More of the Same

 Not much exciting going on over in Cinder land. She's recovered from her fat/scraped leg and went back to work with no issues. I have decided that she's not getting advanced warning about future shows just incase she decides to injure herself right before them again. 

Trail walkies

She definitely did struggle with the heat wave we had, and will probably have again later this summer, so thanks to Trainer A and tube of dorm gel, she got her first body clip. She loved having her back clipped and was leaning into the clippers but was not pleased about her head and legs getting done. Which is what we expected, hence the dorm. I'm just thankful that her clipped coat color is pretty much the same as her normal coat color and she doesn't have that weird orangey tint that some chestnuts get when clipped. 

She absolutely does not like the sound of the water coming out of the culvert, so we spend time hanging out and grazing near it for exposure therapy

We've had some really good lessons lately, continuing to build on our lateral work and getting me more comfortable with a little more pace in the canter. My main mantra right now is "Shoulders in, haunches out." Trainer A did try to kill me in my jump lesson last week when she picked a pole up off the ground and spooked the shit out of Cinder. We were like halfway across the arena, but A was behind us. I didn't see what happened, just felt Cin tuck her butt, scoot forward, then start dolphin leaping. We recovered, cantered a circle, and were able to continue on to our next line, which earned me a "nice recovery". I'm getting more comfortable handling Cin's spooks and returning to work like no big deal, which has been really good for my confidence. 

I'm hoping we can continue this momentum going forward, as we've got some fun summer plans. I'm not spilling the beans, but Cinder is now registered with USEF and I've renewed my USEF registration for the first time since 2009. Please stop injuring yourself Cinder, we have places to go and things to do!