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. 

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. 

Heirloom Equestrian Center Jolly Jumper Night

 The barn that hosts the show series Trainer M runs has a new trainer and he decided to have a low key Jolly Jumper Night last weekend. They encouraged everyone to come out in their finest ugly sweater and had the place totally decked out with Christmas decorations. While Cinder and I are very happy in the hunter ring, I couldn't pass up the chance to show. It also helped that the show started at noon and had a flat fee including a stall.

Trainer M and Cin

I might have had a little mental breakdown in my lesson two days before the show, as one does. I was just way too in my head and overthinking everything. God bless Cinder for not giving a shit about her mom giving her very mixed signals and pulling out at almost every jump. Trainer M rides Cinder on Fridays, and asked if I could make it out to the barn to watch her ride/get on for a mini lesson. I was able to leave work early and watching M ride really helped. I was able to get on and only have one minor panic about a distance instead of melting down over every distance the day before. 

The "presents" were point values for the gambler's choice class

When we got to the show we took the horses in for hand walk to see the giant Christmas tree in the arena. None of the horses cared at all about it. I got Cinder tacked up for Trainer M to school and despite walking around the arena an hour before, and you know showing at this venue three times this year and twice last year, Cinder was convinced the far end of the ring was terrifying. She pulled some lovely spin/rear moves and I was very, very glad M had gotten on her first. They did manage to work through it and M rode her in the first 0.70m class. Cinder did spook a few times, once at the far end and then again at a banner on the wall that she had already passed multiple times. 

After M's round I was supposed to get on and do the other two 0.70m classes, but another of Trainer M's client's horse was having a meltdown and M stayed in the ring to help them through it. This horse has some major show PTSD from a previous owner and does a lot better with another horse (particularly mares) in the ring with him. So Cinder was his emotional support mare. Things were a bit hectic at the back gate since Trainer M had 4 out of the 6 horses in the 0.70s, and they were looking for people to go but the others were still learning their course. I told M to ride in the second round, an optimum time class, and if the spooking was gone I'd take her in the final class. Cinder was much better behaved in the second round and M took a tight inside turn and won the class. 

Supposedly one of the teens at the show was tacking actual pics, so maybe we'll get those later this week and you can see those instead of blurry screenshots

I got on and furiously tried to learn my course. The first two rounds were the same course, but the third was a jump off and a totally different course. I hadn't wanted to confuse myself with learning two jumper courses at once, and then had to scramble to learn the second course. The first two thirds of the course went fine, I was a little tentative and not quite trusting that Cinder wouldn't spook and we were very slow, but coming to an outside line I lost my nerve. The line walked in six and a half, M had told us to do a waiting seven, but when she rode it with Cinder they got eight. And of course I had been watching other horses get anywhere from a five to a nine in the line so I was totally fucked on how many strides it was supposed to be. It didn't help that were jumping it directly towards the "scary corner". I ended up circling before the second fence and then trotting it. We landed on the wrong lead and I panicked again that we couldn't jump on the wrong lead (we totally could have, the turn to the next fence wasn't tight at all) and then trotted the next fence. We did manage to canter the last fence and somehow ended up 4th in the class. I'm mad at myself for not trusting my horse more, but very happy that Cinder was able to pull it together and was foot perfect after her initial silliness. I think we just need more show miles with Winter Cinder to help get over my nerves.