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supposed to be cleaning everything for the show this weekend

went shopping instead 

I had my last lesson tonight before the show and I think it went pretty well.

I have this problem where when my coach is telling me to do stuff, I can never hear her or I interpret things wrong because she said something different about what we were doing 10 minutes before.  And then I proceed to pretend like I know what’s happening, when I’m doing the exact opposite of what my coach has asked.

But my lesson went well.  
Today Tag’s canter was so much nicer going to the jumps.  When we cantered on the flat is was rushy and quick and I don’t know what to do wit my body when that happens so I just flail around hoping I look ok.

But once we started jumping it felt rhythmical, well put together and collected.  It took me like 7 tries to get this one jump right because I’ve never experienced a soft collected horse towards a jump before.
it was a good night 

I have a show this weekend

.

sorry for.. nothing these past few days

I’ve been busy and not motivated and has had nothing to say lol

So I’ve found out that Tag has arthritic hocks.  With that being said, it’s nothing substantially serrious, just something that explains a lot of questioning actions (aka him kicking me when I pick up his feet).  Since I’m the overly neurotic horse momma, I bought him back on track hock boots.

I’m mainly going to use them at shows since he’ll be under taking a high level of activity, but I’m going to try and get into the habit of putting them on before and after my rides.

I’ve been doing a lot of suppling work with his back end this past week and I thought I’d try to do a lead change one day.  
He did it perfectly.
Did it again a few days later, same direction.
Once again, perfectly.
Did it again today, same direction.
PERFECT ONCE AGAIN.

I tried the other direction and he got the front but it took him a few circle to get the back BUT he didn’t stop to trot to help fix it.  THAT’S MAJOR MAAAJOR IMPROVEMENT.

I’m beyond happy.  I’m thinking if I practice that once a week, both directions and make the change in direction slowly less drastic, I think he’ll be close to becoming an auto changer.  Never auto, but close.

Today I discovered my horse has a mustache.

I had a lesson on Tuesday and it went good :)  For our second time jumping in about 5 weeks we didn’t to do shabby.  I think we jumped around 3’

show next weekend
I’m scared omg
it’s just a fun show.
Must relax 

sorry for no posts recently, I’ve been at a horse show these past 2 days and the weather was really bad so I couldn’t make it out on Friday.

Pony hasn’t been ridden in 3 days… today will be interesting.

MY HORSE WAS SO PERFECT SKDGHKJ

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Had yet another fabulous ride on Tag today.

We have a show in 3 weeks so I practiced what it would be like in the show ring for a flat class since those are our worst.  I had a pretend announcer in my head telling me what to do lol.  

Used the draw reins again and his canter is coming along well.  I’m going to talk about changing Tag’s bit to see if he’s a little more controlled.  I love him in the loose ring inside, but when we get going around courses or we’re outside he get’s a little out of control.

Pony got a bath today to :D  No more dusty carpet butt!  He smells really pretty and is really soft :3
This has been a good weekend :) 

Anonymous asked - "Out of curiosity, how do draw reins help with speed control? By tying his head to his chest? I really don't understand, please explain! (Not meant to be rude, I really don't get it.)"

in all honesty I’m not sure how to answer this question!  I know Jamie told me a few reasons why so I’ll try and recall them the best I can..
Well for starters Tag has the pony habit to pull the riders reins out of their hands, flip his head.. basically anything to get his face free of any contact.  The draw reins help keep his head down and in place so he can’t pull away as easily.
Another reason is so he can pull on himself rather then the rider.  Tag runs away with his riders and once he gets going it’s really difficult to calm him down and make you listen.  By adding the draw reins he’s pulling on himself making it more difficult for him to not listen to the rider instead of running away and doing his own thing.

I’ve also had trouble with his frame lately.  Since he’s been running away with me so much all he does is toss his head and run around like an elk ignoring all of my aids.  When I use draw reins I don’t have them in a tight contact so it’s a constant pull.  Their tight enough so that when I ask for a half halt I have a bit of extra pressure on the bit but other than that they’re fairly loose.
Does that make sense at all?  I know it really doesn’t make sense and I’m not sure how I can make sense of it.. I need to clarify it with Jamie again lol!  Once I do I can make a post about it if you’d like :P

I had a good ride on Tag today :)

When Jamie was training him he used draw reins on him a lot to help with his speed.  Since I’ve been having such a difficult time with speed lately I thought it’d be worth a try to break them out again.

I rode him outside for the first time in draw reins and he was great!  His speed was under control, I felt like I had more control and I could work on helping myself learn to keep him soft, quite and slow.  His canter work wasn’t to bad either.

yay progress 

-we now return to regular broadcasting-

remember when I said Tag had a mysterious lump on his right stifle area?  Turns out it was a seroma, which is a pocket of clear fluid from blood vessels that have leaked because of  blunt force trauma (when horses get kicked, run into trees etc.).  Seroma’s are not sever and are fixed by getting them drained.

In Tag’s case, it wasn’t sever at all and it slowly went away on it’s own.  We still aren’t sure how he got it and how it magically disappeared.  
The reason why Tag kept kicking me when I went to pick up his foot is because that seroma had cause minor swelling in his back right hind (once again, not sure how).

The vet said right now it can only be treated with time.
It’s been about a week since I haven’t been able to pick Tag’s feet and I now can!  It also used to feel like there was a slight bump on his right hind under saddle and that feeling is gone to.

yay!! Tag has an acu/chiro check next week just to make sure he’s fully sound.  Once that’s taken care of I can jump him again :)

hooray for fix problems