Bella – Our Journey

Tues 1st June

Tues 4th May

Very unpredictable weather we’re having at the moment. It’s been very windy, rainy and cold and the horses this morning were tired. Bella has a therapy session tomorrow so it felt great to bring them home as at home the weather is milder and there’s a bit more shelter from the incessant north wind.

Tired babies

Mark rides Storm, leads Bella home

So good together

Luckily the Highland cows were off the track when we passed by 😉

and a nice trot/canter up the last hill home…all settled in to the home paddocks again 🙂

Weds 5th May

I’m studying an online college ‘Equine Behavioural Science’ course at the moment, a month until final date and am writing my final paper…it’s brain fuzzing hard work and today I’d just had enough SO Mark grabbed me and the horses and we went for a fabulous ride out to get rid of the cobwebs and find the joy again 🙂 IT WORKED so well, felt SO much better after the ride and I took the rest of the day off from studying. Also Bella had a therapy session…massage and body manipulation 😉

Bella’s fab therapy session. Asked Emily Cuthill out to see her, I felt she was more sensitive and maybe in discomfort when she was in ‘season’. She had sore area’s above her ‘tubes’ and kidneys…she’s had 5 foals….her right side stiffer than left side which I’ve been working on since getting her. She really loved the session showing signs by licking, chewing, dozing, pushing into the therapists hands and standing totally still without being held. She had some issues on her right kidney side but I could sense she was enjoying the relief of whatever was bothering her. She seems so much more relaxed now. Will give her a few days off and get therapist out again if/when we need her. Therapist, Emily, also recommended some Agnus Castus herbal supplement if her ‘seasons’ keep giving her discomfort 😉

Thurs 5th May

Well who ordered snow this morning…..on/off sleet falling through day too so light weight rugs staying on for now.

Thurs 7th May

Went for a nice walk today, no riding for a while after therapy so taking advantage of ok weather to be with Bella. She did some lovely up/downs into a grassed over wall/walkway…

Did some grooming with a grooming mit which got out some winter coat….

Did a fab jump over the buried stream and then she did a her first time into/out of the stream…

asked Stormy to do it a couple of times first, gave her the confidence to do it…

so proud of her for this, much easier to just jump it but we waited and she managed it with confidence 😉

Mon 10th May

At last the horses go back to the big field, the rain is still around but the temperature has gone up a lot and the N-NW winds have gone 😉

Thurs 13th May

Been quite rainy over the last few days so no play or riding but it was good to get them back to the big field and give them a few days off. The big part of the field has now been closed off and they are on the track system with middle bits on the hill (for now) as the grass is now growing.

Today was a nice day, slight breeze but sunny and warm at lunchtime SO Mark and I went out and had a bit of a mosey around the field with the dynamic duo 🙂

A nice walk/trot around field with Stormy to start off some follow the leader and then some leap frog.

Had a couple of P2P canters and then did two really nice jumps…first one from trot…

…P2P to the distant cone, rest and reward and then did it the other way..much more energy 😉 🙂

yeehaa..nice jump AND…

fab canter depart to another  P2P obstacle 😉 

Thu 13th May

Trimmed Bella’s hooves today then had a nice wee ride. Decided that we needed to go back to the basic’s and get lighter and more refined SO…lots of basic walk/trot/halt transitions whilst riding the rail first, then we did circling into fig 8’s testing our flexibility and the arc in our bodies. Enjoyable wee ride 😉

Fri 15th May

Today Mark trimmed Stormy’s hooves and I finished off Bella’s (ergots etc) and then had another wee ride 😉

At the moment she has a strange head behaviour….have had her checked out and given therapy but think it’s from me slowly taking away her treat rewards…she bends her head to the left and makes it hard to do right circles SO am trying some tactics to see if it IS the treats that is causing her to ‘ask’ for more while I try to reduce them…first way is to give less and reward with strokes and scratches. Today she did the left head tilt and was harder to ride than normal. Next time I’ll treat when she does what I ask every time again to see the difference in her left head tilt!!!
Today, albeit with strangeness, was okay though 🙂

Sat 16th May

Another day of straightness work through flexibility.

Nice back elevation and stepping under, her trot is strong and confident.

Tried this weave at trot…..she did so well 😉

Weds 19th May

We’ve had rain, rain and more rain for the last few days. Really annoying when I want to do some training or go for a hack BUT it gave me the opportunity to spend some undemanding time with them in the shelter whilst it pished down before their dinner time! LOL 🙂

Was so worth the time to see this fabulous rainbow with them <3

Fri 21st May

Today I decided to test Bella’s ‘head tilt’ by using her normal headcollar for play AND riding.

Firstly I make sure she is flexible and there’s no stiffness on either side.

I also do some circling, trot poles and COD’s…all goes well 😉

Riding in the headcollar is the same as her bitless bridle minus the browband AND because of how it’s made it goes nowhere near her eyes when I use one rein!

She rides really well in it and not one ‘head tilt’ 😉

Tues 25th May

This was our 2nd trial of the ‘halter bridle’. No ‘head tilt’ today either so for now this bridle is working. I am going to check her other bridle again to see if it causes the head tilt again….thinking it could be a tight browband or that the bridle sides get too close to her eyes when I use the reins to turn SO checking with it again will let me know if it was the bridle or it was just a strange ‘moment’ in training. For now, today went well 😉

Straight

Turning with more ‘body dynamics’

Nice and straight and a nice wee jump too 😉

Trot and canter ok

hi-energy buck…think she thought there was another jump there! LOL.

But another nice canter afterwards 🙂

Weds 26th May

A nice break in the rain we’ve been having so out to ride first Stormy and then Bella 😉

He was a good boy, some nice transitions and flexibility with a fun jump.

Bella in the meantime had been snoozing in the shelter but then noticed Storm was out without her so she did her BIG trot to catch him up at the far fence 😉

I then rode Bella in the arena area, we tried out her bitless bridle again to see if there was any ‘head tilting’ going on again and yes, there was SO back to the headcollar next time.

It was lovely to plod about with them today before I gave them their dinner <3

Thurs 27th May

Another nice day so out with the horses and Mark for another plod about…getting us and them fit again before we go out for some hacking…if the weather stays nice that is 😉

Headcollar working well still and she managed some nice big circles without too much trouble.

Stormy joined us and we played some ‘side by side’, follow-the-leader and leap frog.

We then went around some of the ‘track system’ taking in the lower hill.

And also taking in the big upper hill too 😉

Sat 29th May

Lovely day again today (2nd in a row) so no hack out as too hot but nice to have a bit of training in the field with Bella 😉 <3

She’s definitely getting fitter and I’m slowly getting used to her BIG ENERGETIC trot 😉

A short video with us putting a couple of things together that we’ve been working on…not slick yet but we find our focus as we go 😉

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

Thurs 1st April

Well today turned out to be a really beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine that had some heat behind it 😉

Out today to trim Bella’s hooves which weren’t too bad but needed backing up and a mustang roll put back on them and then I groomed (a lot of Springtime moulting going on) and rode both horses 😉 🙂 A very good day 😉 🙂

Fri 2nd April

A nice cool day today which is perfect for riding. Mark rides Stormy and the last 3 days of me practising Relaxation, Willingness, Impulsion and Flexibility with B&S paid off too. Stormy had some oomph and showed off his canter, Bella had lovely calmness and showed me her slow trot which I could actually sit to 🙂 fab.

Bella sidles to mounting block either side with relaxation.

Following Stormy is fun

Side-by-side work in walk with some trot is working out well.

Stormy trots/canters up the hills and Bella stays with me in walk 😉

Bella all 4 feet on pedestal….she really had to think but did it well.

A cue for dismounting 😉 LOL

Sat 3rd April

Managed a lovely training session with Bella today. We did walk and trot RtR with a lovely loose rein and a fab canter at the end. Love it when all the preparation and training starts to really pay off 😉

Connection

Lovely jump with canter between while we warm up

Canter and jump

Lovely loose rein walk around round pens and then onto RtR loose rein trotting 😉

Love this pic, she is so balanced, I sit back a bit as we were going slightly downhill and her trot is BIG 🙂

Bringing some canter work into our sessions Will be working more with this w/relaxation.

Lovely sidepass over the log…

…and end of session connection still there 😉 🙂

Sun 4th April

Well we’ve had weather warnings of high winds from the N-NW and SNOW so best option is to bring the horses home as more sheltered here from North wind and we can rug them quickly later on. Best of all is that we get to hack them home together. It was a lovely ride, loose rein, some trotting, past cattle (thankfully not close) and a wee canter up the first hill 🙂

Stormy cantering up hill, we just moseyed up.

On the track to home

Horses seen the cattle but not a problem…Bella does keep an eye on them 😉

Last piece and nearly home

Home……all settled in and ready for the night ahead 😉

Mon 5th April

Well…glad horses home BUT a complete non-event so far. Woke up to 1mm dusting of snow, no winds and sunshine/blue skies!! lol It was about -6 last night so glad horses had rugs on. Rugs off now and enjoying the grassy paddocks 😉

Wed 7th April

We have on/off snow/sun so not able to do much but managed a very small bareback ride which was a lovely way of getting out of the house and connecting with my big girlie <3

Fri 9th April

Undemanding time with B&S today as the ‘hounds & guns’ out today on the estate. Nothing untoward went on and horses on their toes but not spooked or running around. Was really nice that they kept coming up to me for reassurance and a treat now and then for being such good horses 😉

All went quiet in the afternoon so we took them out for a mini-hack up the big hill behind our house and onto a the moor. We didn’t go out for long as it was very windy and freezing cold blowing up on the moor but managed to get a few snippets of video of it :

Sun 11th April

Mark trimmed Stormy’s feet today so I did a bit of filming for some more Mini Challenges with Bella 😉

Mon 12th April

Lovely blue skies and sunshine after a -6 night and we go out for a nice wee hack again. Up the bill hill to the moor (didn’t go onto them today as some heather burning going on) but back down, along the track to the cattle and back then into the field opposite our house where they did small jump over the stream and some grazing with a nice trot and canter back to the house and field 😉

Tues 13th April

A nice day today (although -9 last night) so had some chill out time, grazing and some fun play for Bella with some natural obstacles.

Fig 8’s around stones

Sidle to stone then put a foot on small stone

Jump the stream and then go up a steep bank

Back down the steam bank and jump the stream at the bottom

Up and over a big stone then put a foot on a small stone

Through narrow gap of two trees…then turn and draw …..

and back up through the gap.

Sidle to gate on the right

then dhq to sidle to left

what a good girl 😉

Having a ‘moment’ together and then a big huggle 😉

Thurs 15th April

Great weather today so another fab hack out onto the moor with Bella, Storm and Mark 😉 🙂

Fri 16th April

Managed a short bareback ride on Bella this afternoon 😉

Sat 17th April

At last the weather has broken from being around -4 to -9 at night with high winds to mild so after 2 weeks at home they can go back to the big field and enjoy the space and bit of grazing coming in now 😉 Always LOVE them being at the house as we can pop out to see them, jump on bareback, keep an eye on them and put rugs on when freezing BUT love the big field as it gives them more room to move and more opportunity to play, ride and train 😉

Sun 18th April

Went down to see the horses in the afternoon and set up some new obstacle spaces as want to film Bella’s 12th lesson soon. I also put the Liberty Agility Roundpen set up back up to play with that again…so ready to play and ride when next I go down 😉

Wed 21st April

Spent the afternoon filming some new Mini Challenges which was fun. Bella did so well and we ended up with the last one riding with a big flag 😉 🙂 SO KOOL 🙂 🙂

<3 What a clever girlie <3

Thurs 22nd April

Spend time grooming Bella with Mark doing Stormy. It is quite hot today so no big play/ride but a nice wee bareback potter about 😉

Started off some Cordeo riding, using the neck rope along with normal reins so she can learn signals by association.

Really nice start and some sidepassing too. Went onto riding in the field with reins looking for some flexibility.

Lovely afternoon ride and some really nice moments of connection 😉

Fri 23rd April

Very hot today so just did had some Liberty fun with Bella and then Mark rode Stormy about the field 😉

Start off going around the course with headcollar on for confidence 😉

Used ‘normal’ headcollars today as yesterday there was just too much static electricity between me and Bella and I ‘zapped’ her by mistake a few times.

I then quickly took her halter off and she was so good, confident, calm, playful and fun 😉

Even liberty sidepass over the long pipe 😉

Confident under things so much more now 😉

What a clever girl 😉

Sat 24th April

Did some more trot around the field getting more consistent with the gait and transitions 😉

Sun 25th April

Nice P2P trot to start with, Bella is starting to lengthen her trot stride and really covering the ground now.

Also added a few strides of canter which went well

After a short break we did some bullseye – leg yielding pattern to help with her flexibility as she is still a bit ‘braced’ on her right side

Then another short break which is always good between difficult patterns

Really lovely flexibility through the trot weave today and finished on a wee jump

Weds 28th April

Quick play/ride with Bella in between studying my college course and rain. Lovely ride with Bella picking up our two newest habits…
1. Canter P2P’s
2. Jump with canter depart

She is getting the hang of this training malarky 🙂

Tues 29th April

Rainy on/off today, went down to play/ride with Mark but it started hailing then rain/drizzle SO took wee opportunity to do some ‘mirroring’ with Bella when there was a gap in the weather, connected nicely with her, then went home before we got drenched again 🙂

Fri 30th April

Another day where I get out between studying and today’s wetness falling from the sky…today’s being HAIL!!! Another nice wee ride on Bella putting some time on canter P2Ps and the jump with a canter depart thereby putting canter into our routine more regularly now 😉 Really nice BUT also had a lovely saunter ride with big Stormy too…always a pleasure riding him <3

Ready to rock’n’roll

A FAB way to end APRIL…onto MAY tomorrow….

• Shelley – HorseSavvy