{"id":4910,"date":"2020-09-01T13:42:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T13:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horsesavvy.co.uk\/?p=4910"},"modified":"2020-09-28T17:04:16","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T17:04:16","slug":"bella-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horsesavvy.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/09\/01\/bella-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Bella – September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mon 1st Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well can’t believe it’s September already…where HAS the year gone? But looking back over this last year I can see how much I’ve done with beautiful Bella and that on the 12th of this month, last year, was when I first sat on her and she didn’t know how to move forward…how far Bella and I have come together in just a year of riding \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Today I was quite tired and wasn’t sure I was going to play or ride her so just went down with the intention of giving her a lovely groom and some loving \ud83d\ude09 Once down there she really enjoyed her groom and I decided to put a bareback pad and bridle on her and see if she wanted to play….and maybe a wee ride? \ud83d\ude42 Here’s what we did….<\/p>\n

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Lovely light trot work over the poles and some nice jumping…calm and knowing where her steps are and how much energy needed to jump without over doing it \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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This is two drainage pipes next to each other which makes it the ‘widest’ jump she’s done so far. Again she tackled it calmly and with the knowledge of where to push off, how wide it is and how to land nicely….a nice canter depart the second time.<\/p>\n

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She had fun with the pedestals too today \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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And then I jumped on bareback, she came over to the mounting block beautifully and stood so still for me to get on. Then we did some really nice\u00a0 walk around the agility arena with just a bit of emphasis on turns from my focus\/energy\/weight\/leg aids which I was over joyed to find she really responded well to…clever girl…here’s some pics….<\/p>\n

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Familiarisation taking my jacket off was no problem….she’s so good.<\/p>\n

Learning to turn from my seat\/leg\/focus cues went so well and it was nice to be bareback with a loose rein, she enjoyed it too.<\/p>\n

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Nice soft turns, we managed to circle and fig 8 around a lot of obstacles in the agility area.<\/p>\n

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Focused turns….<\/p>\n

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More focused turns \ud83d\ude09 felt very connected to Bella today<\/p>\n

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So lovely to be this connected…we have to do this more and also in trot more<\/p>\n

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Sidepass to the right was really nice today….<\/p>\n

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…and managed to figure out how to help her go to the left which she was having trouble with…gently tapping her right shoulder with my hand….she did it really well so will continue doing this for both ways continuing with my voice cue of ‘over’, which is the same with ground work.<\/p>\n

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Such a clever girl.<\/p>\n

One foot on the small pedestal ridden too \ud83d\ude42 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Bella thinking about the pedestal…..she also did a lovely sidepass AROUND the pedestal which was the first time doing this \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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At the end we did some lovely soft, slow, easy to sit to trot work \ud83d\ude09 \ud83d\ude42 and then on the pedestal for a big treat \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Thurs 3rd Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today was a day of familiarisation…I’ve sewn clips onto a pommel bag that was for a treeless saddle so that I can use it on my Wintec and it fits nicely now. Bella wasn’t concerned at all about the bags or the one on the back of the saddle but I played with her as normal just to make sure.<\/p>\n

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Pommel bags and back bag on and working well<\/p>\n

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jumping not a problem and then I attached my jacket to the top of the pommel back and that wasn’t a problem either \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Then I rode with the bags on too and she wasn’t bothered by the noise or that they were on her wither.<\/p>\n

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Nice trot with the bags bouncing around but no bother for Bella \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Fri 4th Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today we had a nice ride in the big field with Mark and Stormy. We started off with a really nice RtR in walk on a loose rein and then we went into trot. We played with the concept of a slow, sittable, trot and then a faster, rising trot, trot. She did quite well and I will continue working on getting two speeds in trot with her \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Loose rein walk warm up then into a nice steady trot.<\/p>\n

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Lovely trot with two speeds now<\/p>\n

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…AND CANTER….nice easy transition on the flat and we managed to canter almost the length of the field \ud83d\ude09 kool \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Sat 5th Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

A really lovely day for a hack out towards the village….taking it a bit at a time for confidence and to build up strength and stamina….we go half way to the village, to the ‘wooden bridge’ and then back home. Bella did really well and apart from the first hill going down, where I walked with her, I rode the whole way and had some lovely calm walk, trot and out first hack canter on the last hill up to home \ud83d\ude09 So much fun \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Mark and Stormy first started out riding,\u00a0 I walked with Bella first and we led for a while and then Mark walked with Stormy for a while and I rode Bella.<\/p>\n

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Nice calm walk along the track, walked with her down the hill and re-mounted from a gate, all that mounting work we’ve done paying off well now \ud83d\ude09
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Following Stormy to the wooden bridge…they went over first and we rode over after without any problems \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Nicely over the bridge, had some nice grazing after and then back home again…we ride the first big hill no problem \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Following Mark and Stormy all the way home and\u00a0 a lovely calm canter on the last stretch \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Tues 8th Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

A bit tired today so go down without thinking of doing much apart from grooming but ended up exercising Bella in the big field which was a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

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Lovely sidepass and we did a lot of moving circles where I walk around and she circles around me…she decided that canter would be fun….<\/p>\n

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Weds 9th Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Bella and me, Storm and Mark rode together in the big field today.<\/p>\n

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Lots of walk\/trot ‘leap frog’, some nice weaving around flapping flag poles and big canters up the small hill.<\/p>\n

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Then Bella did a great job of staying in trot the whole way around the round pens in a figure 8 pattern.<\/p>\n

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Lovely BIG trot, no stopping or slowing down just a nice consistent trot \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Mark then did it with Stormy too and he went really well too. I think the cooler, breezy weather suits them both well.<\/p>\n

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Played about with familiarisation with my noisy, flappy rain poncho\u00a0 too…not a bother \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Lastly big hugs to both of them from me <3 <3<\/p>\n

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Thurs 10th Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just out again for a quick walk\/trot\/ride with Bella, Mark and Stormy. Lovely leap frog game and a really long lovely canter up the hillock. We’re not doing too much at the moment as the weather is rather changeable but we’re getting some nice exercise and keeping fit \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Sat 12th Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

We had a day off yesterday but today is pretty special as it’s a YEAR since I BACKED her. She started off having no ‘go’, no balance and no understanding of what was being asked but with patience and persistence we now have nice balanced walk, trot AND canter, she can pop a jump, do trot poles, go down hills and back up again, go out for short hacks (longer as we get fitter) and most importantly we have a fabulous ‘breath out’ halt. She is more flexible now and starting doing some basic sidepasses and leg yields. She rides with a loose rein or connected rein and is relaxed and willing. She is such a sweet, lovely girl and I am happy to ride her bareback or with a saddle \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Sun 13th Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we’ve been moving along with Bella’s training I’ve been ticking off some Stage 2 Assessment tasks. She has done a lot of them already and today we did our fig 8’s in trot on a loose rein task…here is the video of her passing this task…<\/p>\n