Bella – March 2020

Mon 2nd March

After a week of rain/snow/sleet/wind we have some nice quite, calm, chilly, bright days this week so I’m going to take advantage and play a bit with Bella at Liberty in the roundpen to reinforce the cues I’ve been teaching her online since we got her. The last session in February went quite well but she was reacting to the stick/string and energy more than was necessary so I’ve just got to play as often as possible to give her some consistent persistence.

Today was a very good session, she walked away a couple of times, got sticky feet a few times with no draw but eventually started to realise what I was asking her and was putting quite an effort in to draw to me which was lovely. I did the whole session at liberty, not a rope in sight as I just wanted to try to be a good teacher and figure out some communication between us without resorting to putting her back online (unless I really needed to).

Here’s a few bits of video I did of our session showing me working on DHQ’s to Drawing her Forehand to me and doing it as often as it takes until it starts to become workable cues.

 

And after our session I opened up the round pen gateways and then asked her to draw to me from quite a distance…..she did and I was over the moon 😉 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after I gave Bella and Stormy lovely grooms I gave them some treats for being such good babies 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue 3rd March

Another beautiful sunny day (bit chilly but ok) so OUT with horses for some F.U.N.

Here’s some pics of my session with Bella, starting at Liberty, she had a bit of a yeehaa which she needed. went online for some balance, she had another yeehaa with some fab canter circling and then back to a lovely Liberty session with a lovely calm connection.

 

Sun 8th March

Got out with horses again today, on/off showers but we managed to miss most of them for a change. Firstly I played with both horses together, then a wee bit individually which all went well. I then did some S2M with Bella who was saddled and Mark sitting/riding her. I asked him to use his voice (walk on) and left then right heels to ask her to walk on with me using the words ‘walk on’ too and while we were walking it was up to Mark to move her with left and right reins to keep her to my side and to change direction. It went really really well and I was very happy with her walking on and also a wee bit of trot too. Here’s some pics from today…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bella walked with me at Liberty while I was following Mark riding Stormy…..great feeling of connection with her today 😉

 

Mon 9th March

Dodging rain clouds again today but managed to get out for a good grooming session with the horses…they are both moulting their winter coats so they loved it. I had a sore back today but Mark wanted to play with Stormy for a bit SO I gritted my teeth and did some Agility play with Bella too and I’m SO glad I did as she was at her best today…calm, attentive, responsive and happy to play, I think she’s starting to enjoy our play sessions and using her  brain to interact and connect. We did lovely Agility tasks and then a lovely Liberty walk about together which melted my heart <3 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIBERTY BIT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 13th March

Today we did a first with Bella….trying to groom her from the mounting block. To do this I have to have basic moves of FH & HQ’s, moving forward one slow step at a time and familiarisation with me above her. She did really well and it gave me the opportunity to figure out what else she needs to know to be able to do this as well as Stormy…video shows them both at the block 🙂

Mounting Block Grooming w/Bella – Session 1

 

I also had a nice play session with her with me sitting down (bad back) and she was FaBuLoUs…here’s some pics…

 

 

Backing Bella up and Drawing her back for a kiss

 

 

 

 

 

Circling…both ways were rhythmic, calm and flexed and the COD was smooth and non-reactive 😉

 

 

 

 

Sitting down and tossing rope over her head for a rope around spin, just had to stand for a bit to get it over her hq’s…..

 

 

 

 

…and she did a really nice spin.

I also asked for a sideways around me and after the mounting block grooming realised we need a hq’s towards working to a sideways towards.

 

 

 

To start her with hq’s and sideways towards I go to a fence (hard to see) so that she didn’t just spin around or circle. Taking my time she managed one wee step towards…..

 

 

…and I gave her a big reward/treat for trying something new with me.

I then went back to sitting down and asking Bella to trot circles which went very well….she has lots of rhythm, balance, relaxation and flexion on BOTH sides 😉

 

 

 

Her right/hard side is slowly becoming asymmetric with her left side….so pleased she is finding her symmetry 😉

She did a lovely dhq’s and draw towards too, even though I was sitting down…our connection is getting really nice 😉

 

 

So lovely to have her friendship and love <3

I take her halter off while still sitting down and invite her to follow me…..

 

 

 

…and she followed me at Liberty beautifully….when I got back to ‘base’ I gave her a big herbal treat reward given on the ground and session over. Really lovely session 😉 🙂

 

 

 

Tues 17th March

Weather still on/off rain at moment but I did managed to get this slightly 2nd hand Transcend Bitless Sidecue from ebay for a great price and it fits Bella beautifully 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also over the moon that the familiarisation is going really well, here they are at liberty eating thier breakfast with the rugs drying off on a big gate and being blown about, they didn’t bat an eyelid 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Weds 18th March

Some fun play today with Bella…managed to get her Stage 1 assessment/ground work filmed and passed.  Her video is up on her ‘Lesson Vids’. She did really well and considering she has only been with us 8 months and not overly handled or ever played with…I’m SO proud of her <3

Here’s some pics of her and Stormy….him showing her how to put 2 hooves on the pedestal while being ridden….

Stormy had Spring in his step, Bella followed me around at Liberty and we had a lovely play day with them both 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a short video of Bella giving it some wellie going back to where Stormy is….

    YEEEEEEHAAAAA….

 

Thurs 19th March

Today I managed to get my riding boots back on and do Bella’s Stage 1 ridden video. I haven’t ridden her for 4 months since my heel operation and yes my heel is sore from riding today but it was so worth it. She did very well with the assessment tasks and the video of it will be with her ground work one from yesterday in the folder ‘Bella’s Lesson vids’ 🙂

Pics: Stormy having fun at Liberty with Mark and an Agility course and Bella all saddled up for me to ride today…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some pics from the video of Bella passing her Stage 1 riding assessment….

 

 

Fri 20th March

Today we played with yesterday’s agility obstacles but challenged ourselves to doing something completely different with each one 😉 lots of fun and was joyous to see how relaxed Bella was with all the changes and also how well she coped with it all 🙂

 

< Sideways through wide gap

Fig 8’s with two cones on opposite sides of my weave circle >

 

 

 

< Step over tall pipe, front legs only and halt

Rest a light weight jump pole on side >

 

 

 

< Individual feet over pole…she did all 4 then backed up

First time putting one foot on the smaller tyre pedestal >

 

 

< Trot circles with me standing on pedestal

Sidepassing over pole length wise >

 

 

 

< Fig 8’s around 3 obstacles, changing obstacle each time

Half circles in trot through gap >

 

 

THEN….we did some more riding after yesterdays good start. She had slightly sticky feet today but she is just learning stuff so I just took my time and made sure we worked with relaxation and consistency. In the end she did a nice circle around the inside of the round pen in walk both ways, nice backup, LF and DHQ both ways and turns. I also dismounted on the right side today.  We left it on a very good forward motion note and left it at that. Good, short sessions will give her the confidence to repeat and progress each time 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 22nd March

What a beautiful sunny day today, bit chilly with the breeze but I’ll take sun any day, really cheers you up doesn’t it. Today Ms Bella did some fab play, we took fig 8’s and did them ‘on the move’, she did a nice jump, followed a tarp that Mark was dragging behind Stormy whilst riding AND she let me put three feet on the ped and didn’t take it off for ages. Here’s some pics of our play….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then had a very nice ridden session (3rd one in a row) with her doing 1 lap to the left and right around the inside of the round pen, backups, LF and DHQ’s and it is great to be able to use a looser rein now with her, think it’s helping her forward motion as it’s the same slackness I use when doing S2M on the ground. I dismounted on the right again too. I’m doing short sessions but trying to be consistent and stopping on a good note. I will slowly increase the time we walk the arena and take it up to trot when it feels right to do so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wed 25th March

Have had two days off play/riding as had to do other things but today we were out playing and riding again. The weather is mild and enjoyable and I first put up our next Agility course (#7) and we had our first practise session with it. The course runs like this: trot over pole square, one foot on medium pedestal, sidepass both ways around large pedestal with me standing on it, four feet in two hulahoops, under the curtain, moving fig 8’s in trot x 3, under archway, w/h/w through bunting lane, over pole with ff and halt, walk off then trot to pole square again and halt in centre 🙂

Bella did pretty well, fab with fig 8’s, under the arch, putting one foot on ped, through bunting lane and transitions, pretty good try at hulahoop task but really not happy putting her ears through the curtain, once her ears were under it then she didn’t worry about it at all SO we need to work on a couple of things so that when we film it next time it’s smooth and flowing 😉

After a good play session we rode in the round pen again. Today we managed backup, DHQ-LF both sides, DHQ-fh forward motion twice around the roundpen on both sides and also a nice right turn to COD and dismount on right again. Really pleased with our progress, think she’s really getting it now.

 

< My heel is slowly getting better and I’m able to use it in the stirrups ok now.

She’s very good at standing still once I’ve mounted and doing up the girth >

 

 

< backup from the mounting block…really nice back up.

Loose rein riding more now, focus, energy and leaving her alone when all ok >

 

 

< Loose rein, moving about in the saddle, moving my arms about, she’s great.

Right hand turn…eyes focus, inside shoulder back, belly button focus, outside leg on and open right rein >

 

< Right turn >

 

 

 

< Enjoying ourselves, Bella’s walk getting more forward each time we practise 😉

Dismouting on the right side >

 

 

< Lots of treats for such a good girl

 

Ground tying going really well and today I put my rope on the saddle for her to carry it for me…no problem 😉

 

 

 

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

 

 

 

Sun 29th March

The weather is totally on/off rain/hail/sun/wind this month so we’ve had a few days off but managed to sneak out before it got rainy again this afternoon.  We started by giving them both a good ‘de-moulting’ groom and then I played with Bella on the 22′ line. Today I decided to just play around my ‘tyre’ round pen as the 8 tyre barrels are good for quite a few games in trot.

 

 

< Leading the two beauties

Back up and draw on the 22′ line >

 

 

 

< Circling in walk and trot both ways with me sitting down >

 

 

 

 

< Rope spins

And a FIRST for Bella, today we started doing some leg yields on a circle….me on the left easier than me on the right (for her) >

 

 

< leg yielding >

 

 

 

 

< Weaving in trot and at a distance

Fig 8’s on the whole 22′ line 😉 >

 

 

 

After a lovely play session I rode her in the round pen again. All getting better, easier mounting for me, she stands still beautifully, backup great, LF getting softer and DHQ getting better. We managed 2 laps both ways which was good then it started getting windy again so I called it a day as getting quite cold.

 

Tues 31st March

Last day of March, beginning of Spring and am enjoying playing and riding Ms Bella. Today we did a video ‘Training Tip’ for the start of asking Bella to lower her head for bridling AND with another video of a fab TARP CHALLENGE that friend Kat gave us (and put on my HS FB group for some fun). After that playing about I filmed Mark doing his Tarp Challenge with Stormy at Liberty and when I looked around this is what sweet Bella did….

 

All on her own she investigated the pedestal

Then she gently stepped up on it

 

 

 

And THEN she turned her head to look at me as if to say..’is this right mom?’…

what a sweetheart, she stayed there for ages and I went over and gave her a treat for a fabulous effort and imagination 😉

 

 

She did the Tarp Challenge amazingly. Up until now she’s only just got used to walking and trotting over it but our relationship has come along in leaps and bounds recently so doing other things with the tarp was fun, she did all that I asked and I was over the moon with her effort, understanding and relaxation 😉

 

After all that fun we had a nice wee ride around the round pen….

 

< Ground tying is going really well

Standing still at the mounting block fab >

 

 

 

 

< Walking out going really well, she sometimes stops but is easy to get going again. LF, DHQ all working well, working on more lightness but that comes with time and patience >

 

 

 

< Turns going well, still using reins at moment but building it to where she will understand my focus/weight/leg cues as we go

Dismounting from the right fabulous >

 

 

< Ground tying whilst I put stirrups back up and loosen her girth

Love when my babies follow me after a session at liberty >

 

 

 

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

 

 

 

 

Bella – February 2020

Sun 2nd Feb

Can’t believe it’s February already and today we start Winter it seems. We had a very very very cold night last night and woke up to snow warnings SO we went down and brought the horses back home by which time it just started snowing…well timed home coming 😉

 

Wed 5th Feb

Kept horses up at house whilst the snow was on the ground and while it was so very cold but for now the snow has gone and it’s much milder…horses even going 24/7 without rugs some days. Today Mark took them back to the field, again riding and leading. Mark is certainly getting his hacking hours up this year 😉 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 10th Feb

Warnings of snow coming today so we went and collected the horses back from the big field to the home paddocks. It was too slippery to ride really so Mark walked them half way back and I walked them the other half. Now all safety tucked up in their rugs with the weather coming in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 17th Feb

Well we’ve had quite a few days of really bad weather here from snow, heavy snow, to heavy rain and wind with some serious storms. The horses have been up at the house since the thick snow fell as we couldn’t get down to the big field with that laying down BUT today, after 2 days of serious rain the snow has all gone and the home paddocks are muddy and need cleaning up a bit SO horses were walked, by me, back to the big field, which is about a mile. I think they really enjoyed being taken back today, rugs off and free to run around if they want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 23rd Feb

WOW, we had a day of blue skies and sunshine today, albeit it was bitterly cold still SO it was a choice of poo picking old paddock OR go play with a horse or two…guess which one won 😉 lol

Started with some Liberty with Stormy, then tried a bit of Liberty with Bella….she was a bit sceptical and rusty on cues SO back online for a bit and then a nicer Liberty session afterwards. Lovely to be out if only for an hour and to feel good about how far Bella has already come but also to see how far we have to go.

Some pics from today….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue 26th Feb

Today I went out early to their dinner time and gave myself and Bella an hour to do some ‘Undemanding Time’ and ‘Mirroring’ at Liberty. She didn’t really get it but I persisted in just sitting there waiting for her to come over to me if she wanted to….eventually she did and investigated my hand/arm, head, jacket etc. It was really nice to see her curiosity coming out.

I then did some ‘relaxation’ techniques where I stood at her shoulder facing her tail with my hand on her withers. I stand there thinking relaxation, breathing deeply and when she finds relaxation (head lower and/or tipped towards me) then I calmly walk away for a bit to tell her she’s a clever girl. I did this a few times on each side and then did it further down her back (behind where the saddle sits), she took longer to relax there but worth waiting for.

 

After this and a bit of a break I stood next to her on her left, hand on her withers and waited to walk with her…’mirroring’. She is so used to either being left alone or following someone that is leading her in a halter that she really didn’t understand what I was doing….it might make a difference in Spring when I can do this when she’s casually grazing. Today she just walked step by step backwards trying to put me further in front of her drive line. SO, I did this for a bit and then started to ask for forward movement with my energy/focus and outside hand pointing forward and lots of praise when she eventually started walking forward and me following her. I will endeavour to do more of these UT & M sessions and in between I will gently play online with her so that she starts to associate those cues with what I’m asking at liberty.

Another short break and I put her online and did a very short, calm, relaxed play where she did some walk circles both ways with relaxation, sidepass with the minimum energy cue and tossing the rope for a rope around spin 😉 🙂 she was really good so I took the halter off and she ‘followed’ me at liberty for a short session. Ended it on a really good note, set her free with some treats and then took her and Storm over for dinner and hay 🙂

The video of us doing this session is on ‘Bella’s Lesson Videos’ page…..

 

She even goes on the pedestal at liberty for her apple now 😉

 

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

 

Bella – January 2020

Fri 3rd Jan

Made some apple sauce to get Bella ready for worming soon, she was hesitant to touch or take the syringe, which is how I thought she’d be, but hopefully a few days of apple saucing she’ll be okay with the wormer. Video of this first attempt is on ‘Bella’s Lesson Video’s’.

After the syringing Familiarisation I played with Storm & Bella together for a bit of fun. We did these few things:

  1. Draw & Drive together
  2. Half circling together, one in front of the other
  3. S2M with a horse on either side of me

 

Enjoyed it a lot even though it was only a short play

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 4th Jan

Played with both horses today, it seems this is what my new ‘thing’ will be, playing and riding with two horses. They are so connected it’s easier and a lot of fun to do. We played with the pedestal, circles, half circles and Bella did a little bit of liberty play for her dinner apple slices 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 5th Jan

Managed to get out today with some good weather so we had a lovely play session first trying on some packs for Bella, making sure she was okay with them. Then playing with Bella & Storm together as it’s quicker to play with both of them than individually…it’s also good as Stormy gives Bella confidence. Here’s some pics from the fun session…

 

 

 

Wed 7th Jan

Weather has been a bit wild today. we’ve had mild to heavy wind, drizzle to heavy rain and mild temperatures. to help keep the hay from blowing into the next field full of sheep we put our hay into large buiilders bags, tie the loop handles over it all and the horses put their heads in and eat without loosing too much of it. Bella has been good at accepting this way of eating her hay 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 10th Jan

Well tonight has a full moon and that is great for worming as it’s the moon of movement and cleansing SO we wormed Storm and Bella this afternoon with Equest for Encysted Red Worms (which can’t be picked up on worm counts so needs doing in Winter regularly).

Since working on the apple sauce syringing I was over the moon when they both took the wormer, then some apple sauce, another wormer portion and a last apple saucing in their strides. They were calm, heads down, no dropping it out of their mouths, no tantrums with next syringe and finished with relaxation and an apple sauce taste in their mouths. I am SO proud of them and SO happy I took the time to apple sauce them for a few days beforehand. I will continue with the apple sauce I have left, no point in wasting it, and will do the apple saucing again maybe a couple of times during the year so it’s not always about worming 🙂

 

Stormy getting his wormer
(no pics of Bella unfortunately)

 

 

 

 

Mon 13th Jan

Bad weather forecast from Storm Brendan so we decide to bring the horses back to the house just in case. Here are pics of Mark doing a fab job bareback, bitless riding Storm home leading Bella who was easy, calm and happy to be led (might be a way of getting her and me riding more by using this method!! watch this space 😉 )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 17th Jan

Today the rain and wind has stopped so we decide to take the horses back to their big field so that they can move about more, and stretch their legs. Mark rode Stormy bareback and bitless as normal and Bella’s leading is becoming SO good…I think this is their 8th journey to and from our home now 🙂

 

Large stone mounting block….fabulous when you have a big horse to get onto

 

 

 

 

On their way home, nice and steady together

 

 

 

 

Nearly there

 

Bella stretches her legs and straight to the hay

 

 

Stormy enjoys a long roll/scratch up and then they both eat hay together 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Lovely vid showing last trot to big field. Love Mark’s loose reins on Stormy and a lovely loose rope to Bella and how synchronised are these three…watch their trot to walk transition 😉 FAB, SMOOTH, CALM, CONNECTED 🙂

 

Sun 19th Jan

Yesterday I put together a new Agility course and today we just did it to see how we got on and to check what Bella has remembered since our last Agility play session, which was in October last year. Here are some pics of the 13 obstacles we did and the video of us doing it is on ‘Bella’s Agility Videos’ which you can find on the Category section in the right hand border of the blog >>

1. half circle through gateway

2. back over pole between barrels

 

3. weave through cones with poles

4. 2 feet on pedestal

 

 

5. walk on/halt/walk off tarp

6. trot poles

 

7. small jump

 

8. 2 feet in hulahoop

 

9. sidepass to the right

 

10. draw/drive between narrow lane

 

11. S2M  transitions (w/t/w/h/bk)

 

12. under arch

 

13. sidepass to the left

 

14. Familiarisation with flag

 

 

 

Mon 20th Jan

Today Mark did a bit with Stormy then lead Bella from him. She was really good and they started becoming so synchronised.

And then I sat on Bella for a wee bit, we moved backwards and we did some lateral flexion and walk forwards for a few steps. I didn’t want to do more as my balance isn’t great at the moment bareback and she’s been off for Winter so will take it slowly getting back into things with her 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was a good day and not too cold….will try to get out as much as we can while this lovely weather lasts 🙂

 

Thurs 23rd Jan

Today I went out with the idea of saddling Bella and seeing if she was up for a wee sit on…I’m SO glad we always take each day as it comes as she had Spring fever in her feet and it wasn’t a day to get on her but she did a lovely leading from Stormy session with me (my first as Mark normally does it) and then played some half circles from Stormy to change sides with her. Really enjoyed the day even though I didn’t do what I thought I was going to do….really good to have a Plan A, B & C to make the most of whatever the horse brings to the session and to not feel we didn’t do something good even though my first plan didn’t happen. This are her ‘yeehaa’ moments….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t let her yeehaa’s get to me, just calmly waited for her to find her own calmness out of them to start with and then when she offered some sidepass I took it and asked her for more. After that I put her exuberance into something that used to worry her….a small jump or two, which she had no bother doing well today 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

I then enjoyed leading Bella whilst riding Stormy, this was my first time with Bella doing this as Mark has been doing it. I’ve done other horses but this was my first time with her 😉 It went really well and I also did some nice half circling game with her whilst sitting on Stormy, Stormy was super good standing so still while I threw the rope over his head while she moved around 😉

 

Fri 24th Jan

Today I decided to go out and stick to the similar plan from yesterday, play, play with saddle then lead Bella from Stormy and I’m going to continue this plan until I start to see more relaxation with the saddled games (or if the bareback pad works but saddle doesn’t to figure out why….it might be the noise of everything with the saddle!). I’m also finding that after her initial yeehaa that she is quite balanced and confident so I’m allowing her behaviour but then asking for more thereby taking her idea and making it mine. I did a lot of this with Stormy (and others) as a youngster and although Bella is now 11yrs old we are doing stuff that is normally done with a 3-5yr old so I’ll take that as her ‘riding age’ 🙂

Some pics from today…first play with yeehaa, 2nd play with saddle and very balanced yeehaa and then Mark leading her off Stormy which she did brilliantly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 25th Jan

Today was the 3rd day of play/circling with Bella. First we do some basic online play and then with a saddle pad on. The first day with saddle had some big yeehaa/spring fever in her feet, yesterday she still had some yeehaa in her feet but today she was much calmer and slightly more attentive. Next play session i will try the saddle again.Here’s a video from today…

 

Sun 27th Jan

AND today we have had warnings of snow and ice for tomorrow SO Mark rode Stormy and led Bella back to the house paddocks again. Lovely bit of exercise and they were both stars. They are now tucked up in rugs ready for the weather (if it comes).

 

Fri 30th Jan

And today the horses went back to the big field again, the snow came and went and it’s now drizzly and windy so going to the big field helps to save the small home paddock from getting extremely muddy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Shelley – HorseSavvy