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Fri 1st

Well Mark trimmed big Storm’s feet today and I gave Bella a bath.

She’s been rubbing her tail over the year and I’ve been washing her tail area then trying some creams to help stop the itching she’s obviously having. I’ve tried pure cold pressed Neem oil, then Sudocrem but after this wash today I’m going to try to find what’s causing the itching. It could be midges (this can cause what’s known as ‘Sweet Itch’), it could be dandruff or it could be an allergy maybe SO, today we’re not feeding any pony nuts in her food, or give horse herb treats or mints for a nice ride. All these things have sugar and the treats and nuts have wheat feed so those are out for now. We’re supplementing now and then their feed (speedi-beet and TopSpec Zero) with some hay and they’re enjoying this. SO we’ve gone back to just fibre forage to see if that makes a difference for her 😉

 

 

Nice and clean and her mane and tail are all silky and fresh smelling again 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

B&S chasing Mark and the hay………..nom nom nom, hay is good 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 2nd

 

Yeehaa…weather nice and we’re all up for a wee hack to the house and back.

The weather got rather hot on the hack so we just stuck to walking but it was LOVELY to be out and about.

 

 

 

 

Up the big steep hill to get out of the field

On the track 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Opening/closing 3 gates along the track at the moment…tiresome BUT good chance to check our dismount and mounting skills. Here Mark used the wooden stile to remount Stormy and it was a perfect height 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A really lovely walk out, think S&B enjoyed themselves too…different bits to snack on and change of views for a bit 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 3rd

Ride Bella early morning again…getting better with her canter work 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue 5th

Rode Bella and then Stormy this morning…really nice rides from both

 

Sun 10th

 

Lovely to get a bit more trot and canter work done today…almost full circles of canter (red bits on map)

Also rode in her fly mask today to see if helps with keeping flies off but TBH it really wasn’t that much different and think she prefers to not have it on ;(

 

 

 

 

 

Nice ride in the sun this morning…lovely to have our shadow following us 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue 12th

 

Up early again to have fun rides first on Bella and then on Stormy.

Bella: Checking standing still to saddle up at liberty, then same at mounting block and after I get on 😉 Riding was pretty good and canter work was fab.
Started trai

ning: passenger lesson (she goes where she wants I have no say in it, only thing I can do is ask her to go back up into walk when she stops for a graze) 😉 Then onto active trot work and finally worked on our fig 8’s…walk then trot and finally canter…almost a full circle…yeehaaa 😉 

Stormy: Just having fun and then full length field trot serpentine work 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love these two so much <3

 

 

 

 

 

Wed 13th

 

Today we have a vet visit to see Bella.

She’s been rubbing her tail constantly for a few weeks now and we suspect Sweet Itch which is an allergy to midge saliva on the skin and has no known full cure. Knowing what it is helps start us on the process of helping her.

SO….we take this opportunity to hack both B&S to the house where we’ll meet the vet 😉

 

 

We have a lovely cool day with a great breeze (so no flies or midges today) 😉

We go past a field of Highland cows with calves and they both have a good look but don’t worry about them 🙂

 

 

 

 

Vet visit over and we hack back to the field 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Back past the cows.

We have to open/close 2 gates on the track and it was a great opportunity for Bella and me to show how well we do this now. She sidles up to the gate for me to get off, gets around the gate opening and then sidles back up to the closed gate for me to re-mount…PERFECT 🙂

 

 

 

Managed to get in front of Storm and Mark for a nice trot up to the 2nd gateway 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Managed a bit of riding almost 2 abreast

Then I got in front again for a last wee trot 😉

 

 

 

Showing Mark and Stormy riding down the big hill in the field…shows how steep it is

 

Bella taking a break looking across the glen 😉

 

 

 

…AND…..so great to ride right back to the mounting block for me to dismount. Bella is SO good at getting spot on with her measurements…I don’t have to halt her at all, she knows EXACTLY what to do for this 😉

Map on the right is from field to house and back….we had a 20 min stop over at the house for vet before riding home 😉

 

 

 

 

Fri 15th

 

Today Bella and I did a shorter training session but there was more canter work. Unfortunately my Equilab GPS wasn’t working properly so I have some of the stats but not the mapping which is a real shame.

We did trotting serpentines across the short sides of the field and then copied that with canter work. I wasn’t sure what canter lead she was on (must film it again) but mostly it felt very balanced and when it didn’t I asked her down to trot and restart the canter 😉 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Thurs 21st

 

SO….I’ve been away from home for 4 days and the horses 5 days. Last night I reconnected with S&B with their dinner and it was so lovely to see them again. I always say that they’re the best horses in the glen but often they’re the best horses ever.  I love how well they’re trained, how calm they are, how they connected with me and how I love them so.

1st: Today I gave them their breakfast and then decided to have a nice PLAY session with Ms Bella…..firstly we ‘touched’ a flag and then went around the cone/flag with just a suggestion…nice and light.

 

 

2nd: touch big flag then backup between them

 

 

 

 

 

 

3rd: circles…..one lap each in walk with a lovely light COD (change of direction) both ways. I did all this whilst holding the rope in one hand and the camera in the other so it was done on body language and voice cues 😉

 

 

 

 

Continuing circles we went into trot on a voice cue 😉

 

 

 

 

 

AND also voice cues for canter 😉 🙂 Her canter today was FABULOUS 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

4th: JUMPS….low jump to start and continue the canter. This was lovely, calm and connected

 

 

 

 

 

5th: I put the jump pole up another notch and she rose to the challenge with 2 big jumps from canter 🙂

 

 

 

 

6th: slowed it all down with some sidepassing over cones and then a drink from the rain water on the barrel

 

 

 

 

7th: Backing up over a pole, onto the tarp and back 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

8th: and finally some extreme familiarisation with the flag in the windy weather. The flapping was something she worried about but we’ve been working on it a lot and today, ground tied, she stood or grazed as it flapped all about her 😉 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 23rd

SO… a week since riding Bella and we rode today with lightness, connection and precision that I’ve been waiting for. I’m SO proud how far this beautiful girl has come. From a brood mare with not much handling, food or basic ground work to a lovely light riding horse that is a true pleasure to be around, handle and ride 🙂

Pics from today range from –
Warming up, one handed, loose rein in walk and trot around the round pens.
Cantering around the round pens on the correct canter leads.
Trot weave on a circle with lovely bends.
Sidepassing over a raised pole and next to flapping bunting.
Cantering through flapping bunting lane.
Pics…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 26th

 

A fun early morning first with Stormy. There were a lot of noises coming from the farm area, cattle moving and shouting at dogs SO he was a bit distracted but we ended on a really good note 😉 He’s such a star 😉

 

There was then a car driven into the field below ours…a couple of guys out fishing for the day SO that was interesting and I just hung out with S&B while they checked it all out 😉

 

 

 

 

I then rode Bella in the ‘arena’ to check out her walk, trot and canter curves and circles 😉

 

 

Stormy stood in our arena for ages and we just rode around him 😉 lol

 

 

 

 

OH…and I forgot I took this video the other day after I’d done Bella’s feet…..

 

 

Weds 27th

Well, today was a challenge and not sure why!!!

Firstly my Equilab app is not working properly so I’ not getting all the data or the map (map below is another cycling app used as backup to show where we rode)

Secondly Bella was a bit hyper-alert. Not really seen her like this so it was a bit of a challenge. You can see from the map that we literally just stayed in one place, working on small circles around one obstacle, taking it to doing fig 8’s around 2 obstacles and then building to where we can weave around 4 obstacles BUT had to continue going back to where she could be relaxed and attentive (and close to where Stormy was resting on the track). At one point we went a wee bit away from the obstacles and she had a ‘shoosh’. A shoosh to me is not a bolt and not quite a run but a ‘wheeeeee’ back to relaxation. She did a spin, run back to her safety spot and I took her left rein and brought her calmly back down to a walk then halt, big breath out and continued back to the circle and weaves.

 

Not our best ride out but did what we could in the circumstances.

I have a worry that again the farmer was making a LOT of noise, shouting while moving cattle etc AND that we have badgers nesting and roaming the nearby fields. These two things seem to be a bit worrying for S&B so not sure what I can do about either of them.

Today I did work on familiarising her to the shouting noises, building up the volume and big singing noises all while asking her to relax and treat train when she brought her head down in relaxation 😉

 

 

 

Fri 29th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back after their walk and still a bit alert but also connected to me 😉

Bella under a rainbow >

 

 

 

 

Then again when farmer shouting they both ran away from the noise then stood and stared for ages.

 

 

 

 

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

WOW…it’s AUGUST ALREADY!!!!! how’d that happen? 😉

Tues 1st

 

At last we have some perfect hacking out weather…not too hot, nice breeze to keep the flies away and dry 😉

Storm and Bella ready to ride out….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bella enjoyed the ride…well, the nibbles along the way I should say…first there were fabulously fresh, ripe raspberries with leaves and then she enjoyed nibble height small thistles ready for the taking 😉 🙂 Stormy nibbled a lot too 😉

We walked to the ‘wooden bridge’ which is a good place to turn back for home and not too much that they were tired out….building up stamina for longer journeys takes time and patience 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then a nice jaunty ride back home where we had a faster walk and active trotting

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND a lovely canter on the home stretch for Bella and a slow plod from Stormy 😉 🙂 LOL

 

 

 

 

Wed 2nd

 

Just a bit of exercise for Bella today, mostly walk to just get her moving about.

It was quite windy and she was on ‘alert’ at one point…where we did a lot of going back and forth in the middle of the field plan. It helped to reconnect her to me and by changing directions regularly it kept her mind on the job too 😉

 

 

 

 

 

No problems with the flags being in a different formation today….grazing is always a fun way to get a horse used to changes. She rode through it well too…this ‘box’ formation gives us circling, fig 8’s and clover leaf pattern in w/t/c so will be fun doing that and a change is always as good as a rest, as they say 😉

 

 

Thurs 3rd

Today was a lot of fun as Mark and I rode together around the new field agility arrangement….didn’t get pics as too focused on playing with the obstacles 😉 BUT after that Bella and I had a lot of fun doing some FIRSTS…first to canter through the flapping flag box, first to canter through the bunting lane and first to canter over the tarp 😉

 

Short bit of leading Storm from Bella to start with 😉

 

 

 

 

Canter through the flapping flag box 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did a bit of flag work but it was SO windy I didn’t get to ride with it today

 

 

 

 

Canter through a bunting narrow lane

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cantering over the tarp 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continued cantering……both of us having a lot of fun cantering more 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy and Mark enjoying their obstacle play time 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 8th

 

Lovely to ride big Stormy early this morning. We did a lot of the field obstacles but weren’t in a hurry or with any main agenda. Just a lovely plod around together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then I had a lovely ride on Ms Bella too 😉 We did a lot of the obstacles and put in some halt or backup transitions halfway through a lot of them 🙂

 

 

 

Into the bunting lane and halt for 5 seconds before moving on…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…same for the tarpaulin….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and again with the low lane with log in the middle but we also popped in a halt over the log, backup off log then move on again 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and again with the flapping curtain….with this one she took advantage of the halt and snatched some grazing with was fab…shows she was relaxed and calm even with the flapping plastic curtain bits all around her 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

…last, but not least, the very low archway which we just plodded slowly through 😉

We also did some nice moves through the flapping flag ‘box’, popped a jump and did some canter ‘Point 2 Point’ game 😉

 

 

 

 

Thurs 10th

 

 

Walk, trot and cantered all over the field arena today….It was a bit muggy weather wise but we spent a lot of time working on the flag familiarisation. The work went up a level in energy today and it was fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flag work going well. More familiarisation and body work and also the energy with it flapping while we walk and trotted about the field 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 13th

 

 

Today I started off by riding big Stormy. He was light and responsive and we did some nice walk, trot and canter but first we managed to escort a lamb from the field next door back to it’s field as it had squeezed into our field through the fence. He did a great job 😉

 

We then did a great job following the hares in the field…always fun to challenge ourselves 😉

 

 

 

Then we followed Bella who walked with us along the fence line and finally Storm got some of the lovely thistle heads which are very edible at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THEN it was Bella’s turn. Now, we’ve been upping the amount of time we ride but today I changed that up to where we did less time but more canter 😉 I used the ‘Point 2 Point’ game to help motivate her to canter more and we got a lot of it, both ways. Very impressed that she cantered the WHOLE long fence line…whoop whoop 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big hugs with Ms Bella after our ride <3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 14th

Best friend Kat visited us today and Mark lent her Stormy to ride again. Storm always has fun with Kat and she gets the best out of him so it’s a lovely combo and I love watching them together 🙂

We did things together (Me on Bella) like riding side by side, follow the leader and leap frog but also we did a lot of coping things, like cantering through the bunting lane and flag box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bella and I had a lot of fun with Kat and Stormy and I was very proud of Bella for the canter work and for Stormy for taking good care of Kat 😉

 

(This pic I was giggling so much as Bella started the hill canter then put in a HUGE burst of energy from her powerful hindquarters and it took me by surprise but also made me giggle) 🙂

 

 

 

 

Thurs 17th 

 

 

Today we painted the horses shelter to give it some more protection from the weather that constantly buffers up on it’s sides 😉

(Also gave it a 2nd coat on Weds 23rd) 🙂

 

 

 

Tues 22nd

 

Well, it’s been a whole eek of rainy days since riding Bella last but thank goodness for some dry warmish weather today so that I could get a nice ride in after trimming her hooves 😉

 

 

 

1. Start with a nice active walk and allowing Bella to go where she wants. Not working on anything specific, just getting our connection back.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Second stage is where we get more precision doing straight lines and nice bends. Working on getting both of these better 😉

3. Lastly we worked on making the gaits better. Nice strong walk, rhythmic trot and balanced canter.

 

 

 

 

Task today: Get naughty young sheep out of our field the same way they got in….they push through the 5 wire fence and it’s really annoying! SO…Bella became a good shepherd, driving them back to the fence and quietly waiting while they sorted out going through the fence.

 

 

 

 

 

Familiarisation to driving the sheep. Familiarisation to the noise of the sheep going through the fence. Familiarisation of her getting used to me shouting ‘out, out, out’ regularly to help move them away.

Bella was a star and she got some grazing as a treat for being a good sheep horsey <3

 

 

 

 

Sun 27th

Lovely day for a ride today. Took Stormy around the field for some fun with the flags and then chasing naughty sheep out of the field again…..THEN I did similar with Bella but also did w/t/c around the round pens in a fig 8 pattern 😉 Yeehaa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gave them some hay this afternoon as they have been eating some of the wood logs in the field so must be needing either some vits/mins, some roughage or something to cut their teeth on! They really enjoyed it 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Thurs 31st (end of August ALREADY!!!)

 

Before the canter leads we did some really nice, calm walk, trot and canter and some tight circle clover leaf patterns 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OH….and our flag work is progressing really well. Worked on familiarisation at standstill then walk and then trot 😉

 

 

 

OH…and I forgot I’d filmed this: Stormy doing a fab halt on a breath out from me 😉 Riding bareback, bitless and one handed he is a gem. Check out my cue on his mane for him to graze and that he doesn’t try to snatch at it before I give him this cue….this is called good training. lol 😉

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

Sat 1st

 

Good start to the month for us….rode Bella bareback after giving her a really good groom.

Mark gave Stormy a thorough groom too 😉

Did some nice easy turns using more forehand (working towards turns on the hq’s)

 

 

 

We did a lot more trotting today bareback too 🙂

The sun came out for us but still a really lovely strong breeze blowing which was fab.

 

 

 

 

Working on walk and trot leg yields across the arena, trying not to loose my balance as she moved sideways.

Gave her a few reward stops to grab some of the lush long grass she loves too.

 

 

 

Finally a big friend hug from Bella and then from Stormy too xxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 2nd

 

 

Lovely cool, breezy weather and a lovely cool, breezy ride with Ms Bella this morning.

For some reason the Equilab app didn’t collect some of the data (distance, speed etc), not sure why? hey ho.

 

 

 

 

 

Lovely ride with multiple serpentines first in walk across the length of the field and then with trot over the width of the field.

 

Bella enjoys some of the long mature grass as a reward after our exercise 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Bella and Stormy grooming <3

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 3rd

Yesterday my best friend and horsewoman Kat, who lives in the Borders came to visit and to catch up on everything in our lives. I don’t get to see her often so it’s always a wonderful, chatty time when we get together 😉 She slept over and today we had a lovely time with Storm and Bella. It was also a FIRST for ME and BELLA as I invited Kat to ride her. No one, apart from Mark years ago, has ridden Bella so it was a chance to see how well she went with Kat. I trust Kat implicitly with S&B, she has trained with me and we have the same ‘feel’ for sympathetic bitless riding. Bella went really well with Kat and Kat really loved Bella so it was a lovely win-win situation and I felt like a really proud momma bear watching my best friend and best horse enjoy riding together <3 😉 xxxx

Here are some pics of us all….First Kat with Storm then Kat with Bella and then a couple of me 😉

 

 

 

 

Me and Bella with Kat on Storm 😉

 

 

Thurs 6th

 

Nice bit of early morning exercise with Bella this morning.

In the arena and hill area again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice flat work with forward walk and rhythmic trot going well. Fig 8’s not bad either.

Then up the hill where Bella is rewarded with some grazing of the lovely long grasses.

Stormy whinney’s to her as she went out of his sight but he saw us coming down the hill so was fine.

 

 

 

 

 

Riding with the flag is going very well…slow and steady is winning her trust and confidence.

We did walk and then trot with the flag starting out closed in my hand and then half open with me holding the stick and the ends so it doesn’t flap too much. Bella was a star and she regularly touched it with her nose for a treat reward 😉

 

It’ll be 4 days ’til I see them again now as off to teach in Aberdeenshire from Fri – Mon. Gonna miss them SO much <3

 

 

 

Leave B&S grazing peacefully together…they are such lovely horses, inside and out 🙂

 

 

 

Thurs 13th

 

Today we just had a short potter about the field, it’s good to be back home after my teaching away, so just taking it slowly getting back into the swing of things 😉

 

 

 

 

 Just like I’d never been away 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 16th

Dodging rain this week but Mark/Storm and Me/Bella did a quick pedestal challenge after clearing the ragwort in the field 😉

 

 

Took a while for Bella but we’ve not practised it recently…..amazing when she did it 😉

 

 

 

 

Storm just went up first time…show off 😉 He also showed he can do one foot on the smaller pedestal….again, show off 🙂 Lol

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 21st

Well, we’ve not only had horrible rainy, drizzly weather but I also tweaked my back badly where I  just had to take some time off so as not to make it worse 😉 

Today I was feeling a bit better with my back and decided to jump on Stormy for wee ride after a bit of a play session (all after doing S&B’s worm counts)

 

Groomed and ready to play

 

 

 

Such a good boy, think he enjoyed being number 1 for a change 😉

 

 

 

Ready to rock’n’roll….lovely ride with Mr Big, we moved Bella about for a while so worked both of them….Stormy thought he was a western horsey moving her about 😉 lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 22nd

 

Back feeling better….grab a ride on beautiful big Bella 😉

Lovely weave in trot…sitting trot fine with my back too 🙂

 

 

 

 

Finding some nice curves in trot and then a nice canter 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Mark and Storm enjoy a plod about too 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Bella watching the Scottish electricity vehicle in the field below ours….lots of interesting things going on with that 😉

Storm/Mark and Bella/Me play ‘leap frog’ around the field 😉

 

 

 

 

Mon 24th

Yeehaa….back into a good routine again with Bella now back is feeling better.

 

Bella ‘parks’ beautifully…near obstacles or at the mounting block. Waiting patiently for me to come and get her…and all that LONG GRASS about…what a clever girl she is 🙂

 

 

 

Much more canter today 😉 YEEHAA…..LOVE it when ‘practise makes progress’ and when it feels good doing it it’s even better.

Super smooth transitions from walk to trot and also trot to canter and back down again 😉 🙂

 

 

 

Watching the cattle and sheep in the field below ours

 

AND…all important rewards often for good work…she’s LOVING the small thistles at the moment so I find them for her…this helps make our partnership even stronger 😉

 

 

 

Weds 26th

 

 

 

Started off trimming Bella’s hooves. A great use of an agility obstacle (tarp) putting it to the purpose of catching all the trimmings so as to keep the field shelter clean worked really well. I love it when a play thing becomes useful…most of them should 😉

 

 

 

 

After trimming hooves today but then I had a short bareback ride with Bella.

Mostly in walk and just working on being straight on the straight bits and doing nice arc’s on the turns 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working on the slow, small bits ALWAYS make the fancier bits later on work better…it’s getting the foundation down so that new layers can be placed on top 😉

 

Bella enjoyed the ride just as much as I did as every time she did a nice arc she got to take some grass as a reward 😉

 

 

 

 

After this I made a short video of the agility task ‘4 buckets, 4 hooves’ which a lot of my students have been having trouble with….this is Bella having a go…

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy