Tbird Summer Fort Welcome 2025: Actually Showing

 The original plan for Wednesday, the first day of showing for Cinder, was for trainer M to do a couple 2'9" rounds. There was only one 2'6" schooling round that Cin was qualified for; the other 2'6" classes were for young horses and it's really weird to think that she's aged out of those. Of course they switched the ring schedule Tuesday night and moved the 2'9" division to one of the other hunter rings, so we scratched those and put her in the 2'6". Trainer M wanted to keep her in the ring I'd be showing in, so hopefully she'd settle in by the time I'd be showing her. 

Wednesday dawned with a lovely summer storm and a power outage at the show. I was to hand walk Cinder in our ring before the show started at 8, while Trainer M rode her mare, and then one of the other amateurs was in the first two classes in one of the jumper rings. Cinder was very offended that I took her out in the rain, too offended to care about spooking which was nice. I then headed off to jumper land and held a horse while Trainer M and the other ammy walked the course. They quickly warmed up and went in and had some decent rounds, despite the weather. By this time everyone was so thoroughly soaked that I used the hour and a half before I needed to tack Cin up for M to run back to the Airbnb to get dry clothes for myself, M, and the working student.  I was just going to buy a raincoat, and coffee, at the vendor village but everything was closed due to the power outage. 

Tbird doesn't have an official show photographer, you have to pay for private client photography and that starts at $850/week, so enjoy these lovely video screenshots

Thankfully it stopped raining and dried out pretty well by the time M got on Cinder. Cin was more up than she had been on our morning walk, but held it together. She did have a big spook coming down the one outside line when she saw the jump crew and their tent which led to the very crooked moment above. Unbeknownst to us, the 2'6" rounds were judged red/blue, any score over 80 got a red ribbon and anything below got a blue (red being first in Canada) and they announced at the end of the round if it was a red ribbon round. We didn't hear anything announced, and after checking with the back gate lady, we picked up our blue ribbon. 
 

Thursday was my first day of showing. Trainer M took Cin in the 2'6" schooling round early in the day and Cin was on fire. They left a stride out of all the lines and earned another blue ribbon. Cin got about an hour break before I got on for two rounds in the 2' jr/am division. Unfortunately there was a horrific accident in one of the other hunter rings, and they had to stop all the rings while the ambulance came and picked up the rider. That threw all the timelines out the window and we ended up getting pushed to the back of the order, all while the gate lady kept telling us just 15 more mins. I was on for just under 2hrs. Most of that time was spent walking, but by the time I showed my blood sugar was low and my anxiety high. Cinder had spooks in both of my rounds, leading to us circling and getting excused in the first, and then circling and trotting in the second. I did manage to take care of Cinder and take myself off to the food truck for a much needed cheeseburger before the tears started but I was really beating myself up about our rounds. 

walking around waiting to go

I came much more prepared for Friday, arming myself with snacks and a smoothie and having them available on the golf cart so in case my rounds got delayed I could have something to eat. Which of course meant the show was running smoothly and I was able to warm up and go right in the ring.  I was determined that we would get around the whole course on the first try and not trot any fences. Our first round was really nice. Cinder wanted to be bold, but I was able to hold her together and we earned a 3rd(which is white in Canada, not yellow and I keep thinking I got a fourth). In our second round I saw the move up distance to the in of the first outside line and Cinder took that as permission to bolt down the line. We left a stride out, took down the rail on the out of the line, and then she tried to bolt in the corner. I circled and was planning on trotting into the diagonal line when one of the jump crew ran out to reset the rail we took down and I had to circle again to avoid hitting him. The announcer did call out for jump crew to wait and that I could continue. We did trot the rest of the course as both Cinder and I were pretty frazzled. 

I was pretty much done mentally and physically by Saturday, but we moved up to the 2'3" long stirrup division. I don't really remember how the first round went, other than Cinder was anxious and spooky, I just know that we didn't place. I retired in our second round because as we were coming around the far side two kids on electric scooters came flying down the path and Cinder stopped dead. I could feel her body quaking, and when I put my leg on she squealed and jumped straight up. I was just done at that point. We did go and jump a few things in the warm up ring, but I was beating myself up a lot. The imposter syndrome was hitting hard. 

Grazing with Trainer M and her mare Carolina, who Cinder fell in love with

The other ammies also had a rough week and none of us wanted to show on Sunday. Our plan was to hand walk the ponies first thing, then pack up and head home. We managed to get everything loaded and were on the road by 11:30. Crossing the border back to the US was a breeze, and thankfully we didn't have any blown tires heading home. It was the first day of a heat wave, with temps reaching 98* so we stopped three times on the way home to let the ponies have water. Despite having all the windows open, Cinder arrived back home a little sweaty so she got a shower before getting tucked into her stall.