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. 

Friday Foto Catchup

Instead of trying to remember, and in some cases not wanting to remember, what happened over the last couple of months, let's just have some pics instead. 

Cinder has had feelings about the tarps (barley visible in the right side of the pic just above the arena fence) that the barn owner had over her burn pile and garden this winter. Cinder is pretty sure they are death tarps and was very exuberant in her refusal to go anywhere near them. We have slowly (somewhat) conquered our fear of tarps and that corner, but the battle wages on. 

Trainer M aboard

We attended another show in April, and Cinder was fantastic. My riding left a lot to be desired. Friday Trainer M used Cinder as the guinea pig to see how the jumper courses rode and Cinder happily bopped around like a pro. Saturday I was supposed to do a 2'3" hunter round as warm up, then two 2'6" rounds, but I completely forgot how to see a distance, panicked, started to doubt every single life choice I've ever made, and then went and cried in my truck. You know, your normal amateur things.

M and Cinder again

Sunday I told M I just wanted to trot some cross rails in the warm up ring, and that's exactly what we did. And then I cried in my truck again. We hadn't really jumped a whole lot in the month between the shows, and nothing really at height, and I think between that and Cinder's inability to function in the outdoor due to the tarps, I didn't feel prepared and got overwhelmed. Trainer M schedules quarterly goal check-ins with her clients and we talked and made a plan going forward so hopefully future shows will go better. 

We lesson with Lily, the gray mare poking her head over the wall, on Thursdays and she and Cinder have a love/hate relationship. This day they were very much in love

 

Cinder got her annual hock and stifle maintance a couple of weeks ago. Last year she got them done in July and August, but we're hoping to show more in those months this year so I talked to our vet and moved them up. Our vet's pretty conservative with her rehabs, so Cinder got a week of hand walking, a week of walking under saddle, and we started trotting this week. If all continues to go well we can canter and I think even jump next week. 

Our assistant trainer barrel races and had set up the barrels for some of the lesson kids and Cinder walked the hell out of the pattern during her rehab

We have a tentative show schedule planned for summer, but we're waitlisted for Tbird in August (and who knows what crossing the border/the tariff situation taking horses across will be like) and my work schedule has shifted so I'm working six days a week every other week so fingers crossed we can actually make it to some shows.  

MDTE March 2025 Show Part 3

 Sunday arrived with a windstorm that wasn't predicted. Thankfully the rain held off till the end of the show, but the wind was brutal. Cinder was not amused during our hand walk in the ring at the big doors banging on the far side of the barn. There was much spooking and spinning involved. Thankfully someone closed and latched the doors by the time I rode. 

Both Cinder and I were tired but we kept to the plan and stepped into the 2'6" equitation. We were supposed to do two over fences, the flat, and the 2'6" medal. She warmed up great, really moving forward and jumping me out of the tack a bit. Our first round was going really well for the first three quarters, until I ran at the long approach single diagonal, saw it was going to be short, and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing to help Cinder out. Thankfully she saved my ass and chipped it, but that kind of took the wind out of our sails. The last two fences were nice, but a little underpowered. We earned a third out of four for that round.

purchased from Philippos Photography

Cinder was definitely tired and behind my leg for our second round and we added a stride in the one line on course. I knew I didn't have enough horse to make the strides, so at least this time I planned on the add instead of chipping it. Coming to the second to last fence we got a stuck in the corner and just didn't have enough power to find a distance to jump and had a stop. I circled and really dug into her and we made it over but it wasn't pretty. We rightfully came in last. 

As we came out of the ring I told Trainer M that we were done for the day. Cinder had been so good all weekend and was obviously out of gas and there's no point in making her do more. We had met all the goals I had set for us and there's always another show. M agreed and we scratched the flat and medal. I'm sad we didn't get to do the medal, but I'm so, so proud and happy with how the rest of the weekend went. 

MDTE March 2025 Show Part 2

 Saturday was my turn to show. Jumpers were in the morning with hunters in the afternoon. I got to the show midmorning and took Cinder for a walk and hand graze and watched some of my barn mates show in the jumpers before grabbing lunch from the taco truck. I ate lunch on one of the comfy couches in the show office and talked to the woman running the desk. She had figured out how to hook her phone up to the sound system and was making playlists for the show and she said if I had a song I wanted played when I showed to let her know and she'd do it. Since Cin's show name, Bright Side slightly came from Mr. Brightside I had her put that down for us. 

All photos bought from Philippos Photography

We were showing in the 2'3" hunters on Saturday and planned to do the 2'3" hunter derby as well. Cinder was super relaxed and warmed up really well. The show ring was open for schooling and we schooled a few fences but not the whole course since she was being so good. As I was picking up the canter for our first round, I was able to hear our song playing and started singing along under my breath as we cantered up to the first fence, which we hadn't jumped in warm up. For whatever reason Cinder spooked at it like 3 strides out and I had an "Oh shit, I actually need to ride my horse" moment. I sat up and closed my leg and we made it over. The rest of the round went well and we earned a 3rd for our effort. Our second round contained zero spooks and we nabbed second. We then flatted and got another second earning us reserve champion for the division. 

There were only 2 of us entered in the  2'3"derby and 3 in the 2'6" derby, so they decided to combine the classes. It was the same course, a hunt and go format, for both heights so most of the fences stayed at 2'3" with a couple being bumped up to 2'6". Our plan for this show was if the 2'3" went well and felt small on Saturday, I would move up to the 2'6" on Sunday, so having a combined derby was perfect for me. I ended up going first because and had a decent round. Cinder was a little confused at why I brought her down for the trot fence and we landed on the wrong lead off it and had to counter canter a rather tight turn to the next fence, but I was pleased with the round overall. I didn't watch anyone else go, as I had to pee so badly and pretty much jumped off right after my round. 

spoiler alert

I was just starting to untack when the show manager came out with ribbons and yelled at me that they wanted us mounted for pictures. I asked if I could just hand walk Cin in the ring as I didn't want to get back on, and she very firmly told me to get back on because I would want pictures. They had us line up in the ring and announced placing in reverse order and what do you know, we won! And yes I was very glad I got back on for the pictures. 

We got to lead the victory gallop for the first time

MDTE March 2025 Show Part 1

 We had our first show of the season last weekend. It was the first in the series that our barn hosts at the fabulous Heirloom Equestrian Center in Washington. This year they adjusted the format so it was a three day show instead of two, but since our barn was running it, we actually went up on Thursday and made it a 3.5 day show. 

We had 6 mares (now collectively known as Estrogen Acres) from the barn going, 5 in Trainer M's trailer and I hauled Cinder in mine. We also fully loaded both tack rooms and truck beds with supplies and hay and headed up Thursday afternoon. We unfortunately left during the height of rush hour so by the time we got to Heirloom and got done unloading, it was 8pm. I grabbed dinner and headed to my hotel to get some sleep before heading back to the show by 8am the next morning to help set the course. 

Blurry screenshot of Trainer M and Cin

The new schedule had the show starting at 1 with just jumper rounds on Friday. After setting the course I played groom and lunged Trainer M's project mare who was having a meltdown and trying to climb her stall walls. Cinder was her neighbor and thought Trillium was being way over dramatic and was very happy to see her leave. Then one of the other mares lost her mind that Trillium was gone and that's when we decided that we need to bring an emotional support gelding next time. There was a lot of big feelings all weekend from most of the mares, but I'm very happy to report that Cinder did not feed into any of them and was one of the better behaved mares in our group. 

Obviously Cinder is not a jumper, despite our outings to Jumper Nights this winter, but I wanted her to go in the ring and do some schooling rounds on Friday with Trainer M. I wasn't sure how Cin would react at the show, since she was an idiot in warm up at both Jumper Nights despite having been to Heirloom multiple times. I took her for a hand walk in the ring during the cross rail warm up and she was totally chill. Trainer M was going to take her in the first 0.70m clear round and if she was good, do a second clear round at 0.80m, or do the 0.70m speed round if she was nutty. 
 

I promise there will be some pro photos in the next post

The outdoor arena was closed since it had been pouring all week, and off and on raining all day on Friday. Trainer M had wanted us to hand walk the horses for 10-15mins prior to her getting on to school during the breaks in the indoor, but right when I went to start walking Cinder the skies opened up and it dumped rain and wind on us. We retreated back into the stall and by the time it stopped, Trainer M was ready for Cinder. They warmed up great; Cinder was nice and relaxed and wasn't feeding off of other horses. Their 0.70m round was lovely and clear, so we scratched the speed round and put her in the 0.80m clear round. Their 0.80m was clear as well, but Cinder took a couple of peaks at the oxers and planks that hadn't been there in their first round. It was more of a "Oh, this is bigger and there's more stuff under here" situation and not that she was spooking. She got lots of cookies and praise for being so well behaved while I untacked her and put her up for the night. 

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