Jumping into Spring

 Spring made a brief appearance for a few weeks and thank goodness. We got some days in the 60s and some much needed sunshine, which lead to some much needed longer turnout times for the horses as well as the first baths of the season. 

Cinder was not nearly as amused as I was about bath time

Trainer M took a much deserved vacation, so assistant trainer I was doing the pro-rides and teaching lessons. AT I has a diverse equestrian background, and I really like her lessons as she takes a little bit from every discipline and has some fun and different exercises. She also really likes Cinder, as her own mare is almost exactly like Cin to ride, just in an Arabian barrel pony body. She made Cinder her pet project while M was gone, and the results are great.

We got to ride outside!

We had one ground pole lesson focusing on lead changes, and Cinder is about 80% of the way there. We can reliably get them over the poles, but I still struggle to get them without the pole while M and AT I can get them. I can either get her forward but lose the ability to move her laterally, or I can move her laterally but then I lose the impulsion. Doing both at the same time is hard. But thankfully now that it's warming up I can carry a whip or put on spurs, without Cinder blowing up, and that will help with the impulsion and lateral movement issues. 

I jumped the scary (to me) wall for the first time

 In prep for show season starting at the end of the month, we've been jumping a bit more as well. AT I set a fun gymnastic course for one lesson, mainly larger cross rails with bounce cavalettis on either side. Cinder really started using her hind more and I can feel more power in her jump. This past Saturday's course also had some large cross rails bounces, a couple oxers, and the wall. She actually jumped me out of the tack over one of the bounces and was really sitting on her haunches and just flipping around my leg in the turns. It's definitely the best she's felt and gone in a long time. 

Cinder gets her teeth done this week and then her Coggins and EEVCI next week and we should be good to go for the start of show season!

2024 Year End Awards

 

MDTE Series Champion 2' hunters 

MDTE Series Champion 2'3" hunters

Oregon Hunter Jumper Association Local System third place long stirrup hunters

Washington State Hunter Jumper Association Outreach System fourth 2'3" hunters

USHJA Outreach Silver Level Rider Award

USHJA Outreach Silver Level Horse Award 

Word-Lite Wednesday

 I'm taking Emma's lead and doing a word-lite Wednesday instead of a wordless Wednesday. 

The past month's been rough but there's light at the end of the tunnel. The weather in February was cold, cold, and more cold, with a couple days of snow and then a shit ton of rain. It is warm now, thankfully. The horses stayed in for the two days of snow mainly because we got a thin layer of ice before the snow and walking outside was a slip and fall waiting to happen. Cinder was so wound up we spent an hour lunging and doing ground work before I could get on. We then trotted two circles before some snow slid off the roof and I elected to dismount before I was rocket launched into the rafters. 

Assistant Trainer I has been setting courses/exercises for us and draws them out on a little whiteboard next to the tack room. I appreciate that she puts what the strides are supposed to be. We did this course the week before the snow and except for coming in too quietly the first time and getting 6s across the diagonals, it was a lot of fun. 

Last Saturday Cinder felt much more like her normal self and we were able to do more than just trot a few circles, including a grid that was a bounce to a one to a one. We were the only ones in our lesson doing the grid, so we had warmed up over some other fences then waited while everyone else jumped. When we went to the grid the first time, Cinder thought she was done and was no where near in front of my leg which caused us to do a two in the first one, and then she had to superman launch out over the last fence. 

God bless her, she thought about bailing out to the inside but I put my leg on and did my best eventer impersonation and she got us out of it.

We were able to successfully go through the grid the way it was intended to be jumped. 

Cinder gets Catch Ridden

 There was another schooling jumper night at Heirloom last Saturday, and I had been on the fence about going. Showing in January is not for the faint of heart, and who knew what the weather would be. Then our weekend tech at work was out for medical reasons and I was working six days a week, and was scheduled to work the day after the show, with my one day off in two weeks being the day of the show. I decided to be a responsible adult and not go to the show. Being exhausted and overworked does not set one up for a successful show. 

The Sunday before the show Trainer M texted me asking if I would be ok with another amateur in the barn catch riding Cinder at the show in the .70m classes. J's gelding has a lot of show anxiety, especially at Heirloom as he used to live there, and she's decided to not show him there this year. She was hoping she could catch ride something so she could work on herself in the show ring. I said yes as J is a great rider and I knew she wouldn't be phased by any antics Cinder might throw at her. 

I ended up not having to work the weekend of the show, and decided to head up to watch and play show mom. It was sunny, but below freezing and Cinder was feeling a little spicy. She was a little wound up in warm up and Trainer M ended up getting on her for a bit, but J handled her antics well. She kept asking if she as doing anything wrong and was afraid she was going to ruin Cinder. I had to tell her that while Cinder can be a sensitive little flower sometimes, she's also a little dense and dumb and most things tend to roll right off her back and she'll forget about it immediately. There was zero chance of J ruining her.

The sun was shining pretty harshly through the windows and creating some epic blind spots and shadows and Cinder kept spooking at them, every time she went past. See above about forgetting things immediately. J did circle in their first round (which was a clear round class) at one of the spooks, but kept her forward and continued on fine. About half way through their second round (a speed class), you could see them click and things started to smooth out. Cin did have a rail in the second class at the butterfly fence above when they got in a little deep and she got lazy. They did manage to pull out a 7th in the class out of 12. 

Their third round was a jump off round, and it was their best round. They had a great pace, no spooks, and Cinder was listening and doing everything J asked of her. J is more of a hunter rider and rode a little deeper into her corners and took longer approaches, so they ended up with time faults and didn't make it into the jump off. Those of us from the barn standing at the back gate thought it was bullshit to have a tight time allowed at a schooling show .70m class, but they still earned a 6th. Trainer M told J that she rode the round exactly as it should have been ridden and that she wouldn't have changed a thing. 

I'm so so happy that they ended on a good note. J kept saying how nice Cinder is, and how fun she was to ride. Seeing Cinder make someone else happy and give them a good show experience makes all the issues we've had kind of disappear. It was validating in a way I didn't know I needed. And it also drives home how grown up she is now. To go to a show and get ridden by an amateur who has never ridden her before and have some good rounds is real, adult horse behavior. My little baby horse is all grown up. 

Not Really Wordless Wednesday

 I have a bunch of little things to talk about, but trying to organize them into a coherent post is a bit beyond me at the moment. I've been working 6 days a week for most of the month and I'm not really sure what day it is anymore. So I'm just going to post some pics and talk about them and not worry about connecting the dots. 

Cinder has been in a full cheek Dr. Bristol bit for the last year and a half-ish and we felt like it might be time to drop her down to something a little softer. She does seem to like the copper, so we're trying this French link with a copper middle. So far she seems great in it so fingers crossed she continues to like it. 

One of  Trainer M's clients has a very looky gelding; any new wall/plank/slightly weird looking jump spooks him. So she's started making jumps, especially those that are more on the spooky side. The above wall came out two weeks ago and Cinder gave zero shits. So much so that as I was lunging her before my lesson, she locked onto the wall and jumped it with me waterskiing behind her. Trainer M then asked if I wanted her to get on first and I happily took her up on that offer. 

Cinder also gave zero shits about jumping it when she was actually aimed at it and with a person on her back. This was also the day M and I talked about trying a softer bit on her, which ya know, was a little odd considering she had taken off on the lunge not thirty minutes before, but that's horses. 

It's been cold here so I've broken out our BoT quarter sheet, and I honestly think the sizing for these things is way way off. As you can see, Cinder has quite a bit of booty hanging out of this. It's supposedly a 78, but I'm considering getting an 81. All of Cinder's blankets are 78s and fit perfectly. I threw a friends 81 blanket on her just to see, and it was a bit big. I really like the BoT quarter sheet so I'm on the hunt to try to find a used 81 but so far haven't had any luck. 

Looking Ahead

 The end of December and early January felt like we were in a bit of a holding pattern. Cinder made it obvious she needed a chiro appointment, but due to emergencies for our vet popping up either the day before or the day of all of her appointments, it kept getting pushed back. We kept riding, just doing light stretchy rides until one lesson two weeks ago when she absolutely COULD NOT canter left without feeling like she was going to launch me into the rafters. Thankfully Doc was able to work on her the next day and she feels so much better now. 

While this never happened under saddle, it felt like it could

Trainer M is super organized and has sent out the tentative 2025 show schedule as well as having a show team meeting day in a couple weeks where she spends 20mins with each of us to go over our goals and which shows we want to go to. So obviously I'm looking at our goals and what shows I can afford to go to, which ones I can kinda maybe scrimp and save to go to, and what I would do if I win the lottery. You know, normal equestrian things. 

For the second year in a row Cinder and I were third place in the OHJA Local System Long Stirrup Hunters. Still waiting for a few other year end awards to come in (ahem USHJA Outreach) for a full post

So, here's our tentative 2025 show plans: 

•  Start off in the 2'3" and move up to the 2'6" hunters and eq
• Qualify and compete in the OHJA 2'6' mini medal finals
• Maybe do the  2'6" jr/am derby at one of the local rated shows
• Do one or two rated shows this year
• Possibly go up to TBird in May or July?????
• Big wild goal: Qualify for the USHJA Adult Hunter Finals 
• Even bigger wilder I need to win the lottery goal: Go to Thermal for the Adult Hunter Finals

Heirloom Equestrian Center Jolly Jumper Night

 The barn that hosts the show series Trainer M runs has a new trainer and he decided to have a low key Jolly Jumper Night last weekend. They encouraged everyone to come out in their finest ugly sweater and had the place totally decked out with Christmas decorations. While Cinder and I are very happy in the hunter ring, I couldn't pass up the chance to show. It also helped that the show started at noon and had a flat fee including a stall.

Trainer M and Cin

I might have had a little mental breakdown in my lesson two days before the show, as one does. I was just way too in my head and overthinking everything. God bless Cinder for not giving a shit about her mom giving her very mixed signals and pulling out at almost every jump. Trainer M rides Cinder on Fridays, and asked if I could make it out to the barn to watch her ride/get on for a mini lesson. I was able to leave work early and watching M ride really helped. I was able to get on and only have one minor panic about a distance instead of melting down over every distance the day before. 

The "presents" were point values for the gambler's choice class

When we got to the show we took the horses in for hand walk to see the giant Christmas tree in the arena. None of the horses cared at all about it. I got Cinder tacked up for Trainer M to school and despite walking around the arena an hour before, and you know showing at this venue three times this year and twice last year, Cinder was convinced the far end of the ring was terrifying. She pulled some lovely spin/rear moves and I was very, very glad M had gotten on her first. They did manage to work through it and M rode her in the first 0.70m class. Cinder did spook a few times, once at the far end and then again at a banner on the wall that she had already passed multiple times. 

After M's round I was supposed to get on and do the other two 0.70m classes, but another of Trainer M's client's horse was having a meltdown and M stayed in the ring to help them through it. This horse has some major show PTSD from a previous owner and does a lot better with another horse (particularly mares) in the ring with him. So Cinder was his emotional support mare. Things were a bit hectic at the back gate since Trainer M had 4 out of the 6 horses in the 0.70s, and they were looking for people to go but the others were still learning their course. I told M to ride in the second round, an optimum time class, and if the spooking was gone I'd take her in the final class. Cinder was much better behaved in the second round and M took a tight inside turn and won the class. 

Supposedly one of the teens at the show was tacking actual pics, so maybe we'll get those later this week and you can see those instead of blurry screenshots

I got on and furiously tried to learn my course. The first two rounds were the same course, but the third was a jump off and a totally different course. I hadn't wanted to confuse myself with learning two jumper courses at once, and then had to scramble to learn the second course. The first two thirds of the course went fine, I was a little tentative and not quite trusting that Cinder wouldn't spook and we were very slow, but coming to an outside line I lost my nerve. The line walked in six and a half, M had told us to do a waiting seven, but when she rode it with Cinder they got eight. And of course I had been watching other horses get anywhere from a five to a nine in the line so I was totally fucked on how many strides it was supposed to be. It didn't help that were jumping it directly towards the "scary corner". I ended up circling before the second fence and then trotting it. We landed on the wrong lead and I panicked again that we couldn't jump on the wrong lead (we totally could have, the turn to the next fence wasn't tight at all) and then trotted the next fence. We did manage to canter the last fence and somehow ended up 4th in the class. I'm mad at myself for not trusting my horse more, but very happy that Cinder was able to pull it together and was foot perfect after her initial silliness. I think we just need more show miles with Winter Cinder to help get over my nerves.