January Goals

Regular Barn Time:
My goal is to get back to going to the barn 5+ times per week in January pending crazy winter weather

Ride More, Longer, More in Different Gaits:
One thing I've recently diagnosed, actually as I was recapping 2018, is that likely part of what's been tough with pony behavior recently is lack of rides. There isn't much I would have been able to do about it even if I'd been more aware throughout the year but it does help me put the struggle to move to 2nd level into perspective. Therefore in January I want to do the following;

• Ride at least 3 times per week, preferably 4
• Track my rides on Equilab every single time to diagnose how long I'm spending in the saddle and how long I'm spending in each gait
• Likely increase the amount of canter we're doing for every ride
• Potentially increase the amount of working walk we're doing for every ride
• Likely increase total ride times

I think that the above will help with Katai's current excess energy/behavior as well as help with making more progress on fitness and strength.

Utilize exercises in 55 Corrective Exercises:

This new Jec Ballou book is awesome. Not only are there a bunch of wonderful things to do with your horse in different environments both mounted and unmounted but she has these great sections throughout the book of exercise routines you can use for specific reasons. I plan to start out by going through the high headed posture one since it's something that Katai has been more stuck on since the break and I think that doing these will be valuable. Plus it's a great way to do some helpful in hand stuff and break up riding/lunging.

For example, dressing Katai up in this cute matching set
and wearing something coordinating myself :) Then I just need to get media and I'll be set!

Keep up on grooming Katai/dressing well at the barn:

This is such a mental thing for me. I can get stuck rushing from one thing to the next and trying to take as little time as possible. If instead I take the time to groom well and focus on things like being nicely dressed at the barn vs. looking like a slob I find that I'm much more motivated and feel better about everything.

Blogging/Media:

I put both since I'm always more reluctant to blog if I don't have more pictures or video to share. My goal is to get back to my previous blogging routine of posting about e/o day or 15 times per month. It will be a stretch this month since I'm so out of practice but that's what goals are for right?

Focus on Budget - Reduce Overspending:

I'm really pretty good with money for the most part. My expensive/splurge items are having a horse in the first place and spending money on coffee/eating out/groceries. I don't spend overmuch on rent, I get my hair cut maybe 1-2 times per year, I don't get my nails done or do any other splurge type personal care things. I don't shop for clothes and when I do buy clothes I pretty much shop at thrift stores like ThredUp. I do occasionally splurge on tack but my biggest issue is coffee/eating out so therefore I'd like to do the following for the month of January;

• Only purchase "necessary" horse items such as food and supplements, board, and two lessons for the entire month.
• Not purchase any coffee from coffee shops - make my own at home
• Eat out 2 times or fewer, if I don't get food made I'll purchase something from the grocery store to eat rather than ordering food from a restaurant
• Stick with my grocery budget