Phoenix had last week off due to being out of town and various time consuming activities, but we went back to work this week. Her new nose band and tie-down came in the mail on Sunday so, after a lot of adjusting, hole punching, and cutting, it properly fit Phoenix and we were able to use it. On Tuesday, we worked on basics and barrels. She kept pretty relaxed and after a few attempts picked up her left lead. Jenny helped us work on barrel turns and we discovered that we were anticipating and turning into the barrel too much. We have to hold out straight until my leg comes even to the barrel and almost passes it and then turn. Also while turning I need to pull up and around with the inside arm instead of pulling out, that way her shoulders stay up and she has more balance.
Throughout the week we worked on the basics including neck reining, flying lead changes, and give to the bit. Phoenix has been steadily improving in all three areas (though we still have a lot of work to do). We also worked on poles on thursday. We walked the pattern a few times and then worked on running it. She started off too fast (which was our biggest problem last race) but we worked on slowing down and staying consistent. By the end we had a relatively fast, consistent run and I felt proud of Phoenix's progress.
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