Born on October 21 2010, Bella arrived on her due date. She is by the palomino Warmblood stallion Byalee Briar and out of Stella, my half Clydesdale, half stockhorse mare. Bella was a miracle from conception. The vet clinic called me when the chilled collection had arrived from the stud saying that under the microscope the goods “were dead”. I told them that they may as well use it considering that it had come all the way from the Hunter Valley. Low and behold, 14 days later we had a positive pregnancy and Bella was the result.
Bella was broken in at three-and-a-half years old. We initially did a lot of trail riding. We did the Snake Island trip in 2015, and she was a gem. We dabbled in a bit of show jumping, which she absolutely loved, but is unfortunately in my eyes too heavy to do on a regular basis. When she was about seven, I decided that dressage could be our calling. Along with my coach Brya Law, we have had weekly lessons along the way. I have a lot to thank Brya for. She has believed in us since day one.
We have had a wonderful journey so far. Even though she is an alpha mare, Bella is very kind, straightforward and honest. To this day I have not fallen off her! In every dressage test she tries so hard. Rain, hail or shine she comes out and does her best. I feel so privileged to have such a wonderful mare. She always goes to the best of her training and that is all I can ever ask.
After looking after all the other mares’ foals over the years on the farm, I decided to let her have her own. She had two-and-a-half years off competing from October 2022 to January 2025, to carry her pregnancy and to have her palomino colt by Daily Dancer, Sunny. Sunny, now two, I am hoping can follow in his mum’s footsteps.
Bella does not look like your typical dressage horse. Being one quarter Clydie, she is on the heavier side but she has a lightness on her feet which can be rare for a horse her size. We started in Level 4 with half points, and we are now three points off Advanced. This is a true testament to her workman like attitude to her work.
I look forward to continuing our journey, perfecting the flying changes and loving my special girl that I have had since birth.
It is really special to me to achieve the 100-point dressage award on my homebred mare. Thank you, Bella, for putting up with me learning this dressage caper as we go through the levels. Thank you to the HRCAV for providing these wonderful milestone awards and to the wonderful sponsor of this award, The NRG Team.
This article first appeared in HRCAV Chaff Chat and is reproduced here with HRCAV’s kind permission.
