MDT Winter Show February 2023

Cinder and I had our first show of the season together last weekend. One of the local show series that we've done in the past has been looking for a bigger venue to host their shows, and used Cinder's barn for their first show of the year. Unfortunately none of their other shows will be held at SF, but I'm glad this one was. 

No one ever uses the viewing room normally, but it was nice to hangout there while waiting

 This was a two day show, and Saturday we had a 2' over fences class, and the under saddle. Jumpers ran in the morning, and there were a lot more jumper entries than hunters. Cinder stayed in for the day (as I wanted to keep her clean) so when I came out to the barn I gave her extra hay and hung out in the viewing room/show office to watch the jumpers. They held classes in the indoor on Saturday, but moved outside on Sunday. 

Spoiler alert. Also, my mom watched from the viewing room and took the pic from inside, hence the glare from the glass

Cinder was a little confused about why there were so many people and new horses at her house, and the extra jumps at the end of the indoor, but after a lot of walking settled into work. We focused on getting her to put her brain to use in warm-up, and then popped over all the fences once. She felt really good and the fences looked small to me, so I was pretty confident heading into our round. There was an odd end fence that I opted to trot since it was a tight turn heading towards the gate, but otherwise the round was solid. We got the strides, got our distances, and I was really happy with us coming out. Cinder was little looky in the under saddle as some people sitting up on the bank by the barn got up halfway through but she kept it together. We ended up winning both classes. 

insert tiktok side eye audio here

Like I said early, we moved outside to show Sunday. I was supposed to do a 2' hunter round, the 2' medal class, and a 2' derby.  The jumpers had been moving pretty fast but then slowed down and I ended up getting Cinder ready too early. We did a little warm up before I hopped off and let her hang out for a bit. When I got back on she was definitely annoyed and confused. We schooled fences in the outdoor and she was tired, but good. They were having us enter with one gate, and leave by the far gate and to get back to the in gate you had to walk up to the barn, and then back down the hill. Normally when we leave from the far gate and walk up to the barn, that's where I dismount and Cinder was very confused as to why we weren't doing our usual routine.  

the show photographer was sick, so someone bribed a teen into taking pics on Sunday and she gave them to everyone for free! thanks random teen!!

She felt a little more on edge as I went in for our hunter round and got very distracted by a horse coming in from turnout. She picked up the wrong lead, got offended when I tried to bring her back to the trot to change it, and I made the executive decision to trot into the first fence. She was diving down on my hands, and then would get very offended when I went to correct her. I did end up circling in one of the lines because she was so heavy in my hand. It was definitely a schooling round, but I'm proud of myself for not getting flustered, and for being confident enough to keep schooling her. We placed second out of two for that round. 

moments of cuteness

Trainer A and I talked after the round and decided to scratch the other two classes. Cinder was obviously done with us and there was no point in pushing it. Between getting her ready to early, and everything not being our usual routine at home, I think her brain was fried. It's different going to a show and doing new things, but having new things happen in her usual environment just threw her off. And this was only her second two day show so we're still learning what works best for her. 

We did end up champion for the 2' division. I'm really happy with how I rode, and even though we struggled a bit on Sunday and had to scratch, I'm glad I could ride her through it and not let my anxiety take over. Onward towards the rest of show season!

Team NW Bedrock Show August 2018

The third and final schooling show in the Team NW Bedrock series was last weekend.  Having done the other two, my main goal was to try for the series champion in the long stirrup hunters. Going into the final show we were sitting in second place in the division. My second goal was to move up to the 2'6" pre-adult division and not die. Both goals were achieved!!

Peebs and Scottie love each other

 My friend A, whose place I haul over to for lessons, was going to be showing as well and my trainer was going to be there for us.  A leased Phoenix for three years, like five years ago, till we had to retire him. She's had her new horse for two years and this was going to be their first show together.  She was very nervous so we decided to haul up Friday so they could school and settle in. Scottie had a little meltdown in his stall when we first got there, but after we lunged and rode he settled in perfectly fine and was a fantastic show horse all weekend. Trainer had me school the 2'6" stuff on Friday night and other than having to pull up in the diagonal line because someone walked on the backside of the oxer as I was in the middle of the line (and after I called my line) everything was great.  It felt easy, I wasn't worried about the fence height, and most importantly, Peebs was more awake and forward over the bigger fences.

The boys enjoying a late night snack and walk

The show runs hunters on Saturday, and equitation classes with some open hunter schooling rounds on Sunday.  The plan was to show in the 2' long stirrup hunters Saturday to get points and then move up to the 2'6" pre-adult eq on Sunday.  Our long stirrup classes went pretty well.  I overshot the turn to the diagonal line in the first course and chipped in but the rest rode smoothly.  Other than having to do a simple change, our second course felt really good.  The only problem was Peebs was less than impressed with the fence height and I felt like I was working too hard to get him awake and around the course. Trainer said that he was bored and it was time to move up.  We got seconds in both our over fences rounds. We ended the division with the under saddle. The judge had us canter the first direction for almost four laps around a pretty good sized ring and Peebs gave up about three laps in.  He broke to the trot and when I kicked him back up he crossfired. So we had to come back down, reorganize, and try the canter again.  And of course, the judge was staring at me the whole time this happened. We pulled a 7th out 8 for that.  But our efforts paid off and we won the series championship!  We got tricolor ribbon and a box of fancy pony donuts.  I'm slightly pissed though; last year they gave out coolers for series champions and I really wanted to win a damn cooler! A box of fancy treats that are gone less than a week later is not the same as an embroidered cooler.

I forced my trainer to take a win pic with me. Also, they didn't announce awards till after I rode Sunday, which is why he's wearing his eq. boots

Sunday we just had two 2'6" over fences rounds to do.  I wasn't scheduled till around 3 so after A rode in the morning we hung out and watched/played on our phones.  A little before 2 the other hunter ring that the rated show was using ended and they started moving things around and resetting fences.  I thought that was odd and decided to check in with the back gate.  Good thing I did because they moved my classes from Hunter 2 to Hunter 1 and didn't announce it. They were starting classes in 30 minutes.  I called my trainer who had gone shopping and A and I rushed to get ready.  I felt slightly panicked as I've never ridden in Hunter 1, didn't know how the lines rode, and I hate rushing to get ready.

The show photographer got no pics of me, so enjoy this fuzzy screenshot from the video on my phone

I tried to focus on getting Peebs in front of my leg and forward in our warm up.  We had some waiting, pulling distances, especially off the right, but after a good smack with my crop we fixed that.  The plan for our rounds was to not stress about doing the strides, if we got them great, if I steadied for the add that was fine. Trainer just wanted a nice, whole number with impulsion. In the first round I was bit conservative to the first fence and the long approach to the single oxer at fence two got me.  I waited and buried Peebs at the base and it felt like he crawled over it.  But as soon as I sat up and put my leg on on the landing side something clicked in my head and I realized we had it. Peebs was going to jump no matter where I put him and not crash so why not go for it? We did do the add strides, but as long as I sat up with leg everything worked. And it was fun. I was surprised to get a third out of 8 for the round.

Sometimes all it takes is burying your horse to the base of the single oxer to realize 2’6” ain’t no big deal #sorrypeebs #thanksforputtingupwithmyshit #goodboypeebers

A post shared by Molly Basney (@mollybasney) on Aug 29, 2018 at 12:54pm PDT

I only had a small break before my second round (one person went then I was back in) and I was still trying to catch my breath as we went in. First three fences were fine, but coming into the judge's outside line Peebs slowed down and we got a really awkward distance to the first fence. We landed in a heap and I couldn't decide if I should move up for the add, or wait and add two strides.  Which got us to the second fence at a half stride and I pulled Peebs out of the line.  We walked a couple steps to regroup then I asked hard for the canter and rode really forward to the oxer. We were getting over that fence no matter what.  It was mostly for my sake; Peebs would have jumped from where ever.  I just had to convince myself of that.  After that line it was back to the single diagonal oxer.  I didn't want to bury him at it like the first round so about five strides out I sat up and put leg on to push Peebs at it.   We got a slightly long distance, but had the impulsion to make it work. After that I could  relax going into the last outside line. After the course Trainer and I talked about the circling and we both agreed that I just needed more time. I felt rushed going into the round and didn’t have the pace and confidence I needed. I need more of a break between rounds to get myself together. I’m not happy that I pulled out of the line, but I’m not beating myself up over it. I’m glad I was able to go back and fix it, as well as the next fence. Not surprisingly we pulled an 8th out of 8 for this round.

Hard Work Pays Off

Things, for the most part, have been going really, really well.  If you follow me on IG or FB you've seen our last show results, but if not: Peebs is a boss.  We went and did a two day USHJA Outreach show and came home with champion in our hunter division, reserve champion in our equitation division, and I won the USHJA Outreach Bronze medal, my first medal class win. I just got a ribbon for the win, not an actual medal which I'm slightly pissed about.  My inner 12yr old wants that medal!

We did win a saddle pad for being champion

After our last show in April, Peebs and I had a little down time that involved me going to see my parents, and him getting his teeth done.  When we went back to work we focused mainly on flat work; really getting him in front of my leg and unlocking his neck. He tends to hold tension in his neck, and won't bend.  To really get him loose and bendy, I have to think about flexing his neck and making it soft. I also focused on not holding on for dear life with my inside hand.  We did some small cross rails and ground poles, not really putting anything together but only picking up jumps/poles when he felt connected and forward.  It was very clear when he wasn't, as I couldn't see a distance or what I did see was crappy. When he was on my aids everything just flowed so well.

Our first real jumping lesson back from the April show was awesome.  We did a little course and I was actually able to work on things like holding him out in the bending line, and waiting with impulsion to a short distance.  It was like a switch had been flipped and all of a sudden we could go do the thing. Even when I saw a bad spot, or didn't see anything, I could sit up and add leg and not worry that he'd stop or we'd crash. For me, that's huge.  It's been a very long time since I've felt like that. I even asked my trainer to put the jumps up!

The show photographer didn't get any pics of me, so no riding media from the show

The show last weekend was a culmination of everything we've been working on.  I had a plan for our warm-up, the jumps looked tiny (they were 2' which I know is tiny but I guess I underestimated how high we've been schooling lately) and, most importantly, I felt confident and relaxed.  Which I wasn't expecting, as I was by myself.  My trainer was out of town so I was flying solo at the show.  So to come home with a champion, a reserve, and a medal win was way beyond my expectations.  My only real expectation was to have nice, flowing rounds and to try and remember what we've been working on at home.  That's not to say we were completely flawless.  I still saw a couple super long distances that Peeb's rightly decided not to take. I cut a corner in our first eq round and Peebs decided he was really tired in our second eq round and trotted coming out of the turn to the diagonal line. We also cantered when we were supposed to be trotting in the under saddle. But I consider these to fairly minor issues, and nothing that we can't work on. 

My original show plan for the year was to skip this show series July show and do their August one, but the horse show bug bit me hard and I decided to do one of the days in July.  They're doing series champion awards this year, and while I don't normally consider myself a point chaser, I'm currently the leader for our hunter division and I want those points! I've never been a contender for a champ or reserve year end award and I really, really want to go for it. I can financially swing it, my confidence in my horse and my riding is at an all time high, and my horse is awesome. Why not go for it?