Handing Over the Reins

Back in September I ended up in the ER with what I thought was a ruptured appendix. It turned out to a ruptured ovarian cyst, which for the record, really fucking hurts. I was told to follow up with my regular doctor because it appeared I had another cyst on the same ovary. Two ultrasounds and one MRI later, it turns out I a massive 15cm (and growing!) cyst on my right ovary. 

Love watching Trainer A school Cin

I'm going to have my ovary removed sometime in January, but I'm in this weird in between place right now. Both my regular doctor and the surgeon gave me the ok to do some light riding, as long as it doesn't hurt (which sometimes it does) and as long as I don't fall off. Falling off could cause the cyst to rupture or twist, both of which would be extremely painful and would require emergency surgery. The cyst sometimes gives me what feels like the worst period cramps when I'm not on my period, or feels like a rock in pelvis with a burning pain going from my thigh to my ribs along my right side, and it occasionally pushes on my bladder making it feel like I have to pee RIGHT NOW.  None of which is conducive to a good ride. 

So I've decided to hand over the reins to Trainer A until after my surgery. Once I have a surgery date set, I'll probably hop on one last time since I won't be allowed back in the tack for 4wks. At least my ovary picked the right time of year to put me on stall rest. I do not mind not riding in the pour rain, wind, darkness after work, or freezing temps. Hopefully winter will be on its way out when I can get back into the saddle. 

Winter Work

 I know its still technically Fall, but it feels like Winter. The days are dark and short, its cold and wet, horses are bundled up in their blankets, and show season is over. Our rides lately have been more focused on finesse and flatwork, and less on jumping and course work. 

No stirrup lunge line lesson for No Stirrup November

We had our first lunge line lesson last week, and I was happily surprised at how well it went. Giving up control of the reins was hard for me, but a good 50% of the lesson was at the walk so it wasn't too bad. We started out with lots of stretching and rotating of body parts. Cinder was slightly confused with me waving my arms and legs around, but was more than happy to just walk a slow circle around A. She got more concerned once we started trotting and I flailed a little up there. I realized I haven't really done no stirrup work with her; I've done some at the walk but haven't trusted her up to this point to do it at the trot. Thankfully her trot is pretty darn comfy, and once she figured out she was allowed to do a western jog and I found my balance, we had a fun time. 

Just in case you think Cinder is all grown up now, she went on a hunger strike and refused to eat her supplements so now she gets a small scoop of candy with her grain.

About half of the IL horses in the barn were/are still in Thermal for their winter circuit and when they're gone not a lot of jumps are set. One of their at home assistants set up a fun little box exercise, with a one stride going up the center line, a bounce going across from E-B, and four single fences going diagonally out from the corners of the box. We played around with that configuration for a couple of weeks, doing the jumps as singles, then trying to angle them and do the two on each side as in and out. Cinder was very confused the first time we tried the angled in and out, but jumped no matter how poor my steering was. Once she figured it out she kept going for the direct two strides, instead of the bending three trainer A wanted me to get. 

She was in full blown heat over the weekend and was much more interested in where the other horses were than in working.

We also had lessons where Trainer A took the jumps down and we did different pole exercises. Walk poles, trot poles, canter poles, trotting into the box and halting before the trotting out of the box, etc. We even attempted a turn on the haunches in the box, which Cinder thought was very stupid. I told her to channel her 12.5% APHA pleasure horse blood, and she said no thank you, I prefer to go over the poles, not move my body around them. 

Working on Our Fitness

 Cinder got a few days off after the show, with bodywork the day after and acupuncture last Tuesday. I wasn't there for the acupuncture, but apparently Cin had quite the reaction to the bladder point and on her left stifle. The phrase "bucking in the crossties" was used. Her stifles are definitely her weak spots, and since we have a short period left before the trails get too muddy and slick, Trainer A took Cin out for fitness on the hills last week. Nothing like hill work to strengthen those stifles! 

All photos bought from Lark Photography

Cinder still has an issue with the section of trail we call the beaver dam since it's a pond on one side and marshy wetlands on the other with a nice wide gravel path in between and she can hear the sound of running water. She fucking hates water. Trainer A schooled it with her one of the days last week, after cantering her up the big hill for the first time, so she was tired and less likely to bolt across it like she usually does. My lesson last Friday had gotten moved to Saturday, but A told me to hand walk Cin out to the beaver dam on Friday with a big bag of treats, and a stud chain. 

When we went out, the BO had a burn pile going in a different section of the property and Cinder wasn't super happy about the smoke, or their barking dog that she could hear but not see. We walked out to the dam with only minimal stopping for grass and staring off into the distance, and Cinder confidently marched down the hill and across the dam like a pro. There's an apple tree on the west end (we came from the east) so I stopped and got a few apples for Cin. She got one there, and then we turned around and stopped in the middle of the dam to eat the second apple. Once she finished and we started walking, she did one little spin spook, so we turned around and went back across again, stopping in the middle, before turning around again and crossing like a good pony. She got plenty of treats for that, and then once we made it back up the hill she got to graze while I caught my breath. 

My lesson on Saturday was another fitness trail ride, and this time another one of A's students joined us. Despite being the tallest horse in the group, Cinder is the slowest walker and the two OTTBS we were with powered on ahead while we meandered behind them. Once we got to the bottom of the big field we took off in a trot, and again, the two OTTBs powered up the hill while Cinder picked her way behind them. Unfortunately, the other student's horse bolted about half way up the hill, and A took off after them. Cinder was very good about being left behind and calmly walked down to where the other horse had offloaded his person. She was more worried about the person in the ditch than the horse bolting, or the other one leaving her behind. Thankfully the other student was ok, just some scrapes and soreness, and her horse made it back to the barn unscathed.  

It's been raining most of this week, but is supposed to be clear, and cold, for the next week so hopefully we (and by that I mean Trainer A) can fit more hill work in. I tend to not go out on the trails by myself, but I'm going to try and get out on them more when daylight and weather allows. I know my horse isn't scared of being out on the big hill alone, I just need to trust myself more. 

Bucket List: Win a Cooler

 Check! With winning the MDT Events series champion, we won a cooler!! 

It's a nice weight, fleece Horze cooler that's a size too big for Cin, but we'll make it work. I'll probably only use it when we go places (gotta show off), or as a blanket for myself in the winter when I'm watching lessons/A ride. 

I tried to convey to Cin how cool this is, and how proud I am of her for winning this, but she was less than impressed and was mad that I wouldn't let her graze while trying to take pics. 

MDT Heirloom Show: October 2023

 We did our last show of the season on Saturday. It was a two day show, but we only decided to do one day as the body worker had already been scheduled for the second day. And despite a few bobbles, I'm really happy with how we ended our season. 

We had originally planned our move up to the 2'3" at this show, doing two rounds at that height plus an under saddle, but the show secretary posted their series points the week before and Cin and I were in the lead for year end champ in the 2'. And, as I told trainer A, I really wanted to point chase and get that series champ. So we ended up doing a 2' round, the 2' under saddle, and then a 2'3" round. 

Our lesson the day before the show

Trainer A was showing her new horse in the 1.0 and 1.10m jumpers earlier in the day, so we hauled over to the show with them and Cinder got to hang out in the trailer while A showed. She was perfect, happily munching her hay and not caring at all when Surelock left. Which was great, because Surelock had a massive meltdown when it was time to switch and he had to stay at the trailer when Cin left. Thankfully show management let A use an empty stall free of charge. Just one more reason we love this show series!

I was hoping the pro photos would be posted, but until they are have a blurry screenshot

 I let my nerves get to me a bit in warm up, but Cinder was foot perfect. Our 2' round was ok, I know I added in all the lines and didn't ride my best, but we nabbed a 3rd out of 7. When we went in for the flat, I heard one of the other trainers telling her kid that "Molly is a great hunter ride, just watch what she does and follow her." and that gave me a big kick in the ass to actually ride like I know what I'm doing. We had an unfortunate break in the right lead canter when I half halted without enough leg, but we still got a second.  

Spoiler alert

We walked around to keep Cin warm while they adjusted for the 2'3" and A asked if I wanted to jump anything else. I said no, but I should have because Cinder clobbered the first fence in our round. Now we know that when we do a warm-up round at a lower height we need to school the bigger height after. I was really, really happy with the rest of round. I did add in the first outside line, but picked up the pace and made the strides in the other line. We rightfully didn't place, but that's ok. Cinder felt like an absolute seasoned pro marching right around and not caring at all about me being a nervous wreck on her back. It was a great way to end our show season.  

Foto Friday

 Instead of trying to recap everything for the past few weeks, how about I just sum it up with some pictures?

Fall is here (despite the current heat wave yesterday and today) and it was time to sort through all my blankets. Cinder has already worn her sheet for a week or so during our first rain storm because she is a princess who hates getting wet. Peebs on the other hand is very happy to be a muddy mess.

Cinder got her own custom saddle! I stayed with the Voltaire Palm Beach, just with different panels and a larger seat size. Cinder had outgrown the used one I got last year, and since it never quite fit me right and finding a used saddle with a larger seat size with short flaps is almost impossible, we decided it was time to go fully custom. It's beautiful and so comfortable to ride in. 

I had a lesson last week where Cin and I weren't quite clicking, so we ended on a good note and then A hopped on to take Cin over the new course that had been set that morning. 

A bunch of jumps had just gotten repainted and Cinder had to stare down a few of them, because DIFFERENT, but she was so good and so game. The yellow gate used to be a light gray, and Cinder was very concerned that it was now bright yellow. She didn't seem to care that the jump was 1.0m, her first at that height. She did jump it, but pulled the rail. 

Second time was easy peasy

Cinder is currently in her once a quarter "I like boys" phase and thinks the new OTTB gelding Spin is the best thing ever. I give it a week till she hates him again. 

I fed at Cinder's barn a few times last week while the regular pm feeding was gone and A was at a horse trial. I've helped A feed before, but never done it all by myself, and let me tell you, feeding 56 horses is a lot. I much prefer feeding the four horses at Peebs barn. 

Transitions

Summer is transitioning into fall here in the PNW and I couldn't be happier about it. Temps are cooling, rain is in the forecast, and Cinder is feeling good. Its so obvious that she's a cold weather girl, and not a fan of hot girl summer. 

After her couple easy weeks, Cinder came out ready to work. We had a few great flat lessons where we were able to put a bit more pressure on her, ask for more, and she stepped right up. We played around with transitions within the gaits, doing the numbers game where 5 is a normal working trot and then going up to an 8, and back down to a 4, then a 7, etc. Trainer A wanted me to focus on keeping her connected and round, and we got some really, really nice trot work. 

I helped A out with her filly at the KWPN keuring and that itty bitty forelock braid is the cutest thing I've ever seen 

The highlight was our canter work. I was able to keep that rounder frame going into the canter, and it felt magical. Going left is Cin's easier direction, and once I got her where I wanted in the connection, she was able to keep it with minimal input from me. It felt so nice. The right lead is a little harder, but it still felt so good. 

#failfriday

Unfortunately all that flat work didn't quite translate to our jumping. In our lesson last week Cinder was a bit distracted and I couldn't quite get her fully connected. We did a few singles off a long approach, and the easiest was the square oxer on the diagonal, go figure. I started overthinking the ride to the single on the outside, as well as the outside line on the other long side. I was micromanaging her too much, without having enough impulsion. Trainer A told me I was working too hard to make the distances happen, and that I needed to get a good rhythm with impulsion, and let the distances happen. That was light bulb moment and everything became much easier after that.