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. 

Split Rock Portland 2: Long Stirrup Hunter

 Originally we had hoped that Split Rock would have a 2'3" junior/amateur division for me to show in. We're ready to move up from the 2', but not quite ready to debut at the 2'6" (and we plan to do that at a schooling show, not a rated one), but they didn't, so we entered the short stirrup division. Management said they would split the division into short and long if entries warranted, and thankfully they did. My division was supposed to run Saturday and Sunday, in the afternoons.

Barn friends that keep you and your horse hydrated are the best

Saturday I had two over fences classes that were scheduled to go at 1:45, but ended up going closer to 2:30. I was way more nervous that I thought I would be, and combined with the temps at nearly 90*, I was a hot mess, in more ways than one. Thankfully Cinder acted like the seasoned pro she's turning into, and was foot perfect for me in the warm-up. 

Our first round started with a longish approach to a single diagonal, and I nailed it. It felt perfect and I was so happy that I kinda forgot to ride to the next line. We had to come around past the in gate, to an 8 stride outside line along the judge's booth. As soon as we turned down the long side, I heard A tell me to ride her forward, and I did put my leg on, but not enough. I saw the long spot to the first fence and froze, instead of moving her up. I did realize that that was going to make the 8 harder and I tried to push her forward, but we got to the out long as well. The rest of the course rode well, minus having to do a simple change. We placed third out of five. Our second round had a couple of bobbles. I did ride her forward for the 8 better, but added a stride in the diagonal line and had to do another simple change. We placed fourth in that round. 

Final ribbon count for the week

Both Cin and I were hot and sweaty when we were done, and I started having doubts about Sunday. The heat wave was going to get hotter, with Sunday's forecasted high at 100*. A and I discussed it as we waited around for ribbons, and we decided to scratch. Neither Cinder nor I handle the heat very well, and as much as I love ribbons, it wasn't going to be worth it. There's only so much mesh shirts and show coats can do, after all.  We had survived our first rated show, and done well, so why not quit while we were ahead. I am still slightly disappointed at having to miss Sunday, but I'm so, so proud of how good Cinder was all week and I know it was the right decision. There's always another horse show. 

2018 Year End Awards

The Oregon Hunter Jumper Association Year End Banquet was this past weekend. this year Peebs and I pulled off a third (or as they called it, second reserve champion) in the long stirrup hunters, and a fifth in the long stirrup equitation. My trainer and I went up for the banquet and to get my ribbons.

The night before the banquet, at 9:30pm an email was sent out and a post put on Facebook saying that the 4th-6th place ribbons weren't going to be available at the banquet and would be mailed out at a later date. But only if you replied to the email saying you wanted your ribbon. After a few angry replies to the FB post, and I'm sure a few angry emails, they said that the vendor had an issue and it wasn't OHJA's fault. I was bummed to not be getting my 5th place ribbon that night, but quickly replied that yes, I want my ribbon.

OHJA took out a section of a local sporthorse magazine and published all the year end placings.  It was pretty cool to see my name in the magazine.

The banquet itself was pretty fun. They have a silent auction and a live auction during the event and I managed to get a division's worth of entry fees ($75) for a show for only $50. Both my trainer and I missed seeing the sheet for $150 towards chiropractic fees for my chiropractor till after the auction ended.  It went for $60 and I totally would have paid more for it.

Trainer and I

The 1st-3rd place ribbons were very well done, and very big! I know I'm short, but it's as long as my torso. Getting one big ass ribbon kinda makes up for having to wait for my other one.

Team NW Bedrock Show August 2018

The third and final schooling show in the Team NW Bedrock series was last weekend.  Having done the other two, my main goal was to try for the series champion in the long stirrup hunters. Going into the final show we were sitting in second place in the division. My second goal was to move up to the 2'6" pre-adult division and not die. Both goals were achieved!!

Peebs and Scottie love each other

 My friend A, whose place I haul over to for lessons, was going to be showing as well and my trainer was going to be there for us.  A leased Phoenix for three years, like five years ago, till we had to retire him. She's had her new horse for two years and this was going to be their first show together.  She was very nervous so we decided to haul up Friday so they could school and settle in. Scottie had a little meltdown in his stall when we first got there, but after we lunged and rode he settled in perfectly fine and was a fantastic show horse all weekend. Trainer had me school the 2'6" stuff on Friday night and other than having to pull up in the diagonal line because someone walked on the backside of the oxer as I was in the middle of the line (and after I called my line) everything was great.  It felt easy, I wasn't worried about the fence height, and most importantly, Peebs was more awake and forward over the bigger fences.

The boys enjoying a late night snack and walk

The show runs hunters on Saturday, and equitation classes with some open hunter schooling rounds on Sunday.  The plan was to show in the 2' long stirrup hunters Saturday to get points and then move up to the 2'6" pre-adult eq on Sunday.  Our long stirrup classes went pretty well.  I overshot the turn to the diagonal line in the first course and chipped in but the rest rode smoothly.  Other than having to do a simple change, our second course felt really good.  The only problem was Peebs was less than impressed with the fence height and I felt like I was working too hard to get him awake and around the course. Trainer said that he was bored and it was time to move up.  We got seconds in both our over fences rounds. We ended the division with the under saddle. The judge had us canter the first direction for almost four laps around a pretty good sized ring and Peebs gave up about three laps in.  He broke to the trot and when I kicked him back up he crossfired. So we had to come back down, reorganize, and try the canter again.  And of course, the judge was staring at me the whole time this happened. We pulled a 7th out 8 for that.  But our efforts paid off and we won the series championship!  We got tricolor ribbon and a box of fancy pony donuts.  I'm slightly pissed though; last year they gave out coolers for series champions and I really wanted to win a damn cooler! A box of fancy treats that are gone less than a week later is not the same as an embroidered cooler.

I forced my trainer to take a win pic with me. Also, they didn't announce awards till after I rode Sunday, which is why he's wearing his eq. boots

Sunday we just had two 2'6" over fences rounds to do.  I wasn't scheduled till around 3 so after A rode in the morning we hung out and watched/played on our phones.  A little before 2 the other hunter ring that the rated show was using ended and they started moving things around and resetting fences.  I thought that was odd and decided to check in with the back gate.  Good thing I did because they moved my classes from Hunter 2 to Hunter 1 and didn't announce it. They were starting classes in 30 minutes.  I called my trainer who had gone shopping and A and I rushed to get ready.  I felt slightly panicked as I've never ridden in Hunter 1, didn't know how the lines rode, and I hate rushing to get ready.

The show photographer got no pics of me, so enjoy this fuzzy screenshot from the video on my phone

I tried to focus on getting Peebs in front of my leg and forward in our warm up.  We had some waiting, pulling distances, especially off the right, but after a good smack with my crop we fixed that.  The plan for our rounds was to not stress about doing the strides, if we got them great, if I steadied for the add that was fine. Trainer just wanted a nice, whole number with impulsion. In the first round I was bit conservative to the first fence and the long approach to the single oxer at fence two got me.  I waited and buried Peebs at the base and it felt like he crawled over it.  But as soon as I sat up and put my leg on on the landing side something clicked in my head and I realized we had it. Peebs was going to jump no matter where I put him and not crash so why not go for it? We did do the add strides, but as long as I sat up with leg everything worked. And it was fun. I was surprised to get a third out of 8 for the round.

Sometimes all it takes is burying your horse to the base of the single oxer to realize 2’6” ain’t no big deal #sorrypeebs #thanksforputtingupwithmyshit #goodboypeebers

A post shared by Molly Basney (@mollybasney) on Aug 29, 2018 at 12:54pm PDT

I only had a small break before my second round (one person went then I was back in) and I was still trying to catch my breath as we went in. First three fences were fine, but coming into the judge's outside line Peebs slowed down and we got a really awkward distance to the first fence. We landed in a heap and I couldn't decide if I should move up for the add, or wait and add two strides.  Which got us to the second fence at a half stride and I pulled Peebs out of the line.  We walked a couple steps to regroup then I asked hard for the canter and rode really forward to the oxer. We were getting over that fence no matter what.  It was mostly for my sake; Peebs would have jumped from where ever.  I just had to convince myself of that.  After that line it was back to the single diagonal oxer.  I didn't want to bury him at it like the first round so about five strides out I sat up and put leg on to push Peebs at it.   We got a slightly long distance, but had the impulsion to make it work. After that I could  relax going into the last outside line. After the course Trainer and I talked about the circling and we both agreed that I just needed more time. I felt rushed going into the round and didn’t have the pace and confidence I needed. I need more of a break between rounds to get myself together. I’m not happy that I pulled out of the line, but I’m not beating myself up over it. I’m glad I was able to go back and fix it, as well as the next fence. Not surprisingly we pulled an 8th out of 8 for this round.

Team NW Bedrock Outreach Show July 2018

Two weeks ago I took Peebs up to the second in a series of 3 USHJA Outreach shows held by one of the local show management companies.  Originally I wasn't planning on doing the July show, just the June and August ones.  But since we did so well at the June one, and they're doing series champion and reserve awards, I decided to go.  We just went up for the hunters on Saturday, instead of doing the whole weekend. 

Peebs hauled up like a champ and settled into his stall perfectly.  I was by myself again and it's so nice to have a horse I don't have to worry about. I gave him hay and water and he was happy as can be. I spent the morning watching some of the trot-a-course and 18" classes go before slowly getting Peebs ready. We had two over fences and an under saddle. They were running an open 2' division, the short stirrup, and the long stirrup all together for a total of like 35+ rounds.  I was scheduled somewhere in the middle of the group. 

This is what happens when your horse is behind your leg and you pull.  Julie Ward Photography, used with permission

I did a little warm up w/t/c and when there was a lull in the warm up arena popped over a couple fences.  Peebs felt a little sticky; not sore or off, but stiff and behind my leg. I figured I would check where in the order my ring was, then do some easy walk trot work to try and loosen him up. But when I got up to check the ring, the woman working the back gate (not our usual woman who I love, but someone new and obviously it was her first time) was panicking because she didn't have anyone ready and there was going to be an open gate.  She asked if I was ready, almost begging me, and I panicked and said yes.

When you've already been waiting for an hour and you're bored

So needless to say, our first round wasn't great.  Peebs was still behind my leg, and I kept seeing the short spots and pulling for them.  What I should have done was galloped him forward but hindsight is 20/20. It wasn't an awful round, but definitely not what we're capable of. I came out knowing what went wrong, so when we went back for our second round I immediately asked for a more forward canter.  And I was really happy with the round.  We nailed all the distances, did one very nice simple change but otherwise got our leads over the fences, and it felt pretty darn good.  Except for the last fence. I had to move him up just a bit to the first fence in the last line, which was an easy 7 strides, and didn't realize till about stride 5 that I had too much horse for the 7, but not enough for the 6.  I did sit up and shorten him, but that 7th stride was basically a chip. Oops, sorry Peebers.

At least we're consistent?

After our over fences rounds we had an almost two hours till the flat. I pulled his tack and let Peebs have a break while I chatted with people and watched more rounds go. Our flat was nothing special, but he didn't break or canter when we should have been trotting.  We got a 5th out of 6 for it, which I was fine with.  He's not a hack winner. Continuing with the theme, we got got 5ths in both over fences classes. I thought the second round would have been placed higher, but oh well.  I knew what mistakes I made, and what to do next time to fix them. Can't wait till the end of August when we'll be there again!

Hard Work Pays Off

Things, for the most part, have been going really, really well.  If you follow me on IG or FB you've seen our last show results, but if not: Peebs is a boss.  We went and did a two day USHJA Outreach show and came home with champion in our hunter division, reserve champion in our equitation division, and I won the USHJA Outreach Bronze medal, my first medal class win. I just got a ribbon for the win, not an actual medal which I'm slightly pissed about.  My inner 12yr old wants that medal!

We did win a saddle pad for being champion

After our last show in April, Peebs and I had a little down time that involved me going to see my parents, and him getting his teeth done.  When we went back to work we focused mainly on flat work; really getting him in front of my leg and unlocking his neck. He tends to hold tension in his neck, and won't bend.  To really get him loose and bendy, I have to think about flexing his neck and making it soft. I also focused on not holding on for dear life with my inside hand.  We did some small cross rails and ground poles, not really putting anything together but only picking up jumps/poles when he felt connected and forward.  It was very clear when he wasn't, as I couldn't see a distance or what I did see was crappy. When he was on my aids everything just flowed so well.

Our first real jumping lesson back from the April show was awesome.  We did a little course and I was actually able to work on things like holding him out in the bending line, and waiting with impulsion to a short distance.  It was like a switch had been flipped and all of a sudden we could go do the thing. Even when I saw a bad spot, or didn't see anything, I could sit up and add leg and not worry that he'd stop or we'd crash. For me, that's huge.  It's been a very long time since I've felt like that. I even asked my trainer to put the jumps up!

The show photographer didn't get any pics of me, so no riding media from the show

The show last weekend was a culmination of everything we've been working on.  I had a plan for our warm-up, the jumps looked tiny (they were 2' which I know is tiny but I guess I underestimated how high we've been schooling lately) and, most importantly, I felt confident and relaxed.  Which I wasn't expecting, as I was by myself.  My trainer was out of town so I was flying solo at the show.  So to come home with a champion, a reserve, and a medal win was way beyond my expectations.  My only real expectation was to have nice, flowing rounds and to try and remember what we've been working on at home.  That's not to say we were completely flawless.  I still saw a couple super long distances that Peeb's rightly decided not to take. I cut a corner in our first eq round and Peebs decided he was really tired in our second eq round and trotted coming out of the turn to the diagonal line. We also cantered when we were supposed to be trotting in the under saddle. But I consider these to fairly minor issues, and nothing that we can't work on. 

My original show plan for the year was to skip this show series July show and do their August one, but the horse show bug bit me hard and I decided to do one of the days in July.  They're doing series champion awards this year, and while I don't normally consider myself a point chaser, I'm currently the leader for our hunter division and I want those points! I've never been a contender for a champ or reserve year end award and I really, really want to go for it. I can financially swing it, my confidence in my horse and my riding is at an all time high, and my horse is awesome. Why not go for it?

Quiet Rein Outreach Show Day 2

Both Peebs and I were pretty tired and sore for day two of the show.  I had gone out early in the morning to feed him, but when I went back to the show around 9 to start getting him ready, he let out a huge sigh and glared at me. I took him out for a hand walk and graze session for a while, hoping to loosen him up and make him happy.

Non-huntery hunter courses.  Round 1 on the right and round 2 on the left

The show was a lot smaller on Sunday; they were just running the outdoor ring with hunter classes and the two derby classes at the end of the day.  I was able to watch a quite a few rounds to see how the courses were riding.  The courses for hunter day were much more equitation like, with a lot of singles and some long bending lines.  The only actual line on course was a diagonal line set in four, but about half the riders were getting it in five.  My trainer wasn't able to come on Sunday, so my plan was to see how Peebs warmed up and, thinking he was tired, aim to do the five.

I got on a little early for our warm up and spent a lot of time walking him around.  We did a short trot set and he felt stiff in his body, not wanting to bend and soften.  So we went back to the walk and worked on bending and trying to get him to relax.   A little more trot and canter and we popped over the warm up fences.  I couldn't find a distance to save my life and decided I just wanted to make it over all the fences and wasn't expecting any greatness.

Absolutely in love with this shot from the show photographer. Bought in in digital and print

They ran our flat class first, after another division's flat class.  They had us preload while they pinned the other class so we got a good long walk around the arena before we were being judged. We hadn't ridden in the outdoor before, but I figured Peebs wouldn't care.  He did stare at the judges booth at the far end of the arena, and at a woman flapping a trash bag right next to it (seriously?!?) but didn't spook. The flat went about as expected, #notahackwinner. He was still resisting bending his neck, but his stride opened up and felt smoother than our warm up.  We pinned fifth out of seven or eight.

Had to buy this adorable one too

Before going in for the flat I had told the back gate ladies I was warmed up and ready and could go in whenever they wanted me to.  They had me down for going last in the rotation, but since almost everyone else wasn't ready I got bumped up. They also thanked me profusely for introducing myself and being ready. Our first round went a lot better than I was expecting.  He did try to slow down going past the gate to fence one, but didn't break.  Two to three was a long bending line that rode well, and we managed to get the lead.  He was rolling right along and didn't feel as tired as I expected so I changed my mind and went for the four in the diagonal line. It was a little long, but felt good.  We did have to do a simple change after the line, and never quite got the same rolling stride again.  I saw the short spot to six and that followed us to a chip at 7. But overall I was happy with the round and we nabbed third for our efforts.

Peebs was definitely more tired for the second round and we didn't flow as well. We chipped in to the diagonal line from two to three, and I should have sat up and added for the five strides.  But I tried to gun him for the four.  He did it, but it was very long and we landed in a heap. We took a couple of strides to recover and fix our lead but I kept seeing the short distances.  He was starting to ignore my hand and lean on me so between fences four and five I sat up and checked him hard. Wasn't the prettiest thing ever, but it worked.  We finished the round strung out and tired, but at least he was listening. We got a fourth.

Our last class was supposed to be the derby, but we would have had an hour or so wait and both of us were exhausted. So I scratched. While I was sad to miss the derby, I so happy with how Peebs had been all weekend that I wasn't too upset.  There will be other derbies. There's no point in doing a class when both of us were exhausted. Peebs is such a trooper for putting up my ammy moments and I felt like I needed to give him a break. I definetly don't want him to ever get sour; his attitude is one of my favorite things about him.

Quiet Rein Outreach Show Day 1

Saturday morning dawned bright and early, and I was at the barn by 7am to haul out to the show.  I had loaded 95% of my stuff Friday night, but had to grab Peeb's hay pellets and buckets and him. He loaded pretty well; he had to think about getting on for maybe 30 seconds before I smacked him with the end of the lead rope. I was somewhat worried that he and Cinder would be too attached and he'd scream for her once he realized she wasn't coming.  But he didn't.

I lucked out at the show and scored a stall in the barn instead of the portable stalls.  The barn had 16x16 stalls bedded deep versus the 10x10 canvas stalls on grass.  And their barn hand ended up cleaning my stall! Peebs settled in and immediately started eating his hay and didn't care about the automatic waterer.

I went to check the rings and realized we had gotten bumped from the outdoor ring to the indoor.  This show has two rings going on Saturday, with jumpers in morning followed by equitation classes from 2'-3'6" in the outdoor and the walk/trot to 18" classes inside.  They had so many entries (over 120 vs the 65 they had last year at their biggest show) that they had to move our 2' classes, and some of the other eq on the flat classes to the indoor. I was slightly pissed as the indoor is small and dark, making for tight turn and not so great pics, and the show photographer was only working the outdoor ring.  Because it's all about the media, right?

Hope you like blurry screenshots

Peebs was perfect in warm-up.  Awake enough so that he was forward and moving, but not so much that he was hot or spooky.  It was a bit of a madhouse schooling, but once again, Peebs don't care. There was about 15 in our division, combined short/long stirrup, and they decided to split it and give two sets of ribbons.  I love it when shows do that.

 Our first round was our best; we found nice distances and got all of our leads.  The only problems was I slightly misjudged the turn to the first fence, a single diagonal, so we were a bit crooked (they also used 8' long poles in the indoor and it through me off) and I got a 5 in the first outside line and 4 in the second.  They were set at about a 4.5 and my trainer said she didn't care what I did, as long as it was a whole number and I consistent. Oops. We never really found our groove in the second round and had a couple of chips and missed leads. The arena was so small it was hard to do a simple change and have enough space to get a good rhythm to the next fence.  And again I did a five and four in the lines. At least I'm consistent at not being consistent? We earned a 4th in the first round and a 5th in the second.  We ended the division with the flat which is not our strong suit but managed to eek out another 5th.

Our last round was the USHJA Outreach medal and it had a couple funky bending lines.  The last two fences were almost a boomerang.  The first half of the course was nice, but I got left behind at fence 6 and never recovered.  Peebs found the perfect distance but I thought he was going to chip in and was not expecting him to jump.  In perfect Peebs fashion, he didn't care and kept on going. He was slightly surprised to turn to the first fence in the boomerang line (a fence we had already jumped once going the other way)  and because of the narrow poles we missed and had to circle.  I decided to trot it to prepare both of us for the awkward turn, and it actually worked out pretty well. Needless to say, we didn't place in that class.


I untacked Peebs, cleaned him up, and headed to my hotel.  After I cleaned myself up and ate I went back to the show to feed him dinner and wrap.  It was about 6pm when I was finishing up, and they still had a couple of classes to go in the outdoor. I was just hoping Sunday wouldn't be as long.