food ;( I thought maybe get down there and do some ‘relaxation’ work while there was some noise going on BUT when I got there it was calm, peaceful and the chain sawing has now finished so I missed that but they were still not happy with half the field! SO….I groomed them both and got Stormy ready to ride but then played with him whilst walking down the field from ‘safe’ area to ‘scary’ area. Working on S2M, backing up and then reapproaching the scary area.

Bella came for a bit then stopped and waited. When we got the some hay I let Stormy eat and relax and Bella found her way to us to eat too. I then took Stormy onwards to play with the pedestal and then the ‘scary’ shelter. We played going in and out of the shelter, forward into it then backing into it. He got over his initial worry and started listening more to me and I used +R (treats) to help make it all more positive for him. Bella didn’t come any closer to the shelter and when I got on Stormy she cantered fast back to the ‘safe’ area and I connected to Stormy through Lateral Flexion of his head and then sidepassing into leg yielding to keep his mind and feet on me and where I wanted to go and at my speed. It worked really well.

We got back to the ‘safe’ area and did some ridden play with poles: backing up between poles, backing up then over single pole with 2 feet then all 4 feet. Sidepassing over a pole then sidepassing over the whole pole longways. Putting foot into hula hoop and then some small, precision fig 8’s around jump wings, transitions through a narrow bunting lane, trot poles and finished on a lovely trot weave around the jump wings ๐Ÿ˜‰ He’s such a good boy, think he enjoyed himself ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I got Bella ready with her bitless bridle and bareback pad. I went to the mounting block and got on, she was fine but was then distracted by a nearby tractor and wasn’t paying attention to me, she was twitching in her shoulders as I asked her to walk on and she jumped a bit SO I got off and went to playing around the obstacles to reconnect to her mind and feet. Once I felt she was paying attention more and we were more connected I sidled her over to a jump wing and practised jumping up and down on it, laying over her back and flapping my arms about ready to remount. I then managed to jump on and just sit still with her for a while allowing her to focus on relaxing her body so that her mind could relax ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

When we did our bit of riding I just kept asking her to do small curves to make up a fig 8. Once the small 4 curves go well start doing two small circles with rests between to make up the fig 8’s. Finally when I feel we’re really connected and working together we do some single full fig 8’s, rest and treats in centre for reward ๐Ÿ˜‰ It was lovely to be on her back again, bareback too…it’d been 10.5 weeks since I last rode her (since 8th Dec last year) but the weather was just against us. I know now I will have to go through all the basic’s again, restart with slow stuff but she’ll be back being ridden out again this year quicker than last year and am looking forward to having a lot of riding/hacking fun with her and Stormy this year <3ย 

 

 

Fri 3rd

 

Finally some decent weather, not too cold and no drizzle.

Managed to have a nice ride on Stormy, with a saddle for a change.

 

 

 

 

Felt really nice to ride him and then also ride Bella.

It wasn’t a big ride but a nice ‘start to the year’ for them both.

Stormy just goes into the year with a nice plod and a bit of fun.

With Bella I start her out doing all the basic’s again to reaffirm our connection.

 

Our start consisted of:
1. groom at liberty
2. tack up at liberty
3. play some games to connect us. We did S2M transitions to connect our breathing andenergy
4. stand still at the mounting block
5. stand still once mounted
6. check lateral flexion L&R
7. check disengagement L&R
8. check back up
9. forward and stop on breath in/out

Then we just poodled about for a bit working on our left and right turns from my seat/weight/leg aids, we stayed in walk but did some halt/backup transitions.

She was really good and it was nice to start our year going back over the basic’s. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue building on this when the weather allows ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Sat 4th

No pics today but managed to get out and have fun with Bella and then Stormy around the first Agility course I put together. The course has developed over the last few days on paper and I use this chance to test it out so that I can use the course for students in March ๐Ÿ˜‰

The course consists of:
1. Bunting lane
2. 4 x trot poles
3. Single pole to halt over
4. Curtain
5. 2 x parallel poles on ground to halt and back up in
6. 4 x pole box with crushed bottles in
7. small jump
8. tarp to walk/halt/walk over
9. 6 x cone weave
10. hulahoop…front feet in ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Tues 7th

 

Between showers I managed to get out but only ride Stormy as showers stopped the fun.
But Bella was fab and stayed by the mounting block and quad bike the whole time I rode Stormy which was great as there the estate were chain sawing and moving logs with a big tractor which last week had her running around high headed in the field.

Hopefully I’ll get a ride on Bella this week ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

Thurs 9th

Nice weather (although a bit windy) means only ONE thing…..FUN WITH HORSES and MARK ๐Ÿ™‚

We had a nice potter around the field together, checking basic’s of walk/halt/backup/walk/trot’s and our left/right turns with forehand and hindquarters. Also did a bit of trot work (Mark and Stormy did canter too). What a lovely way to start the year with Mark and the horses ๐Ÿ˜‰ Onwards & Upwards ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bella & I did some ridden agility too ๐Ÿ˜‰

Weave, sidepass, halt in x box….

 

 

 

 

walk/halt/backup in bunting land

Trot poles ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Trot through bunting lane

Into and back up in parallel poles

Slow plod back with Mark and Stormy to the mounting block ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

Fri 10th

 

A lovely day for a quick ride on Bella. Getting some basic hours of riding in to start the year off nicely.

Started with Liberty grooming, putting bridle and saddle on. I like doing these things at liberty as it shows a trust between us but also if she needs/wants to move away she can and I’ll listen to her and try to figure out what she’s trying to tell me…can mean sometimes I don’t get her tacked up or ridden but that’s what the partnership is all about…listening to each other ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

She did so well and so I mounted and we had a nice short ride.

 

Today I was just checking we had some nice soft transitions (walk/halt/backup/walk and then trot too), that we had nice flexibility in our turns and curves and that we were able to find straightness together with loose reins and connected reins ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

Stormy followed us around a bit too which was fun ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 11th

 

Loving this dry weather at the moment, managing to get some nice riding on Bella for the start of the year. I always try to start her off slowly with the things she already knows well, some niceย  walk/halt/backups to begin with, then get more into trot and leg yields/sidepassing.

It didn’t take long this Springtime to get her into a bit more trot, finding her balance and flexibility along the way.

 

 

We also did our first jump this year as this helps me fathom out how her trot/jump/canter depart is going which helps me know when to do more canter.

This year is going to be about relaxation in canter for us. We’ve done relaxation in walk/halt/backup/trot transitions and she learns pretty quickly SO finding that relaxation in canter is the next step. Horses, like all prey animals, use running as an escape from predators SO teaching her to relax, think and be calm with me when in canter is against what she understands for running in the wild part of her brain but I need to show her how to run calmly so her brain is still connected to me and her feet and that running becomes a calm conscious decision rather than a flee from danger process ๐Ÿ˜‰

We did finish on a really nice walk up a steep hill but then she decided to GALLOP to the top with me having to really turn her to the right before she ran into Stormy…..she was a bit in fleeing mode but also a bit in YEEHAA mode…she came down nicely and we did some cooling down exercises to make sure we were re-connected well before stopping. I think it really just took me by surprise the amount of sheer energy and power she had in what I thought was going to be a nice calm canter but turned out to be a full on run….wow wee is all I can say…the girl has some power in her hindquarters to bring on that kind of speed up a steep hill ๐Ÿ™‚

 

Sun 1th

Trimmed Bella’s feet today and then continued our Springtime start to the year. Started inside the round pens working on walk circles into bullseye then into leg yields out…this helps us both work on our flexibility, and being ‘straight on a curve’ ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

We then went to the cone and tyre circles to work on some weaving and again the arc in Bella’s body whilst working on them.

 

We then circled the round pens and cone/tyre circles in trot, again asking for that nice curve in our bodies to keep working on arc of the circle. When she was calmly doing circles with a nice arc I then asked her to canter between the round pens and continue the canter to the left first and the right the 2nd time…all went well and it was lovely to have a nice calm canter today ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

We finished with nice soft walk fig 8’s to cool her down after her exercise as she had just a wee bit of sweat on her.ย  Lovely day, lovely ride ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

 

Mon 13th

AND SUNSHINE TODAY ๐Ÿ˜‰ Trimmed her feet then did another session of Springtime basic’s. It’s all going along really well, here’s what we did today:
1) bullseye circles into leg yield circles then into trot circles with loose rein
2) loose rein walk trot around to supple up and then into leg yield in trot (only 2nd time attempted over last couple of years and she did very well)

3) large fig 8 pattern over whole field with middle between the roundpens…..walk 10 strides, trot 6 strides then canter through the middle for 4 laps ๐Ÿ˜‰ ๐Ÿ™‚
Yeehaa, really enjoyed today and love it when a plan is coming together. The consistency of getting to ride every day and also the training patterns are really helping Bella to have relaxation, co-operation, impulsion and flexibility much more. What a great start to our year ๐Ÿ™‚
Tues 14th

 

This morning I did the horsey morning chores (feeding and poo picking). It was pretty cold again and the horses were hungry.
I had some breakfast with them (digestives and water to keep me going until I got home) and they tucked into their ‘hard feed’ which is some warm speedi-beet and Top Spec Zero chaff (so basic forage) and then a big bag of hay which I put half out on the grassland and half in their shelter.

When Bella had finished her main food (she is always quicker than Stormy) I asked her, at liberty, to help me hand-groom her. She did a fab job of just resting her leg/hip that I was grooming so I could see and get to it easier. She’s really turning into a wonderful partner to me ๐Ÿ˜‰
She also did a wonderful Liberty Sidle to the mounting block for me facing to the right and then another facing to the left when sidled up to the quad bike for me ๐Ÿ˜‰
Finally, after finishing all my jobs, I spent 20 mins of herd ‘Undemanding Time’ with them. This is where I just sit and relax with them
in peace and quiet, no treats, no tasks, just time spent together relaxing or snoozing. It’s a lovely way of doing ‘nothing’ with them after the time I spend doing ‘something’ with them normally (ie. interacting, play, agility or riding etc). A way for them to know I can be with them in their world without doing anything ‘to’ them and so they know I’m one of the herd ๐Ÿ˜‰
Thurs 16th
Well you know when things just go right, things just slip nicely into place and it’s like you’ve dreamt something?? Well today was one of those days ๐Ÿ˜‰
Bella and I have been working and progressing our horsemanship riding, she was only backed and started late in 2019 and this year I hope is going to be the year we do more canter work as we’ve got backup/halt/walk/trot down nicely now. I’ve been playing with approach & retreat with canter last year so that we can, together, do it calmly, balanced and be more flexible as we go. So, what is approach and retreat? And why do I need it calm, balanced and flexible??
Well firstly A&R is a method I use with say something like a horse is fearful of putting it’s foot on a tarpaulin. I ask them to approach it and if they stop and take time to look at it but can’t go further I’ll ask them to back away/retreat from it so they can take their minds away from the instinctual fear they may have and go to ‘thinking’ it through with space to breathe and think. This works very well but it also works for us humans too and I used it a lot with Stormy and Solly to get back into riding with out my own fear brace after some bucking accidents a few years ago.
SO….how do I use A&R for transitions? Well firstly I make sure we have the lower gait calm, smooth and balanced (ie. trot), then when I start to ask for canter we do it for just a few strides then back down into trot where we can regain our calm and balance without it all going off a bit. The reason some of these elements can go when going up into canter is that horses use canter for play and also to flee from danger so it’s us that want them to do it for athleticism and for that they need to be calm, flexible and balanced with the ability to think when we use cues to do other things like do a curve, circle or change leads when riding.
SO, since starting riding again this year I’ve been asking for Bella to have smooth transitions from walk to trot and back down again and every now and then she puts in a wee hop…..she was asking me if it was time to canter SO we’ve been working on the big field fig 8’s and I change gait often…walk, trot, walk, trot, canter, trot, walk, rest with a long rein and repeat. She’s been doing SO well that today the stars aligned and we not only got fabulous transitions, she was light on her forehand, which means she was working well from her hindquarters and thereby becoming more naturally ‘collected’ and her canter transitions were so light, balanced and the last one we did was SO flexible that we got a beautiful smooth curve to the left before coming back down nicely to trot and then I asked her to halt on a big breath out, jumped off and gave her a huge hug for being so fabulous ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ Best day riding this lovely big mare, she is a star <3
<3 <3 <3ย  Adore her SO much <3 <3 <3
Tues 21st

It’s been a bit off weather wise with some strong winds, snow and on/off drizzle SO I gave Bella some time off but today it was mild, calm and dry…SO…out to be with her and Stormy. We mostly wanted to just groom them, mostly Stormy as he has a huge Winter coat just falling out in his Springtime moult….we brush him and it’s like a snowstorm ๐Ÿ˜‰ LOL.

Whilst Mark was grooming Stormy more I had a wee play with Bella.
We had another FIRST today….she did a couple of circles in walk with me standing totally still.
So far with Bella’s circles I’ve turned with her, encouraged her to go up into trot or a bit of canter.
Today I stood still and she and I kept our responsibilities to each other ๐Ÿ˜‰
These are:
Horse responsibilities =
Act like a partner, not like a prey animal.
Maintain gait.
Maintain direction.
Look where you are going.
Human responsibilities =
Act like a partner, not like a predator.
Have an independent seat. (or independent feet)
Think like horse before you think like a human.
Use the natural power of focus.

 

She was FAB to the left and right and it was a proud mum moment that she is now SO balanced, flexible and ready to canter she just did it ๐Ÿ˜‰ <3

 

 

 

Big kisses for my big clever girl <3
Fri 25th
A lovely day to be out with the horses. Today I decide to take them both out for a walk, just for a change of scene, to get some exercise and also to take them on the circular route that at the beginning of the year they didn’t want to go down. This was mostly because there had been pheasant shooting and then chainsaws cutting trees down and a big tractor taking the logs away for quite a while. All that noise and going’s on disturbed them a bit.
But today it was calm, peaceful and beautiful mild weather so walking out along this route was a fun challenge ๐Ÿ˜‰
Starting out we realised there was actual grass to be munched on
This was great as it works not only as motivation but I could use it as a reward too
They LOVED the long ‘soft rushes’ that were along the track….they don’t have these in their field

 

Going along past where they were worried last time they both put their heads up and we stopped for a minute…I then asked Stormy to take a step back to give him space to think and take a breath.
When I looked at where they were focused I saw it was just the sheep in the next field slightly hidden by the stone wall SO I let them hear my breath out, talked to them about it just being sheep and then asked them to walk on with me.
They walked with me nice and calmly and were rewarded down the bottom of the hill with lots of munches of grass and soft rushes ๐Ÿ˜‰
Next we had a narrow track to go down. It has a steep bank on the left and a thin electric wire on the right so I had to make sure they were both safe and not hitting the wire.

 

We got down easily and calmly too ๐Ÿ˜‰ Stormy did this ‘flehmen’ move with his nose…this is where a horse takes in new smells over it’s top palette and nose. It’s quite fascinating and he did it a couple of times which told me he was smelling something new or something he needed to take in again to figure out what it was.

Main flat field called ‘the haugh’ just below their own field and they took opportunities to grab at some grazing the whole way and I was quite happy with that as it helped them be calm,

 

 

Lovely walk so far, really enjoying just being with them and in the peace that is usually around this area ๐Ÿ˜‰

We then negotiated a wooden bridge with a gateway where we went over and then had to turn and face the gate to be able to do it back up. They did superbly…..all the training I do comes into it’s own when doing this sort of thing ๐Ÿ™‚

Finally we get to the last hill toward their field. When ridden they usually trot or canter up this hill, it’s a lot of fun but today I asked them to walk so that they didn’t run away from me and they did a great job ๐Ÿ˜‰

Last pic of them back in the field <3

 

 

Sun 26th

Busy’ish day today but managed to get a wee ride in on Bella while Mark trimmed Storm’s hooves.
Today’s main aim was ‘body dynamic riding’. This is one handed riding doing turns, or in our case weaving, through our eyes, shoulders, belly button, seat weight, outside leg with inside leg holding and the inside rein loose or open and the outside rein used as a neck rein. Bella did the best yet and was turning from my seat weight, body turn and light guidance with the rein ๐Ÿ˜‰
Mon 27th
Well March is almost upon us but I feel good that we’ve started the year very positively. Today Mark and I decided to ride and graze them the way I walked them out the other day ๐Ÿ˜‰ It was a lot of fun, had a wee yeehaa when Bella got a fright with some stones tumbling down a steep hillock but then we used that energy to have a good yeehaa up the last hill to home…here’s some pics….
It was a really lovely ride….last pic was where Bella got a wee spook and we were going to just go back the way we’d come but decided after that wee yeehaa that we’d just go over the bridge and home…..
This last bit is the hill to home and I just asked Bella to take all her energy and put it into a nice big canter

 

 

She did really well, there’s a lot of big power in her hindquarters so she made short work of the hill
Great end to a really nice wee ride and our FIRST HACK OUT of THE YEAR ๐Ÿ™‚
* Shelley – HorseSavvy

Bella & Stormy – January 2023

2023 ๐Ÿ™‚ HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE ๐Ÿ™‚ 2023

I’ve put a new ‘CATEGORY’ in the menu of ‘Bella & Stormy’. I’ve done this as through the last 3 years training Bella we’ve come to a good point and we’re doing more of the basic training with new things becoming less frequent SO as this year hopefully we’ll be doing more hacking out with Stormy it felt right to change the category from ‘Bella – our journey’ to include Stormy again more ๐Ÿ˜‰ SO….from today new posts will be under ‘Bella & Stormy’ regardless of which horse I’m with ๐Ÿ˜‰ Happy New Year again and hopefully Spring will come soon so that we can start our year up here ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Mon 2nd

 

Today the estate gamekeeper and friends are looking to get any foxes in the enclosure behind our horses paddocks out of it so they can close the gates….

 

 

 

I go out to the horse while this goes on as there can be quite a lot of human shouting, dogs barking and general chaotic predatory behaviour…..

 

 

 

My job is to create a calm, sweet spot where the horses can come to relax and know they’re safe SO I stand near the top of the paddock and let them come and go whilst do my audible breathing for them to ‘be with me’ in that calm state….

 

 

It works really well and they both hang around whilst keeping an eye on the ‘strangers’ nearby. When the dogs come out it was lovely to see Bella and Storm’s curiosity come out and follow them along the paddock without being worried or feisty ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

When I whistled to them with my ‘call’ they came straight to me which was really lovely xxx

 

 

 

Wed 4th

Another fab opportunity for some familiarisation play today. I go out with my metal detector to check on the line of polypost/electric fencing I put up which Stormy broke the other day. I needed to make sure there were o metal spikes left in the ground from the broken posts…I found 2 so made this job essential fun. Whilst doing this job the horses came to investigate what I was doing and using +R (positive reinforcement – reward training) I asked them to touch the end of the machine to realise that it wasn’t going to hurt them. I love doing this familiarisation, allowing horses to be curious and brave about the world they live in with us ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy was more curious and brave, Bella is more sceptical but both were calm, happy to interact with me and the machine and very happy to receive treats for doing it ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Mon 9th

 

Today seemed more like the Winter Solstice than Dec 21st….very very dark in the morning, the sun being very lazy getting into the sky and the moon had to hang around more waiting for it to catch up! lol.

Pic of B&S this morning under the big moon, this was about 8.15am. Roll on Spring ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

Thurs 12th

 

Waiting one more day of rain before hopefully, fingers crossed, moving Bella & Storm back to their big field ๐Ÿ˜‰

Today I spent a wee bit of time with them just doing some small things…first I managed to get some lovely eye shots of them…they have the most beautiful, soft eyes ever ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

Then I got a shot of their soft inquisitive muzzles…so sweet with lots of hair on them over winter, called moustaches ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that I asked them to stand together and ‘wait’ ๐Ÿ˜‰ This went very well and I was very impressed with their patience today ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly I stood on a big stone and asked them to come over, work on sidling to a ‘mounting block’ and stand still for me. It went okay, wish I had a bigger stone as I would have jumped on Stormy…missing riding a lot and just sitting on Stormy would be fun….hopefully when they’re back in the big field I can start doing some agility bits online, at liberty and ridden too. I will start this all very slowly so we can all just get our muscles exercising a bit, getting fitter together for the year ahead <3

 

 

 

Thurs 12th

The last couple of days the ice is slowly going from the track that leads from our house to the horses main, big field down the road…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 13th

YEEHAAA….most of the snow has gone from the track and the bits that are less are passable for the horses SO….back to the big field they go today ๐Ÿ™‚

Really enjoyed riding Stormy while leading Bella…it’s been way too long since but hit the saddle (or bareback pad in this case) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now that they’re back in the big field I can hopefully get to trim Bella’s feet, put up some fun agility obstacles and get to ‘be’ with them more.

Hopefully no more snow to come so they can stay in the big field BUT if it snows hard again we’ll just have to bring them back to the home paddocks ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once into the field they had fun kicking up their heels and it was really lovely to see them stretching their legs after being in the small paddocks at home ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

Sat 14th

A bit grey again today but Bella’s hooves need trimming so I go out and trim her front feet, ergots, chestnuts and also her feather. I’ll do her backs tomorrow…saves my back doing them like that ๐Ÿ˜‰

BUT I did put together an Agility course up with the obstacles that were already in the ‘agility arena’ from last year and while I was finishing it off Bella came over and we had an impromptu Liberty play. It was fab, put a huge smile on my face and reconnected us at liberty which was fab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 21st

 

Took some containers of water down to the horses as their supply has either gone (no rain) or hard to get to (burn has 6′ of ice near it) and had a wee play at liberty with both S&B as they were up for a bit of fun with me ๐Ÿ˜‰ darned cold though!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 27th

‘You’re never doing nothing when you’re with your horse’ ๐Ÿ˜‰ (SNC)

I always try to do something when I visit the horses at any time of year but especially in Winter. Quite often in the morning, after they’ve had their breakfast and I’m going around the field poo picking, they come over to see what I’m doing and I will ask them to interact with me at liberty for some fun. The things I often ask them to do are things like: Backing up. Sidepassing. Circle. Sidle to mounting block. Fun Agility things with obstacles like Fig 8’s. ETC. It’s always fun, we get connected and they get a treat as a reward so they really love playing at this time of year ๐Ÿ˜‰

Today I was inspired to do something completely new…backing up with me behind the horse. This is a quite advanced move and I wasn’t sure if Bella was going to ‘get it’ BUT she knows the voice cue so I thought I’d just try. I used her usual voice cue and a gentle suggestion on the front of her back leg….here’s what happened ๐Ÿ˜‰

I then did it with Stormy…he has done this a lot but not much recently and he goes with a voice cue and a gentle holding of his tail (no pulling) ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

Sun 29th

Today we brought the horses back to the home paddocks just for a change for them and us and to get them used to just doing it now and then…gave me a nice ride on Stormy too ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy was quite eager to move so we had a few trot sections and Bella kept up very neatly. A lovely big canter at the end too which was fun. They’ll stay here over night and go home to the big field tomorrow morning ๐Ÿ˜‰

I’d like to do this a couple of times a month this year just to get them SO used to it that it’s no bother at all and maybe later on try riding Bella and leading Stormy for a change once she’s more used to leading a horse off her…more for me to do this year but they’ll be the things we’ll do more and more so well worth doing a lot now so that later on it’s easier, quicker and hassle free ๐Ÿ™‚

 

 

 

Mon 30th

 

And after a night in the paddocks at home S&B go back to their big field today

 

 

 

 

 

 

They came up to see a friend of mine that has known Stormy most of his life when they’ve been up on holiday with their family. It was lovely for her to see him again now at 19yrs of age and her a mommy of 2 sweet kids ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

They went back beautifully and Mark had a lovely ride ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

Grabbing some nice grass along the way

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly home and then into the field they go and have a nice long drink from the burn at the top of their field ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy