A Fine Ride

I had a lovely ride on Cinch last night. A lot of times when I go over there after work, between work insanity and rt 3N traffic (Northern MA-NH people probably know what I'm talking about) I'm as jittery as a meth junkie... but yesterday I was relaxed. He was *up*, but it was fun.

I had left work about 15 minutes early, picked up a chocolate cake at Demoulas (their cakes are surprisingly yummy) as a good-bye gift to our barn manager, and took back roads to finally get there around 6:30.

I should have organized it sooner, but with a number of people off at the Quarter Horse Congress earlier this week, things just didn't gel.

I'd bought a big cake, and though I'd tried to get a few more people to come over, the workday logistics didn't work. We couldn't wait until today, because Sydney's last day is today, a half day. :( She's moving back home to Maine for personal reasons - we all love her and are going to miss her.

Anyway, Sydney, the barn owner Frani, my friend Angel and I ate cake,  and she still had 3/4 of a cake to indulge in for breakfast and during the morning. It was a really good cake. :)

After that, and feeling a bit bloated (I wonder why?) I went to see Cinch and Tico, having decided to blow off riding, just clean them up and spoil them a bit. It was getting late, and the barn closes at 9.

Once I started brushing Cinch though, I thought... what the heck?

I tacked him up and as we walked out into the indoor Angel said, "He's probably going to be a bit goofy - remember, he hasn't been ridden since Sunday." The trainer had also been out at the Congress, so Cinch hadn't gotten any kind of work for a few days.

Well, last Saturday was a similar "first ride in a bunch of days" situation (I'd missed that Thursday, they'd gone out to Congress on that Tuesday) and he'd spent most of our first canter circle boinging along like Pepe Le Pew before he settled down. Just a teeny bit of pent-up energy.

I'm happy to say that I felt quite safe despite the somewhat unorthodox forward motion - I kept his head away from his ankles and he just canter-boinged happily until it settled to a plain canter.

Last night I figured that was a possibility...and when I got on him it was definitely to sit on a horse looking to stretch his legs.

The thing about quarter horses: they are built for impulsion.  They have super-duty rear-ends, and Cinch's maybe bigger than most :)  They aren't really built for suspension typically, but Cinch - unlike Tico - has quite a bit of that as well.

So, after barely settling into my western saddle, he was off. We powered around that ring in a very extended trot, which was actually pretty easy to sit as long as I let my back do what it needed to do. It felt so much like we were doing a "dressagy" trot rather than anything approaching a western jog, I thought... I'll ask him to leg yield.

And so he did - from one side of the ring to the other, big strides, big movement, lots of suspension, lots of impulsion. It was a blast!

After about ten minutes of that, I brought him back to a walk, and we did more western-type stuff. Our canters still started out zoomy, but no extra bounce to them.

I really think some of my dressage-riding friends would have a blast on that red horse of mine.  Anyone want to drop by, bring their (wide-tree) dressage saddle, hop on the big boy and see what he's got?

And, Photos From the Show

Both of us looking intent.

I've told him a bunch of times, and it's true: it's a good thing he's cute.
Just look at that face!

A little pas de quatre. :)

Northeast Super Slide-In show... And done for the year.

Another fun reining show, though I never managed to beat my best - this one the Northeast Super Slide-In. When I flubbed the pattern in the first class and zeroed (my own fault, I'd skimmed the description of the spins and made assumptions) I entered Green Horse.

I also went shopping in Kathy the tack lady's trailer (Kathy Toomey Burgos on Facebook), and picked up a gorgeous emerald green show blanket, and I bought a 1/4" Wonpad, too - it's perfect for under a show blanket, not too thick, not thin like a back-on-track blanket. I really like it. She will run a tab for you, and gives good discounts - I got the pad for 89.95.

 Anyway, in Green Horse with the green blanket, we got a 62.5, so were moving in the right direction. :)

The next day was a Green Reiner class first thing, this one I got a 60... Cinch, who is usually a spinning machine, decided that it was just too early to do that thang... our spins sucked.

Cinch BigBootay taking a mid-day nap.

I wanted to do better, and entered Green Horse for that day. Bryan said he'd hop on Cinch a bit before the class to tune him up a bit, and I went shopping in Kathy's trailer again.

I found some cute little skull-decorated spurs, with just a little more to the rowel than my plain-jane spurs had (which were essentially dimes), and a pair of blue and black skull earrings, all to match my skull and crossbones Elvis-collared show shirt I bought at the last show.

The spurs. The nail polish helps hide the dirt under my fingernails. I'm not very good at applying it, though.

Even though the skulls on the shirt had one blue eye and the earrings were blue, I used the green blanket on Cinch - it just was that pretty on him.

I rode him a bit in the practice ring, then Bryan came in and got on him, and made him mind a bit more.

As an aside: one of the best things about Bryan as a trainer is, he doesn't "tune up" the horse in the practice ring by yanking him around in spins, or whaling on his sides to back up. He still gets the results he wants, but the rough use isn't part of his repertoire... and it was in a few of the other trainers'.

One in particular, a woman, was pretty bad - the poor horses looked miserable as she yanked and kicked and muscled them into pretzels. And another one NEVER SHUT UP, berating the kids she was coaching, and half the time telling them to do things  that were abusive and often contradictory. I commented to another older guy, as we were both sitting on a bench in a corner "I'm too old too put up with that kind of shit." And he said "I'd take my kid and horse out of training with any trainer ever acted like that with them." I'm really surprised the kids weren't in tears. I mentioned that to a friend of mine, and I think she said that at some shows they have judges watching the practice ring to make sure none of that crap was happening, but we didn't have them. :(

Anyway, I hopped back on, went to the pen, and we didn't do too badly, and though the run was a little zippy, our spins were *much* better. :) We got a 63.

During the day, the chiropractor who comes to the barn every so often to adjust our horses, and who has a horse in training with Bryan, arrived. We didn't want to do Cinch just before his class just in case he got a bit sore from the adjustment, but he got a nice adjustment afterwards.

One of the funniest thing I've ever seen: Bryan and his girlfriend Jenny have an Aussie, Rosie. Jenny was having her horse Star adjusted just before Cinch, and we were all sitting there watching as the chiro worked.

He brought out his mallets to work on Star's spine. He held one to the vertebra (brum?) and hit that mallet with the other one.

*WHACK*

Rosie jumped up, whining piteously, and running in circles. We all, including the chiro and his wife who was holding Star, looked at her, surprised.

He turned around, moved a bit up the spine, and *WHACK*

Rosie, whining, was beside herself now, running back and forth, looking at Bryan and Jenny like "WHY ARE YOU ALLOWING THIS???"

The chiro whacked once more, and they had to take Rosie away. We all laughed for about 5 minutes. She didn't act that way with any other horse, only Star.

While Cinch was getting his adjustment, the "Northeast Classic Reiners Class" was going on. The qualifications were, having been an NRHA member 20 years ago (though not necessarily still a member) and being over 55.

We could usually hear the sounds of people hooting and cheering a bit during the show back at the stalls, but as a faint background noise. Suddenly, there was a cacophony - cheering, hooting, just all kinds of noise. I figured it was some one everyone liked, and I sure wasn't wrong: it was Kathy the tack lady... competing for the first time in ten years... well, let me let her tell you about it, since I didn't witness it first hand:

"I have been in the horse industry in one form or another for 45 years. Yesterday afternoon was probably the most memorable and fun experience I've ever had. I showed at the Northeast Reining Horses Association in the Classic Reiner Class. It was the first time I was back in the pen after 10 years and the first time on a horse in three years. The crowd was amazing! I have never felt so much love in my entire life! Thank you all! I also like to personally thank Martina Morrell for getting me through the pattern successfully and to Amber Jewel for letting me use her great Horse Chexy. Words cannot even express how I feel!"

If you want to see a bit more about it, search for her name on Facebook (Kathy Toomey Burgos), people shared photos to her timeline.

I did get to see the rest of the class after Cinch was done, and I can tell you, I have never seen such a great crew and had so much fun watching an event, ever. I was hooting and hollering with everyone else.

Yesterday morning, I had one last class, another Green Reiner. After our zippy performance the day before, I wanted to take this one slow. I did - but too slow, basically too slow to get a decent stop and slide. It was a more complicated pattern than I'd done before, with a run-in first, and I didn't go off pattern. So, bad stops, a couple of -1/2s, and a score of 62. Oh well - I now have something to work on for the off-season.

Cinch really did not want to get up Saturday morning.

I stayed for a few hours longer, but then packed up my stuff and headed home, since I didn't have any classes at all today. We could have stayed for the futurity, but Angel (who went to the show even though she kept her horse home) and I were ready to leave. Cinch stayed behind, but he'll get a nice rest before he travels home himself.

Oh - one of the judges owns Cinch's daddy Backcinch. Small world!

And I forgot to mention - one of the girls who came with us couldn't bring her reiner, he's lame - so she brought and competed on her Haflinger pony. Cutest thing!

I got the video of my rides, but I need to edit it down: he put my runs for all 5 classes together into one long video; I'm going to break it down to the individual videos. Meanwhile, the photographer posted the photos. Some are cringe-worthy, but I'll probably be buying a few:

Photos from the Super Slide-In

How could I have forgotten the sheep?

The Big E Fairgrounds are quite large, and there's often more than one activity going on during any given weekend. While we were there for the reining show for instance, there was also a dog show and a sheep show.

The brother of one of the young women with the Crystal Farm group was showing his sheep, and their mother was there to help him. Much to Kate's consternation (she's a teen... need I say more?), a bunch of us went over to say hello, and see what a sheep show was like.

I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams the reality that is a sheep show.

First of all, the sheer noise of it was overwhelming. I'm not sure how many sheep were there, but I'm pretty sure they all had something to say.

Some of them were wearing fly sheets.

Oh, and be careful where you walk. Maybe sheep aren't worse than horses in that respect, maybe there were just so many sheep in that confined space that it just seemed like there was not one bit of the floor that hadn't been peed on or pooped on... but holy mother of god, that was a lot of poop and pee.

Given that, it wasn't nearly as smelly as I might have expected... there was ventilation, the exhibition hall they were in had windows that could be opened.

Figuring out what they were being judged on was another puzzle. The people showing the sheep (they seemed to be mostly teens or young adults) held them, the judges walked around and chose some out of the lineup, there'd be more shifting around, the judge would choose some more... but what the criteria was, was a complete mystery to me. I asked Kate's mother afterwards, and she said it was mostly judged on grooming, and though some used professional groomers, her son did it himself, a fact of which she was quite proud.

There were a lot of what I can only call grooming stations scattered within the hall - about 3 1/2 feet long by about 2 1/2 feet wide, they were little platforms that once the sheep were attached to the tie-down on it, had a lift that brought them up to a comfortable level for the clipping/grooming to commence. There were a lot of sheep on those things, and they all seemed a bit affronted, and vocalized their displeasure.

An uoccupied grooming station to the left front.

These photos are just a tiny corner of the whole exhibition hall. I didn't even take any photos of the classes and the judging.

I think I lasted about ten minutes in there before the assault on all my senses was just too much. I have no idea how those people stayed there the whole day.

The Second NERHA show, July 4th weekend

Long story short: it was exhausting, but so much fun!

Cinch and I were better together than at the last show, and I really feel like we're getting to be a good team. We had nice warm weather - well, it was kind of hot and muggy, but better than the freezing temps during the April show - and the sun was shining. People were all in good holiday moods, it was wonderful.

We arrived early Thursday afternoon, got the trailers unloaded and the horses settled in. It may sound like not all that much, but I'm talking eight horses. Before they can even come off the trailer, the shavings need to be laid down in each stall. Then once they're off, water buckets and hay bags filled. Then all the supporting racks, bins, and trunks unloaded into the temporary tack room, the saddles, bridles, saddle pads, etc, following.

After that. and then the evening paid warm-ups, we all went to our respective homes-away-from-home (I shared a room with Angel again) and crashed.

Friday, the first class doesn't start until after noon, so there were more paid warm-ups in the morning. Before they start, the pen is open for people to go in en-masse; the paid warm-ups are time to go in alone, get the horse used to the pen and make sure there'll be no issues.

Angel and I had opted not to get up at the crack of dawn to ride before the paid warm-ups, instead getting there slightly after the crack of dawn. The Tack Shop lady, Kathy (she pulls a trailer full of cool western horsie stuff around to the shows, and is about as nice as you can ask for) was there, so we did some shopping ahead of time - I bought a pretty saddle blanket, and eyed the belts. I'd promised myself a more "blingy" belt if I scored above 60 in the show in April, and then I'd done it. So... but I couldn't make up my mind. I walked away with only the blanket.

Meanwhile, I'd bought a matching bridle and breastcollar from the same people who made my saddle, and  I really wanted to get them in time for this show. It came down to the wire: they were finished on Wednesday. I was going to just wait until the next show, but then I got the bright idea to ask the NERHA people if I could get them shipped to the showgrounds.

The answer was yes. YEAH! I contacted the Continental guy, told him yes, gave him the address, and he shipped it out, to be delivered on Friday.

I didn't really think about the fact that July 3rd was pretty much a holiday for everyone, given that the 4th fell on a Saturday.

There were shipping boxes sitting outside the NERHA show offices so I was feeling pretty good... until I asked them if there'd be any more shipments.

"How was it shipped?" she asked.

"USPS" I replied.

"Oh, they won't deliver inside the show grounds, only UPS and FedEx will do that. And I think the main office here is closed."

Oh, crap. I wish I'd known that. :(

On the off-chance that it was not closed, I decided to wander around the grounds looking for the main office. It was quite surprising how many people had no idea what building that was in.

But meanwhile, I did stumble upon a warehouse which contained these:

So it wasn't all bad.

There was a lady mechanic working on a truck in this space who knew where the offices were. They were closed. A kind security guy even let me in on the off-chance that the Post Office had left the box inside the door and someone else brought it inside... but no.

Oh well. It wasn't like I *needed* to match. It was a disappointment, though.

Since the classes started at noon, we did get on a bit before that. It turned out, our draws (along with another lady from our group) were all consecutive - I think 13th, 14th, and 15th, if I remember correctly - so we were in the practice arena around the same time.

This was my run in ladies.

Not the worst ever done... but lots of room for improvement.  And my own "personal best", so I won't bitch.

I ended up with a 65 1/2.

The thing with showing along with a crew of people - some are showing in more classes than others. I was showing in three classes the whole weekend: Ladies on Friday, Green Reiner II on Saturday, then another Green Reiner II on Sunday.

That left a lot of down time, even with watching everyone else's runs, helping to feed and water and hose down horses, and otherwise hanging out at the Big E grounds.

Saturday morning, I had a long wait before the draw for Green Reiner would even happen, I was bored.  I was back at Kathy's trailer looking at things again,  I was back looking at belts.

The thing about Kathy's trailer: it's not the TARDIS. Even if there are things that you like,  it isn't guaranteed that they'll be in your size. So I found this belt, my size, kind of pretty.

It had a bit of bling, and some bead work in an Aztec pattern.

I liked it.

But some of the bead work was pink.

Not a brassy neon pink (I actually kind of like in your face pink) but a pale, almost white, pastel pink.

I'm so not a pink woman.

Except that my socks were pink that day - that was just what they came in, ya know?  Oh, and my underwear that day was pink - not pastel, thank goodness, but definitely pink.

Oh, hell.

There's a lot more beadwork... I just wanted to also include the bling factor.

So I bought the belt. I've been wearing it nearly every day now, the pink is growing on me.

Saturday afternoon, and  Green Reiner II was posted. My draw was last.

I could get all emo and say something like "worst wait EVAH!" but it wasn't, really, It's just, with twenty-eight people in front of you,you're trying to figure out when to start getting your horse ready so you won't be sitting on him too long - it was kind of hot, after all. At around draw 14 I started to brush him and tack him up; Bryan wanted me on him around draw 16 or 17 so that I could do some work in the warmup ring before it was time for my draw.

By the time draw 24 came around, Cinch and I were both sweating, and I was really having to work to get him to move. I finally just moved out near the gate to park him in the shade.

I probably timed it badly - I'd started too early. At that point I wasn't really focusing well,  I made lots of mistakes in that class - reflected in my score - 60 1/2.  Oh well.

I decided not to purchase that video.  Maybe I will after I've forgotten about all my screw-ups. :)

Sunday, Green Reiner was in the afternoon again. Sunday morning, I visited Kathy again.

Maybe her trailer IS the TARDIS: looking at the show shirts - which I'd done every day since we got there - one I'd not seen before called out to me:

Kathy, the enabler, encouraged me to try it on:

Skulls, Elvis collar and cuffs, how could I resist?

Yes, I bought it.

So, Green Reiner. I was not last draw - actually, about 2/3 of the way, but not last. I was rocking my new shirt, and new belt, Yup, feeling pretty confident.

Cinch and I entered the pen. Within about 30 seconds I thought I'd blown it: I overspun the second spin. So I figured, what the heck, let it rip. It's hard to tell watching this, but it sure felt like Cinch was moving pretty fast.

Sunday

Despite being only slightly in control at a few points (you're supposed to look like you're in control) I did OK. Apparently I'd come close, but hadn't overturned by over 1/4 of a circle, so I got a score: 64 1/2.

Watching it again, I didn't actually look that out of control. Maybe it was better than I thought. 

Once everyone had done their classes, we packed up horses and tack and headed home. Angel and I took a scenic route - Google Maps had warned of a bad accident and back up on the Pike - but it was a pleasant end to a very tiring weekend.

I'd hoped to get Monday to recuperate, but I ended up driving back to Springfield to pick up my box - the alternative was for them to return it to sender, and I was having none of that. 

So I'll have matching tack at the August Show. Which is a four day show. I'm not sure if I'm going to survive.

I Just Had to Share

It was a good lesson, and a nice bareback ride on Tico afterwards out in the back field, where he saw a turkey and *didn't* over-react. More geese families were seen as well.

But this was the highlight of the day Silly Cinch:

To explain. I was bent over next to him picking out his hoof, when I heard "pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!" behind me. This was happening. My phone was in my back pocket. The rest is history.

Here are some of the geesies. I didn't get the cutest ones because I was riding bareback and didn't trust Tico to not decide to bolt:  two adults, the first one waddling over across a dirt road to the pond, right in front of us. It was followed by about 5 little fluffy babies. The other adult was still in the tall grass - we could see it's head and neck and part of it's body - but was just standing there... until the grass started rustling, and little gray heads popped up and out onto the dirt road, one by one...

You can actually see the dark heads of the other family we ran into on the other side of the pond, in front of the front-loader.

June 13th, 14th. Nice days...

Not too much happened... There was a lesson, there was riding, Cinch was a really good boy, so was Tico (though as usual, he was filthy...)

I'd bought a saddle pad liner to go under the saddle pads. It dries a lot more quickly than when you hose off a saddle pad - whether it be fleece or felt, those suckers take forever to dry.

The liner is about an 1/8th of an inch thick, and I could wish for it to be a bit longer on the sides, but still... so much easier to hose that off and just lay it in the sun for a few hours, than the days a saddle pad could take.

Anyway, I also dewormed the boys on Sunday. Cinch was fairly demonstrative in showing his opinion of the matter:

That lip stayed that way for a long time

I don't think it really tasted that bad, since they both accepted a Kashi bar offering immediately afterwards.  Some of the paste dewormers must taste like ass (or the horse equivalent, since they have no compunction about smelling poops, so maybe ass tastes good?). With some, they stand there, sniff the offering, and look away sadly. This was not one of those dewormers. 

On Sunday, After riding a bit in the back ring, I rode Cinch up the path to the gate going out to the back field. He was very looky and worried about it. We'll go out there at some point, but I think we'll have to work up to it.

Anyway, I did take Tico out into the back field again Sunday afternoon. As soon as we went into the field, he spied a turkey to our far right. It was pretty far away, and heading towards the trees. 

As we were watching, another one stood up (apparently he'd been crouching down in the tall grass), and scooted towards the trees as well.

And then another popped up, same thing.

Tico was a bit bug-eyed, but not too bad. We stood there and watched, waiting  to see if another was going to appear.

Finally I gave him a boot, he girded his loins, and we walked on. Warily, casting nervous glances over towards the trees, but we walked on.

We mostly just ambled over the fields, then over to the pond where the geese hang out. He looks at the geese, but more curious than as if they're going to grow fangs and attack. We watched a small family (the babies all fluffy-downy-cute) waddle over to the pond then glide into the water.

Heading back, I asked him to canter:

What a GLORIOUS Weekend!

What a great weekend it was! Beautiful warm weather, happy horses, just enough breeze to keep the bugs down. These are days when I realize I'm truly blessed.

 I rode Cinch Saturday outside in the back ring (he was just a star, I love that big red boy!) and then gave Tico the beauty treatment, knowing that it wouldn't last a day but wanting to at least get some of the winter stickies and stains out.  They both got to go out for a bit afterwards on the lead line to feast on the choice grass outside the paddocks.

Saturday was the "official" lesson with our trainer Bryan, Angel and T-Man joining us as usual. The lesson was outside in the back ring, the weather sunny and hot but with a nice breeze.

Angel had been struggling with getting her boy T-Man to spin, especially in one direction, and mostly because she'd hurt her knee and didn't really have a lot of lateral strength on that side. Bryan suggested she wear spurs; she hadn't been up until now. She had a selection to choose from, spurs she'd collected over the years; she chose the most mild pair to use since T-Man doesn't really need a big go button, just a stronger cue for the spins.

I'd been having issues with Cinch anticipating a change of gait - mostly wanting to trot or canter after a transition down, and not wanting to walk.

Bryan suggested that the second Cinch tried to move faster than I wanted him to go, or if I felt him start his weird rear-end hop (Angel said it's like he has the gait version of Tourette's) that I take up contact and push him forward and to one side with steady leg pressure. When he relaxed, I should loosen the reins, relax my leg, and let him walk forward. If he started trotting or doing his Tourette's move again, repeat as often as was needed the contact/push/wait for relax until Cinch walked forward calmly.

As he said, this wouldn't be an instant fix, but if I am consistent about it, I should be able to a) get him to move forward when I ask, not when he anticipates; and b) hopefully get him out of that weird hop habit.

The thing I love about working with Bryan is that if he sees problems, instead of just telling you to fix it, he thinks about it, then tells you *how* to fix it in a way that's not a reaction... it's a "make him do something else instead."

So, instead of my doing an abrupt check with the reins, I ask Cinch to do something else, not what he wants to do or thinks I want him to do, and then release the pressure when he relaxes. Replacing, rather than reacting to, the undesired behavior.

And it's working.

So, out in the back ring, Cinch was an angel. He did everything I asked of him willingly, though I did have to do the "don't anticipate" exercise a couple of times.  We did circles, rectangles, and (my favorite because he's just so damned good at it) spins. He was perfect.

Meanwhile Angel was doing the same at the other end of the ring. T-Man was being his usual wonderful self - and he has such beautiful stops, it's just a pleasure to watch.

Angel set him up to do spins, with Bryan giving her pointers about how she needed to hold herself and her reins.

T-Man spun his little heart out. Without any spurs touching him. Angel said it was really interesting: because she was more away of her leg placement because of the spurs, she was holding them differently, with her toes a bit in front of her knees... and her knee wasn't hurting. And apparently T-Man was more aware of them too. Sometimes it just takes wearing them.

Less than a half hour into our lesson, we decided that there was no need to work them in the heat any longer; they'd done exactly what we asked, and we got off.

Neither one had lathered up, so they got their tack stripped off, bug spray topped off, masks put on, and taken for "the good grass" just outside the door, by the front ring. Good boys!

Once I finished with Cinch, it was Tico's turn for some attention. 

I pulled him in from his paddock, where he'd again indulged in a dirt bath. His whole body was coated, with some muddy spots where he'd sweated. I scraped off some of the dirt with brush and rubber mitt, then took him for a bath. It had to be a cold-water one - the last time I took him to where hotter water was available, he flipped out and broke his halter. But it was a hot day, I knew he'd be fine.

I scrubbed him, soap and water, and gave his tail an extra shampoo. I still wasn't able to get the manure stain off his leg, and I missed a couple of spots on his tail - his tail is so thick that just getting the whole thing wet is difficult; often I think I've really given the bone a good scrub, only to find that if I dig in deep enough there's a section still brown with dirt, with dark dirt dandruff flakes. 

I know I'm a little obsessive about his tail. He really is a giant My Little Pony and it's so beautiful when it's clean... I can't help myself.

Anyway, after washing it, I wanted to condition it with coconut oil. I was going to oil it up, leave it in, then rinse it out after 20-30 minutes. 

One thing I hadn't really considered: coconut oil solidifies when it gets cold. It ended up being wash it out rather than rinse it out, and there still was quite a bit of oil on his tail. 

But wow, did it sparkle!

Though I still hadn't gotten all the dirt out:

While he dried, I took him out to feast on the good grass as well... it was a good day to be my horses.

I knew that the tail - and the rest of him -  would be totally disgusting by Sunday, but at least it had looked nice for a little while.

Sunday, though he'd done his best to discourage my riding him by completely coating himself in dust and grime again (his tail suffered too, sadly), I rode Tico on a trail ride with Kathy and Roxie, her cute little Paso Fino. It was very hot (I think it hit the 90s) but we didn't do much else but walk. Well, we did a couple of canters on small but steep hills, but other than that, we ambled... or Tico ambled, Pasos do this little step-step-step-step gait, about 4 to Tico's every 1 step. It's very cute, sort of a tippy tippy tippy toes gait. Roxie is adorable.

I'd only scraped off the top layer of dirt, so when we got back the sweat was running brown/black off his back. So he got hosed down - I didn't bother with shampoo today -  then taken for grass for a bit. The saddle pad was so disgusting, I had to hose that off as well.

Before scraping the top layer off:

Sigh.

Frani, he needs to go on a diet...

It was now around 12:30 and very hot. I thought I'd wait a bit before tacking Cinch up, so started walking up towards the front tack room, where there was a fridge and I'd put a bottle of water.

Frani was just getting ready to get on Astro. As an aside, Astro is one of the cutest palominos on the planet, and he has a shooting star brand which for some reason zooms the cute into the stratosphere.

This is Frani on her filly CC in the background, and Bryan sitting on Astro.  Isn't he adorable? Look at that brand!! 

 I asked her if she was going to ride in the indoor or outside - it really was pretty hot outside - and she said she wasn't sure. But Bryan  and Jenny (his significant other) said it wasn't that bad, there was a nice breeze... and why don't I go tack up Cinch.

Oddly, it didn't take much to convince me. :) I gave him a quick brush, threw the saddle on, and we headed on back.

I have to say: when I first bought Cinch, I had my misgivings.  He was about the mouthiest thing I've ever had to deal with, and it was actually exhausting dodging his attempts to grab my clothes, his blanket,  his bridle, his halter, whatever came within a couple of feet of his head. Also, we didn't seem to be meshing at all when I was riding him - there were times I actually thought he hated me. There were instances of bucking, there was that little weird rear end hop, and he was constantly swishing his tail. It was all somewhat disheartening.

I tried a few tack changes: I got different pads, a longer girth, ordered a new saddle. The new, longer girth seemed to make a bit of a difference, and a pad that was fleece rather than wool felt where he had some rubs on his flank (he'd been clipped fairly short, and the pads were rubbing him there and wearing what hair was there right off) helped as well.

But where I think we had a turn-around was at the show: he saw that I was there every day, spent time with him, and was *his* human... I noticed the mouthiness getting less and less, I could actually stand next to him, rub his face, his neck, and he stood still and seemed to enjoy it.

Back to Sunday: I headed back to meet up with Frani, Bryan and Jenny in the back ring. I could see them all under the one little tree giving any shade - even Frani on Astro.

As I rode up, I joked to Frani that I noticed she and Astro were under the tree out of the sun. She laughed, and I moved Cinch in next to Astro. We shared a few minutes of just shooting the breeze; kidding each other, enjoying the day.

The sun went behind a cloud for a second, and we took that as our cue for getting started. Frani'd already gone one direction, so worked on the other at the one end, while I rode at the other. We took another short break, then Frani went out to do some rectangles, Cinch and I staying under the tree to watch.

Astro was a star - Frani's been working on keeping him from taking off out of the corner (a common problem with reiners) by using Bryan's suggestion of turning him into a circle if he got too fast. Another suggestion was just work on steering - something Cinch and I do as well. It all works towards getting the horse to wait for you to ask, not to assume. Good stuff.

Once Frani and Astro were finished, it was our turn.

With Cinch, my problem is that he starts getting fast when we're going down the long side in a rectangle (anticipating a sliding stop.) Bryan's fix is to turn him into a circle as soon as it happens, no matter where in the line we are; it slows him down and then we continue the line after he's circled and lost his momentum. This is light years away from a previous trainer's instruction of "check him, check him harder, sit him down", which, knowing no better, I tried to do. Gee, maybe that had something to do with Cinch's antipathy towards me. Sigh

Anyway, we worked on this a few times. My position was messing us up there - instead of leaning back I was leaning forward into the circles, when meant speed up to Cinch. We did some zippy circles, before I got my position under control, sitting back and helping him to slow.

Bryan's explanation is: if you sit forward, the horse has to go faster to keep you under him. Sit back, he slows down.  Makes sense.

While I was working on my rectangles, Jenny called out "Sue, do you want some ice cream?" Oh yeah. Ice cream was pretty much my idea of heaven at that point - I mentioned it was hot?  I didn't even care what flavor, and couldn't even remember what was my favorite - I guess my head was cooking in my helmet. I came up with chocolate chip, and hollered it over my shoulder. Jenny thought I said mint chocolate chip, so repeated that to me. Mint chocolate chip sounded wonderful! I swung around again, yelling "Yeah!! Thanks!"

This time we worked up a good sweat. Cinch got hosed off (he has nothing against the warm water wash stall) and I was going to wash him (really) but then the ice cream arrived. I tied him in his stall and had my ice cream. It was delicious. And then I remembered my favorite flavor was coffee oreo cookie... but mint chocolate chip was just fine.

Bad mom, I know.

When I was done - ok, we sat in the tack room for a bit longer, gabbing - I woke Cinch up from his doze, put his fly mask on and coated him with bug spray again, and led him outside to feast some more.

Tico was giving me the sad eyes.

But Elizabeth and her daughter had just arrived, and Sydney loves playing with Tico - I asked her if she would take him out for grass, and she was more than happy. She also brushed him, brushed his tail (yes, he's a giant My Little Pony), braided it, and pretty much slathered him with attention. He ate it up. Of course, equal amounts of Kashi Pumpkin Spice bars and carrots had to be spread between them, but he'd gotten attention from two people so he was ahead of the game.

I know he counts coup.

Love my boys!

The New Saddle Arrives, Yeah!

Here it is before it got shipped to me:

Isn't it pretty?

I had to sit on it, adjust the stirrups, right? Yes, our cat is weird: he doesn't like boxes, but brown paper packaging is his favorite thing EVAH.


The next day, at the barn... and with the new Impact Gel pad Geoffrey got me for my birthday:

Cinch's tail is always moving. I used to take it personally, but he does it no matter what.

It's comfy, too!

Northeast Reining Horse Association Spring Spin, Part 3

Okay, I waited too long, and have forgotten quite a bit. :(

The high points:

1. It got warmer.

2. Given how sluggish Cinch had been in the class Saturday, I wore my spurs Sunday. He perked up, and we had good spins, and a good right roll back, no penalties.

3. I got a 64 in my last class (still a late lead change... Cinch and I have things to work on.) I'd promised myself that if I got a score better than 60 I would break down and buy a blingy belt. I'm still looking...

4. We all had fun. My barn mates all did well, the barn owner did really well with her two open horses, all the horses behaved very well, everyone was tired but upbeat.

5. Cinch and I kind of bonded, he's gotten a lot less mouthy with me and I think we can do this partners thing.

And, I'm looking forward to the July 4th weekend show; my goal being to get a better score again.

Northeast Reining Horse Association Spring Spin, Part 2

This one will be shorter. Mainly because I waited too long and I've forgotten a lot.

So... in order to ride in the show pen before the show started on Saturday, we had to be up, out of the motel room, and on our horses by around 6:30. That's AM. I'm not a morning person.

But, I managed it. It was a bit chaotic, since everyone else was doing the same thing at the same time, but we did it.

Then... we waited. My one class was likely not going to start until well into the afternoon. There were plenty of classes to watch, and my barn mates would be in a few of them, but it was a long cold morning. Really cold. Really, really cold.

Cinch and I got started warming up pretty early in the afternoon again, and I actually felt like he was getting a bit sluggish.  I mentioned this to Brian, but he said "Just wait until he's in the pen, he'll perk up."

This time, the barn owner lent me her chaps (I don't own a pair). I never thought they'd fit - she's tiny - but we managed to squeeze me into them. Yes, we - putting chaps on is like putting on a corset: you can do it yourself but it's easier with help. So I was dressed a bit like Johnny Cash meets the Village People: black shirt, black leather chaps over jeans, cowboy boots. My helmet is brown with black trim, so I wasn't completely coordinated, but it was definitely a look.

I guess Cinch didn't get a good night's sleep. I know I didn't; I was getting over a cold and still had the cough. I didn't want to wake my roomie up so I tried to hold them in... with mixed success. Also, apparently, I whimper in my sleep. My roomie said it actually made her feel like she was sharing the room with one of her dogs, who whimpers in his sleep too.  Still, a bit embarrassing

Anyway, he stayed lethargic in the pen... on the fast circles, Brian was yelling "kick him! kick him!" which I was doing, but he wasn't paying all that much attention. Also, I completely spaced on the second rollback: We stopped. I looked at the fence line, mind completely blank. Then, "oh yeah, rollback!"

That, plus a few more errors and a late lead change, got us a 54.

Another barn mate took my phone and recorded my ride for posterity. Here it is, warts and all:

And here, after our run, looking dazed and confused (and having just gotten my jacket back... did I mention it was cold?)

Northeast Reining Horse Association Spring Spin - Part 1

I survived my first reining show, and my first horse show of any kind in 20 years.

It was a blast - friendly, helpful people, and an atmosphere that would give a lot of horses the vapors: lots of dogs of all kinds, shapes and sizes, often loose but (usually) well behaved (no dog fights that I heard/saw, just wandering around visiting when the owners weren't paying attention), and kids on scooters and bikes zooming up and down the barn aisles, as people and horses passed in and out to and from the show pen or the practice areas.

The barn owner has a live-in trailer, and another rider brought a camper. The rest of us had doubled up for rooms at the Red Roof Inn, not too far away.

My goal for the show was to get a score. Period. To get a score, all I needed to do was to not deviate from the pattern designated for the class. I was entering 3 classes - Ladies and Gents (the first of the show, and pretty much a "practice" class for everyone), then Green Reiner II on Saturday and again on Sunday. Each class has a different pattern to memorize, though once you get the flow of them many of them don't differ by all that much - direction to start in, walk vs. trot  vs run into the pen to start, and typically 3 circles (different combos of large and small), spins, roll backs, and sliding stops. After you read/memorize a pattern, you start condensing them into the salient points or the differences:  for instance,"left, right, big, small, big" equates to "walk in, go to the middle facing the judge, spin 4 times to the left, stop, spin four times to the right, stop, start a big fast circle to the right (half the show pen), when you get back to the middle do a small slow circle to the right, then another big fast circle, change leads and make a big fast circle to the left and a small slow circle and then another big fast circle to the left, change leads, start a big circle to the right but don't complete it; instead go down the long side about 20 feet from the wall, pass the center, stop, do a left rollback, go around to the left long side about 20 feet from the wall, pass the center, stop, do a right rollback, continue around again to the right 20 feet from the wall, pass the center, sliding stop, and back up to the center."

That's Pattern 8, by the way. Which was the pattern for Ladies and Gents.

We got to the Eastern States Exposition showgrounds in Springfield on Thursday afternoon to unload the horses and all the tack/hay/grain/chairs/tables/food, etc. needed to support 7 horses and 5 non-pros plus a trainer for 3+ days. It was FREEZING. I'd brought a mid-weight jacket, a sweatshirt/hoodie, and a fleece top, and was wearing them all on top of a long sleeved shirt, and still shivering. We comforted ourselves that the forecast for the next couple of days was for warmer weather, at least in the 50s.

After 6PM the trainer rode Cinch in a paid warmup (you get 5 minutes in the show pen alone for each paid warmup), and since Cinch was pretty fresh, he rode him in another. This is kind of pitiful, but I actually can't remember if I got on him Thursday as well. :(

It was a long day, and my temporary roomie and I headed to the Red Roof to relax and get some sleep. We were planning an early morning - get on our horses by 6:30 AM in order to get used to riding in the show pen, since it would be available for a while before the show started to everyone.

Friday morning, I got on Cinch in the show pen for the first time. Since quite a few other riders were doing the same thing, there were rules about where you could circle in what direction, and for those who wanted to practice run-downs, a bunch would either call "fence" and line up at the end to wait for people to stop, or just time their runs to not disrupt the people circling. It actually worked pretty well.

It didn't get any warmer.

Back at the stalls, coolers were put on the horses, they were given more hay, stalls cleaned, floor swept, and people schmoozed while we waited to find out our draws (when we would do our run).  The Ladies class is actually run together with the Gents class, so the draws were mixed. I ended up being 39 out of 40, which made for a very long and cold wait. Still, the trainer wanted us warming up well before our draws, so I was in the practice ring as draw 27 started their run. We both got a bit sweaty by the time our draw rolled around. I thought Cinch seemed to be getting a bit tired, too.

We walked into the pen, and just as we're about to turn towards the judge, Cinch does one of his odd walking bucks, where he hitches his hind end up and tosses me a bit off-balance. Oh well, it is what it is... I smiled at the judge, and started our spins.

They were a bit lethargic... possibly because, though I hadn't thought I was very stressed, I completely forgot to cluck.  But we did the right number and ended up only a bit overspun.

Next was the circles. The big ones could have been a bit faster (the idea is that there should be a visible difference in speed) but we tracked around well.

Our lead changes needed work. Oh well, I did get them eventually.

For the run-downs, let's just say that Cinch woke up. As we came around the straightaway for the first rundown, he took off and I yelped. Well, actually I hollered. Okay, I yelled "WA-HOOOOO!" And when I asked for the stop, hoo-boy did he stop. Still a bit stunned, the roll back wasn't exactly picture perfect.

For the second one, I at least kept my mouth shut. Again, my rollback was lacking.

For the final run down and sliding stop, I pretty much resigned myself to a wild ride, and got it. The nice part was, it was probably the best stop I ever rode, and I didn't even brace against it and bounce on his back.

As I left the pen, people were still cracking up - apparently, a competitor yipping it up during a run isn't a common occurrence. My barn mates had told everyone watching that this was my first ever class, and people I didn't even know congratulated me. We all had grins on our faces.

And I got a score: 57! Yes, a perfect, no errors but nothing outstanding score is 70, but I didn't zero! I was pumped.

To be continued...

Inside all week...

Elizabeth, who took this video, had put her TB Sunny Emblem in the round pen to let her stretch her legs, and stretch them she did. I'd hopped on Tico, but he'd been so wired - especially watching Emma do her stuff - that I decided to get off him and lunge a bit first.

Elizabeth started this after the rearing, pawing the air, and more violent shenanigans were over, but he still had a bit of ye-haw! in him.

Round Pen 'Tude

I'd taken his blankets off to give him a chance to roll... this was actually a week before Valentines Day, and had been a bit warmer - not over freezing, but not under 10, either. Can I just say that this winter has been sucking more than usual?

Valentines Day 2015.

OnValentines Day, and in preparation for yet another snowstorm, there were a bunch of guys on the barn and indoor roofs, shoveling, pushing the snow already there off. There were only a couple of turnouts being used, and because under the snow was a thick layer of ice, only the horses with borium shoes were going outside.

The barn owner had plowed about fifteen feet into the outdoor ring, effectively creating a mountain of snow, but giving the less athletic horses some room to stretch their legs.  Tico had climbed over it and was hanging out at the other end, across the drive from Topaz in another turnout. The mini avalanches coming off the roof right next to the ring were probably why he'd gotten so ambitious - he isn't all that fond of Topaz, they usually pin their ears at each other when I walk him by her.

So I went out to play with him. He looks so cute when he runs in snow, channeling his inner arab...

I have to mention in my defense at the poor quality here... I couldn't actually see the screen so I was pointing it in the general direction. Needless to say, I missed a couple of times. :(

Spinach, pineapple, mango and coconut milk smoothie

Tico, and his frenemy Emma (a rescue OTTB) approved.

Emma's human and I had some too. It needed rum.

Dunno what I'm doing back there...

But Cinch found what Angel was doing to be much more interesting...

Green Smoothie Slurps

Be sure to turn up the volume.

A cold lesson day

Last week it was frigid here.  So cold that Cinch's training days were few, and his stall time longer than usual.

When I got to the barn Saturday, I found out that the last time Cinch had been ridden was Wednesday.  Unlike Tico, Cinch isn't the kind of horse who can be left to his own devices for a few days and then hopped on without a care - he's a bit of a fire-breathing dragon for a few minutes until he settles down. So, no fool,  I asked Romain, the trainer to ride him. :)

He was, as expected, a bit fresh. Though he did eventually settle down, and looked really nice. It gave Romain  a chance to explain a few things he wanted me to work on, including how to get on a fresh horse and work them until they're listening.

This is Romain spinning Cinch after he'd gotten him settled down.

So, Sunday. We had been told by the weather people that it would be warmer than Saturday - something we all had been thrilled about... but they lied.

I was going to be taking a lesson with another boarder, Angel, on her relatively new to her horse. His name is DP Trashman, but the animal communicator told her he didn't like that, so she changed it to T-Man. Yeah, horse people are crazy. I don't blame T-Man for not liking the name, though - he's a good looking, athletic horse and "Trashman" sounds a bit insulting. :)

I pulled off most Cinch's clothes - he was body clipped, so he wears more layers than I do. He's also very mouthy - he doesn't bite, but he does grab things and holds on, That means that taking his layers off is a bit like a comedy routine: you get a piece disconnected, it's in his mouth. You try to unbuckle another piece, he's got your sleeve. I feel like I need eight arms sometimes, to get him ready. Yes, I'm trying to work on the mouthy stuff, and he's actually better now than he was a month ago, when I bought him. And he is nicely calm about a lot of things, including dragging the blanket over his ears going either way, on or off - and I like being able to pull them over the head even if they have an opening in front. Yeah, I'm lazy.

Anyway, I got him down to his bottom layer and brought him to the cross ties. Cleaned his feet, put his leg wraps on, pulled up the back of the blanket, curried; pulled up the front of the blanket; curried; brushed, pushed down the front, picked up the back again, brushed; and finally, took off the final layer to saddle him up.

The next part, putting the bit in his mouth, is another little challenge: though he tries to put the bridle, reins, and anything else within reach in his mouth, the bit is another matter entirely. I've had my entire thumb in his mouth tickling his tongue and he'll still have his teeth clamped. I eventually get it in, but he doesn't make it easy. Another thing to work on...

We were finally ready.

I got on him, and I had the fire-breathing dragon from yesterday. I'm not kidding, he huffsnorts (new word) when he's "up", and prances. He's really cute when he prances, but I digress.

I started trying to do what Romain said yesterday: get his attention, bend him to the left and right, move him forward through it... and Cinch did a Hi-oh, Silver! (No, I was not pulling back on the bit, or at least not to the extent that it would have produced this.)

I'm not a big fan of a horse standing on his hind legs, but I'm also not a big fan of falling off at the age of 59 (been there, done that, back when I still bounced... don't feel the need to repeat it much anymore). I grabbed the front of the saddle, leaned forward, and rode him back down - into a couple of sort-of bucks that eventually evened out to the fire-breathing huff-snorting but moving forward trot again.

Well, that was special.

After my heart rate came down a bit (and he tried a couple of other fresh things, this time Romain witnessing them) we started the lesson. Which was "trot/jog until you're in control and he's listening." at this point.

Cinch's trot is quite lively. I'm still getting the hang of sitting it - I've been really spoiled by Tico's daisy-clipping trot that I can sit without a care. I probably tense up a bit with Cinch, which meant that he didn't settle as quickly as I'd have liked, so we did a lot of trotting. And steering. And stopping. And trotting. You get the picture.

While I was trotting circles at one end of the indoor, Angel was doing the same thing at the other.  We'd switch sides so that Romain (who was up at the front) could concentrate on one while the other was working things out by themselves.

Angel's and T-Man's trot circles and steering were going well so Romain had her start working on canters. T-Man was a bit more challenging for Angel with the canter, so Romain gave her stuff to work on and moved me up and into the canter circle.

For whatever reason, Cinch and I nailed canter circles.  As Romain said, it probably had a lot to do with my comfort level at the slower gait, so I see a lot of trotting in our future. My back will thank me to learn to sit it comfortably, for sure.

For our finale, we each did a spin in both directions. The week before, T-Man was in whirling dervish mode, Romain saying "Don't ask for such a fast spin! Hold the horn, it's ok!" and Angel saying "I'm NOT! How do I ask for a SLOW spin?"  This time, they both did great.

My biggest problem with spinning, with any maneuver actually, is taking my time to set up for it. I actually like spinning a lot.

Cinch was again a star - he's really good at spinning, and if I take my time and ask the right way, he does his job.

This is me spinning Cinch, a few weeks ago. I have some work to do:

So, fun lesson, stuff to work on, and positive feedback.  I was chuffed. :)

When I've had a good lesson, I'm pumped. And Tico gets to be ridden a lot longer than he'd probably prefer, but too bad.

The Great White Whale has gotten so plump that both my County Stabilizer and Bob's Ladies Reiner pinch him. Not to worry - he's a big fluffy couch, easy to ride bareback.

I pulled his blankets off him, took him into the indoor, and we had some nice trots, and canters, and practiced our side-passing and back-ups. He'd been inside a lot the previous week because of the cold/ice too, so he was up for a little running around.

While we were still out there, Kathy, the lady with the cute little Paso Fino Roxy, asked if we minded if she put her girlie in the round pen. Kathy hadn't been around for a few weeks so Roxy, though she'd been getting turned out fairly regularly, had a bit of pent up energy.

This round pen is actually about half the size of the usual round pen and is built into a corner of the indoor.  The walls are solid wood. It's mostly used when Romain first puts a saddle on a baby, or as a tiny turnout when the weather is bad, or when one of the barn ladies is cleaning a stall and the horse could use a stretch of the legs.

It also doesn't get watered as much. And Roxy, being a Paso Fino, moves her little legs a lot when she's banging around.

We were up the other end, but Tico still found it all very exciting. All we could see was a little black Paso Fino head twirling and spinning around Kathy, dust billowing up and out, with some accompanying snorts. I let him watch for a while (him in full giraffe mode) then asked that he come back to earth and do a bit more work.

He did - not to say he wasn't distracted, I was using the hunter hackamore and had to haul his head around a couple of times. But we finished up.

While this was all going on, Casey, the girl who leases Margie and had had a lesson on her after mine, had untacked Marge at the front crossties and was bringing her through the indoor to her stall in the back.

Margie took one look at the dust bowl with the disembodied horse head swirling around in it, stopped, snorted and stuck her tail straight up in the air. I didn't know she could even get her tail up that high.  Pretty, but silly girl.

Back at the crossties with Tico for post-ride grooming, I grabbed the green smoothie I'd brought to the barn for a snack for myself (with kale, banana, grapes and oranges). Tico was very insistent that I share - anything that goes into my mouth is potentially something he'll want, too, of course.

I borrowed a shallow tub that another boarder uses to give her horse coconut water (yes, some of us are odd, myself included)  and poured a bit of my smoothie into it. Tico proceeded to slurp it up noisily, gave the tub one final lick and looked at me expectantly.

I drank some of MY smoothie.

He gave me the stink eye.

So, yes - I'm a pushover. I gave him a bit more, and he slurped that up and licked the bowl clean.

Meanwhile, I'd finished it off and put the cap back on (I'd poured it into a repurposed Vitamin Water 10oz bottle), and said (admittedly a bit maliciously), "All gone!"

Apparently I wasn't believed. Tico grabbed the bottle out of my hand really quickly, but not to be outdone, I leapt after him and pulled it back. Without the cap.

I jammed my hand up his mouth. Tico motored backwards, head up, and the crosstie halter savers (I forget what they're actually called) came apart. I grabbed his halter, the fingers of my other hand still in his mouth and searching against his tongue, against the inside of his teeth -  and I couldn't find it. I tickled the roof of his mouth. I grabbed around his tongue. I was having visions of calling the vet and saying "he's choking on a Vitamin Water cap!" (right up there with "He just flipped over on his back!" "What's he doing now?" "He's just standing there...")

I couldn't find it.

I pulled my hand back out, and looked helplessly at him. He looked me in the eye and spit out a very mangled bottle cap.

He does keep things lively.

I didn't mention this, did I?

I bought a reining horse.

He's pretty cool - a big chestnut with a blaze and a high white stocking on his left rear, sock on his right rear.  His name is Cinch - registered name Chex My Backcinch - is 9 in March, and is the next step for me in my reining adventure.

Chances are, I'll even show him.

I can't believe I'm even thinking about it - showing wasn't my favorite thing I ever did with Dusty - but having gone to watch a couple of shows, and met some of the local people involved in reining, this is a whole other ballgame.  The competition is there, sure; but friendly and supportive rather than the "the judge isn't looking, I'm going to cut you off (or do some other nastiness)" type of competitors I dealt with back then.

I still have Tico, of course. I can't imagine selling the little booger. He makes me laugh. I love to work with him on the ground, just grooming him and making him do silly things for carrots, and he's still about the smoothest ride I've ever had - a trot that just glides along. Easy on the old back. :) His front leg conformation issues are getting to the point where I really can't ask a whole lot of him, but I still can ride him for an hour or so a weekend, and he stays pretty sound.

Cinch is a hunk. Here he is, his former owner showing him:

Handsome boy, isn't he?