Meet Cyrus (M_Equestrian)

September 12, 2025

Meet Cyrus (M_Equestrian)

Cyrus is an 8 year old dark bay Welsh pony. He is 14 hands and definitely fits into the typical pony stereotype, but he's really sweet once you get to know him. He was my lease pony last year (2024) on a one-year training lease. I started riding him when he was 6 years old, and he was a bit of a wild child. He would take off around the ring, bucking (thankfully, that's not the case anymore), so we had a lot to work on. Our first show together was in January, since we were out of town in December. In our first show, we had one other rider in our class, and we were jumping 18’’. We placed 2 firsts and 2 seconds and got reserve champion. It was a lot of fun, and he did great! Our February jumper show was about the same, except we got champion and overall reserve champion for the series. In March, we started hunter show prep for the green horse class, and at that point, our training was going really well... until we had to canter in a group, let's just say he wasn't a fan. We got past that and we started doing really well in our classes, even winning! June came, and we started jumper shows again for the summer series. We had improved so much that we became competitive in our division (18’’ again), we tried to win our classes, and we did quite a bit, but the other riders were still good. July was my first time cross country schooling, and I knew I wanted to be an eventer since somewhere in January. We went cross country schooling, and it was amazing. All I could think about was being an event rider. The jumper shows finished in August, and it was time to continue with hunters. We did really well in the hunter shows, but I wasn't enjoying it anymore. By September, it was cool enough that I could wear my show jacket without overheating. We were winning almost all of our flat classes and doing okay in our jumping. I decided that I wanted to braid him for the October hunter show, so I braided him, and he looked amazing! At the end of October, we had a Halloween show, and he was being used twice in each division, once by me in my classes and then in all the same classes, but the leadline version. We did pretty well in our bareback flat class, but we didn't win. Next was barrel racing, he loved it and did really well, and then we had costume class where I was a knight and he was a war pony, we got second in that class. By the next class, he was done with the day, so we didn't do too well in the flat and jumping classes. The next day was a hunter pace. It was my first time going on one, and it was amazing. There were a couple of jumps, and we had to go through a deep stream. It was a really cool experience, and when we got back to the trailer, someone told us we made her day watching us all gallop to the finish line at the end. We actually got a ribbon for placing 6th, so I think we did pretty well! The November Hunter show was my last show with him on my lease, and I had one big goal. To beat my sister. So L and I are highly competitive when we're in the same class, and this show was the finals, and if I got enough points, I would win overall champion. She was sitting in first, going into the show, but I came out of it with the first-place overall ribbon. I had reached my goal! That has to be one of my biggest achievements so far.

I was faced with a really hard decision at the end of that month. Who would I lease next year? I got offered the lease on Cyrus and a lease on Brooks, and I had to pick one. I had a lot of people pushing me to lease Brooks, and I think that played a big part in my decision, but I think I ended up making a good choice by deciding to lease Brooks. I still get to ride Cyrus every now and then. It’s not the same as riding him all the time, and at the beginning of the year, I would have traded anything to get Cyrus back.

I will always miss riding Cyrus he was my first lease and i will always love him to the ends of the earth. We have made so many memories that will hope a special place in my heart <3

I love you buddy <3