Bella’s training is going really well, we’ve had her just over a year now and her confidence about what we’re asking her is just lovely to watch. This video shows how the games we started with a year ago are progressing and shows just how far she’s come with understanding it all now. Hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoy playing 😉
Sat 4th July
Not a bad day after some very wet and windy ones so decided to just go out for a bit of a walk out with Mark and Stormy. Was a lovely walk out and Bella was very well behaved.
I then rode Bella for a bit in the agility area to work on my own balance and lightness and her flexibility and softness 😉
Sun 5th July
Tried to get out for a bit but it was really only a bit as the rain started up again once we’d groomed and had a wee bit of play….so much for the Summer this year so far 🙁
Did some really nice circle pole work and then she did some really lovely weaving on the same circle around the cones….I didn’t really ask it but she decided it would be fun so I went with the flow. She then did a fantabulously energetic trot draw to me at the end of the game 😉 FAB
Mon 6th July
Sunshine today…but quite windy in the field so decided to get acquainted with riding out in the field again before venturing anywhere else. She was quite energetic and gave me a lot of her BIG trot which was hard to sit to and my balance was just off a bit rising but we managed to do some nice togetherness between those. The end session on the track found some nice lightness, softness and partnering up so we’re getting there slowly 😉
Tues 7th July
Well we had nice weather and we went out for a ride on the lower field (the Haugh), it was the first time I’d ridden in there with Bella and a big step forward and we managed some nice stuff BUT the clegs (horseflies) were SO bad I’m amazed wee Bella didn’t have a gallop home, she was twitching and swishing, her head all over the place and she had huge trouble trying to stand still let alone concentrate on what I was asking her. I went with letting her walk or stop when or if she wanted and all I did was direct her in long lazy serpentines and circles thereby trying to find some relaxation. In the end there were so many horseflies on her I abandoned doing the hack out and jumped off, slapped the flies off her and walked her home to her field where the flies are less due to the track having short grass. It was a brave attempt but she is too sensitive to try to go out when the flies are that bad so will keep that in mind next time. I was so proud of both of us, her for being so good to not blow her top, and me, for staying on and figuring out some exercises to find relaxation. After that the next time will be easier 😉
Weds 8th July
Got out to ride Bella and the weather was cool and with a lovely breeze…hardly a fly in sight..yeehaa 😉 We both enjoyed doing some patterns in the arena, RtR w/t, Fig 8’s w/t and Clover leaf w/t .Nice to have a day of concentrated, relaxed riding. No pics as Mark had to be at home for a delivery so got these few pics off the video I did.
Sat 11th July – BELLA HAS BEEN WITH US ONE YEAR TODAY. Just love her to bits <3
The horseflies are awful this year and poor Bella is really sensitive to them and it’s very hard for her to concentrate on anything too much SO today I decided to just have a wee play with some ‘speed’ as this will keep the flies away 😉 Bella decided that canter circles would be fun and pretending the poles were jumps was a bonus! LOL 🙂
My Gorgeous Girl
Sun 12th July
Because of the ‘Covid-19’ lockdown there have been no horse competitions but this has worked in our favour as the ‘Shire Horse Society’ is doing an online competition with showing and ridden horse classes which we are going to enter. We’d not be able to enter normally so this is a fun thing for us to do with our beautiful horses. Here are the pictures we are entering 😉
< Bella and me in ‘Mare Class’
< Bella and me in ‘Ridden Class’
< Mark and Storm in ‘Gelding Class’
< Mark and Bella in ‘Ridden Class’
Weds 15th July
Nice breeze up today but horseflies bad too BUT I used some new flyspray on Bella and we managed to get about an hour of play/riding done without too much worry which was fabulous.
Thurs 16th July
Well finally today our field shelter arrives and is made. We ordered it just before the lockdown on the Covid pandemic so we’ve had to wait for supplies from Europe to come in and the company, Vale Stables, have been very busy so we waited patiently and it was SO worth the wait. Here’s some pics of it being made and how our horses take to it 🙂
All finished in around 4 1/2 hours…very impressed and hope the horses like it 😉
This is them watching their ‘home’ being made…then it started to rain a bit so we did some play with the umbrella 😉
Fri 17th July
Well we were quite worried about whether the horses would like or even use the shelter…..no need to worry at all 😉 We think Bella has been used to a shelter in a field as she strode straight up to it and went in followed quickly by Stormy. They find in there coolness, no flies and away from rain when it rains. They went in and Mark found them in there last night at dinner time and this morning…….THIS….
Looks like we’ve stabled them and they are always this way around, wonder if Bella changes to the right side sometime?? how interesting 😉 They LOVE IT 🙂
The pics above came from when we went down in the afternoon for a groom, play, riding session 😉 🙂 SO pleased they are using it well, I think they’ll be in here most of the day and out grazing and moving about during the night 😉 fab 😉
SO…play and riding this afternoon was good, horseflies were a pain again but we got a pretty nice session after Bella calmed down and started concentrating on what I was asking of her.
Nice jump and then half circles through a narrow gap where she was finding the gap and going through herself, would have been easy to go around it so was impressed 😉
She had less treat stops which is good, slowly transitioning to more doing and less treating 😉
Nice circles once she started concentrating 😉
Went out into the big field for some riding, clegs were a bit of a problem so she decided moving was the best option…she was trotting everywhere 😉 lol
She had trouble listening for a while, going into trot all the time, which wasn’t a problem, but I kept asking for circles until we got some communication working.
Eventually she was able to focus and there were some lovely high energy trotting circles and connection and on that note we finished the session 😉
Sat 18th July
Well today went really well…good play session, nice RtR around the main field and then Bella OFFERED CANTER and did a couple of strides going around a round pen so we went and did a longer canter bit up the small hillock in the field, she watched Stormy do it first and then just did it and it was as smooth as silk 🙂 YEEHAA…we now have 3 gaits 😉
Nice trot and canter play
Lovely sidepass and then pedestal fun
Tried a bit of ponying Stormy…she wasn’t sure about that but a nice first try 😉
THEN…CANTER…So happy she offered and then tried again for me 😉 yeehaa 😉
What a star she is 🙂
Sun 19th July
Went to maybe hang out with Bella & Storm this afternoon but Bella was laying down being watched by Stormy, then Stormy lays down too so we take the hint and do some ragworting instead. Sometimes, no every time, the horses always have a say in what we do. I try to listen to what they’re trying to say to me and if they’re tired and don’t come to interact with me then I check to make sure they’re not ill but then allow them to take a day off if they want…they always come to interact better the next time I go down so this interaction is invaluable 😉
Mon 20th July
Having the weather to be consistent in training has really paid off. Today Bella was relaxed and very balanced and gave me our 2nd ridden canter up the small hillock in our field. It was such a lovely, easy to ride canter and we rode the rail twice around the whole field in walk and trot with Stormy and Mark coming alongside between him cantering off and keeping busy.
We finished on a really lovely trot over poles…she is SO good with her feet 😉
Tues 21st July
Giving Bella a rest from being ridden today and because the horseflies are out in force I decide to do a short video lesson, today we did Lesson 9 and it is on the ‘Bella’s Lesson’ page 😉
Sun 26th July
I’ve not been able to get out and about to see/play/ride horses due to a very sore back and up until yesterday I’ve had to stay inside and mostly stay in bed and sleep or sit very still to try to get better. Today I am able to at least walk a bit so got down to the field and walked Bella in the big field, played a wee bit and thoroughly enjoyed just being in the field with them 🙂
Mon 28th July
Well my back is feeling a lot better so time to go out and see Ms Bella and maybe have a wee play together 😉
< Nice to see a low jump done well, could ride that now 😉
She’s my perfect horse >
< Nice balanced, light trot
Hiding in the shelter when rain starts >
< Fab sidle to mounting block…perfectly done to help me
Soft, easy walk that is easy to just sit to >
< She loves the pedestal and is getting much better at walking over it now >
< Gathering her energy up and our first try on riding leg yields >
< Leg yield to left, harder
Nice and easy into trot, just thought about it and she was soft and easy on my back >
< Lovely and light over the trot poles >
< Trot through bunting lane and then through narrow lane and fab on a DHQ to finish 😉 >
Thurs 30th July
Today, between rainfall, I managed to get out and rearrange some of the Agility obstacles. Now instead of being in one smallish area I have spread them around the whole flat track area that the horses graze in all day. NOW we’ll be able to have more transitions through walk, trot and canter and build up moving over larger areas. Today was a lot of fun following Mark and Stormy around the course. Here’s some pics of me and Bella riding around some of the obstacles before the rain came down again and we called off play 🙂
Fri 31st July
Well the last day of July is here already…..we were going to do a short hack to the house but the heat today was almost intollerable and the horseflies were making Bella find it hard to concentrate so we did a lovely short session around the Field Agility course again and called it quits. August tomorrow and it’s been 10 months since I backed and started this gorgeous girl…how far she’s come 😉 Fab <3
< Trot weave going really well.
Trot through bunting lane >
< Long weave through narrow lanes and then nettle patches the other side >
< We did a LOT of lovely easy to sit to trot today…around more nettle patches >
< Halt on the tarpaulin and then backing up off it before setting off again >
< Lovely big trot heading to the trot poles which she does so well now >
< Set up a very small jump and ask her to go over it with a high stepping trot >
< She has lovely high steps on her back legs too and it stays up well…more trot in a circle to give it another go >
< Very big trot coming into the pole/jump again and this time although still trotted over it you can see she has thought about taking her weight back onto her hindquarters…..thinking about jumping it next time. I didn’t do it again, just praised her and got off as a reward for trying hard this time, next time she’ll be thinking about more effort and when she’s ready she’ll do a wee jump I’m sure 😉
Be interesting to see what August brings, hopefully some cooler weather, a nice breeze and some nice short hacks out on the track.
Mon 1st June
Been really hot scorching days up here so haven’t done anything with the horses for a few days but today was hot but with a lovely breeze down in the field so we decided to reconnect to them with a wee bit of bareback riding 😉
Wed 3rd June
Very windy up here today but at least it’s dry. We decide to go out for a walk/ride in the fields next to ours and I think about riding around the lower field BUT there has recently been put into a nearby field a booming bird scarer to scare off deer in local silage fields. We never know when it’s going to go off or where exactly it is as they move it regularly…I hate it and today, with the wind, wasn’t a day for me to be overly brave or stoopid SO we walked a bit, I got on from a gate then off again and walked more and then got on at the gate again to ride up the hill to home and then do more riding in our Agility area. All went well and no unnecessary accidents as with the wind both horses had some wind in their tails. I really enjoy walked my beauty Bella out and it’s good for my ankle to get more exercise so that helps my post surgery too 😉
Sun 7th June
The weather, again, has made it a few days since i’ve been able to have a play or ride session with Bella. Today it is still a bit windy but dry and not too cold SO out to reconnect with my beautiful Bella.
< Back up through narrow gap
Draw trot >
< Trot poles
Circling with obstacles >
Walk, Trot and Canter circles in both direction with obstacles to watch out for 🙂
< Halt in a box
My gorgeous Bella >
< Is Bella posing at the camera? lol
Canter circles >
< Draw to me after circling
Nice walk fig 8’s >
< Nice trot fig 8’s.
Slowly getting the hang of ridden trot curves and circles >
< Clover leaf with bits of trot
Riding the Rail >
< Corners game still good
Riding the Rail >
Mon 8th June
Lovely to have some consistency with Bella’s play/riding today. It was easier and quicker to connect and she was relaxed and very light off the cues 🙂
And they had a lovely race to the top of the hill at dinner time too…
Tues 9th June
And today was another FAB consistent day of play/riding for us. Easy connection, light cues, quick play then ride with Mark and Stormy again 😉 🙂
< New game: Half circles on the move went really well today >
< Another new game today: Rolling Rock…backup, move forehand….
< Sidepass a few steps >
< DHQ and then repeat on other side 😉
< After fun ride with Mark we tried some sidepass again, going to the right not bad but to the left is still a struggle but getting there…
Last trot before getting off…I asked for a bit more energy and she did really well 🙂 🙂
LOVE this girl so much, this trot was fabulous <3
Video of Mark & Storm, Me and Bella riding together 😉 …
Thurs 11th June
Another fun day playing with Bella. Am adding more games and patterns so that they become more fluid together and adding some canter work now too. I have also started using the 2 x lighter, thinner lines instead of the heavy 22′ with the big brass snap as I feel she is light enough for me to be light with her now and also using the 2 thin lines allows me to put in more familiarisation with tossing one rope over her head for long reining and also to COD outwith the circle her direction.
Half circles on the move
Canter fun
Tossing rope over head, COD and long reining
Then we rode with Mark and Stormy again which was a lot of fun, after we did that I asked Bella to work just a little longer than Stormy so that we don’t make a habit of stopping together.
And before dismounting I try out some left and right sidepass again. She has been ‘getting’ going to the right pretty well as this is her naturally bent way of going (her body arc’d around my left leg and head to the left so movement goes to the right) but she has been quite sticky trying to figure out going to the left (her head and body bent to the right) as this is her naturally unbent/flexible side. SO, I’ve been trying it out gently and making sure she is relaxed enough to physically and mentally bend to the right so that we can then move to the left. She does it fabulously well on the ground but she did have quite a hard time figuring it out at the onset so it’s the same being ridden. Today though she has had time to figure it out and I’ve had time to figure out how to help her more. It’s not about pressure, it’s about energy movement by her shoulder which she has learned to move away from (ie. in our ground work) so I took my orange savvy string and gently swivelled it by her shoulder and she ‘got it’ 🙂
Sidepass to the right
Sidepass to the left..yeehaa 😉
Fri 12th June
Today we had a lovely session and a wee bit of Liberty and some long reining but then she got a shock from touching one electric fence that I forgot to turn off, remembered the other 3, and I think now I’m going to have to take the time out to reconnect with her as she is tossing her head up again….at least now I know it’s the electric fencing that has caused this and not something else…SO, we’ve turned all the electric fencing off so that she starts to become more confident about being near it and near it with me and Mark. Accidents happen but am really annoyed it’s put our progress back a bit BUT it is never a bad thing to redo stuff from earlier lessons SO I just have to help her get over her worry and I’m sure it’ll be fine again soon.
Some pics from today…
< Trot draw and a lovely connect >
< Liberty S2M trot
Liberty backup >
< Rewards
Connecting nicely >
< Long rein canter
Long reining around the arena >
Sat 13th June
Today I knew I needed to try to re-connect back to where we were a couple of days ago. She followed us on the quad bike to the agility arena and not too bad haltering so we played for a bit on a new Agility course I’d build last night. I then set her free to rest and graze with Stormy so that I could test whether she would halter up again as only playing once a day makes a habit of only being haltered once a day. She didn’t want to be caught the 2nd time for more play but seemed to be playing with me so we played a bit and then she caught me when I decided to play and treat Stormy. Once re-haltered I played with her and Stormy joined in at liberty and left things on a good note 😉
Agility 1. Straddle a log
Agility 2. Sidepass
Agility 3. Walk/halt in box
Agility 4. Jump
Agility 5. Weave
Agility 6. Fig 8’s in trot
Agility 7. Trot poles
Agility 8. Scary corner
Agility 9. Trot over tarp
Agility 10. 2 feet on ped and turn on forehand
Mid session YEEHAAA….
Two horse S2M
Bella online
Stormy at Liberty
Bella scary corner…looking for more relaxation through this today, 2nd time was much better.
Over tarp
Over trot poles
Jump
Single foot on pedestal
Sun 14th June
Wanting to get my Connection back with Bella I decided go back to where we started 11 months ago with some liberty roundpen work. She can move away if she wants, she can come to me if she wants and I will follow or draw depending on what her body language is telling me is okay to do. With this ‘dance’ we can start off our communication again and she’ll soon realise we can get back to where we were last week and the ‘accident’ that spooked her will be in the past. Sometimes you just have to go back and repeat a lesson as often as the horse needs it and then gradually get back to where you were so that it all fits into place stronger and thereby the connection is stronger. Here’s some pics from our roundpen dance…
Mark then ponied Bella from Stormy around the field too and she was very good 😉
Mon 15th June
Today I decided to just go and ‘hang out’ in the field with Bella, do some mirroring, following her footsteps and seeing if she is okay with me being close, touching her etc. She was pretty good, I stayed with her for about an hour, moving with her, moving away to give her a break and coming back. Towards the end I also gently threw a savvy string over her neck to ‘catch’ her and she was fine, also stood in front of her and lowered her head with the string to ask her to let me take it off with relaxation and I did that over 10 times in the last 15 mins which was fab. She was very good, only moved away twice but didn’t go far and stood waiting for me after the turn too so much better than yesterday. Her spookiness is lessening and I want her to not be ‘worried’ if I want to catch/halter her more than once a day SO this was a good start and I will keep repeating haltering/leaving/haltering when I it feels right to so that multiple catching during a day isn’t thought of as bad 🙂
Tues 16th June
A very hot, muggy day today so definitely no riding for us but another Agility session for us which was a lot of fun and felt much more connected through it all 😉
Mark and Stormy had fun too….
Weds 17th June
Played and rode Bella for a bit, she is still a wee bit sensitive to touch but worked on a lot of familiarisation of patting her shoulders, back, chest and neck afterwards to help her. She is getting easier to catch again which is nice and following the quad bike again too 😉 Here’s some pics from today…didn’t do a lot but it’s been 6 days since I rode her and 5 since the accidental touch of the electric fencing (which has now been totally turned off) 🙂
< Doing a forehand towards then away for a COD >
< Last bit of COD
Swinging the rope for Familiarisation on the move >
< More familiarisation >
< Loose rein riding, she was quite good at turning from my focus/energy/weight/leg cues >
< She was forward but not fast today
< Nice halt over pole and then I take the reins up and do some nice serpentines 🙂
Lovely trot at the end
She had sticky feet at the end so Mark jumped on Stormy and we followed him around for some more confidence 😉
Thurs 18th June
Went and had a quick play and ride with Bella just before dinner time. I wanted to try a regular saddle pad with a small front memory foam riser as I got the feeling the saddle set up I have at the moment isn’t as good for her as I want it SO tried it, played with new set up and then rode in it and it felt SO much deeper and better with some rise at the front which is exactly what I wanted. Will try it again next time to confirm if she’s happier in it and can move better 😉
Saddle seems to sit better, thinner, lighter pad and front riser in place. I also did it up on the first and third girth straps (Wintec Wide’s have 4 and was using first and forth but changed that today).
Fri 19th June
Today, like yesterday, it has been pretty wet, drizzle to full on heavy rain SO only manage to get out just before the horses dinner time. Not the best time to try to play/ride, try new saddle arrangement again BUT needs must 😉 She was okay, saddle defo feels better and off her shoulders, deeper for me to sit to and am happy to keep using this arrangement for her.
Sat 20th June
Today we decided to get out onto the main part of the field for some riding with Mark and Stormy. They don’t get to graze this part until late Autumn and Winter so it has some lovely long grass. They did well, not snatching for grass and some nice ‘leap frog’ and ‘walk/trot side by side’ 😉
Sun 21st June
Another day for a change…Mark and I, Stormy and Bella, go out for a walk/ride along the Cateran Trail. Nice weather and they did brilliantly, they went further than they’ve done before and Bella went over the wooden bridge on her own without worrying…she is SO cool. I walked most of the way but before the big hill at the end I mounted and rode her home. She was so good sidling up to the stone wall for me to get on her 😉 Love it when all the play and training works when you need it to 😉
Tues 23rd June
Today the farrier is due at around 10am so we decide to go down to the field and ride them home, get their feet done and then ride them back to the field 😉 Great idea, bit drizzly so we got a bit wet and with the drizzle and muggy weather we had a few midges at home BUT they were fab. Snatched at some grass and trees along the way but fab to sidle to gate and also big stone for mounting so again the training is working brilliantly and I got to ride her twice today which is not only the longest I’ve probably ridden her but also the earliest I’ve ridden her 😉 Really enjoyed it 😉
Was just lovely to hack out with Mark and Stormy today. She was perfect in every way and with nice feet now too 🙂
Weds 24th June
Today was very hot and both Mark and I were tired SO we decided to just go down and ‘be’ with the horses today as expected they were too hot too….yup, they were…
Fri 26th June
So hot and humid today, too hot to do much with the horses apart from groom and put more fly spray on but I manage a very short bareback ride on Bella for fun.
Sat 27th June
Managed to get out with the horses just before it started to pour with rain. The horse flies were quite bad and she was quite distracted so had a few stops and not wanting to go forward but when she did go she was lovely and she started getting that lovely big trot that covers the ground really quickly 😉
Mon 29th June
Today we managed to get out between rain showers here and I wanted to test my new Prolite front riser gel pad which goes the length of the saddle with extra padding at the front over the withers. Last time (previous post) she was reluctant to move forward much and I wasn’t sure if it was the weather, being away from Stormy or just stubbornness SO today would be a test. First we did some ground games and then I had the first ride with the new pad and then I had a ride with the old system of just a normal pad and a pad just at the front of the saddle…
< Canter circles
COD >
New Prolite saddle pad….reluctance to go forward with flow
Old pad just at the front and she was eager to move nicely 😉 Just goes to show that changing things about is necessary to find what’s right but listening closely to the horses feedback is the key 😉
Tues 30th June
Well the last day of June already…where has the first half of the year gone? and another muggy day with a LOT of horseflies (we call them clegs up here) so it was very hard for Bella to concentrate on what I was asking but we had a wee play anyway and despite the darned flies we had a good session. Here’s some pics…
< pole circles
Sidepass over cone and pole >
< Trot through narrow gap with relaxation
Out of gap and DHQ for halt >
< 2 feet on ped
Sidle over log >
< Back up off log
Trotting up with just neck rope >
< 2 horse draw and then connect to walk forward together >
< Treats
Bestest horsey hug >
< Good hug from Bella too
My babies >