Apparently Bella has decided she wants to be a jumper.
From 2003 – 2015, Bella has shown in the performance world
of Saddle Seat. She has never jumped. As cute as I think (know) Bella is, she
is a short mare with short legs and a short stride that makes her canter look
like a little bunny hop.
So how do I know Bella wants to be a jumper? It certainly
wasn’t jumping over the drain pipe on the scary trail several weeks ago.
No, Bella decided it would be a great idea to jump out of
her paddock. That’s right. My little Saddlebred mare (who will be 16 this year)
jumped the fence, then proceeded to run the fence line because her girlfriend,
Belle, could not figure out how to jump out with her. While I would love to
take some legitimate jumping lessons at some point, this is not exactly how I
wanted to start a jumping career.
At least Bella always gives me a story.
Bella & Belle
While Bella has taken up jumping aspirations, I’ve taken up
trail aspirations. In my previous blog post I talked about how Bella loves the
open fields; however, the scary trails to get to the open fields are a slight
problem. The other week I went back to the trails and Bella refused to go
through. She is not a lazy or mean horse, but for a retired show horse it’s
still a scary experience we’re working on getting over.
When I couldn’t get Bella to go through, I finally
dismounted and had to rethink my strategy. Kicking and building momentum was
not working like it could at a county fair with a scary thrill ride peaking
over the grandstand for view in the show ring. I decided to walk right next to
Bella. She hesitated some, but she went through with me. She even went through
the second trail path that she finds ten times scarier than the first. I ended
up doing more exercise than I planned on that day with all the walking, but I
was happy with the results and my calm horse on the way back. (Bella doesn’t
have a lot of calm days. You’d be surprised she’s turning 16.)
In my mind, Bella was completely broke and could do
anything. She’s a brave soul, but this is a whole new life to her. It was my
mistake to underestimate the power of ground work, even with a 16 year old horse
scared of trails. I went back another day recently with Andrew (aka
Thoroughbred boy) and he helped with Bella as we walked her through the trails
in halter and lead rope. The only bad part was that when she was in the open
fields she wanted to run, resulting in a rambunctious little mare. (My response
to Andrew: You work with Thoroughbreds. You can handle it!)
Thank you Bella for having patience and putting up with me and my mistakes. I am blessed to have you (just don’t jump out of the paddock again please).
So much to see!
Can you please turn me loose?
I'd rather not go through here.
Back to the barn we go!
