Bells' Diary

15.3hh TB Liver Chestnut filly. 2005

By the Irish bred Carmel Head out of a Risk Me mare; Risk of Lightening.

July 2010

Two pictures that say a lot!

A happy and relaxed Bell, working in a outline with a soft contact. She now shows none of her previous resistance and is working really well and happily in the school.

Bell will happily hack out on her own or with another horse - here you can see her taking the lead with her friend Molly behind

June 2010

Trust us - this is a picture of Bell!

It has been a long haul with Bell, but finally after months of resistance she is now happy to take contact. She now has one rider dedicated to her, Mel Christian who joined our yard in April. Mel rides Bell 6 days out of 7 each week and we have noticed a real difference in her going.

Here are a few photos of Bell being long reined

This helps her get used to our vocal commands, and as Bell is a little mare with massive movement, it helps her learn to balance herself.

Winter 2009/Spring 2010

Bell has continued in light work, being long reined through our woods, jumping in the school, being lunged and gentle hacking. We are taking Bells schooling very gradually as she has been slow to mature both physically and mentally.

August 2009

Bell is introduced to simple jumps

June 2009

Bell is now back in work having been turned away for 6 months following her backing (as described below) We started by reinforcing everything previously taught at the end of last year, with long reining and ground work etc.

We have introduced her to poles via loose schooling and

she is proving to be very bold and forward thinking.

Bell seems to be pretty unflappable, - hacking round the roads in traffic and going first or last round the fields doesn't seem to worry her. Bell will now spend the next few months trotting over poles and having fun whilst learning about the basic flatwork aids.

16th September 2008   

Bells Arrival! 

Our most recent acquisition; Bell has come directly from her breeder as an unbroken three year old.

Watch her progress as we work with her over the winter months.

We shall be slowly working with Bell with the goal of producing her ultimately for the eventing market.

29th September 2008

After two weeks of groundwork. Bell is now happily lunging with tack on.

She responds well to vocal commands and is proving to be very level headed.

22nd October 2008

Being happier within the yard environment, we decided to carry out initial leaning over and weight bearing in the yard. This would not be necessarily suitable for all horses, however we felt due to Bells slight insecurity in the school that the yard would provide a more relaxed outcome.

24th October 2008

Bell has responded very well to the weight carrying, we now progress to increase the amount of peripheral vision Bell has of the rider.

Unfazed, within 10minutes Bell is walking quietly in hand with the rider upright.