Stepping it Up

Our first show of 2026 is a month away, and Cinder and mine's first clinic together is two weeks away, so we're officially stepping things up. The tentative plan is for Trainer M to take Cin in the 3' Green Hunters and she's been jumping her bigger once a week or so and hot damn if Cin isn't rising to the occasion. 

They make it look so easy

We've also been in flying change boot camp which seems to finally be paying off. She's at the point now where she 100% knows what we're asking, she's just lazy and doesn't want to. And she get pissy, mostly on the flat, when you try to set her up too much before asking for them. She's better about getting them while coursing, and Trainer M even put us on a flying change ban on the flat for now, as to not anger the beast too much. 

I'm hoping to do the 2'6" with her at the show, but my main goal is go and have fun. We're heading south to Thermal for a week, and Indio/Thermal has been a dream show of mine for about *cough* 25 years so I know nerves and the intimidation factor will play a roll. I do think we have a better plan for Cinder's nerves (vet recommended big dose of ulcergard and some perfect prep the first few days) so hopefully her being more chill will help me be more chill. 

The countdown is on and final prep is being done and I can't wait! 

 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Freeman Farm November 2024 Show

 We managed to make it to one last show this season, at at venue I haven't show at in ten years.  The farm was established in 1921 and was owned by the same family till they sold in 2022, and I'm so happy the new owners managed to keep the same vibes and aesthetic while doing some much needed upgrades.  

Cinder got her first winter clip the day before the show. Not great timing, but at least she wasn't a sweaty mess at the show

I had asked Trainer M if she had trailer space to haul for me, as it would cost about the same in gas for my truck as her mileage fee, and that way I didn't have to get up at 5am. She did, and apparently Cinder took great offense to being loaded at 6am in the dark. She got loose from M and jogged around the front pasture to say hi to M's two year old stud colt. But once caught she loaded fine and settled into her day stall at the show. I arrived about 30mins after the horses got there and she was happily munching her hay. My classes were the last of the day so I helped my barn mates showing earlier and then took Cin for a little lunge in the round pen. Unfortunately the footing was full of rocks, so we didn't do much in there. We then went for a walk around the outdoor that was being used at the warm up ring. There was a pig and a very big rooster in a paddock next to the ring that had been causing multiple horses to loose their minds all morning, but thankfully both were in their shelter and didn't cause us any problems. 

She came into flaming heat on Monday, so that probably explains some of her behavioral issues on Saturday

In typical horse show fashion I thought I had enough time to order a burger from the concessions, but classes ran fast and I needed to start tacking up as soon as I got it. One of the teens from the barn was helping groom, and was helping me with Cinder while I scarfed down my lunch. I was standing about five feet from the stall eating as fast I could when I saw Cinder poke her nose out the unlatched door then take off. So for the second time that day Cinder was loose. She was easily caught by another trainer while I ran after her. She then lost all of her privileges and was tied up in the stall while I finished tacking up. 

This show was jumpers and equitation, and the eq only went up to 18". My main reasons for coming were to support the restarting of this show series, and to get her out to a new venue, since she's only shown at Heirloom this year, and Freeman Farm is completely new to her. I figured she'd be fairly distracted and up, and I was completely right. Trainer M hopped on her first and while she was a bit looney in warm up, she settled once they started jumping. They were allowing schooling rounds so M took her in one since she can't do the eq. Cinder looked great and they had a nice round. 

Spoiler alert

I got on and we went in for the flat. We held it together, but Cinder felt spicy and was very distracted by an open door at the end of ring. I was a little caught off guard in our first over fences round by how forward Cin was and got left behind at the first fence. The rest of the round was decent, but Cin kept building and it felt like trying to keep the lid on a pressure cooker. I dropped my whip before going in for our second round but Cin was even more wound up. I ended up making her do the adds in the lines, to emphasize the point that she has to listen to me and not blast around like a rocket ship. She also missed a lead change and then got mad and we ended up trotting a fence because she was too frazzled to pick up the correct lead. We definitely put the "schooling" in schooling show. There were only three in our division, so we ended up second on the flat and for our first over fences round, and third in the second round. 

To put the icing on the day, Cinder once again protested at having to load in the trailer to go home and got loose for the THIRD time that day. Her and Trainer M had a conversation involving a stud chain, and Cinder walked right on after that. I apologized profusely for my horse being a rank asshole, and we made a new rule that Cin must always have a chain when loading. I was expecting her to be spicy and fresh, what with being freshly clipped and the weather deciding it's really fall now, but I wasn't expecting her to be that bad. We might need to rethink how we deal with showing in fall/winter going forward. 

Spooky Season

Autumn has arrived in the past few weeks with a drop in temps and the start of rainy season. Cinder loves the colder weather and now that's she feeling much better after her abscess we have a very spicy, spooky mare on our hands. 

Halloween jump decoration is perfectly fine with her

She had an absolute meltdown in the outdoor arena a few weeks ago, when jumps that had been used at the horse show returned home for the winter and were stacked in the corner of the outdoor. She's jumped all these poles and the coop multiple times, but god forbid they hang out on the pole rack in the corner. Cinder is fine going past the spooky corner when we're jumping, but as soon as you're walking and not doing anything, she's trying to spin and rear. She got so bad during one of my lessons that Trainer M got on her and had a little discussion. 

Said scary poles and coop

She has thankfully gained all the weight back that she lost over summer so we cut her grain back and M has been making it a point to work her more outside, weather permitting. I haven't been able to ride outside since her big meltdown because by the time I get off work and get to the barn it's dark or and when I've ridden on the weekend its been raining. 

The mounting block was strategically placed there for a certain red mare

But we've also had our share of spooky things in the indoor. M has been setting a lot of gymnastic exercises with the poles/cavaletti/brush boxes and Cinder took a lot of offense at being asked to trot into the exercise above. She thought it would be much easier to go around the boxes than over them. How dare we ask her to use her body and sit on her hind end over two little bounces. I foresee a winter of skinnies and gymnastics in our future. 

OHJA Medal Finals: Day 1

OHJA medal finals are held over two days, and have three phases. Phase one (a written knowledge test) and phase two (over fences) are held on Friday and phase three (a flat phase for the 2'3" and 2'6" medals, over fences for the higher medals) are on Saturday. The finals are held during a regular rated show, but I only did medal finals. The show was held about 20mins from the barn, and Maya has shown there a ton, so we decided to haul her in for those two days. 

We were supposed to take our written test between 7:30-9:30 Friday morning, and of course my round wasn't scheduled to go till 4:30pm. So I headed over to the show around 8, took the test, and watched a few short stirrup rounds go. There had been a study session held at the show on Wednesday night that I went to and was initially irritated by because it lasted all of 20mins, but the test was the exact questions they gave us at the session so it worked out. I got a perfect 10/10.

Everything was wet because it rained Thursday night and on and off on Friday

 I then went to the barn, hung out, cleaned, and organized my shit before we loaded Maya up around 2 to head over. Maya is a great traveler and was content to hang out in the trailer with a hay net while Trainer M and I watched the bigger medal classes and ate lunch. They opened up the course around 3 for a combined walk for the mini and foundation medals. We walked, made our plan then headed over to the trailer to start getting ready. 

All pro photos from McCool Photography. The show office charges each entry $35 for photos and you get digital downloads of all your pics. 

Trainer M hopped on Maya first, as she can sometimes be a bit spunky at the shows, and M would rather ride her through it instead of lunging her. Once I got on the nerves started to get to me a little. It didn't help that Maya was a little annoyed with me and tried to buck a couple of times. I was riding in her owner's saddle, that has a much deeper seat than mine, and I felt like I was sitting in a hole and slightly behind her motion. I was trying to be more in a half seat, but couldn't quite find my balance. We jumped a few fences, then went to watch a couple of rounds, planning on jumping one or two more right before going in. 

There was a posted order of go, but as the way of hunter ring, there was an open gate for about five minutes. I asked Trainer M if I could just go and get it over with, instead of sitting there letting my anxiety increase. She agreed, the back gate guy gave his blessing and off we went. I felt Maya perk up a bit, and once we picked up our canter she became all business. She really listened to me and was right with me every stride. I liked that the course was twisty as it gave me more to focus on instead of a lot of long straight lines. We landed every lead, and most of the distances came up well. I know I half halted a bit too strongly coming around the corner to fence 3, but otherwise everything else rode really, really well. It was honestly one of the best rounds I've ever ridden. I had given my phone to a friend to video, but it unfortunately died just after my round started so no video. 

We ended up with a 76, so combined with my 10 from the written test, we had an 86 earning us second out of thirteen. I was so beyond happy with our round and honestly don't think I could have done any better on Cinder, or if I had ridden Maya more. Maya got a lot of cookies while we untacked and cleaned her up, and then we headed home ready for round three the next day.