End of an Era

 Peebs' barn has slowly been winding down their boarding operation, and is going to close in May. I knew it was coming, but it was still a bit of a shock to get the official notice. We've been hauling over there for lessons since 2018, and Cinder moved there in 2019 and Peebs in 2020 so it feels like we've been there forever. I'm going to miss this perfect little barn. 

I've been on the hunt for the last few weeks for another retirement/low key boarding barn that offers as much turnout as possible. My area is (normally) fairly wet in the winter and a lot of barns really limit winter time turnout to save their fields from turning into absolute mud pits. Peebs has been used to pretty much 24/7 turnout the past few years, either being out in the pasture or the dry lot paddock with a run-in shed. And his stall has a large run off it so even when he's "in" he's not stuck in a box stall. I don't want him locked inside all winter. 

I put up a post on a FB boarding group and got some leads, and I asked my vet for recommendations when Peebs got his spring vaccines. Trainer M also offered a stall at Cinder's barn if I can't find anything by the time I need to move out, and I joked that Peebs could earn his keep by doing pony summer camp. I ended up touring three barns and am going to drop of a deposit check on one tomorrow. 

The first barn was the farthest away (45min) and $50/month more than what my current board is. I would have to switch both vet and farrier as it was outside of their service area. The farm was absolutely lovely, part of a 250 acre family farm that grows their own hay, but their pastures were super lush and they keep multiple hay nets full in all the stalls. Which for most horses would be great, but not Peebs. His fecal water syndrome is best managed with limited hay, soaked hay pellets, and he needs to be out on non-lush, short pasture. I liked the place, and it would be an awesome retirement home for most horses, but it just wasn't a fit for us.

Barn 2 was recommended by my vet, only 20 mins from my house, but $175/month more. My vet goes to this barn regularly, but I need to see if my farrier does or will. Its about a dozen horses, half retired half not, but very laid back and relaxed. Horses are in at night, and out during the day with the option for 24/7 turnout in the summer. The property is on a hill, so when its snowy/icy horses don't go out but get indoor arena turnout. Someone is there 24/7 and they check on the horses multiple times a day and do night check. I really liked the vibes of this barn. 

Barn 3 was the same price as my current barn, and while 40mins away, it's only 10mins off the freeway that I drive on to go see Cinder, so I would be passing it multiple times a week. Again, would have to switch vet and farrier, but this barn did include holding for their farrier in the board price. It was a backyard barn, with an old somewhat run down barn that had two stalls that aren't used. Horses are out 24/7 with run-in sheds and fencing was flexible to make a smaller paddock or let the horses out into a bigger pasture. The fences were falling down a bit, and "theoretically" hot. The manager only comes out twice a day to feed, and the horses are mostly unsupervised. I would have to let them know when I was stopping by, so the property owners (who are only there in the summer) wouldn't be surprised by people showing up. Which I understand, but I don't want to have to make an appointment to see my own horse. 

So barn 2 it is! I still need to iron out the date of our move, and see how much tack room space there is so I can pair down all the shit I have, but I'm relieved to have found a place for Peebs. Hopefully he settles in well and the moves goes uneventfully. 

The Best Laid Plans

 Well the start to our show season is being delayed a month or so. We were supposed to leave for Thermal on Saturday, but scratched last Tuesday. DIHP put out a small little blurb last Monday about "a small number of horses" testing positive for equine influenza, but not to worry because they had been removed from the show grounds and were in a quarantine facility. 

Cinder was not pleased at getting a bath for a full body clip, now all for naught

Our vet is an FEI vet who has worked with the main show vet at DIHP in the past. She called him up and asked what exactly was going on. Allegedly there were 10 horses that tested positive, all vaccinated, and it appears that its a new strain of flu. She strongly recommended that we do not go, and if we did, that we should quarantine the horses when returning to Oregon.

Kill me

Combine that with the weather forecast for our week there, and all four of us going decided to scratch. There's no way our horses, or us humans, would have been ok with showing in that heat. It's hasn't broken 70 here in Oregon and the shock of going to 107 would have been cruel. Let alone hauling in that heat. 

I'm taking this as a sign from the universe that I'm supposed to show in Thermal in the fall, hopefully at Adult Hunter Finals if we can qualify. 

2025 Year End Awards

 Despite only getting to 4 shows last year, and one of those (Tbird) didn't count towards points, we somehow racked up the ribbons. 

These are all from the Oregon Hunter Jumper Association, and I realized after taking the pic that I forgot to pick up one ribbon. I am also eagerly awaiting my reserve champ vest to arrive. 

Reserve Champion Long Stirrup Hunter

4th 0.80-0.85m Jumper

5th USHJA 2'6 Hunter

6th 0.70-0.75m Jumper

6th Low Adult Equitation

6th USHJA 2'3" Hunter

Stepping it Up

Our first show of 2026 is a month away, and Cinder and mine's first clinic together is two weeks away, so we're officially stepping things up. The tentative plan is for Trainer M to take Cin in the 3' Green Hunters and she's been jumping her bigger once a week or so and hot damn if Cin isn't rising to the occasion. 

They make it look so easy

We've also been in flying change boot camp which seems to finally be paying off. She's at the point now where she 100% knows what we're asking, she's just lazy and doesn't want to. And she get pissy, mostly on the flat, when you try to set her up too much before asking for them. She's better about getting them while coursing, and Trainer M even put us on a flying change ban on the flat for now, as to not anger the beast too much. 

I'm hoping to do the 2'6" with her at the show, but my main goal is go and have fun. We're heading south to Thermal for a week, and Indio/Thermal has been a dream show of mine for about *cough* 25 years so I know nerves and the intimidation factor will play a roll. I do think we have a better plan for Cinder's nerves (vet recommended big dose of ulcergard and some perfect prep the first few days) so hopefully her being more chill will help me be more chill. 

The countdown is on and final prep is being done and I can't wait! 

 

Peebs' Takes a Turn

 Despite the two atmospheric rivers the PNW got in December, it's been a dry year for us. We had about a 10 day streak at the end of January where it was dry and sunny, but cold at night. Temps in the low 20s overnight but warming up to the 40s during the day. Peebs, who has turned slightly feral in retirement and prefers to be outside as much as possible, was left out in the bigger paddock with the run in shed during this time.

I pulled into the barn one Friday night to feed dinner and could see him walking around in his paddock. He took a few off steps, then was fine, then took another funky step. I pulled him out and he was reluctant to walk across the gravel and into the barn. Definitely lame on his right front. I was thinking abscess so I wrapped him up and left him inside. He was slightly better Saturday, slightly worse Sunday, and by Monday was lame on both fronts. So I called the vet. 

On Wednesdays Tuesdays we wear pink

I kept wrapping both fronts as if he had abscess, and while he was more comfortable moving around with the wraps on, I didn't really think we were dealing with abscess. He's very stoic, and has had abscess before without showing any symptoms. He was also lamer during this time than he's ever been in the 10yrs that I've owned him. I did briefly think he might have been foundering. 

Thankfully all he has is some bruising on both front feet more than likely due to the hard freezes we had and his feet being a bit soft from the atmospheric river last month. He got a set of shoes and pads put on (he was very offended when the farrier started nailing shoes on after being barefoot for 4yrs) the day after our vet visit and walked away perfectly sound. Both my vet and farrier think he'll only need the shoes and pad for a cycle, maybe two and will be back to barefoot after that. 

AAAAAHHHHH

 I think most of us can agree that the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026 can best be described as The Horrors. I've felt like that last month has gone by in both a blink of an eye and that its lasted an entire year. Living in the US sucks, work sucks, the professional organization I'm on the board of directors of sucks, and my dad had major surgery so I've been helping my mom take care of him (thankfully he's doing great and recovery hasn't been as bad as we were expecting). But thank god and *knocks on wood* the ponies have been wonderful. 

We did start 2026 by lunging just to cover our asses

Cinder's massive abscess thankfully blew two days after it made itself known. It did take about 10 days to fully drain, but she felt better pretty much immediately. She did get cleared to slowly get back to work while it was still draining, mainly because she was bit of monster in her stall and for her hand walks. The abscess blew during the two atmospheric rivers we got in the PNW so for part of her stall rest no horses got turned out and then it was too muddy to turn her out with a still draining hole in her foot, even with a wrap and a boot. She was only a monster for about a week, and most of her energy was handled with a pre-ride lunge and the pelham. 

Peebs and I celebrated 10 years together this week

Since she's been fully back to work, and regular turnout, Cinder's been great. The contrast between last winter and this is amazing. Last winter she got lunged before every ride and even then she felt explosive. This year, minus the week or so after her abscess, I don't need to lunge and we've been riding mostly in the d-ring mullen mouth. And I even jumped for the first time in six weeks in the d-ring. I think she had had ulcers for much longer than we thought and treating them has really, really helped. She just feels so much more settled mentally and physically. 

A little pre-lesson marinade in her BOT quarter sheet

Trainer M has sent out the proposed show schedule for the year and we have our yearly show team goals meeting next weekend to start planning out our season, which may or may not involve escaping to the desert in two months. What better way to survive The Horrors and the winter weather than to plan a trip south? 

The Biggest Drama Queen to Ever Drama Queen

 I do have a fair bit of catching up to do on the blog, including both Trainer M and I falling off of Cinder 8 days apart from each other, but let's jump to the new and fun traumatizing way Cinder decided to spend a Saturday. 

I have a 10am lesson on Saturdays. Cinder is usually finishing up eating breakfast when I get to the barn, so I tend to groom her in her stall. I had taken her blanket off and noticed she was a bit warm, but it had been warmer overnight than was expected and she was in a medium so I figured she was just a bit hot from being over-blanketed. As I was grooming I noticed her right front was a bit swollen, on the outside of fetlock. I took her out to the crossties for better lighting and yep, a nice swollen leg and she was 1/5 lame at the walk. Her hoof was a bit warm, and she had some lovely protruding veins popping on that leg. I took her temp just because and she was at 102.3.

Hard to see, but the back of the fetlock and a little bit up the cannon bone towards the back of the leg

Assistant Trainer I and Trainer M arrived right after and we started discussing. AT had ridden her the day before and said she was fantastic. Horses hadn't been turned out that day due to sideways rain and wind, and when M left around 7:30 Friday night, Cinder had been fine. We were all pretty much in agreement that we were dealing with an abscess so we soaked and put a poultice pad on and wrapped the hoof. Cinder went back into her stall and I hung out watching lessons for a few hours. 

a few hours later

When I was getting ready to leave, I went back to check on Cin and put her blanket back on. She was standing in the middle of her stall, shaking and her leg had absolutely blown up. I took her temp again and it had gone up to 103.9. AT was standing a few feet away and I called her over and we both agreed this had turned into call the vet territory. Vet advised to cold hose her hind legs to try and get her temp down, and that she would be on her way to us. Cinder was now 4/5 lame, but was happy to weight the leg, just not lift it up. In fact while we were cold hosing her, she would lift a hind leg to show her displeasure with us. 

Her leg looked so weird

AT noticed that Cinder had swelling on the inside of her upper leg while we were waiting for Doc to get to the barn. It was so weird. We had started thinking cellulitis, but her swelling was patchy, not the typical stovepipe leg that's common with cellulitis.

Doc finally arrived and after a quick vitals check, temp now 104.2, gave banamine and watched Cin walk from the wash rack to the crossties. She had been at the barn and watched Cinder go on Friday and kept commenting that Cin looked great not even 24hr previous. Blood was pulled for a stall side analysis, and she had us start shaving the whole leg to see if we could see any cut/scrape/puncture and in prep for ultrasound. We found nothing in terms of a wound, so Doc started ultrasounding the upper leg. All we found was swelling outside the muscle, but no tears or abscess there. We moved onto x-rays, both of her upper leg and cannon bone. Nothing remarkable. Doc even said those joints looked great. We finally put hoof testers on and got a big reaction to those. 

Probably overkill but I don't care at this point

The bloodwork showed that Cin's inflammation markers were extremely elevated, normal is below 50 and she was 671. I don't remember what other values were off, but basically it said she was also extremely stressed. Me too Cinder, me too. Doc theorized that Cinder was probably laying down overnight, started hurting from the abscess, and then was having difficulty standing up and kicked herself in the upper leg. Then the pain from the abscess and kick sent her into something similar to a panic attack and caused her temp to spike. Since an abscess is an infection, that could cause a small fever but not to the extent that Cinder had. There's still a small possibility that she has a stress fracture that won't show on x-ray for a week, but Doc doesn't think that's very likely. Basically my drama queen of a mare had a panic attack and made it everyone's problem. 

By the time we were done and the sedation had worn off, Cin's temp was back down to 100, she was back to 1/5 lame at the walk, and was very hungry for dinner. Doc put the above bandage on and gave her a shot of Excede to try and prevent cellulitis. Cin will get another Excede shot Wednesday and Doc will take off the bandage and recheck the leg. She did say this was the most she's ever done for an abscess but this wasn't presenting as a normal abscess; this was presenting as nothing she's ever seen before. Leave it to Cinder to be that special. 

Thursday Things

 We're almost three weeks in on Cinder's ulcer treatment, and it really seems to be helping. She felt and looked better after just a week, and has continued to put on weight and been great under saddle. She starts a step down dosage this weekend, so hopefully progress continues. 

Hello

We've made a bit change since coming back from Canada. For the most part she went fine in the French link and the Dr. Bristol, but we never quite got that nice hunter frame that she had years ago in the mullen mouth. The only reason we switched out of the mullen mouth was that she could get a bit heavy in it, and had no brakes when she got wound up. I suggested that maybe we should try a mullen mouth pelham. Trainer M was bit skeptical (I do like that most horses in her program go in French links, but she can be wary of trying different bits) but Assistant Trainer I agreed with me. Cinder was very taken aback by the pelham for the first few rides, but has learned to accept it. She's so much lighter in it, and I can find that hack winning trot in her, and don't have to fight to get it. I also bought the same bit in a d-ring, so our plan is flat her in the D and jump/show her in the pelham. 

The barn held a little show for the lesson kids, complete with scary Halloween decorations and Cinder didn't give a single shit. 

Peebs continues to be the bestest old man. I took him out to the arena last week to play around and part of me really wants to ride him again, but he deserves his retirement and I absolutely do not have time for two riding horses. 

Cinder and I jumped our first 3' fence together in our lesson last week and it felt awesome. It was the second fence of a one stride, so I didn't feel too intimidated coming up to. Cinder actually jumped it much better than the smaller fences we had warmed up over. She was like "Bitch finally pointed me at something worth my effort."

Post Season Slump

 With summer show season over, and Oregon hitting our hottest part of the year in late August-mid September, we had a bit of a summer slump. While at Tbird Cinder lost some weight, but Trainer M was on it and we upped her feed at the show and at home. She did gain some of the weight back, but then we had a week or so of ungodly (for Oregon, I know it was nothing compared to the east coast) hot and humid weather and she dropped weight again. She's always been a horse who doesn't handle the heat very well, so I wasn't too worried about it. 

I rode one of the lesson horses on a hot and humid day to give Cin a break and almost fell off laughing at how different 15hand grade pinto Delta is from Cinder. I did have a lot of fun though.

But Cinder never seemed to put the weight back on, and started looking a bit too thin, even when the weather sorted itself out and fall started to make it's appearance. She did have a minor gas colic three weeks ago when we had a string of a few days with lows in the high 40s/low 50s and daytime highs in the high 80s/low 90s. While Doc was at the barn treating her, we were talking about Cin's weight and general body condition. I told Doc I didn't want to be that person, but I was suspecting she had ulcers. With how wound up she was at Tbird, the weight loss and poor condition, and how she seemed to be struggling a bit after we got back made me suspicious. Doc agreed with me and we scheduled Cin for a scope. 

We did have one fabulous lesson mixed in there where we jumped the triple

And what do you know, we have ulcers! There were grade 3 and 4 gastric ulcers and suspected pyloric ulcers, but we weren't able to get a good look at them because Cinder still had some water in her stomach. We're starting with omeprazole, and might add some sulcralfate in at the end of the omeprazole treatment. 

I dogsat for my parents last month and their new dog Rosie was absolutely enchanted by the horses. Peebs was a Very Good Boy about her yipping and squealing as she tried to get near him

Cinder started her treatment over the weekend and I got a report that she was lovely for her trainer ride yesterday. Finger's crossed we continue on an upward trend and can get these ulcers under control before we hit the depths of winter and cold weather Cinder makes her appearance. 

Tbird Summer Fort Welcome 2025: Actually Showing

 The original plan for Wednesday, the first day of showing for Cinder, was for trainer M to do a couple 2'9" rounds. There was only one 2'6" schooling round that Cin was qualified for; the other 2'6" classes were for young horses and it's really weird to think that she's aged out of those. Of course they switched the ring schedule Tuesday night and moved the 2'9" division to one of the other hunter rings, so we scratched those and put her in the 2'6". Trainer M wanted to keep her in the ring I'd be showing in, so hopefully she'd settle in by the time I'd be showing her. 

Wednesday dawned with a lovely summer storm and a power outage at the show. I was to hand walk Cinder in our ring before the show started at 8, while Trainer M rode her mare, and then one of the other amateurs was in the first two classes in one of the jumper rings. Cinder was very offended that I took her out in the rain, too offended to care about spooking which was nice. I then headed off to jumper land and held a horse while Trainer M and the other ammy walked the course. They quickly warmed up and went in and had some decent rounds, despite the weather. By this time everyone was so thoroughly soaked that I used the hour and a half before I needed to tack Cin up for M to run back to the Airbnb to get dry clothes for myself, M, and the working student.  I was just going to buy a raincoat, and coffee, at the vendor village but everything was closed due to the power outage. 

Tbird doesn't have an official show photographer, you have to pay for private client photography and that starts at $850/week, so enjoy these lovely video screenshots

Thankfully it stopped raining and dried out pretty well by the time M got on Cinder. Cin was more up than she had been on our morning walk, but held it together. She did have a big spook coming down the one outside line when she saw the jump crew and their tent which led to the very crooked moment above. Unbeknownst to us, the 2'6" rounds were judged red/blue, any score over 80 got a red ribbon and anything below got a blue (red being first in Canada) and they announced at the end of the round if it was a red ribbon round. We didn't hear anything announced, and after checking with the back gate lady, we picked up our blue ribbon. 
 

Thursday was my first day of showing. Trainer M took Cin in the 2'6" schooling round early in the day and Cin was on fire. They left a stride out of all the lines and earned another blue ribbon. Cin got about an hour break before I got on for two rounds in the 2' jr/am division. Unfortunately there was a horrific accident in one of the other hunter rings, and they had to stop all the rings while the ambulance came and picked up the rider. That threw all the timelines out the window and we ended up getting pushed to the back of the order, all while the gate lady kept telling us just 15 more mins. I was on for just under 2hrs. Most of that time was spent walking, but by the time I showed my blood sugar was low and my anxiety high. Cinder had spooks in both of my rounds, leading to us circling and getting excused in the first, and then circling and trotting in the second. I did manage to take care of Cinder and take myself off to the food truck for a much needed cheeseburger before the tears started but I was really beating myself up about our rounds. 

walking around waiting to go

I came much more prepared for Friday, arming myself with snacks and a smoothie and having them available on the golf cart so in case my rounds got delayed I could have something to eat. Which of course meant the show was running smoothly and I was able to warm up and go right in the ring.  I was determined that we would get around the whole course on the first try and not trot any fences. Our first round was really nice. Cinder wanted to be bold, but I was able to hold her together and we earned a 3rd(which is white in Canada, not yellow and I keep thinking I got a fourth). In our second round I saw the move up distance to the in of the first outside line and Cinder took that as permission to bolt down the line. We left a stride out, took down the rail on the out of the line, and then she tried to bolt in the corner. I circled and was planning on trotting into the diagonal line when one of the jump crew ran out to reset the rail we took down and I had to circle again to avoid hitting him. The announcer did call out for jump crew to wait and that I could continue. We did trot the rest of the course as both Cinder and I were pretty frazzled. 

I was pretty much done mentally and physically by Saturday, but we moved up to the 2'3" long stirrup division. I don't really remember how the first round went, other than Cinder was anxious and spooky, I just know that we didn't place. I retired in our second round because as we were coming around the far side two kids on electric scooters came flying down the path and Cinder stopped dead. I could feel her body quaking, and when I put my leg on she squealed and jumped straight up. I was just done at that point. We did go and jump a few things in the warm up ring, but I was beating myself up a lot. The imposter syndrome was hitting hard. 

Grazing with Trainer M and her mare Carolina, who Cinder fell in love with

The other ammies also had a rough week and none of us wanted to show on Sunday. Our plan was to hand walk the ponies first thing, then pack up and head home. We managed to get everything loaded and were on the road by 11:30. Crossing the border back to the US was a breeze, and thankfully we didn't have any blown tires heading home. It was the first day of a heat wave, with temps reaching 98* so we stopped three times on the way home to let the ponies have water. Despite having all the windows open, Cinder arrived back home a little sweaty so she got a shower before getting tucked into her stall. 

Tbird Summer Fort Welcome 2025: The First Few Days

The start of our Canadian adventures didn't go so well, and kinda set the tone for the whole show. Tbird allows Sunday arrivals and Trainer M wanted to take advantage of that to let the horses have two schooling days before they started showing. M was teaching lessons till noon on Sunday, and wanted to leave by 1, but everyone in the barn knows she runs late so we thought if we left by 2 we'd be good. And we did manage to leave just after 2. It's a 6-7hr drive depending on traffic since we'd have to go through Portland, Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle, and then cross the border and traffic on Sunday afternoons is always better than Monday mornings. 

Setback #2

Trainer M realizing she forgot her passport and me having to swing by and pick it up was setback #1. Setback #2 was a tire blowing out on the golf cart trailer that one of the other ammys was hauling. I was behind her and pulled over to see if we could change it ourselves, but the jack she had in her truck wasn't quite big enough for the trailer and we didn't feel comfortable with it. So we waited about an hour and a half for AAA to send someone out. Thankfully he was able to swap out the tire pretty quickly and we got back on the road. Trainer M had pulled off a little farther ahead of us, but decided to keep going as the horses were not happy hanging out on the trailer. But since I had M's passport and all owners had to be present with the ponies at the border, M had to wait for us up there. We crossed the border just after 10pm, quickly got the ponies settled around 11:30 and then we all headed to bed to pass out. 

M up in the schooling ring

Monday morning saw us finishing setting up, checking in at the show office, and then schooling the horses. Two of our riders had issues with their Equestrian Canada paperwork, even though they had done everything correctly and the show wouldn't release their numbers. Apparently it was a widespread issue with EC as about a two dozen other Americans at the show had the same problem. Thankfully everything was cleared up by Tuesday morning, but that was a bit stressful for them. 

The show rings weren't open for schooling, but the warm up rings were so Trainer M took Cinder out in the hunter schooling rings. The ring designated for our show arena is bordered on one side by the other hunter schooling ring, and the other side has a wall of hedges and the backside of vendor row. You could hear and see people through the hedges and Cinder was 100% certain there were monsters out to get her. Especially the corner by the restaurant. A lot of time was spent with me standing in that corner with cookies for Cin every time they came around. M just flatted and Cinder, while tense, did seem to settle as they went along. 

I absolutely loved having real wash racks at a show. Cinder not so much. 

Tuesday was the start of the show, with clear rounds in the jumper rings and ticketed schooling rounds in two out of the three hunter rings. My ring was the third hunter ring, which was just open schooling all day. Trainer M did a little warm up in the schooling ring, then took Cin into the show ring. I do think that the ring we were in was probably the spookiest of the hunter rings. There was a willow tree with a pond at the far end, a tent for spectators, the judges booth, and a smaller tent for jump crew along one long side, and then a line of trees partially blocking a walkway along the other long side. So many things for Cinder to spook at. She didn't like that she could kinda see people and horses through the trees, and then they would pop up out of nowhere at the far end. The pond was obviously full of sea monsters waiting to eat her. And then the jump crew, who were all decked out in Tbird orange, were also monsters waiting to get her. I personally thought the rings were absolutely gorgeous, but what do I know. 

Screenshot of schooling day. You can see the willow tree over the pond at the far end, and the line of trees blocking the path.

Cinder was absolutely full of herself and Trainer M had to ask me what stronger bits I brought with me, as the French link was not cutting it. I ran golf-carted back to the stalls and grabbed the slow twist Dr. Bristol and we did a ringside bit swap. I asked if Cin needed a lunge and M didn't think so, she just needed something with a little more oomph in Cin's mouth to get her attention. And the Dr. Bristol did the trick. Cinder still wanted to spook, but would listen when M got after her and they were able to have a pretty decent school.  

More screenshots!

Our plan for Wednesday, the first actual day of showing for us, was for me to hand walk Cin in the ring in the morning while it was open and for M to take her in a few 2'9" classes at the end of the day. But that's a story for another day. 

So You Want to Horse Show in Canada

 Showing at one of the major west coast venues has been a bucket list item for years. The most realistic choice of venue for me in Oregon is Tbird, which is about a 7 hour drive away, but in Canada, vs Thermal which is a 20 hour drive. Trainer M's program usually goes once or twice a year to Tbird so I put us down on the list to go this year. 

Scoping out our arena for the week

Tbird entries open about three months before the shows and its a bloodbath trying to get in. Originally we were planning on going in May, sent our entries in an hour after they opened in February, but were put on the waitlist. We scratched May and tried for August and it was worse. The show sold out in under five minutes, but we managed to get two out of eight horses in.  Trainer M was persistent and called the show office multiple times in the months between, but it wasn't until about three weeks before the show that we actually got all the horses in. The two horses that were accepted both had minor injuries and scratched, so we were able to swap them out, and then a few others dropped out for various reasons, so we ended up only taking four horses. Thankfully we were able to find a decent Airbnb at the last minute, but it was a bit stressful waiting to see if we got in or not. 

loading up and heading out

I'm so thankful to be in a program that has gone up to Tbird for a few years and knew exactly what forms and documents we needed to cross the border. All the horses had their Coggins done in the spring, and the week before leaving we had the vet out for their vet checks and to get copies of vaccine records. Tbird itself requires a signed vet certificate which Trainer M had for all the horses. All I had to do was sign as owner on the copies. 

For the border crossing itself, we had to fill out a Canadian temporary admission permit, which basically states that the "goods" you're importing are just in Canada temporarily so you don't have to pay import tariffs on them. And god only knows what the tariffs are on any given day with this presidential administration. The only problem with this form is that the importer/owner has to be present when crossing the border with the horse into Canada. The US doesn't care when they cross back. There's different forms if you're sending your horse with a commercial hauler and/or you won't be present as they cross the border. And I think in those instances you might have to put money down that you'll get back once the horse go back to the US. Trainer M again had multiple copies for each horse and all I had to do was sign them.

The border is fairly empty when crossing at 10pm on a Sunday night

We also had to sign up for an Equestrian Canada membership. They have a reciprocal program with USEF, so our basic membership was free and we became authorized foreign competitors. If we wanted to get EC points we could pay for an actual membership. We were also required to do the EC version of Safe Sport and a concussion awareness training. Thankfully both were fairly easy to do online and took less than an hour. And the training is good for two years, so if I go back next year I won't have to renew my training. Ahem US Safe Sport.

Last but certainly not least, everyone has to have a passport and BRING the passport with them. We were literally opening the trailer doors to start loading horses when Trainer M realized she had left her passport at home. Thankfully, her house was just a mile off the freeway in the direction we were going, so she called her fiancé and I swung by their house to pick it up since I was driving my car and she was hauling the horses and the trailer wouldn't fit on her street.  

Hunter Creek Classic 2025: Amateur Hours

After our disastrous last show in April, and for this being our second rated show, I wanted a lower stress show so Cinder and I dropped back down to the 2'-23" long stirrup division for the Hunter Creek Classic. The division ran Friday-Saturday, with an open schooling round before each day that Trainer M took her in. 

All pro pics from McCool Photography

To be honest, I was completely stressed out Friday and don't really remember much. We had our two division rounds and the under saddle. I know in our first round, as we cantered across a right to left diagonal to the long approach single, I pulled too much with my right rein and Cinder gave me a lead change about a stride in front of the fence, so when we went in for our second trip all I thought was "do not pull the right rein" and we didn't have a swap. 

There were three of us in the over fences classes, and four in the flat, and we placed third in all three classes. Yay consistency? The other horses were all very nice, well seasoned schoolmasters so I'm not mad about placing behind them. And the judge took pity on us in the flat and had us trot half a lap, canter half a lap, reverse and repeat so it was the shortest flat class I've ever done. Thank you mister judge!

I was able to get my nerves under control for Saturday, and actually enjoy my rides. In our first round, Cinder decided to book it to a single on the far outside, but I managed to hold her to a deep distance instead of the flyer she wanted to take. That took all of her energy, she was tired and missed a lead change in our second round, but since there were five in my classes that day, we actually beat people and snagged a third and fourth. 

Sunday was Derby Day! My nerves were once again in full effect Sunday, and it didn't help that the walk for the derby was at the same time I needed to get ready, and that the other person from my barn was doing her 0.90m classic. I started walking before Trainer M made it over, but we had enough time to talk about some of the turns and approaches I had questions on. 

maiden voyage for the shadbelly

I was really happy with our classic phase, she was in front of my leg and listening and landed every lead. We scored a 74. Our handy wasn't as great, as the turns backed her off a bit and we missed two lead changes and scored a 53. I probably should have worn spurs, but oh well. We did manage to pull off a 4th out of 7. 

I was so happy will how well Cinder ended the week, considering the first few days were a little hairy. You could see her learn and relax each day and I think she really got the gist of rated horse showing. 

Hunter Creek Classic 2025: Pro Days

 Our summer show plans were slightly interrupted by Cinder's shockwave sessions. We had originally planned to haul in to one of the local rated shows for a day or two the week of her first shockwave, but USEF rules prevent the use of shockwave 3 days before showing. She got shocked on a Wednesday, so we would have been ok to haul in for Sunday, but we decided to wait to see how she'd handle the shockwave. And it was a good thing we did because a massive storm rolled in that weekend dumping rain and dropping temps by 25 degrees. 

All photos from McCool Photography. This show charges a $50 per entry photography fee and you get all digital downloads for free. It's one office fee I'm happy to pay. Cinder and Trainer M

The only other rated show series in Oregon cancelled their two weeks of showing, and our local venue picked up one of the weeks. They were already scheduled to host an outreach show that weekend that I was planning on going to, but I decided to switch to the rated show to give Cinder more experience. This would be her second rated show and since (spoiler alert) we're going to Tbird next week, I wanted to get her out at a rated venue for the exposure. 

There was one other amateur showing at the rated show from our barn, so the two of us took all our tack and show set up over on Monday and prepped the stalls. Both of us had work commitments and couldn't make it out on Tuesday so Trainer M hauled the girls over and schooled them for us. I got a report that Cinder spent the first 15 minutes rearing and spinning, then was perfectly well behaved once she started jumping. 

Trainer M entered Cinder in the USHJA 2'6" hunters on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as a schooling round before the division classes. Wednesday was the hottest day of the year (so far) so the show tried to start early and Cinder's projected show time was 9:40. I busted my ass at work for two hours then drove like a madwomen the 1hr+ to the show, only to see that people hadn't gotten their asses in gear and her class had been pushed back an hour. Which of course created a conflict with the other horse from our barn who was showing in the jumpers. After sweet talking the back gate people, we got our order of go settled and everything worked out. 

Cinder warmed up well, and their schooling round was pretty nice, earning an 6th out of 12. In their second trip, first round for the division, Cinder spooked at people clapping and hooting at the derby ring and bolted across the diagonal line. In her third trip, she spooked at a guy on an electric bike, stopping and then running sideways, causing Trainer M to have to circle. I told her as they came out of the ring that she's supposed to get better with every round, not worse. But that's why we came to this show, to get experience and to get her out. 

Thursday Cinder seemed a little more settled and they again had a schooling round and two division rounds, plus the under saddle. They pulled out a third in the schooling round, but missed a lead change in each of the division rounds. They did manage to snag an 8th in one of the rounds. But Cinder didn't spook and was much more comfortable in the ring which is what we were going for. The under saddle went really well and she earned a 4th out of some very nice horses. Despite her antics the day before, I was happy with how much Cinder learned and grew with each round, and with Trainer M's rides. 

Summer Shocker

 When we last left off over a month ago, whoops, Cinder was just back from getting her hocks and stifles done. She was feeling great, we had a plan for summer shows, and she had just gotten moved to a bigger paddock with more grass and was loving it.

I then got a call from Trainer M that Cinder was off. The vet was there for another horse and did a quick look at her and said she could come back two days later so I could be there for the exam. In that day between vet visits, Cinder got her feet done and by the time the vet looked at her she was 95% sound. Her feet had kinda exploded from the new grassier paddock and she probably should have been done on a 4-5 week schedule instead of a 6 week schedule. 

Her paddock is actually the one on the right in this pic

Cinder did get a chiro adjustment at that vet visit, and Doc wasn't super happy with how tight her whole topline felt. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but about two years ago Cinder started cribbing after being stalled across the aisle at our old barn from a horse who did it. Doc thinks the cribbing was causing her neck and back muscles to be super tight leading to her being out of alignment, and why she had a hard time really dropping down into the contact under saddle. 

Chestnut mare wonder twins, Cinder and Libra. Libra is the smaller, jumper version of Cinder. 

To try and break the cribbing cycle, Doc put Cinder in a grazing muzzle 24/7. We got a Flexible Filly one and cut the center hole a little bit bigger so she can eat her grain while in it. The first week or so Cinder was definitely going through withdrawals and was big mad. She has however gotten short periods without wearing the muzzle and hasn't cribbed, so it seems to be working. 

post shockwave drunk

To combat the tightness across Cin's topline, Doc wanted to try shockwave. She just got a new, top of the line machine that's the quietest shockwave I've ever heard. I was shocked (pun intended) at how powerful but quiet this thing is. For the first treatment we did Cinder's neck, back, and hips and then did two more treatments just on her neck. This was a total game changer. After the first treatment she was almost more lame than she was before, but once she was in front of your leg and moving correctly she felt good. Doc described it as breaking up scar tissue and having to work through the discomfort of going how she's used to going and fighting moving correctly. 

After the second treatment, she was moving absolutely wonderfully. Really dropping down and stretching in the trot, with a bigger more fluid canter. It felt awesome. Trainer M had been out of town for her best friend's wedding and hadn't seen Cinder go until after her third treatment and I got a phone call with how amazed she was with the transformation when she got back. I'm incredibly happy Doc suggested shockwave and with how well it worked. 10/10 would do again.