{"id":5851,"date":"2021-03-01T18:00:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T18:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horsesavvy.co.uk\/?p=5851"},"modified":"2021-03-30T15:00:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T15:00:01","slug":"bella-march-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horsesavvy.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/03\/01\/bella-march-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Bella – March 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mon 1st March<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Out to see horses this afternoon and tried out a bit of Online then Liberty play with Bella in the round pens.<\/p>\n

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Tues 2nd March<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another fine day for a play session with Bella and also Stormy. Mark came down too and took some fab pictures \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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First did some xtreme familiarisation….
\ngoing under Bella’s tummy. She was a supastar<\/p>\n

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We started off working with a neck rope and she did so well, backing through the roundpen gate, going under the arch…<\/p>\n

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…over the trot poles and tarp too…<\/p>\n

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…and not bad through the curtain.<\/p>\n

Enjoyed some scratches, treats and lots of stops to help her think about it all.<\/p>\n

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Then we tried some liberty but she mostly had a spring-time yeehaa so just let her do that before anything else….<\/p>\n

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Then I gave Bella a rest and played at liberty with big Stormy who really enjoyed it and did a great job \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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THEN….I played with Bella at liberty a bit and also ended online to finish on a solid good note \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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< Waiting to be haltered<\/p>\n

Draw through the curtain ><\/p>\n

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< Nice jump<\/p>\n

Canter circle ><\/p>\n

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< Trot poles<\/p>\n

Trot over tarp ><\/p>\n

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< Circle with nice bend in body<\/p>\n

Canter over tarp ><\/p>\n

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< Through curtain again for good measure<\/p>\n

Sidepass over drainpipe ><\/p>\n

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< Sidepass other way<\/p>\n

Back up through narrow gateway ><\/p>\n

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Weds 3rd March<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Today I had a game plan….to work through agility again online and then at ‘half-liberty’…which meant that our liberty session would be without the lead rope but leaving the halter on.<\/p>\n

I tried this as I know Bella works really well in-hand\/online but has never done liberty work and when I set her free she often has a lot of yeehaa time, which I don’t mind, but we loose our ‘focus-connetion’. SO the idea that she can be free to move away if she wants to but still haltered where she understands to ‘stay with me’ is a compromise I think we can work on until we keep that important ‘focus-connection’ for longer. It is a bit of a ‘learned behaviour’ to do as asked haltered but it’s better to work one step at a time for her confidence and not blow yeehaa’s everytime her halter is off or that learned behaviour will stay.<\/p>\n

Here’s some pics I took while she went around the agility at ‘half-liberty’….she did really well \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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< Nice draw over trot poles<\/p>\n

Easily under the arch ><\/p>\n

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< Walked onto\/over the tarp<\/p>\n

Nice trot\/jump ><\/p>\n

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< Asked her to draw through the curtain…<\/p>\n

after she thought about it for a while she did so beautifully at a trot ><\/p>\n

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Thurs 4th March<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chilly day but managed to ride Stormy and play with Bella at liberty again (with halter….which is working really well) here’s some pics…<\/p>\n

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Groomed and saddled, ready to rock and roll<\/p>\n

Ride the rain circles using ‘cowboy’ reins…meaning I used one hand and worked with neck reining and loose reins.<\/p>\n

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Nice Lateral Flex and then onto some clover leaf…taking it all in walk to start with.<\/p>\n

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Enjoying Big Storm..he’s always a nice ride<\/p>\n

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Onto some trot P2P’s between cones scattered around the field \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Bella working so well at liberty with halter on, our connection stays better and so does her concentration…through arch, over tarp…<\/p>\n

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Finding curiosity with the curtain and going through it very well and multiple times…<\/p>\n

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…and again \ud83d\ude42 clever girl<\/p>\n

Jump was good too, had distant communication which is a first and she turned and drew back to me immediatley after the jump today \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Here is a short video of her with the curtain today:<\/p>\n