Bella – Our Journey

Tues 1st

A lovely start to the month with some mild-ish weather and some sunny spells. Went and groomed Bella then decided to take a wee ride as well 😉

 

Nice walk then into trot

 

 

 

 

Getting straighter with sidepassing

 

 

 

Sunshine & Snow

Praising all the time

 

 

 

Loose rein trot to cones and turning around cones using DHQ

 

 

 

Stop over log
Sidepass over log

 

 

 

 

New task is to ask for sidepassing over the log lengthwise. Okay with front legs, little unsure with backs at the moment. Always fun to have something to work on 😉

 

 

 

Weds 2nd

Lovely spending the morning with the gang, they followed me around while I did the poo-picking which is always lovely 😉

 

What lovely skies this morning

 

 

 

 

Sat 5th

 

Trimmed Bella’s hooves today and Stormy hung out with Mark 😉

 

 

 

Then had a nice short bareback ride on Bella…always helps relax my back after trimming her 😉

 

 

 

Sun 6th

 

Started off todays fun with Storm and Mark playing around with agility obstacles 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we did a ride around together. taking it slowly at this start of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then I do a bit of solo work with Bella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 8th

 

Managed to ride both Storm and Bella today 😉 🙂 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weds 16th

Had a lovely play session with Bella followed by a really nice ride. Calm, focussed and felt like we’ve actually started our training year now 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 22nd

Today we hacked out a bit further in the lower fields near their main field. Got on at the start of ride this time, off to go through narrow gap by river but she sidled up perfectly for me to get on again from a broken dyke wall. Did quite a bit of walk/trot in next big field and rode through narrow gap on the way back. She even gave me a really lovely, calm, controlled canter right at the end…perfect end to a perfect hack out 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wed 23rd

Today I played with Bella (in-hand) and then Stormy (at liberty) through a new Agility course. It’s the same course I’m doing in my March Agility teaching clinic’s and it went down very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thurs 24th

Managed to film Bella doing the Agility course today…

 

And then I rode Bella in our make-shift arena with a ‘dressage test’ I put together myself for her. It was our first attempt and it was mainly to get the pattern in our minds and body but she did really well. Nice walk, energetic trot and she did her first canter along a long side too which is hard as not a lot of room but her canter was controlled and easy to sit to 😉 So proud of my big girlie, over the last few days we’ve done in-hand agility, started the year’s hacking out AND did some dressage 😉 How fab is she <3

 

Start in walk, get into trot nicely through most of it.

 

 

 

Big trot and then into some nice self-carriage moments 😉

 

 

 

 

Just a fab canter…a first for us in the arena 😉 😉

 

 

 

Will keep a smile on my face for a LONG time xxx

 

 

 

 

Sat 26th

Today is pretty hot around midday so we decide to have a short, fun session AND do the agility course ridden. It was fun and enough for today 😉

Here’s Stormy’s round…

 

< Gaits: Fast walk/halt/Slow walk/halt/trot/halt >

 

 

 

 

Curtain

 

 

 

 

Front feet in hula hoop…took two attempts but did it perfectly in the end, such a clever boy 😉

 

 

 

Weave walk and then onto tarp and halt

 

 

 

 

Jump then push the ball

 

 

 

 

Halt over a pole and for fun he sidepasses off it 😉

 

 

 

 

Into narrow gap, halt, backup then through and onto the pedestal with front feet and familiarise with flag 😉

 

 

Bella did it really well too, here’s her video…

 

Tues 29th

Today I set up an ‘Equine Agility UKs’ Easter Challenge course and went around it with Bella and then Stormy. It was a quick play for a bit of fun, here are the vid’s:

Bella:

 

& Stormy:

 

Thurs 31st

Went out today an hour before dinnertime, it was a bit windy and it’s got quite cold again here. The horses were okay but I could see Bella was a bit on edge so I groomed and rode Stormy bareback around the round pens first. Then I haltered and played with Bella in the round pen. She was super soft and light and did some lovely moves. I let her off and we went to the place where they have their meal and I put their hay in their shelter ready for the cold night ahead. All went okay but Bella decided she could not take anything from my hand and I could not catch her so I had to just follow her about and when she looked at me I walked backwards. Strange but it could be that she got the smell of the ‘wormer’ I gave Stormy and decided she didn’t like it OR she could be in season and a bit hormonal. Whatever the reason I hope she is catch-able tomorrow! 🙁

 

Fri 4th

Been a week since Bella and I have been riding due to bad weather but we have been doing some liberty work almost every day to keep up our connection and games. Today we managed to dodge on/off snow flurries to catch a short but sweet bareback session.

We worked on straightness and turns trying to keep the straightness on our turns if that makes sense. We also worked on some nice walk/trot bareback transitions and hq engagement using leg yields on small serpentine turns. After that we did a quick, small version of a ‘self-made’ dressage test that we are going to try to complete this year. It has walk, trot and canter transitions, 20m circles, 10m half turns for changes of direction, some loose rein stretched walk and also some long side canter transitions. I’m hoping it will be fun to practise and help us get some controlled canter work in a large arena so that later on we can work on some canter circles this year. Here’s some pics from today’s session…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat 5th

Snow chucking it down today SO bring horses back. Mark and I each do the walk alternating as it was tiring  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 8th

And after a couple of days the snow is all gone again so Mark rides Stormy, leading Bella, home to the big field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weds 9th

Very cold each day at the moment but spending some liberty time with them is lovely 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 11th

 

Decided to take Bella out for a walk with Storm and Mark, just into the next field now it has no animals in it.

 

 

 

Lot of fun, Stormy grazed a bit, Bella checked out the scenery 😉

 

 

 

 

Nice to stretch all our legs today.

 

 

 

 

Walking back to our field together 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 15th

After a very short, walk/ride on Bella yesterday and getting off soon as it was SO windy and she wasn’t paying attention to me I felt a bit deflated BUT today was cold and sunny so as I went around cleaning the field I did some liberty play with them. Draw from both was really good, even coming down the small, scary, hillock 😉 Bella did some pedestal fun work and it was lovely to just be with them for a bit before going home for my own breakfast 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 18th

Well we woke up to 3″ of snow this morning and heavy snow still falling (as it did all day) SO, straight down to the horses and walked them home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now all settled at home, lots of hay with breakfast and this evening more food, hay and rugs on to warm them up after being wet all day long.

 

 

 

Mon 21st

Today I just needed to sit on Bella to perk my spirits up. She is such a good horse that came straight over to be haltered and sidled perfectly to the gate for me to pop on 😉 I didn’t do much, just plodded about a bit then jumped off but it really lifted my mood 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also the snow has started to seriously melt away, the track is easier to walk on and the next day or two it’s supposed to be cold but sunny so we decide to walk the horses back to their big field as with the thaw comes muddy paddocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 25th

Today it was cold but with a bit of sunshine coming through now and then SO decided to just go out and have a wee walk/ride on Bella with Mark and Storm for company 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

 

Weds 5th

Well, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all. Today I decided to give both Bella and Storm some mild exercise so rode Storm bareback and lead Bella from him so a 2 for 1 😉

 

It was a lovely, calm, walk around and I changed Bella’s side depending on which way were going, to keep her on the inside 😉

 

 

 

Thurs 6th

 

Snow falling and not sure when it’s going to stop SO bringing horses home will be good for them and us. Mark led Storm up on headcollar and lead rope from the quad bike with Bella following loose behind them 🙂

 

 

I then took over and walked them home.

 

 

 

 

We went slowly as it was still snowing and it was a bit slippery, which is why I didn’t ride home.

 

 

 

And then at home they settled in quickly and got stuck into the hay.

 

 

 

Thurs 13th

Finally the snow has gone and most of the ice off the tracks too so it’s time to get the horses back to their big field so they can stretch their legs and have their lovely shelter back 😉

 

Mark started off walking Storm and Bella

 

 

 

 

But soon decided to just jump on Storm’s back and give his own legs a rest 😉

 

 

 

Both horses were up for going back to the big field

 

 

 

 

 

Think they’re happy horses <3

 

 

 

 

Sun 16th

Been quite a while and it’s the first proper ride of the year. Just did a short ride with Mark and Stormy but great to put bum to saddle 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 17th

Lovely morning doing horses breakfasts then poo picking the field. Sunshine gave us some lovely shadows and I gave Bella a wee massage on her neck, shoulders, spine, back and sacral. Think she enjoyed it 😉

 

 

 

Wed 19th

As still officially Winter and the ground is quite hard I’ve decided to try and put more foundation onto Bella in the form of online and liberty play. She is still a wee bit worried about Familiarisation noise (Energy, motion, noise) in certain area’s with certain things (ie. flag in front of her chest, things at her nose etc) So this is a great opportunity to get that better with some fun play 😉

 

Start our session in the round pen online. Normal games of under the curtain

 

 

 

…sidepass over the pipe etc

 

 

 

 

I then take off the rope and then the halter so she is at liberty. She does some really lovely sidepass…

 

 

 

…under the curtain is no bother now, even in the wind 😉

 

 

 

Lovely draw towards too. I settle her with relaxed breathing out and some strokes on her neck.

 

 

 

She had a wee run around, came back and asked to step over the pipe which I encourage, I then ask for a sidepass off it 😉

 

She often gets her energy up, this is something we need to work on…to let her know it’s okay to have bigger energy but to be able to find relaxation in, through and afterwards too….her canter today is very balanced and controlled which is lovely.

 

She finally figures out that standing on the tarp is a good place to stop and figure out how to relax back down again 🙂

 

 

She is also getting better at thinking at a faster gait and she does the wee jump with calmness and thought 😉

 

 

 

Thurs 20th

Today I go down early, feed breakfast and poo pick and then ask Bella to come and play. Doing things in the morning is good as she is connected due to feeding but also leaves the rest of the day for other things (ie. cutting the trees that fell in storm Arwen at the house) 😉

 

Whilst poo picking I realise Bella has tried hard to get my attention….she is standing on the pedestal 🙂 LOL

I call her over and she, with Stormy, starts to walk to me.

 

The sun was just coming up and there was a stunning sky 😉

 

 

 

 

As I’m going around the field with the quad bike they both follow me, then go past me as they trot and canter together 😉 Bella really stretching out which was lovely.

 

 

Such lovely horses.

After I’d done the poo picking I ask Bella into the roundpen at liberty for some more play 😉

 

 

Fri 21st

 

Another early morning liberty play session with Bella. Slowly she is getting calmer at trot and canter going over the poles and low jump 😉

 

 

Using the archway at the gate is very useful, she does some nice squeezes under it and back and then through a bit and backing up away from it was really good too 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

To end the session I put her back online and did some walk/backups/trot transitions S2M around the round pens. We were lucky to have Stormy join us with this at liberty which was very kool 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 23rd

Lovely day today as I was out in the morning with the horses for breakfast, poo picking and then a lovely play session with Bella in the round pen. She was calm and did lovey circles with COD’s over the 4 obstacles I have around the pen (two sets of trot poles and two low jumps). Bella did them really well, with balance, controlled energy at trot and her changes were great and included the fact that when she went from anti-clockwise to clockwise she stayed in trot and didn’t go into a unbalanced canter which she has been doing since we started her journey 🙂 KOOL 🙂

 

This afternoon I went down and did a bit of work side by side with Storm and Mark.

 

 

 

 

Then we did a bit on our own, working on circles, fig 8’s in trot with me finding some nice balance in the saddle to help her keep a lovely spinal arc under me 😉

 

 

Bella had lovely energy and a bit controlled trot today too.

 

 

 

Really enjoyed our session and to end it we did some turns around cones and tyre stacks with a loose rein and working on focus/weight/leg cues 😉

 

 

Lovely session for a mild January day 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Tues 25th

 

Lovely ride around the field today doing our very large fig 8’s. One fence line we do walk, the next trot etc and today I changed that by putting two fence lines in trot so as to keep the pattern fun and not boring 😉

 

 

Her trot was much more consistent, changeable from a nice sitting slow trot to her big rising trot through using my focus, inner energy and minute changes in my breathing 😉

 

We ended on a fun note…not 4 feet on ped, but back ones 😉 LOL

 

 

Thurs 27th

Had a day off yesterday so it was lovely to be out in a bit of chilly sunshine with Bella today 😉

 

Mark trimming Storms feet in the background.

Mounted and ready to go…

 

 

 

Didn’t do too much but had some fun working in the big field with straight lines in walk. Then we did a few bits of trot circles to finish with 😉

 

 

 

Lovely nice balanced trot with some energy but not going too fast 😉

 

 

 

 

Afterwards they both had a lovely canter with us as we left the field 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri 28th

 

Cheeky Bella nicking some of Storms breakfast.

Each time I feed breakfast I also do the poo piking and often Bella comes to play in the round pen for some treats 😉 🙂

 

 

Great going over the obstacles now 😉

 

 

 

Great jump from Bella today…the pole is now one higher 😉 And a lovely draw back to me too 🙂

 

 

 

Storm still being a  bit of a joker but in his thinking you get treats going under the archway….I did give him some for backing off out of it 😉 x

 

 

 

 

 

Sun 30th

 

Eating my breakfast with the dynamic duo Bella came over to me (rather than pinch Storms food today) and stood on the pedestal for some attention.

 

While poo picking Bella came over to me for some fuss…I asked her to come into the round pen for fuss, treat and a play which she did nicely.

 

She is SO confident going through the archway now, she did it a few times 😉

 

 

 

 

 

She also did the higher jump very nicely too today 😉

 

 

 

 

Great jump 🙂

 

I didn’t have to move far from the centre of the pen to ask Bella to do obstacles so that is a huge bit of progress 😉

 

 

She drew very nicely back to me after doing any of the obstacles on the circle 😉 Lovely play session

 

 

 

 

Heavy winds expected tonight so we go down this afternoon and strap the horses shelter down. They’re strapped to ground pins that are screwed into the ground about 3′ and the straps are those used for big heavy loads on lorries, the system has worked well so far.

We’ve usually brought the horses back when we do this but the wind is worse at the house with the trees blowing about a lot, they’re safer in the big field 😉

 

 

• Shelley – HorseSavvy