Summer Vacay

 Cinder got two easy weeks after Split Rock. The first week saw temps up to 108*, so even if she hadn't shown the week before, she would have gotten the time off anyways. At the end of that week the vet was out and Cinder got some acupuncture. She was tight in her back and slightly stocked up behind, probably due to the show and not moving around during the heat wave. She's a horse that when the temps are above 85 she's sure she can't possibly move, and the barn was only doing half day turnout so she was in under her fan more than normal. Vet recommended a few days of bute and easy work, so Trainer A took her on a couple trail rides and the legs bounced right back. The tightness in her back is also partly due to my saddle, but I have the fix for that on order and it should be here in the next few weeks.

Barn cat likes to judge you while you mix up supplement containers

Last week I was swamped with work and then my mom and I had a weekend away in Central Oregon. I didn't make it out to the barn for over a week and I felt like a bad pony mom. Cinder got some more trail ride and a stretchy flat ride while I was gone. She did manage to find trouble while I was away. The horse in the paddock next to her sat on the fence, and then freaked out when the hot tape wound around her hind legs. That set Cinder off, and she managed to scrape up one of her hind legs as well. It's all superficial, but she's one that swells easily, so when I came out for my lesson on Monday it was still pretty stocked up. She was 100% sound, so that's good. 

Now that the pasture is dead, Peebs is enjoying getting turned out on it for half a day, instead of being 24/7 in his dry lot. 

We decided to go on a trail ride for my lesson, as it was very humid (for Oregon. I know it's nothing compared to the east coast). The bugs were out in full force and Cinder was not happy about it. She kept having mini tantrums during the ride and would stop to try and get at the bugs on her. There's one section of the trail that Cin hates; you have to cross over a culvert with a little pond on one side, and a stream on the other. Jazzy, the mare Trainer A was riding, is usually pretty solid, but she spooked hard at that crossing so Cinder said no thank you. I dug my heels into and pushed her forward, and she ended up bolting across it and tried to run up the hill on the other side. A wanted me to stop her and come back down and let her stand for minute to see that the culver wasn't scary, but when I went to circle back, she reared twice. They were tiny rears, but as we were still going up hill I didn't trust her to keep her balance and gave up. A was fine with me giving up, and we'll revisit that crossing later. By the time we got back to the barn both Cinder and I were covered in sweat and so happy to be done. Hopefully my lesson on Friday isn't as exciting!