Bella & Stormy 2024

Wed 1st May

Well, have given Bella quite some time off to see if her ‘lameness’ has gone. She trotted up to me this morning for her apple slices so decided to see how she goes with a short ride this afternoon.

She is ok walking in a straight line, has a bit of bother turning right, short stepping her left front foot and a bit of a shuffle around. She is also not good in trot shown with a small bob of her head when her right front foot is on the ground. It’s almost unnoticeable but it ‘feels off-ish’ ;(

Another few days off (as I’m off working in Dumfries & Galloway for the weekend) and when I return the vet will be called. It’s a bit of a worry but don’t think it’s anything too bad as it’s so mild, she’s putting weight on all 4 feet/legs and not holding one up or wincing in pain….just got to get an expert in to see if they can figure out what’s going on ;(

Thurs 2nd

Today I rode Bella again 😉 Started off with some ‘passenger’ riding which involves me sitting and not really doing any direction. It’s to allow the horse to move where they want, when they want and for the rider to learn to not micromanage and to get into harmony with the horses movements 😉

Bella went well. Allowing her to choose where to go and in which gait allowed her to show me she was happier than yesterday to trot and also canter and I managed to just sit to it and go with her direction.

Afterwards we did some loose rein riding where I gave light cues with my weight, legs and reins. She did some nice turns (still a bit stiffer to the right though), backup, leg yields and sidepass 😉

I’m a happier bunny than yesterday….hoping this mild exercise continues to keep her muscles supple.

Fri 3rd

After Bella’s stiffness over the last couple of weeks I have decided to start using my old ‘Equipedic’ saddle pad under her saddle. I used this for Holly and Solly in the past and glad I kept it just in case as it’s one expensive piece of kit. Tried it out yesterday and today used it when Mark and I hacked S&B back to the house. The pad is very good quality memory foam and quite dense so doesn’t just squidge in the middle. I will continue to use this as long as she is comfortable in it….it will really save her back from any undue pressure she may have had with a regular pad 😉

All tacked up and ready to hack back to the house.

Mark can look after them easier while I’m away teaching in D&G over the weekend.

Lovely ride, hot sun with warm breeze helped us along the way.

S&B very happy to be out and about.

Stormy in fine fettle after a long winter 😉

Mark happy still using the saddle after years using my bareback pad, it’s handy having stirrups at times, helps keep our balance 😉

Following Stormy, Bella’s a happy hacker.

Gateway #2, using the narrow bit this time 😉

And once home they both checked out their new neighbours (a few Highland coo’s) 🙂

Tues 7th

I’ve been away for the weekend teaching some Agility to students in Dumfries & Galloway and today, after a much needed lie in, I took a much needed walk with S&B….taking them back to their big field 😉

Lovely to get my feet back on ground that was familiar…always good to get grounded back at home.

Nearly half way there and S&B are so connected to me, even after some time away.

They were so listening while I regulated my breathing so they stayed calm and in walk for me.

Nearly home and they are still so ‘with me’ and my pace.

The last stretch and we all have a nice rhythmic trot together 🙂 Really lovely that they did this with me today…I feel so blessed to have built, and keep, this connection with S&B.

The last bit we did was to walk the ‘track’ fence line as it’s now closed off for the Summer (apart from riding sessions) and they are on just over half of the grazing. This will be slowly closed off to create their ‘track’ around the perimeter. This creates more walking for them and less grass which could make them ill 😉

Wed 8th

Today I went and set up a new agility course, the same course I set up for my recent agility clinic in D&G. Once put together Bella and I  had a short practise session in walk.

The course obstacles are: 1- Over plastic bottle bank. 2-Under curtain and then back through it. 3-Weave around cones on a circle, change direction and do other way too. 4-Onto large tarp and halt, put smaller tarp over horse. 5-Go into bunting/flag lane, halt over pole in middle, walk on. 6-Jump then halt afterwards. 7-Into ‘T’ shape, turn right and put foot on wood block and then back up out of it. 8-Walk over 4 hulahoops. 9-Go between parallel poles, push ball out, halt and then sidle over one pole so that pole goes between right and left feet. 10-Ground tie horse (basic standstill) then lift feet individually and place into bucket until all 4 feet are in buckets 😉

Tues 14th

Finally got some time with Bella today, between her being a bit ‘offish’ lame and me having a bad back it’s been a while since taking some time with her.

We started with a nice groom and then went around the agility course again online together. THEN I saddled her up and we gently rode it too 🙂

Ready to ride

1. Bottle bank. Walk onto it, halt, walk off

2. Trot under curtain

3. Weave cones on a circle L&R

4. Trot onto tarp, halt, trot off

5. Trot into bunting/flag lane, halt, trot off

6. Jump (no pic of this one)

7. Walk into ‘T’ shaped lane of poles, turn right then place one front foot on the wood block. Back all the way out of the ‘T’ shape 😉

8. Walk through 4 hulahoops

9. Push ball through parallel poles

10. Sidle over one pole (place both left feet over pole)

Great start to more riding hopefully 😉

Weds 15th

Nice ride with Stormy this afternoon. He was a bit slow to start with but once he realised we were playing Point 2 Points with 3 mouthful’s of grass at each point he zoomed about the field

Riding  started slowly but went well, Bella had some time grazing in a round pen while we rode about.

Asked Stormy to herd a wee lambi-kins back to the adjoining field to get back to his momma…..he’s a good shepherd is Stormy 🙂

Doing this regularly at moment as young lambs find it fun to squish through the fence to our field, we don’t mind so much and Bella loves any young animal 😉

So, back to having some fun. Storm was a bit slow to start with but realised after shepherd work that he needed a purpose so we went around the field doing P2P’s (Point 2 Points) where we go to a specific spot, he backed up 2 steps then I give him a cue to put his head down and grab 3-4 mouthfuls of grass…he LOVES this game and soon he went from walking slowly to trotting everywhere…even put in a couple of canters too 😉 🙂

Thurs 16th

No pics today but because of my bad back Mark very kindly trimmed Bella’s hooves this morning and I had another practise on the Agility course I set Dumfries & Galloway students when I was there. I promised to film me and Bella doing it so they could see how we did and hopefully tomorrow we can actually film it…yeehaa 😉 lol

Fri 17th

Managed to get up pretty early this morning and out to feed S&B. Then I cleaned the field (poo picked) and before the sun got hot managed to get a ride in on Bella.

I started off with a little leading Storm off Bella around the round pens 😉 It went really well and so proud of Bella 😉

Then I had a nice 34 min ride on Bella with some lovely walk and managing some nice trot too 😉

Once finished we went up to Stormy, who was happily grazing, got his head up, reattached his lead rope and lead him back to the track while still riding Bella 🙂

S&B Having a nice graze together  😉

LATER TODAY….

Mark and I went out to play with S&B and the Agility course 😉 Here is Mark and Stormy having fun at Liberty….

1] walk through bottle bank.      2] walk under curtain then back up through it.     3] weave on a circle L&R

4] walk onto tarp then 2nd tarp over horse.     5] walk into bunting lane, halt over pole then walk on.     6] jump (Storm just walked over it. lol

7] walk into ‘T’ lane, turn right, foot on wood block then back out of ‘T’ lane.     8] walk through 4 hulahoops (Storm managed his left feet).     9] push ball out of parallel poles, sidepass over pole.

10] and finally put all 4 feet into buckets (I did this as Mark’s back was sore today) 🙂

AND….here is Bella and my attempt at the same course…

Mon 20th

This afternoon was good for a ride of two as it was cooler with a nice breeze SO…..off to ride a horse or two 😉

First was Mr Stormy. Asking for a nice walk with a good step under him to start with and then he offered some really nice trot and then a nice bouncy canter 😉

And then for Bella. I was a bit concerned that this was going to be ‘off’ as it has been the last 2 weeks and that giving her rest time wasn’t working BUT….

I’m a very happy bunny as she offered to trot, trot, trot and then canter too. I just let her do what she wanted gait wise and knew before when ‘off’ she was reluctant to go faster than walk so this was great news.

I felt no ‘offishness’ nor saw any lameness and ‘touch wood’ she is now happy and rideable more again. Whatever it was that caused it hopefully has gone away now, I think maybe it was a bruised sole or heel on her right front foot, maybe from stones near the stream or from when riding to the house. I’m SO pleased she’s happy to offer trot and canter again…….yeehaa 😉

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

Mon 1st April

After a few days up at the house for S&B today we rode them back to their big field

Nice breezy weather but not chilly so made for a lovely ride

S&B both happy to be going back to the big field, they love it there with lots of space to roam

Went through the field with Highland cows and their calves, luckily none on the track

Bella did an outstanding job going next to gates to allow me off to open them and then to get back on too 😉

Gate open to the field so we were able to just ride in and down the big hill to the shelter

Thurs 4th

Lovely day for some exercise. First worked Stormy, mostly walk, just getting his legs to move faster than when he spends all day grazing 😉

He did very well and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I then did similar patterns but more trot work with Ms Bella. She slowly got into it and understood the patterns of small circls off big circles but looking at the ‘map’ I can see that we need to work on the word ‘circle’, hahaha.

Enjoyed just being out and riding my beautiful girlie. She brings a huge smile on my face, they both do 😉

Stretching before being ridden….2 feet on the pedestal and then 4 feet on the pedestal 😉

Bella ‘parked’ at the mounting block waiting patiently for me to jump on board 😉

Mon 8th

Yeehaa…between the days of rain and wind we have some blue skies and puffy clouds today. Not wanting to miss an opportunity I scoot out and ride Storm then Bella 🙂

Stormy:

Mostly walk with a bit of trot and a short canter at the end this was mainly to help Stormy stretch his legs. He’s 21yrs young now so I try not to tax him with anything fast or intricate.

Bella:

Started big fig 8’s around the field in walk, 2nd set was in trot and after a wee rest we did a 3rd set in trot with nice amounts of canter 😉

So pleased we have started to do some canter AND I am pretty pleased that from the ‘map’ I can see we kept to the same path most of the time 😉

Thurs 11th

Early morning ride to the house today with Storm, Bella and Mark 😉 What a glorious day it is too, lovely to see our shadow as we ride.

Managed to clamber onto a dyke wall today to remount Bella…she is such a supa-star and sidled to it like we’d done it a thousand times 😉

Happy at home for the day now  😉

Sun 14th 

S&B stayed at the house for a couple of days but went home to their big field today. It’s not often we ride when it’s raining but it’s just been one of those months. The track is getting very muddy, not mostly from the rain but from the Highland cattle that have been in the field since December through all the bad weather. S&B did very well not slipping. There is one gateway that is always open and recently I have tied the ‘horsey’ sprung gateway back SO today we went through that gap which is mud free compared to the main gateway. S&B did very well going through it and took care not to bang our feet on the gate posts 😉

Tues 16th

Today Mark and I had a few things to do about the field (renew palettes under sheds which hold some bits of agility in and then clearing old hay from their shelter). I noticed Bella laying down near Stormy, who was lovingly watching over her, so I didn’t have the heart to get her up for a ride SO, I took the opportunity to put together our first 2024 agility course 😉

Agility course 2024/1

(the flags and curtain only get put into place when we are playing in the area as it’s still open to S&B and with Stormy being overly curious he is liable to break them or hurt himself on them)

This is the course:

1. 2 front feet in hula hoop  2. weave in walk/trot  3. walk/trot/backup through bunting lane  4. trotting poles  5. flag fig 8’s  6. jump  7. walk/trot/halt/backup tarp  8. curtain  9. stand in box  10. flag familiarisation.

I hope to start working on this online tomorrow, then try some bits at liberty and then riding it 😉

Fri 19th

After spending some time out and about teaching agility to students it was about time I tried my own agility course today. It was pretty windy and we had absolutely no practise around the course but it just felt good to give it a go….here are Bella and Storm’s first Agility play for 2024 😉

Bella…Score 87%

Stormy…..91%

Sat 20th

Lovely day for a ride today so went and had a nice time with Bella. It feels like we’ve started our riding year again as she has lost muscle since Feb (when we did quite a bit of riding) but the grass has started coming up so hoping this continues to build our fitness up again.

We did more walk than trot, hopefully that will change soon to more trot. She was such a good girl and we started riding with the flag again. Walk with the flag fully out and moving around her and then in trot with the flag half open so we can build up familiarisation with the noise of it in the wind 😉

I also trimmed her extensively long jaw line hair as it was getting caught in her bridle (not the whiskers which are very necessary when grazing etc), She looks super sleek now <3

Tues 23rd

Managed to get S&B’s worm count done this morning, took the samples to the postbox then came back to ride S&B.

I rode Stormy first, he was a bit stiff in his legs to start with but with a gentle start in walk and then moved into a faster walk he started to loosen up a bit. He did some nice trot after that and he sprung into canter to finish off 😉

I then tacked Bella up and started her off the same as Storm, some nice gentle walk moving into a faster walk. I then asked her for some trot but she was quite reluctant, this is not like Bella at all, so we went back into walk and I asked a couple of times more for trot. She was reluctant, stiff and felt very ‘off-ish’, she even tried to offer canter as an alternative but I could feel she wasn’t ‘right’ so dismounted and untacked her.

When leaving I asked S&B to follow e and the quad bike for some treats…Bella walked and again very reluctant to go up into trot and when she managed a couple of steps she seemed lame on her front right foot/leg.

I’m going to give her a week off and then try again, if she is still ‘off’ and feeling lame then I’ll get the vet in to have a look at her ;(

• Shelley – HorseSavvy

Thurs 1st

Well, February is here and like last year we’ve got some dry weather (so far anyway). Taking advantage of this mildness I pop on Bella and have a cheeky wee ride. This time in the ‘arena’ where the tyres are in corners and centre. She was a bit ‘fresh’ but by keeping it to curves/circling around the tyres when she was ‘up’ and doing the straight lines when she was calm worked very nicely 😉

Sat 3rd

Managed a lovely play session with Bella, Storm and Mark. Just went through some challenges (where I do a task then challenge Mark/Storm to copy or improve what I did) 🙂 It was a lot of fun and it was fabulous to see both Storm and Bella happy to play, calm and motivated 😉

Wed 7th

Really really cold again here. S&B had rugs on overnight but take them off during the day as the sun is shining beautifully for us 😉 Yesterday Mark and I trimmed S&B’s front feet, we could not do the backs as both horses spooked and we didn’t want to risk being under them doing feet if they spooked again. Could not see what they spooked at but it was very very windy and that always affects them SO…I trimmed Bella’s back feet this morning after poo picking the field and Mark did Stormy this afternoon while I groomed and rode Bella 😉

Did some nice ONE HANDED RIDING: in and back out of narrow gap

Again one handed riding: sidepassing around the jump 😉

One Handed Riding: Weave

Back to regular riding where we did some lovely leg yield weaving 😉

Just a very short trot as ground hard…..trot poles on a curve, encouraging more stretching of the outside legs 😉

Sun 11th

Mild weather and some sunshine today so great chance to give both S&B good grooming sessions (Stormy is moulting big time already) and get some time in the saddle too 🙂

First off I rode Stormy. From his session I was aiming for some motivation and straight lines SO I used P2Ps (Point 2 Points) and as soon as he realised he got to stop, and get a treat often, when we got to our destination he started to go faster each time…fab 😉 He did a lot of trot and a few bits of canter which I didn’t ask for, but his motivation was easy to get when I use the right game 🙂

THEN….Bella’s turn for a ride. Today I was looking to help her find her curve on a bend so we did part of circles and circles…around obstacles to help her get more balanced in the bends 😉

Mon 12th

Again we have mild, sunny weather so time for some more saddle time. Bella only today and working on those curves, bends and circles for that all important body flex around my inside leg These shapes will help us become straighter and is important after not doing much during Winter

Had a nice little play session first and Bella knew just how clever she was when she sidled over the log 😉

Nice walking around the field, getting there on the shapes of the circles and a wee bit of trot too. Don’t want to do too much or she’ll become sweaty (thick coat at the moment) so it’s a balance of getting some movement without overdoing it 😉

Stormy did a great job of following us about a bit today…he knew I had treats in my pockets 😉

Doing some fig 8’s around the round pens we start off with her stretching out and down a bit and me stroking her from the withers up her mane crest which helps her relax into the stretch.

We then went and did some trot fig 8’s in the field with the narrow gap making up the centre….it required focus and accuracy but was a lot of fun and our circle ‘arc’ got much nicer.

I always use Consistency & Variety in my training. Consistency helps horses learn as it gives them a solid understanding of a task while variety helps to keep things progressive and stops them becoming bored.

Today we played with S&B with the same agility obstacles in the area I’d already set them up BUT I changed where the obstacles were to keep it interesting. The jump, narrow gap and hulahoop moved. The cones went into a weave on a circle (instead of a straight line), the tarp had the poles holding it down moved about and the trot poles went from a curve shape to being made into a square It wasn’t a major move but it definitely kept the course fresh

 

Through high narrow gap (she did walk/halt/walk/halt through it)

Then sidepassed towards me 😉

 

Weaving around cones on a circle

Tarp and then poles

Mark and Storm worked at Liberty as they always do…he was making up his own games with the black tube 😉 lol

Fri 23rd

Sunshine and blue skies today…although pretty chilly it’s still a good day to be out and about with S&B.

Didn’t want to do too much or work too fast as ground still a bit hard-ish.

Stormy did a great job working with straight lines and some curves and he decided trotting would be fun so I took his idea and just went with it 😉

Sunshine and Shadows

Bella was a bit distracted after my ride with Stormy due to a telephone engineer van sitting on the road with a flashing light for a while.

But as soon as it went I saddled up and had a lovely ride. Just walk but trying to concentrate on curves, leg yields into bigger curves then changing the curve 😉

She did really well, then the van came back, her head went up and it was a good time to stop, take her tack off and praise her for being such a good girl for me 😉

Mon 26th

It’s gone very chilly up here again although a beautiful blue sky with sunshine always gets us out with S&B 🙂

Mark/Stormy enjoying some riding time.

We started off with some ‘leap frog’ where we walk in line and the back horse/rider then trots past the front horse/rider, gets back in line and transitions back to walk. Then the back horse does the same and so on…it’s a great game for holding each horse in walk whilst the other one trots past and for each horse to listen to it’s rider more.

We then did some individual agility bits which was fun.

Bella sidepassing over big tube and then watching Stormy doing cone weaving.

Storm doing transitions on the tarp and then walking over the ‘trot poles’…..he didn’t want to trot over them 😉

A moment where Bella/Me sidled up to Storm/Mark 😉

Then a few bits of Bella on her own while Mark took pics of us….

Bella in the pole square: first a turn on the forehand to the right and then to the left
(Turn on the forehand = holding the front legs still while the back legs move to the right and/or left making a circle with the back legs). You can also do a turn on the hindquarters which involves keeping back legs still and moving front legs in to right and left….this will be a move we do more of later in the year as it’s harder to do.

Here Bella is circling around the weave cones in trot, she was ok going to the left but when we went to the right she just didn’t ‘feel right’ so we stopped the session as if she’s just a bit sore I don’t want to make anything worse.

Once unsaddled etc I checked her feet, shoulders and leg stretches where she was a bit more reluctant to stretch her front left leg. I’ll give her a few days off and see how she goes after a rest up.

Thurs 29th

Yeehaa…..rode Bella today and she’s back to her normal happy riding horse self after being a bit ‘off’ last time

So glad she was happy to be ridden and not feeling odd

Rode Stormy too which was fun…just walk around the round pens and then trotting the straight lines around the big field

• Shelley – HorseSavvy