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Wed 3rd

Great way to spend this morning….riding both Storm then Bella 😉 The weather is perfect for it, damp, cool, grey, breezy…no flies…fabulous 😉

 

 

 

 

First ride is Storm. Just use the field to move him about, stretch his long legs so we didn’t need to go fast, just work on getting a good walk going. He offered some trot which was lovely and then a couple of small canters 😉 He got to graze in the round pen for a reward after our ride. I then rode Bella 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Bella we start off stretching her legs with a good solid walk out. Then to get her fitness up we work on sustaining her trot and we got a lovely big fig 8 of trot with very few stops and when she did it was quickly back into trot again. The ride wasn’t as long as some other rides but it was a great start on getting longer periods of trot which later on will bring more canter once we’ve got fitness under our belts 😉

 

Fri 7th

Today I had some fun doing some agility tasks with Bella (then Stormy afterwards) 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feet in hula hoop. Flag familiarisation. Sidepass over drainage tube.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forward then back through arch. Touch flag with nose. Trot towards me through curtain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sidle over a pole. Trot onto tarp then halt. Jump

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Into parallel poles, halt then back up. Back up through scary corner with bunting. Fig 8 in trot.

 

 

Bella ended with some nice sidling to a mounting block and then stepping on the flag which was flapping about on the ground 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storm did the same round….feet in hoop. Flag familiarisation. Halt on tarp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trot towards me under arch. Backup through curtain. Sidle over pole.

 

 

 

Backed up through the scary corner and both had the reward of some grazing on long grass in the agility arena 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 7th

 

I knew today was going to be hot but also knew that the next few days I would be doing other things SO early this morning was perfect for a short ride.

Why a short ride? WELL…..It was already starting to get hot at 8am this morning and I knew if I set a good, quick goal that was achievable, then it would be a perfect ride. SO, what was the goal?

The goal was to warm up with the roundpens in walk and then in trot. The big goal was to then just canter around the roundpens, with a short trot section in the middle between circles. This is called a SLC (Simple lead change) and guess what…..Bella was a super star and just did it for me.

After she did it I jumped off, gave her a big hug and leg her graze as her reward for being such a super-douper, balanced partner 😉

Could not love her more, she has come so far over the 5yrs of having her in our lives. She is the perfect partner to me and to Big Stormy too <3

 

 

Mon 8th

So, today I had one of my student/friends over to visit S&B. I do this now and then on an ‘special invite’ only basis. It’s usually students I classify as good friends but also those that have enough knowledge, kindness and willingness to learn that I invite and Belinda is one of those 😉 🙂

She took on the challenge to play and sit on Stormy and took that challenge with both hands to the point where she was happy to ride Storm in walk and trot with me giving her some instruction through the play into the riding 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storm was quite grass orientated.                                      Stormy looks ENORMOUS and as Belinda said, ‘he IS enormous’ 😉 lol.      Having fun with some agility obstacles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manged to get on Storm well.                                        Belinda looks like a wee kid on a pony 😉 lol.        And laughing through the big trot Storm delivers 😉

 

 

Thu 11th

 

Bella needed her 2nd dectomax injection today, the follow up for mites in her leg feathers.
SO, opportunity to ride Stormy and lead Bella back to the house 😉

 

 

 

Stormy rode very well and Bella followed beautifully.

I love that she is so happy to just follow Stormy, keeping her feet off the stony track and on the grass verge 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Got to the house in plenty of time for them to have a graze in the home paddock before the vet came at around midday.

 

 

 

After vet had been we saddled Stormy back up and Mark rode him back to the big field while I walked Bella 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of really long grass along the route home, S&B have learned the art of swiping for the grass heads while still walking 😉 lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bella and I opened the gates for Storm and Mark 😉 Look at that fabulously thick, long tail 😉 Great fly swisher
(I hate when draft horse owners cut their horses tails for silly shows, they need them for flies so we let them grow as long as they can) 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark and Storm had a nice canter and some trot along the route. Really enjoy being out with the the boys and my beautiful girl Bella <3

 

 

 

 

 

And back in the big paddocks 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 12th

 

Today I washed Bella’s feet. Firstly to help clean them from all the oil and sudocrem we’ve been putting on them to heal the cuts and get ride of the mites.

Bella was a super star and showed how well our connection training has come along over the years….she put her foot in the tall bucket with water and allowed me to wash her feet individually with much gusto. She has never put her foot in a bucket this tall nor with water in it SO I’m a very proud momma with her trusting me. I think she knew this was all for her good and probably the warm water was soothing.

I then towel dried them and put a mix of hibiscrub on them to help with any mites that may be left there (not that I think there are any there now) 🙂

Mark later on put some sudocrem on the wee crack she has on her front left and crusty scabby bit on her hind left 😉

 

 

Sun 14th

 

Very early ride this morning with Ms Bella. She was fab. Just kept it to walk and mostly trot, marking out the next pattern we’ll be doing later on in canter….the long side of the field (we’ve already done the short side) so this will be about holding canter for longer and we’ll try it out when the weather is cooler/breezier and when the flies are so nasty.

 

Before and after the ride Bella got some grazing, Stormy on the other hand grazed the whole time in the round pen 😉

 

 

 

 

Tues 17th

 

GREAT NEWS….TODAY MY NEW BOOK IS BEING PUBLISHED ON AMAZON 🙂

I’m so proud of finally getting my book into print. It has my Horsemanship training techniques, my articles, quotes and fun agility bits.

The hardback is a good deal and lovely quality, the paperback needs to be put under a heavy book for a while as the cover can curl at the start.

Just go to Amazon and look up Shelley Newton-Carter or click on the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=shelley+newton-carter&ref=nb_sb_noss

 

 

 

 

Thurs 18th

Another early morning ride on Bella and then Stormy 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 21st

 

Lovely ride with Bella today. We did a lot of different shapes, patterns and gaits and she felt very soft and light 😉

 

For a reward she wanted small thistles so I let her grab as many as she wanted 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storm, as always, just looked fabulous <3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 23rd

 

SO, today….I needed to get samples for worm count and that often means hanging around until they’ve pooped. Today I decide to ride B then S as I know movement can often help that process along SO…..

 

 

I have a lovely ride on Bella first….she provides the sample quickly, as she always does, but I continue with the exercise as we both need it. She was fab and she wanted small thistles for her reward so I let her grab a load while still waiting for Stormy’s sample.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ride Stormy with a loose rein and a passenger lesson (he goes where he wants and I have no say about it apart from asking him to stay in walk). It was fun but he didn’t give me a sample so I pop him back into his round pen and 15 mins later he delivers 😉 🙂 All samples sent off now and hopefully all good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 26th

OMG, what was going to just be a quick exercise ride turned into a great ride.

Doing some walk trot transitions Bella put in a walk to canter transition I asked her to do it 5 more times and YES…BELLA can do WALK TO CANTER TRANSITIONS I’m over the moon.

So proud of her but also buzzing on a high of her achievements since being owned by her for 5 yrs now She melts my heart every time I think of her

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

 

 

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

 

Sat 1st June

SO…it’s been a while since I have had time to spend with S&B as I’ve been doing some private teaching and also agility clinic last weekend in Moray so it was lovely to be able to spend time with them today. Unfortunately it was without any play or riding as we needed to do a couple of maintenance tasks today. Mark cleared the old hay and wet patches from in front of the shelter and allowing the fabulous sunshine to dry the area out and I had to help Bella. She has got a few scabby bits on her legs, in the feathery bits. It can be just general scurfyness getting itchy which she’s rubbed or it could be mites again SO…my job was to make it easier to see what’s going on so we can treat it and get the vet in if necessary. I don’t have horse clippers (and Bella may not be clipper trained) and she needed it done today SO I used my very sharp, but safe, dog scissors and cut them all off.

It took quite a while to get it all clear, she has a LOT of leg feather, and I washed her lower legs with warm water and head & shoulders shampoo. She was such a good girl, standing pretty much stock still the whole time. She now looks more like a ‘heavy hunter’ type than a ‘draft horse’ 😉

 

< Before, all hair and not able to see how many scabs she has or how bad they are.

This is all the hair in a bucket after I cut them off >

 

 

 

 

< Feathers gone and washed clean. Dried with a towel and the sunshine did the rest.

Bella looks pretty nice without her hairy legs 😉 >

 

 

 

 

Sun 2nd

 

It’s been well over a week since riding Bella and early this morning, after their breakfast, I wanted to see how she was feeling today and to check any ‘unsoundness’ that may be still there….

 

 

 

Well…..all went beautifully. She was happy to move forward in walk and to extend that walk so it was faster and then after about 15 mins I asked if she wanted to trot and TROT she did….sound, happy and beautifully rhythmic 😉 YEEHAA 😉 Am hoping that’ll be the last of her unsoundness and we can have some nice, fun, rides together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 4th

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thurs 6th

Today was Bella’s turn for some ridden exercise. Not much to talk about, just getting both of us fitter as we go 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 9th

 

Another lovely day for riding so Mark and I get out with Bella and Stormy. Mark and Stormy did a wee bit with us but then Bella and I carried on as we needed more time to find our relaxation, curves and soft transitions.

You can see from the ride map that we did a LOT of going back and forward, circles and testing our canter for relaxation, which took time as she was a bit ‘fresh’ on the long grass BUT we got there in the end 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bella and me working on our connection through transitions.

 

 

 

 

The last couple of short canters were really lovely, calm, collected and connected 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Wed 12th

Well today I had a local lady visit to see what I do, how I train, my horses. I cannot tell you how proud I am of Bella (online) and Stormy (at liberty) and how fantastically well they went around the new agility course I put together yesterday for this event. I don’t have any pictures but I have a whole lotta love in my heart for my two beauties. I think the lady was impressed, if not just for the moves they did, the tasks and the smooth gait changes they both did BUT because we were working on longish grass and the didn’t once run off or grab for it 😉

The obstacles we did were:

1. Trot onto tarp, halt then familiarise with flag
2. Jump
3. Walk between parallel poles with scrunched plastic bottles in
4. Go through bunting corner
5. Place 2 front feet in hulahoop
6. Weave in trot
7. Trot to single pole, halt with pole underneath belly, ask for backup off pole
8. Underneath curtain, halt then back up
9. Fig 8’s around and between 4 flags together
10. Trot under archway
11. Sidepass over drainage pipe
12. Place one front foot on a wooden block

 

Thurs 13th

 

Well today I started off doing some play with Bella, saddled and ready to ride but made sure we had our connection and checking out her gait transitions. I used the coloured jump wings (like I do when riding) for some online P2P’s. She did some lovely walk, trot and canter transition P2P’s and so I got on her for a nice ride.

 

As you can see from the ‘ride map’ we did a good half hour session with much more canter in it than usual and her canter today was smooth, rhythmic and so sittable-to 😉 I made sure she did some nice walk warming up (around the round pens) and then same for cooling down after our session.

 

 

 

She was a start today 😉 Really lovely P2P’s, lovely to smooth transitions and happy rider and pony today <3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 14th

It’s always good to remember to mix thing sup with horses. I try to mix up training, undemanding time and fun things like agility or in-hand grazing. Today S&B came out with me in-hand for some grazing on the track above their field. There is a lot of wonderful wild flowers and herbs such as cow parsley, all in it’s prime at the moment….they LOVED it 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue 18th

Got out today with Bella and managed to progress our canter work. Firstly I allowed Bella and Stormy to graze in their own round pens, this allows Bella to get what she wants, more grass, while I sorted out the field and got the saddle etc ready. Once she’s had grazing I can start to ride her with less P2P stops/graze 😉 Secondly I have a plan for a short but faster session 🙂 This hopefully will motivate her to canter more as she will learn that it’s more about effort, speed now and not learning accuracy 😉

 

Grazing ponies 🙂

 

 

 

 

You can see from the riding maps that we walked/trotted around the round pens first to warm up

Then we trotted as much as possible the serpentine pattern at the top where the field has no obstacles apart from jump wings to show me where to go to and where to turn.

Then the aim was canter the straight bits across the field with trotting around the turns. I think we did pretty well, she had one wee YEEHAA in the middle but came down to trot/walk easily and we redid that section and continued on nicely.

For a first attempt I’m very pleased and proud of the progress in canter work.

 

 

Bella looking at the open space to serpentine in.

Having a wee photo moment with S&B after my ride 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 21st

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE EVERYONE. 

Went out with Mark to see horses early this morning as I wanted to trim down Bella’s leg hair so we can continue working on mending her sore heels/pastern area where she has some sores. We’ve got the vet coming hopefully next week to give her an injection to sort out leg mites, which is what we think she has again…vet will confirm when they come but waiting for injection which they’ve run out of SO we need to keep managing her legs to keep her comfortable until vet can come 😉

After doing Bella’s legs, getting her comfortable and putting a ton of fly spray on her, I decide to groom and ride Stormy. Always up for taking the opportunity when it arises and it was a lot of fun. He was light, started stretching those long legs and seemed to be enjoying our ride as much as I was…he also got a bit of grazing as a thank you which he LOVED 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 23rd

Morning cool means time for a wee ride 😉

 

1. Start with a nice bit of grazing for S&B
2. Saddle and fly spray Bella
3. Play with circles in walk, trot and canter to make sure all ready to ride
4. Mount and ride some walm up exercises (walk circle, walk circle with leg yields, back to track and trot, repeat on other side)
5. Then I ask for full circles of trot
6. Finally ask for full circles of canter (which she did going to the left but needed a slightly longer time going to the right to depart in canter)

 

 

Not a long ride, the sun was just starting to be hot by the time we ended BUT it was a progressive ride.

A good, solid warm up, great trot round pens and then great canter, can be better but I’m very happy with her canter circles today 😉

 

 

 

 

Bella resting up in the shelter after her graze/ride (Storm got to just graze, lucky boy) 🙂

 

 

 

Thurs 27th

 

Bring horses home today, I walk then ride Stormy and lead Bella off him 😉 She is a fab lead horse 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then after they have some time in the home paddock we bring them home, this time Mark rides his Stormy and I lead Bella.

I lead her as she had a vet inject a solution to rid her of mites on her legs 😉 She was SO good with the vet, no fuss and stood still to be checked over 😉 Love this girl, she does me proud 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 30th

 

Today I went out early-ish to do S&B’s breakfast.

I then put them in their round pens, got my riding boots and hat on, got Bella out of the pen and saddled her.

I then asked her to do some simple exercises to warm up then I mount and we have a great ride.

Bella’s canter work is really coming along now, much smoother with her transitions, rhythmic and balanced which has been helped with Mark’s trimming of her hooves over the last few months 😉

Love this big girl, she is the most genuine, beautiful soul and I love riding her.

 

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

 

 

Wed 1st May

Well, have given Bella quite some time off to see if her ‘lameness’ has gone. She trotted up to me this morning for her apple slices so decided to see how she goes with a short ride this afternoon.

 

She is ok walking in a straight line, has a bit of bother turning right, short stepping her left front foot and a bit of a shuffle around. She is also not good in trot shown with a small bob of her head when her right front foot is on the ground. It’s almost unnoticeable but it ‘feels off-ish’ ;(

Another few days off (as I’m off working in Dumfries & Galloway for the weekend) and when I return the vet will be called. It’s a bit of a worry but don’t think it’s anything too bad as it’s so mild, she’s putting weight on all 4 feet/legs and not holding one up or wincing in pain….just got to get an expert in to see if they can figure out what’s going on ;(

 

Thurs 2nd

 

Today I rode Bella again 😉 Started off with some ‘passenger’ riding which involves me sitting and not really doing any direction. It’s to allow the horse to move where they want, when they want and for the rider to learn to not micromanage and to get into harmony with the horses movements 😉

 

 

 

Bella went well. Allowing her to choose where to go and in which gait allowed her to show me she was happier than yesterday to trot and also canter and I managed to just sit to it and go with her direction.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we did some loose rein riding where I gave light cues with my weight, legs and reins. She did some nice turns (still a bit stiffer to the right though), backup, leg yields and sidepass 😉

I’m a happier bunny than yesterday….hoping this mild exercise continues to keep her muscles supple.

 

 

Fri 3rd

 

After Bella’s stiffness over the last couple of weeks I have decided to start using my old ‘Equipedic’ saddle pad under her saddle. I used this for Holly and Solly in the past and glad I kept it just in case as it’s one expensive piece of kit. Tried it out yesterday and today used it when Mark and I hacked S&B back to the house. The pad is very good quality memory foam and quite dense so doesn’t just squidge in the middle. I will continue to use this as long as she is comfortable in it….it will really save her back from any undue pressure she may have had with a regular pad 😉

 

 

 

 

All tacked up and ready to hack back to the house.

Mark can look after them easier while I’m away teaching in D&G over the weekend.

 

 

 

 

Lovely ride, hot sun with warm breeze helped us along the way.

S&B very happy to be out and about.

 

 

 

 

Stormy in fine fettle after a long winter 😉

Mark happy still using the saddle after years using my bareback pad, it’s handy having stirrups at times, helps keep our balance 😉

 

 

 

 

Following Stormy, Bella’s a happy hacker.

Gateway #2, using the narrow bit this time 😉

 

And once home they both checked out their new neighbours (a few Highland coo’s) 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 7th

 

I’ve been away for the weekend teaching some Agility to students in Dumfries & Galloway and today, after a much needed lie in, I took a much needed walk with S&B….taking them back to their big field 😉

 

 

 

 

Lovely to get my feet back on ground that was familiar…always good to get grounded back at home.

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly half way there and S&B are so connected to me, even after some time away.

They were so listening while I regulated my breathing so they stayed calm and in walk for me.

 

 

 

 

Nearly home and they are still so ‘with me’ and my pace.

 

 

 

 

 

The last stretch and we all have a nice rhythmic trot together 🙂 Really lovely that they did this with me today…I feel so blessed to have built, and keep, this connection with S&B.

The last bit we did was to walk the ‘track’ fence line as it’s now closed off for the Summer (apart from riding sessions) and they are on just over half of the grazing. This will be slowly closed off to create their ‘track’ around the perimeter. This creates more walking for them and less grass which could make them ill 😉

 

 

Wed 8th

Today I went and set up a new agility course, the same course I set up for my recent agility clinic in D&G. Once put together Bella and I  had a short practise session in walk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The course obstacles are: 1- Over plastic bottle bank. 2-Under curtain and then back through it. 3-Weave around cones on a circle, change direction and do other way too. 4-Onto large tarp and halt, put smaller tarp over horse. 5-Go into bunting/flag lane, halt over pole in middle, walk on. 6-Jump then halt afterwards. 7-Into ‘T’ shape, turn right and put foot on wood block and then back up out of it. 8-Walk over 4 hulahoops. 9-Go between parallel poles, push ball out, halt and then sidle over one pole so that pole goes between right and left feet. 10-Ground tie horse (basic standstill) then lift feet individually and place into bucket until all 4 feet are in buckets 😉

 

Tues 14th

Finally got some time with Bella today, between her being a bit ‘offish’ lame and me having a bad back it’s been a while since taking some time with her.

We started with a nice groom and then went around the agility course again online together. THEN I saddled her up and we gently rode it too 🙂

 

Ready to ride

 

 

 

1. Bottle bank. Walk onto it, halt, walk off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Trot under curtain

3. Weave cones on a circle L&R

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Trot onto tarp, halt, trot off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Trot into bunting/flag lane, halt, trot off

6. Jump (no pic of this one)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Walk into ‘T’ shaped lane of poles, turn right then place one front foot on the wood block. Back all the way out of the ‘T’ shape 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Walk through 4 hulahoops

 

9. Push ball through parallel poles

10. Sidle over one pole (place both left feet over pole)

 

 

 

Great start to more riding hopefully 😉

 

Weds 15th

 

 

Nice ride with Stormy this afternoon. He was a bit slow to start with but once he realised we were playing Point 2 Points with 3 mouthful’s of grass at each point he zoomed about the field

 

 

 

 

 

Riding  started slowly but went well, Bella had some time grazing in a round pen while we rode about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asked Stormy to herd a wee lambi-kins back to the adjoining field to get back to his momma…..he’s a good shepherd is Stormy 🙂

 

Doing this regularly at moment as young lambs find it fun to squish through the fence to our field, we don’t mind so much and Bella loves any young animal 😉

 

 

 

So, back to having some fun. Storm was a bit slow to start with but realised after shepherd work that he needed a purpose so we went around the field doing P2P’s (Point 2 Points) where we go to a specific spot, he backed up 2 steps then I give him a cue to put his head down and grab 3-4 mouthfuls of grass…he LOVES this game and soon he went from walking slowly to trotting everywhere…even put in a couple of canters too 😉 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thurs 16th

No pics today but because of my bad back Mark very kindly trimmed Bella’s hooves this morning and I had another practise on the Agility course I set Dumfries & Galloway students when I was there. I promised to film me and Bella doing it so they could see how we did and hopefully tomorrow we can actually film it…yeehaa 😉 lol

 

 

Fri 17th

 

Managed to get up pretty early this morning and out to feed S&B. Then I cleaned the field (poo picked) and before the sun got hot managed to get a ride in on Bella.

 

 

 

I started off with a little leading Storm off Bella around the round pens 😉 It went really well and so proud of Bella 😉

 

Then I had a nice 34 min ride on Bella with some lovely walk and managing some nice trot too 😉

Once finished we went up to Stormy, who was happily grazing, got his head up, reattached his lead rope and lead him back to the track while still riding Bella 🙂

 

 

 

 

S&B Having a nice graze together  😉

 

 

 

 

 

LATER TODAY….

Mark and I went out to play with S&B and the Agility course 😉 Here is Mark and Stormy having fun at Liberty….

 

 

 

 

 

 

1] walk through bottle bank.      2] walk under curtain then back up through it.     3] weave on a circle L&R

 

 

 

 

 

 

4] walk onto tarp then 2nd tarp over horse.     5] walk into bunting lane, halt over pole then walk on.     6] jump (Storm just walked over it. lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

7] walk into ‘T’ lane, turn right, foot on wood block then back out of ‘T’ lane.     8] walk through 4 hulahoops (Storm managed his left feet).     9] push ball out of parallel poles, sidepass over pole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10] and finally put all 4 feet into buckets (I did this as Mark’s back was sore today) 🙂

AND….here is Bella and my attempt at the same course…

 

Mon 20th

This afternoon was good for a ride of two as it was cooler with a nice breeze SO…..off to ride a horse or two 😉

First was Mr Stormy. Asking for a nice walk with a good step under him to start with and then he offered some really nice trot and then a nice bouncy canter 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then for Bella. I was a bit concerned that this was going to be ‘off’ as it has been the last 2 weeks and that giving her rest time wasn’t working BUT….

I’m a very happy bunny as she offered to trot, trot, trot and then canter too. I just let her do what she wanted gait wise and knew before when ‘off’ she was reluctant to go faster than walk so this was great news.

I felt no ‘offishness’ nor saw any lameness and ‘touch wood’ she is now happy and rideable more again. Whatever it was that caused it hopefully has gone away now, I think maybe it was a bruised sole or heel on her right front foot, maybe from stones near the stream or from when riding to the house. I’m SO pleased she’s happy to offer trot and canter again…….yeehaa 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy