Hopeful Jumpers: Excitement!

September 1, 2026

Excitement!

I'm back!!

I've been cleared to return to slowly return to normal activity so of course one of the things I was most excited about was getting back on a horse! I was able to get out to the barn that afternoon, although I did have little equestrian along with me, so my ride was a pretty short bareback ride after she warmed Q up for me- but hey, better than nothing!

I've been too busy with the newborn and toddler to get out to the barn much more than every other weekend, but from what I can tell Q seems to be doing better this summer (knock on wood). He is usually breathing fast and clearly hot when I get out there, but he is at least still sweating somewhat and so far his asthma seems much better. I'm pretty sure by this time last year he was coughing just walking in from the field and while I *barely* trotted him the other day, he didn't cough once. So far I haven't had to start him on medication at all which is the first in several years we've made it this far without steroids.

We'll have to see how he does when/if I can actually get him back into work, but for now I'll take it!

Q has also put weight back on this summer which I'm happy about. He lost more weight than I liked to see when he first switched to this new barn, but minus a lack of muscle from not being in work, he really looks pretty good again.

It's going to remain a challenge for me to get out to the barn for a little while longer, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. It's also still pretty hot and humid out so at least I'm not missing out on any nice riding weather. It won't hurt Q to continue with an easy schedule until we are past the worst of the heat.

But either way I'm excited to be back!!

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Quinus is a 17 year old Hanovarian gelding who was born in Germany. He spent the first part of his life competing in the jumpers in several different countries in Europe before traveling over to the United States a few years ago.

I found Q when I began looking for my next horse to get me back into the jumper ring. This time around I wanted a horse I could pick up where I left off, rather than starting all over with a green horse like Hero initially was. Q officially became my third horse on September 18, 2020.

Qbert has turned into quite the interesting horse. He's fancy, athletic, and talented and he has carried me around my biggest jumper classes so far. He can also be quirky and challenging and our journey has had its share of frustrations along with our successes. It hasn't always been easy, but I've certainly learned more from him than I would have with a packer! I never would have guessed the path our journey together would take when I first got him, and that includes a growing interest in dressage lessons and shows as well.

Hero joined the team on July 2, 2014. He is a 15 year old thoroughbred who spent his first couple years in race training, but after being slow and failing to get his gate card, he was retired before ever entering a race.

Hero came to me with only a handful of rides outside of the track, and training my first green horse was an interesting learning process for us both. He began his show career in the hunter ring, then progressed to switch to the jumper ring, and even moved up a few levels. I was thrilled to return to the jumper ring, and even happier that Hero seemed to be enjoying himself as well. We became a great team and even won year end Championships in both of our jumper divisions in 2017.

Unfortunately Hero suffered a career ending ligament injury in October 2017, and after over a year of rehab and an attempted return to jumping it became clear that jumping is not in his best interest.

Hero is a big friendly goof of a horse who loves to be around people, and ends up charming everyone he meets with his puppy-dog personality. He's very level-headed and calm and is just as well behaved on a hunter pace, at a wedding, out on the trails, or at a new show facility as he is at his home barn. Even though he can't jump anymore, I'm still lucky to have such a great second horse!

Horses have been my lifelong passion; however, it wasn't until college that I was able to take riding lessons and be around horses on a regular basis. My equestrian career began when I joined my college's IHSA hunt seat team, which lead to me leasing and eventually buying my first horse, Prince. Since then, I have been happily spending as much time riding and being around horses as possible.

In addition to my lovely horses, I have a dachshund x terrier mix named Fred, who is one of the cutest dogs ever with a fun personality much larger than he is. Loki is our goofy and playful Australian Shepard who loves to play fetch all day.

The troublemaker of the group used to be my cat Munch who is very mischievous and way too smart for his own good. Lately he has been getting a run for his money from our newest cat Ace (also commonly called by his nickname Meowser). I raised him from a week-old kitten ever since he was found stuck inside a wall. Even as a grown-up cat he's still crazy as ever and still loves snuggling with his human parents. My second cat Luna takes after her Harry Potter namesake, happily living in her own special world. She is very sweet and friendly and doesn't seem to realize that she is any different, despite having a hind leg amputated as a kitten due to a chronic, nonhealing femur fracture. She's the shyest of the group, but also has the loudest meow when it's time for dinner!