Bella & Stormy (2023)

Sun 2nd

Finally put all 14 Trec obstacles together so that Bella and I can practise it…before we film it. I am not going to practise too much, I know the obstacles we need to try to get better so will be working on those individually.

What is Trec and why am I putting up a course? Well, Trec is a horse sport that started in France, as the Trec UK website states: ‘TREC is a sport intended to test the skills of a horse and rider in planning and executing a long distance ride in unfamiliar country. It originated in France as a way of testing and improving the skills of trail ride leaders, and was introduced into the UK in the early 1990s.’

It has three parts to it with the competition. Firstly a cross country section (learning to orienteer with map and compass) very similar to hacking out, then an obstacle section and then the paces section. The obstacle section is very similar to what I do and train with Horse Agility (although agility has more imagination with the tasks done with each obstacle and can change and rearrange them as much as wanted) and the paces will be fun to learn as we have to do a Fast Walk then a Slow Canter 😉

AND…why am I doing it? Well, after training a good horsemanship foundation on my horses I do things like this to test our connection and to see where we are with training…it puts ‘a purpose to the principles’ of horsemanship and everything I do 😉 I will be able to see the things that are in place and also the things we can work on to get better SO it’s a test and a test is not a win or fail, it’s a place where we can just see where we are and know where to progress 😉

So, here is my course…..mostly the obstacles but I’ve also included the paces.

The 14 obstacles are as follows:

1. Immobility: horse stands still in the pole square while I walk around one way then the other
2. Mounting: ask horse to sidle to mounting block, mount then dismount and ask horse to sidle up to the mounting block on other side
3. Gate: open, walk through then close without taking hand off rope gate…repeat back the other way
4. Rein back: into parallel poles to the end then backup to the start of poles then walk on
5. ‘S’ bend: walk around poles in S shape without touching poles
6. Bridge: between bunting lanes and over wooden ‘bridge’
7. Water: walk through water or simulation such as a tarp with or without water in it
8. Bending: trot through a weave
9. Low branches: simulation using upright poles with crossbars
10. Jump: trot or canter into and out
11. Fig 8: trot pattern using one hand only
12. Uphill then downhill: any gait
13. Fast walk: fastest without going into trot
14. Slow canter: slowest without going into trot

Tues 4th

Managed to get out with the horses and Mark today. Started doing some obstacle practise with Bella and the Trec stuff and she was so good. I think she (and Stormy w/Mark) really enjoy the challenges we give them and also they enjoy the time we spend together. Here’s some pics of us working on line through the obstacles.

I LOVE the way Bella ducked her head when I ducked mine through the low branch simulation (archways), really helped me know that she can do this. I was going to do that obstacle in trot but know generally it’s done in walk or canter as those two gaits are smoother and not bumpy.

It was Mark and Stormy’s turn to have some fun afterwards, they did it at liberty and Stormy showed he knew exactly what he was doing 😉 such a big clever boy 🙂

Lastly Bella and I did our first ridden practise session with it all. All went pretty well. The obstacles I knew would be new or not fixed in our general training need a bit more practise but for today I was very pleased with her bravery and try throughout 😉

Obstacles needing more practise are: gate, arches, slow canter, up hill and one handed fig 8’s.

I’m looking forward to getting out to do a bit more and progressing to where it all flows together more 😉

Fri 7th

Today Bella and I tried the Trec out properly. Mark video’d it all for us, warts and all. You can see she is needs more work on the gateway but when I forgot to open the end of the arena up and had to do the gateway again it went quite well. We also need to work on the slow canter…we’re just doing more canter work so this is a fun challenge for us both. What I was SO happy with was the fab first round of obstacles, nice smooth under the low branches (archways), the fig 8 one handed, the jump and the fab canter uphill 🙂

We will continue practising this course, between other things to make sure we get plenty of cross training and fun 😉 Here’s the video from today….

Sun 9th

Just had a bit of fun riding around the field on Bella with Mark and Stormy 😉

Me and Bella…..really love this big girl, she tries her heart out and makes me feel so safe

We started with just going around the round pens in trot….consistent, rhythmic, balanced trot

Then we went to try out our 2023 challenge…this is to canter around the round pens in a fig 8 pattern. This means we’ll do one full circle on the left lead and one on the right lead AND hopefully with a SLC in the middle. A SLC is a ‘simple lead change’ and is when we get to the centre of the fig 8 we come down from canter to a trot for a couple of strides and then back up into canter with the different canter lead 😉

TODAY….we managed almost full circles around the round pens in canter. This is a fabulous FIRST for us today and she was relaxed, balanced, willing and on the correct canter leads….So impressed and SO glad we’ve taken our time finding relaxation in canter before trying this 😉

It might not seem a big deal to many but this is a BIG DEAL for us…to have us both relaxed and for me to be ‘feeling’ the reins and not holding or pulling her into the circle was fab. So light, polite and such happy canters 😉

We then went on to test our one handed trotting fig 8’s around the tyre piles too 😉 Slowly getting ready for another try at Trec.

Mark and Stormy took it all in their stride, did some lovely cantering up a hill and then trotting fig 8’s too 🙂

Tues 11th

Had to do a ‘saliva’ test with Stormy today (part of our regular worming test program) and he needed to stop eating/drinking for half an hour SO I groomed him and then rode him bareback for a bit. Just a lovely plod but asking for a nice, even, big stride out 😉

Stormy is always such a good boy and it was a lovely ride.

Bella came over thinking I had a treat for her but no treats, just some fussing and lotsa Love <3

Best pic of B&S together <3

Then after a nice groom I rode Bella. We did a lovely workout of consistent trotting around the field helping to get both our energy, core strength and fitness better. She did very well keeping in gait for me and it was a lovely dry sunny day so glad I rode them both as I think we have a day of rain tomorrow.

Sat 15th

Chilly day but nice for riding

Decided to try a nice wee hack out…Stormy wasn’t feeling like he wanted to do it

but we got out of the field and a bit down the track which was enough for Storm

Bella did a good job of leading a lot of the way back, such a brave girl she is

Mark and Storm took it nice and slowly

Bella and I did the same, nice and slow, calm with a lovely soft walk

Back in the field we enjoyed stretching the walk out a bit more and then watching the lambs and ewes in the field below for a bit

Really nice to just be out and about with the horses in dry weather 😉

Tue 18th

Decided to bring Storm & Bella back to the home paddocks just for a change of scenery for them and to have them at the back door for a few days. Love doing this, it gives us a wee hack out and then lots of hugs and treats because they’re so close for a few days 🙂

They both did so well being so close to the Highland cows and their calves 😉

Wed 19th

Spent an hour or so trimming Bella’s feet while Mark did Stormy’s feet 😉

Fri 21st

Principles to a Purpose: Took this ride like an Agility or Trec course, trying to find different things to walk around, over, under and through. Also different things to remount off when needed. Using the plan of trying to make the hack out more interesting and doing more things was a lot of fun

 

Just LOVE that Bella is good at sidling to anything I ask for me to remount after having to open/close a gate.

I used a gate, then this big stone and finally one of the field jump wings 😉 🙂

Sat 22nd

Right canter started at a near gallop, settled her down, got the bend in her ribs and relaxed for a bit before trying for a calmer canter to the right. Not a full circle but definitely calmer

Well, February was a great start to the year and hopefully it will continue through March. This month I’ll be trying to mix things up to keep training fun. We call this ‘cross training’ and it will help Bella cope with multiple training styles but I’ll do things more than once if the first time she struggles with the change so that’ll help her find confidence.

The types of training will be:
Loose rein riding, one hand riding and connected rein riding around the field with transitions and dressage moves such as leg yields.
Transitions around the round pens building up to canter SLC’s in fig 8 pattern (Simple Lead Change).
Agility, online, liberty and ridden (using one set of obstacles per month but working them in different configurations and/or different challenges per obstacle).
Dressage in my field arena (Consisting of many different transitions and shapes)
Hacking out (different routes with multiple gaits.
Rope circling in w/t/c.
Trec training (new for us but like agility)

So hoping this month will build on the last one nicely.

Weds 1st

Today I took S&B for another walk, after the last hack where Bella had a wee spook when a stone fell down the steep bank making a weird noise I wanted to make sure she was ok going in the same area again SO….groomed and haltered up we go around the fields. Then before we get to home I turn around and go back in the opposite direction letting them graze regularly for motivation and rewards. Because all goes really well, before we go over the wooden bridge again, I change direction and take them towards the river. This direction there a few distractions….there are often ducks on the river so they squawk and fly up when we get nearby (not today though, so all went calmly well). Then there is the ‘gateway’ we go through which used to give Bella some trouble, it’s often boggy (not today thank goodness), right next to the fast flowing river but also the fence next to it is just a few posts with a very thin electric wire (so it’s hard to see and has some ‘electric energy’ off it!). I hate the fence because if a horse bolted they would not see the wire and it could be disastrous, that’s why I hate it ;(

Anyway, the walk went really well, they were calm, connected to me and happy to have wee munchies of grass along the way 😉

Just testing out my new phone/camera’s SlowMo mode…..

At the water trough after our walk 😉

Fri 3rd

Such a beautiful day after a cold start today. Out for a hack towards the village, just wanted to do half way, to the big wooden bridge and build up their fitness so we can do the village shop later on in the year 😉

Stunning views.

Mark got off and walked a wee bit….

….but got on again at the next gate 😉

Both horses stopped before the wooden bridge, where we were going to turn for home. We just sat on them and waited patiently for them to get curious. Next time I asked her to walk on she did so beautifully. Once over we turned around for home again and she happily trotted over it for home 😉

Bella dying to get in front….she did a fabulously calm, rocking horse canter up the last hill to the home gate 😉

Stormy did a nice plod home <3

Sat 4th

Another dry, blue sky day here….cold in the morning but ok in the afternoon for a ride in the field. Today I wanted to test our leading Storm from Bella and then try out my dressage test.

Bella has only done this a couple of times before and first time this year.

She did really well and although a moment of ‘whoa’ when I took Storm’s ropes and flapped them on her side, but she quickly calmed down again which was great.

Going through our ‘dressage test’ she found her strong trot again.

We worked on our curves with some 20m circles.

She did a couple of ‘skips’ into canter in our trot work so I just ignored it and continued working on the trot.

Then we did some canter work. This is the FIRST time she’s been balanced enough to canter in the ‘arena’ area and I am going to build on this so we can get the canter going along the long side, curve the short side and down the next long side 😉

Working on canter (and walk/trot) in a straight line too which is hard when one long side of the arena doesn’t have a fence to work from.

Really lovely that she follows me after our ride together….she knows there’s a peppermint when she’s been untacked and groomed.

Sun 5th

Today we decided we need to bring the horses back to the house as we’ve had snow and ice warnings for the next 7-10 days SO we decided to ride them back.

The weather is chilly and I’ll be happy to have them back at the house where we can check on them anytime we want and put on/take off rugs when necessary.

Went past some sheep and then through the field of Highland cattle….

….Bella looking back at the cattle. She did well and sidled up to the gate for me to get off to open it and then when through it she sidled up again for me to get back on 😉

Nearly home now and it was fun to take slightly different tracks along the way

Bella leading at the end and once in the field they ate some hay then went wandering to look for munchy grazing if any about….might be a bit early for munchies but they’ll have a good look for some 🙂

Mon 6th

This morning, Mark feeding the  beasties. S&B had rugs on last night as forecast snow/rain and very cold but to be honest they probably didn’t need them as it didn’t really come down much. They were happy to have them off this morning but it will be a constant check on forecast for the next few days and on/off rugging going on 🙂

Weds 8th

We have snow warnings for tomorrow SO took the sunny opportunity to have a short walking hack out with S&B. Up the hill behind us to the moor gateway, back down and then into the field opposite our house and back. It was great to take advantage of the weather, albeit pretty cold, and to stretch their legs a bit before maybe being snowed in for a while

Lovely ride out, just walk as the ground is very hard, but a fab way to spend an hour in the afternoon with best buddies and a blue sky 🙂

Fri 17th

Well it’s been just about 2 weeks since S&B had to come back to the house paddocks due to snow, rain, wind etc. I’m glad they were here as it made putting rugs on and taking them off easier for us and it’s always lovely to have them closer to home for a while BUT today, with the days mild temperatures we rode them back to their big field again 😉

Bella and me waiting for Mark to mount…and we’re off 😉

Taking the soft grassy route

Following Stormy with a nice steady plod

Bella leading…spotting the Highland cows with calves in the next field

I opened the gate to the cow field and decided to walk Bella in-hand through it as she was a
little distracted by the cows by the track and also the cute babies…Bella loves babies 😉

Through the cow field and used the gate to remount. The back pack I used today I’ve had for absolute years, my dearest uncle Laurence bought it for me when I used to ride my old horse Tara to the village and back. SO, to Uncle Lal…it’s still going strong and still the best backpack for riding a horse 😉

Stormy waiting patiently for me and B 😉

Last leg of ride and then smoothly back in the big field. I took Bella’s saddle and bridle off so she could stretch her legs and keep up with Mark and Storm 😉

After having a lovely groom this morning Stormy is now a mucky boy after this roll in the mud 😉

Mon 20th

We’ve been having drizzle and rain up here so not a lot of mild, dry weather to do much in BUT this morning I did the horses (feed and poo pick) and then decided to have a wee potter in walk around the field a bit on Bella. As it was just a quick plod I put Storm’s bareback pad on him, put my hard hat on and then rode in her rope halter and lead rope made into reins. It was a really impromptu moment, always the best moments, and I really enjoyed it. We just walked around the round pens then went around my circle of cones where we did some weaving doing turns with the outside rein, neck reining, and then did some circles where we stopped at each cone and side passed over it alternately left and right 😉

Ready to ride with Storm’s bareback pad….I made this pad years ago and it’s been the best bareback pad I’ve ever used 😉

Stormy decided to follow us around for a bit too which was fun

Storm waiting for his treat after I gave one to Bella 😉

This was Stormy following us side by side for a bit

Bella doing fab breath out stops in between my two round pens

Working both horses, asking Bella forward whilst asking Stormy to back up at the same time 😉 🙂

Tues 21st

Started off the morning after feeding with some nice liberty play around the agility obstacles

Bella was leading but Stormy enjoyed coming along for a treat or two 😉

Standing still in a pole box. Walk over low jump. Forwards & back along parallel poles.

Draw towards me over the pole square

LOVE horses that come to call….these two are fab.

Great energy

Superb FOCUS and willingness combined with desire to be with me 😉

Ended the session with another wee impromptu bareback ride, this time I used a CORDEO rope (neck rope) to start teaching Bella to be ridden bridleless 🙂 : ) 🙂

It uses my own focus, body moves, weight and voice cues that we’ve been working on since backing her in 2019….now it’s all getting lighter and lighter…can we harmonise through our movements to get gaits and turns? 😉

It was a good start today, just a bit of walk and turns in big fig 8’s….only used reins at the start to help associate those cues with the cordeo ones.

Thurs 23rd

Chilly but a nice day to do a bit more bareback riding on Bella 😉

Checking out our basic walk, stop, backups 😉

A great, light backup shows you have a good halt 😉

Managed to get some nice transitions up and down from walk to trot

Glad I got to do trot, I’ve been suffering from bouts of vertigo (no….that’s not a fear of heights) which has me very dizzy and unbalanced so trotting wasn’t an option recently…mind you, riding wasn’t an option recently! lol

Nice turns and some nice neck reining in fig 8’s in the round pen

Also some nice sidepassing over cones, alternating left and right over each one we pass.

< LOVE this pic….focused, head up and nice energetic steps 😉

Another nice pic when we stopped >

Sat 25th

Another fab opportunity to familiarise to our friend’s digger as we asked him to come and scrape some soil from in front of their shelter, preparing form some Mud Control slabs to help stop it all being so muddy when it rains 😉 They did so well and Bella was brave and curious enough to actually walk really near to it once the engine was off 😉

Sun 26th

Went out and thoroughly groomed both S&B. They are both moulting madly so they thoroughly enjoyed their pamper time 😉

I then decided it was early enough to maybe have a wee plod around on Stormy and then Bella…all looking good to start, looking forward to having some ride time with them both. I tacked up Stormy and we managed about 5 mins of walking about and then it started to hail down on us SO I quickly dismounted and called it a day.

Mon 27th

Sunshine and blue skies today (still chilly and very cold last night) but a great day for a ride or two 😉

Asking Stormy to put some effort in to his walk, he really stepped up for me and started to walk faster which is what I was aiming for, to stretch his legs 😉

He offered a couple of lovely balanced trots which I took and had a really lovely wee ride on him. Not much but a good stretch 😉

Bella showing she still fits onto the pedestal 😉

Lovely light, balanced, rhythmic sitting trot today…really nice and relaxed

Got a wee bit of canter around the round pen to the left too today. Building up slowly to the challenge this year of full circle canter to the left and right around the 2 round pens 😉

Some very light leg yields on a circle today too…both to the left and right

And checking our connection after our ride too 😉 : )

Thurs 31st

Today was hard work but well worth it…..next to the horses field shelter we have rubber matting that has been quite good at keeping the area from getting muddy BUT outside that section, outwith the shelter overhang, it was getting quite muddy and squidgy. We decided to invest in something more sturdy than rubber matting on this section. The slabs are from a company called Mud Control, they’re recycled hard plastic and are very good at going on squidgy mud and to keep the area from getting that way 😉

First we got a friend in with a digger to take a small layer of the squidgy mud off the top to allow the MC slabs to sit lower…then we started to lay them, one row at a time 😉

Stormy was very curious and brave and I put one slab out for him to investigate, also to keep him from getting in the way 😉

He was so cool…standing on it and sniffing it 😉

Bella came over to check it out too and went over the 3 lines of them back and forward easily.

First pic here just before the finish…we then put some of the old mud onto the edges so that they lay flat and the horses won’t clap their hooves on the edges….the free edge on the right (last pic) is set up ready to take another 5 rubber mats to hopefully complete it all 😉

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

Wed 1st

WELL….today we have cold but sunny weather and I decided today was a good day to get out with the horses. The last week or so we’ve had noisy disruptions from pheasant shooting to chain sawing near the horses so understandably S&B have been a wee bit spooky and not wanting to go in their shelter for rest and food ;( I thought maybe get down there and do some ‘relaxation’ work while there was some noise going on BUT when I got there it was calm, peaceful and the chain sawing has now finished so I missed that but they were still not happy with half the field! SO….I groomed them both and got Stormy ready to ride but then played with him whilst walking down the field from ‘safe’ area to ‘scary’ area. Working on S2M, backing up and then reapproaching the scary area.

Bella came for a bit then stopped and waited. When we got the some hay I let Stormy eat and relax and Bella found her way to us to eat too. I then took Stormy onwards to play with the pedestal and then the ‘scary’ shelter. We played going in and out of the shelter, forward into it then backing into it. He got over his initial worry and started listening more to me and I used +R (treats) to help make it all more positive for him. Bella didn’t come any closer to the shelter and when I got on Stormy she cantered fast back to the ‘safe’ area and I connected to Stormy through Lateral Flexion of his head and then sidepassing into leg yielding to keep his mind and feet on me and where I wanted to go and at my speed. It worked really well.

We got back to the ‘safe’ area and did some ridden play with poles: backing up between poles, backing up then over single pole with 2 feet then all 4 feet. Sidepassing over a pole then sidepassing over the whole pole longways. Putting foot into hula hoop and then some small, precision fig 8’s around jump wings, transitions through a narrow bunting lane, trot poles and finished on a lovely trot weave around the jump wings 😉 He’s such a good boy, think he enjoyed himself 😉

Next I got Bella ready with her bitless bridle and bareback pad. I went to the mounting block and got on, she was fine but was then distracted by a nearby tractor and wasn’t paying attention to me, she was twitching in her shoulders as I asked her to walk on and she jumped a bit SO I got off and went to playing around the obstacles to reconnect to her mind and feet. Once I felt she was paying attention more and we were more connected I sidled her over to a jump wing and practised jumping up and down on it, laying over her back and flapping my arms about ready to remount. I then managed to jump on and just sit still with her for a while allowing her to focus on relaxing her body so that her mind could relax 😉

When we did our bit of riding I just kept asking her to do small curves to make up a fig 8. Once the small 4 curves go well start doing two small circles with rests between to make up the fig 8’s. Finally when I feel we’re really connected and working together we do some single full fig 8’s, rest and treats in centre for reward 😉 It was lovely to be on her back again, bareback too…it’d been 10.5 weeks since I last rode her (since 8th Dec last year) but the weather was just against us. I know now I will have to go through all the basic’s again, restart with slow stuff but she’ll be back being ridden out again this year quicker than last year and am looking forward to having a lot of riding/hacking fun with her and Stormy this year <3 

Fri 3rd

Finally some decent weather, not too cold and no drizzle.

Managed to have a nice ride on Stormy, with a saddle for a change.

Felt really nice to ride him and then also ride Bella.

It wasn’t a big ride but a nice ‘start to the year’ for them both.

Stormy just goes into the year with a nice plod and a bit of fun.

With Bella I start her out doing all the basic’s again to reaffirm our connection.

Our start consisted of:
1. groom at liberty
2. tack up at liberty
3. play some games to connect us. We did S2M transitions to connect our breathing andenergy
4. stand still at the mounting block
5. stand still once mounted
6. check lateral flexion L&R
7. check disengagement L&R
8. check back up
9. forward and stop on breath in/out

Then we just poodled about for a bit working on our left and right turns from my seat/weight/leg aids, we stayed in walk but did some halt/backup transitions.

She was really good and it was nice to start our year going back over the basic’s. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue building on this when the weather allows 😉

Sat 4th

No pics today but managed to get out and have fun with Bella and then Stormy around the first Agility course I put together. The course has developed over the last few days on paper and I use this chance to test it out so that I can use the course for students in March 😉

The course consists of:
1. Bunting lane
2. 4 x trot poles
3. Single pole to halt over
4. Curtain
5. 2 x parallel poles on ground to halt and back up in
6. 4 x pole box with crushed bottles in
7. small jump
8. tarp to walk/halt/walk over
9. 6 x cone weave
10. hulahoop…front feet in 😉

Tues 7th

Between showers I managed to get out but only ride Stormy as showers stopped the fun.
But Bella was fab and stayed by the mounting block and quad bike the whole time I rode Stormy which was great as there the estate were chain sawing and moving logs with a big tractor which last week had her running around high headed in the field.

Hopefully I’ll get a ride on Bella this week 😉

Thurs 9th

Nice weather (although a bit windy) means only ONE thing…..FUN WITH HORSES and MARK 🙂

We had a nice potter around the field together, checking basic’s of walk/halt/backup/walk/trot’s and our left/right turns with forehand and hindquarters. Also did a bit of trot work (Mark and Stormy did canter too). What a lovely way to start the year with Mark and the horses 😉 Onwards & Upwards 🙂

Bella & I did some ridden agility too 😉

Weave, sidepass, halt in x box….

walk/halt/backup in bunting land

Trot poles 😉

Trot through bunting lane

Into and back up in parallel poles

Slow plod back with Mark and Stormy to the mounting block 😉

Fri 10th

A lovely day for a quick ride on Bella. Getting some basic hours of riding in to start the year off nicely.

Started with Liberty grooming, putting bridle and saddle on. I like doing these things at liberty as it shows a trust between us but also if she needs/wants to move away she can and I’ll listen to her and try to figure out what she’s trying to tell me…can mean sometimes I don’t get her tacked up or ridden but that’s what the partnership is all about…listening to each other 🙂

She did so well and so I mounted and we had a nice short ride.

Today I was just checking we had some nice soft transitions (walk/halt/backup/walk and then trot too), that we had nice flexibility in our turns and curves and that we were able to find straightness together with loose reins and connected reins 😉

Stormy followed us around a bit too which was fun 😉

Sat 11th

Loving this dry weather at the moment, managing to get some nice riding on Bella for the start of the year. I always try to start her off slowly with the things she already knows well, some nice  walk/halt/backups to begin with, then get more into trot and leg yields/sidepassing.

It didn’t take long this Springtime to get her into a bit more trot, finding her balance and flexibility along the way.

We also did our first jump this year as this helps me fathom out how her trot/jump/canter depart is going which helps me know when to do more canter.

This year is going to be about relaxation in canter for us. We’ve done relaxation in walk/halt/backup/trot transitions and she learns pretty quickly SO finding that relaxation in canter is the next step. Horses, like all prey animals, use running as an escape from predators SO teaching her to relax, think and be calm with me when in canter is against what she understands for running in the wild part of her brain but I need to show her how to run calmly so her brain is still connected to me and her feet and that running becomes a calm conscious decision rather than a flee from danger process 😉

We did finish on a really nice walk up a steep hill but then she decided to GALLOP to the top with me having to really turn her to the right before she ran into Stormy…..she was a bit in fleeing mode but also a bit in YEEHAA mode…she came down nicely and we did some cooling down exercises to make sure we were re-connected well before stopping. I think it really just took me by surprise the amount of sheer energy and power she had in what I thought was going to be a nice calm canter but turned out to be a full on run….wow wee is all I can say…the girl has some power in her hindquarters to bring on that kind of speed up a steep hill 🙂

Sun 1th

Trimmed Bella’s feet today and then continued our Springtime start to the year. Started inside the round pens working on walk circles into bullseye then into leg yields out…this helps us both work on our flexibility, and being ‘straight on a curve’ 😉

We then went to the cone and tyre circles to work on some weaving and again the arc in Bella’s body whilst working on them.

We then circled the round pens and cone/tyre circles in trot, again asking for that nice curve in our bodies to keep working on arc of the circle. When she was calmly doing circles with a nice arc I then asked her to canter between the round pens and continue the canter to the left first and the right the 2nd time…all went well and it was lovely to have a nice calm canter today 😉

We finished with nice soft walk fig 8’s to cool her down after her exercise as she had just a wee bit of sweat on her.  Lovely day, lovely ride 🙂

Mon 13th

AND SUNSHINE TODAY Trimmed her feet then did another session of Springtime basic’s. It’s all going along really well, here’s what we did today:

3) large fig 8 pattern over whole field with middle between the roundpens…..walk 10 strides, trot 6 strides then canter through the middle for 4 laps

Yeehaa, really enjoyed today and love it when a plan is coming together. The consistency of getting to ride every day and also the training patterns are really helping Bella to have relaxation, co-operation, impulsion and flexibility much more. What a great start to our year

Human responsibilities =

Act like a partner, not like a predator.

Have an independent seat. (or independent feet)

Think like horse before you think like a human.

Use the natural power of focus.

She was FAB to the left and right and it was a proud mum moment that she is now SO balanced, flexible and ready to canter she just did it 😉 <3

We got down easily and calmly too 😉 Stormy did this ‘flehmen’ move with his nose…this is where a horse takes in new smells over it’s top palette and nose. It’s quite fascinating and he did it a couple of times which told me he was smelling something new or something he needed to take in again to figure out what it was.

Main flat field called ‘the haugh’ just below their own field and they took opportunities to grab at some grazing the whole way and I was quite happy with that as it helped them be calm,

Lovely walk so far, really enjoying just being with them and in the peace that is usually around this area 😉

We then negotiated a wooden bridge with a gateway where we went over and then had to turn and face the gate to be able to do it back up. They did superbly…..all the training I do comes into it’s own when doing this sort of thing 🙂

Finally we get to the last hill toward their field. When ridden they usually trot or canter up this hill, it’s a lot of fun but today I asked them to walk so that they didn’t run away from me and they did a great job 😉

Last pic of them back in the field <3

Sun 26th

Today’s main aim was ‘body dynamic riding’. This is one handed riding doing turns, or in our case weaving, through our eyes, shoulders, belly button, seat weight, outside leg with inside leg holding and the inside rein loose or open and the outside rein used as a neck rein. Bella did the best yet and was turning from my seat weight, body turn and light guidance with the rein