2019 Goals Recap

Another of my favorite photos from this past year.

Hmmm, where to begin :)

When I first thought about doing this post I thought that clearly I didn’t accomplish my 2019 goals, however, in actuality I accomplished more of them than I thought. I figured I’d outline some of the goals for 2019 that we accomplished, didn’t accomplish, and the things we accomplished without ever writing a goal.

Things that Were On My List

No Excuses:
Oh my gosh has this been a HUGE improvement this year. I have always had low resiliency (although I didn’t necessarily know what to call it) and would give up at any excuse to do so. Not on the really big things but the small things for sure. This year I’ve really dug in, in multiple ways and proceeded without making excuses. I may still whine about it but more and more I’m just getting up and still doing the thing. I’m SUPER proud of myself and even if this were the only goal I accomplished this year I’d feel good.

Too funny not to share. I was in the middle of filming our riding routine for my 

Insta story and Katai decided to pee complete with grunting.

Track my Rides:
This was a success although not maybe specifically in the way I thought it would be. My goal throughout most of this year was to use Equilab more often and preferably through every ride. I do still sort of want to use it but I have some issues with it including that I don’t have a good way to carry my phone and, while I’d love to keep ride notes in there as well, I’ve really been trying to get away from my phone especially at the barn. It also wears the battery down pretty quick since my phone is old and if I had to choose between that and listening to music, I’d rather listen to music.

Instead, what’s worked really well for me is the planner I’ve been keeping. It’s called a Clever Fox planner and I like the formatting a lot. It’s the first planner I’ve actually had that works for my brain. I’ve managed to keep up on it and track throughout most of the year, however, it’s been more about planning out a schedule ahead of time, tracking when I’m actually at the barn, and taking some minimal notes about what the ride/training was like. I’m looking at other options for taking more detailed notes this next year including a more specific riding journal or figuring out using the Equilab.

The amazing deal of the century were these two Pikeur show shirts for $5 each

Spend Less/Budget Better/Pay Down Debt:
This was also a huge success this year! Not only have I not been using a credit card at all for any purchases but between myself and my boyfriend we’ve managed to put together a down payment for a house in about 5 months while also paying down credit card debt. This is HUGE for me and I’m so happy that, thanks to my boyfriend, I’ve found a system for budgeting that works for me. I’m also planning out the next few years budget for paying down the rest of my high interest debt and actually being able to afford, not “afford”, a truck and trailer.

Get a New Job:
Big success. I not only found a job, it’s a job I’m really enjoying with a great boss and a much more equitable income for my skill level and experience.

Cuddling Connor <3

Dressage Lessons/Clinics:
I’d mark this as sort of a success. I took advantage, as much as I could, of taking lessons from K while she was still at my previous barn and then did two clinic rides with her trainer. Those were fantastic rides and I learned a lot. However, now despite having access to a trainer I think my goals have shifted slightly and I’m hoping to be able to trailer out to one of 2-3 trainers for lessons each month or two during the summer when the weather is such that the roads are safe.

I’m not sure what that means for next year since I’m fairly certain that I won’t own my own truck and trailer.

Vary the Work:
I’d say this is also sort of a success. I found a trail ride buddy at the old barn and we had a couple of great mini trail rides between both of us struggling with mental health stuff and a very hot and humid summer. I also did a bunch of work in hand, ground poles, and learned some new groundwork exercises. Also, just in terms of keeping the work fresh, Katai hasn’t been working so there’s that…

Show:
Nope! I’ll leave it at that.

Get Back in Shape:
No :( This was a very achievable goal but it didn’t happen. I’m still out of shape, weaker than I want to be and way less fit plus I have weight to lose. I am working on it now and I’m feeling really committed to making this happen.

Blog More:
I mean technically I’ve blogged more this year than last year but only by a bit so I’m not going to count that as a true success since my goal was to get back to posting at least 10-15 times per month.

Another Insta Stories Video

Things That Weren’t on My List

Relaxation:
I had a couple of realizations with this over 2019. The first was working with K’s trainer in April when she told me that “until you get the relaxation you can’t get anything else” which was basically to say that Katai is fantastic and very talented but in order to progress we needed to work on relaxation first and foremost. I’ve never had an instructor bring that up before but I agree wholeheartedly. I spent most of the rides following that working on relaxation and was making a ton of headway so I’m looking forward to getting back to that.

In addition, regarding relaxation on the ground I had the realization when waiting for the vet in November that my anxiety has been the main cause of ground work related issues. Katai is SUPER well trained and light to lead, she stays out of your personal space, and responds to just intention even if you need her to back up or pivot around. I’ve never handled another horse that’s as responsive and polite as she is to handle.

However, if her adrenaline is up her brain shuts off and there is almost zero ability to influence her unless you are absolutely being way overbearing. At that point she starts invading personal space, running into you with her head and neck, rearing up while tied or even in hand, and making stupid decisions like trying to bolt. I’ve approached that as a training gap but it is absolutely an anxiety related issue instead which is helpful from an awareness perspective and also good motivation for me to do some work to improve my ability to manage my anxiety.

The mare bear herd :)

Grooming:
I got a new clipper I really like so my body clip looks much more professional. I’ve also been getting her cleaned up more often if she has manure or urine on her back legs even if it takes a mini sponge bath to do so. It’s her least favorite thing but having the heated barn with a hose and warm water makes this possible again.

Heat:
Yes, moving to the barn was 100% the right thing both for my mental health (great people!!!) but also for my physical health (it’s warm!!!). It makes it take way less motivation to go out to the barn and I can be out there when it’s really cold, just not necessarily if it’s snowy so at least I’m missing fewer days which was the goal.

There are many things I won't miss from our apartment
but I will miss this view from our rooftop

Settling In:
Something I haven't written about much is how much things have changed for me in the past year in regards to really settling in vs. always having my foot out the door on everything. I've always wanted to live in a different state, for example, which led to me always having that in the back of my mind with every decision I made. It meant that I never really committed to friendships, jobs, or relationships. I also didn't feel like I could make big decisions because I wasn't sure how things would change in the future. Meeting my boyfriend and having him know what he wants (where he wants to live which is local and that he is a city boy) really made me re-look at my motivation around moving etc.

Doing that, meant that I realized that I don't actually care that much about living somewhere else and that I'm truly ok with boarding for the rest of my life instead of owning my own farm. These things meant that instead of whining about things like the weather and dreaming of living somewhere else I'm just able to buckle down and find creative solutions to those complaints. I've also been committing to friendships, settling into the work I'm doing at my job (and envisioning a career there), and really trying to find my place in the local community (both horse related and social).

It has felt so good and like the No Excuses goal, even if this were the only thing that came from this year it would feel like a huge success.

2018 Goals Recap

Our motto

 2018 was such an interesting and tough year for goals. To start out the year I posted these goals and then never really recapped them so here is a brief recap just to close these out.

Buy a Trailer - Bit fat nope! Needing to purchase a, new to me, car ate up all of my trailer savings and with how my year went I doubt it would have happened anyway. There's always next year!
Bronze Medal Scores at First Level - Also a big fat nope. I had received a 60+% score showing opportunity classes in 2017 and I've made huge progress since then so if I had shown I'm pretty confident this would have happened. There's always next year for this one as well.
Debut at Second Level - Also a nope, not sure if this one would have happened anyway but I'm hoping that with the additional progress we've made over the past couple of years now that it will be possible in 2019
Attend at Least Five Clinics - No but I don't count this one a total nope. I rode for the most well known/tough clinician that I've had the chance to ride for this year and it was a total success. Added together I also probably audited another clinic or two including one by Janet Foy.
Develop a Better Show Plan/Skills - Nope
Trailer Off Property More - Nope, unless you count moving to two different barns lol
Go On Trail Ride(s) - I'll put this in the meh category. I did go on a very advanced and technical trail ride at the WI barn and did a few more hand walks in the great outdoors there since that place had a ton of property. I've also hand walked Katai on the trails at the new barn. Honestly I'm just not much of a trail ride person so hand walking on trails may be our new thing instead.
Do More Reading - Nope but I'm hoping to do more for 2019
More Blogging and More Media - Definitely a no in fact I went backwards haha
Fitness - Same as above, no and I went backwards
Budget Better - Yes! Biggest success of the year. With the bf's help I'm now budgeting way better and have a plan to continue to improve

Toward the end of the year as I started to have more time, energy, and mental capacity I posted new goals and acknowledged that my original goals just weren't going to happen. So here is a recap of those updated goals.

October:
-Get to the barn 4-5 times per week - Yep! For most of October I was able to accomplish this!
-Groom better - Yep! I was, and am, still actually grooming better
-Dress like we mean it - Yes! Nothing like faking it till you make it
-Take two lessons - Yes!
-Have barefoot trimmer friend check my work  - Accomplished! I got great feedback and have continued to do her feet myself. I'm continuing to see great progress
-Build up to Katai wearing the BoT sheet for longer periods - Yes! She is now wearing it overnight or for up to a day or so at a time and I think I'm able to see an improvement.

November:
-Get to the barn 5+ times per week - Mostly accomplished. I made it out 6 days one week and 5 another. Around Thanksgiving I struggled a bit more.
-Make sure at least 1-2 of those times are not riding and work on other necessary things such as ground work, trailer loading(?), etc. - Not really, I pretty much rode or lunged
-Take two more lessons - I can't remember if I got one or two so meh
-Continue with grooming better as possible with fluffy pony - Success! I even cleaned up the mare beard despite it being no shave November haha

December Goals:
-Step back a bit and have some fun including reducing to going to the barn 4-5 times per week - Accomplished a bit too well, for the last couple of weeks I averaged closer to 2-3 times per week with all the holiday craziness
-Teach at least one “useful” trick such as targeting and/or stretching - Nope but this is carrying over into next year
-Focus on varying fitness with poles etc. - Same as above, not really but carrying over
-Keep up on trimming Katai’s feet even with the cold - Yes!
-Adjust to the cold in a non-heated barn - Yes! We've had a fairly mild winter so far but I'm proud of how well I've been doing this and how few excuses I've made
-Take at least one lesson - Yes! One lesson, on my birthday no less, in the books

October Goals Analysis

Winter's here!

Well it's almost the end of November and I never got this posted since I was waiting on more media. I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway and should be able to post the next one at a more appropriate time :)

Also, happy Thanksgiving!

My goals for October are to get back to more consistency. I don’t really care what I accomplish but I at least want to go through the motions with the following things.

-Get to the barn 4-5 times per week
               I did pretty well with this. There was a week where I made it out a solid 5 times but there were at least two weeks were I was at the barn 4 times. I didn’t ride as much as I hoped but the goal wasn’t to ride a certainly amount of time, rather it was to just go.

-Groom better
                I did pretty well with this one. I trimmed Katai’s mane, took better care of her tail, trimmed her bridle path, and a few weeks ago I got her partially clipped!

Time to start watching Christmas movies clearly :)

-Dress like we mean it (both me and Katai)
                Katai has been looking like a million dollars with matching polos, saddle pads, and browbands. I haven’t been looking as put together partially because I’m still figuring out the whole going straight to the barn from work thing. I’ve typically been trying to wear the same top throughout the day (thank goodness for not having a dress code at work) and then I just put on breeches at the end of the day. It does mean that I’m wearing my most work appropriate tops though which don’t always go well with my breeches but oh well.

-Take two lessons
                Nope but there were scheduling difficulties on both sides and I was really glad that my coach agreed with me on not trying to take a lesson when I knew that Katai’s ulcers were bothering her.

-Have barefoot trimmer friend check my hoof improvement work (third week in October)
                Done and I got some praise on how nice Katai’s feet were looking!

-Build up to Katai wearing the BoT sheet for longer periods
                Yep!

I haven't decorated our apartment yet
but the decorations where I work are very festive.

On to November:
For November I’m hoping to get pretty much back to where we were when I left Jane’s
-Get to the barn 5+ times per week
-Make sure at least 1-2 of those times are not riding and work on other necessary things such as ground work, trailer loading(?), etc.
-Take two more lessons
-Continue with grooming better as possible with fluffy pony

August Goals Recap and September Goals

Wow, I really can't believe we're at this point of the year already, it seemed like just yesterday that it was May.

August Goals Recap:

Continue to Ride Longer: Mostly yes, with my weird travel schedule and needing to bring her back to work and then show prepping it was less about pushing forward this month and more about picking things back up and then maintaining. I would say this is still improved though!

Continue to Practice the Tough Things: Yep! I have a much better trainer mindset with all of the work. If a transition is crap I go back and do it again rather than just accepting it. I've also been doing a lot more of the things we're struggling with which means we aren't struggling with them as much. Funny how that works ;)

Have a Successful Show: Yep! For still not feeling completely ready to show at 1st level (despite everything feeling pretty easy at home) and for having pretty soupy conditions which was a first for both Katai and myself this show went fantastic and was easily our "win" of the month.

Position so improved, beyond that darn right toe

September Goals:

Continue to Ride Outside: I've been doing a bit better this summer but need to keep pushing for more. September is the last month for us where we can assume we'll have pretty decent weather. I want to take advantage of that and make sure we're getting out there as much as possible.

Start 2nd Level Work: I know this is where Jane's going to take us so, while I have a vague idea of what we'll be working on, I'm going to keep this pretty vague since I don't have enough knowledge of what we'll work on day to day. I know that part of this will address the BTV stuff though which is good.

Continue to Ride Longer/Building Strength: This is still a big one for us and for me to continue to help Katai (and myself) build the strength we need I need to make sure that I'm tackling this as/when appropriate. Still working to make 45 minute(ish) rides our normal while still utilizing shorter rides just as appropriate. It's also working her over trot poles and doing other exercises that push her to build muscle.

June Goals Recap and July Goals

June Goals Recap:

Practice More Lateral Work: Meh, we did start working on shoulder in again and I have been making sure to do lateral work each ride. The problem is that I'll do something like leg yield a couple of times to the right and then because I'm struggling I just switch to the other side. I need to do more (not drill but more) and just keep practicing or I'll never get how to do it.

Continue With Trailer Loading Practice: Meh again. I did some work, then we had horrible heat, then horrible bugs, and then (very unfortunately) Jane's young horse needed veterinary attention and stayed at the clinic for a few days which mean that the trailer stayed there with her. Bugs and heat are excuses but not bad ones and it's been tough to be motivated when I knew it would be over two months until I'm going to show again.

Practice Other Show Skills: We did a bit better here. I've been working with Katai and the wash stall/hose as you've seen. I've also been more consistently working with her with bug lotion, the spray bottle and other gunk. I need to do more work with the bridle number and I need to try a different way of braiding but mostly it's still been tough to be really motivated to do much work with this stuff since I have so much time.

July Goals:

Ride Longer: As I mentioned in my new and improved 2017 goals, I discovered that I've been averaging around 20-25 minute rides including warmup and cool down. Now that I'm riding more often (4-5 days a week at a minimum up from the 2-3 I was doing) it's time to increase the duration. To accomplish this I'm going to start riding with a timer. I don't need to absolutely hold myself to the time on the timer for every ride (If Katai does really difficult work or does something fantastic I'll end earlier) but at least I'll have more awareness of how often I'm cutting rides short. Both Jane and I want the majority of my rides to be 45ish minutes including warm up and cool down. Of course I'm not just going to start riding her 45 minutes each ride for 4-5 rides per week but we are going to start working our way up there.

Continue Outdoor Rides: Recently I've really been enjoying riding in the grassy area outside the barn since, in part, makes Katai enough more forward that it's easier to work on her canter rather than in the arena where she'd rather quit. I want to continue to ride out there and also start to take her down the road. I may also see if I can ride in the neighbor's arena again as well. I have a good stretch goal for the show in August so I need to put in the work to get there and getting Katai comfortable outside is one big step :)

Practice, Practice, Practice (or Sitting Trot): This goal is about not avoiding what's hard, instead I just need to do more hours of practice so that it becomes easy! Primarily right now that's the lateral work and the sitting trot but of course it could be anything else haha. Sitting trot is harder for me than posting right now and I feel like I'm going to hurt Katai's back so I don't do it. Instead, Jane want's me to do it for 5-10 minutes per ride so that I have plenty of chances to work on it but don't over do it. So far since my last lesson I have practiced it for that amount of time every ride and now I just need to keep it up through the month. If I do that, by August I'll be so much better! Of course this could also include doing more rides outside, trailer loading, lateral work, and practicing our medium gaits.

Goals, Mid-Year Update

I figured it was a good time to check in on my yearly goals and possible adjust as needed!

Goals for 2017

Increase Blogging Again 

Buy a Trailer

Trailer EVERYWHERE

Ride in Another Dressage Clinic

2nd Level Goals

Ok, so I'm going to keep the goal to increase blogging but that's about it. Honestly these just don't reflect much about what I want to improve this year and since I wasn't able to purchase a trailer a few of these are out.

I had good intentions with the 2nd level goals that were more about understanding and working towards the movements that make up a second level test than actually being able to successfully make it through a second level test in any sort of smooth, ridable sort of way. However, not really sure it's useful at this point at least not this way.

I've also become much better at making goals since my pony is actually rideable and can, you know, actually complete a good 20 meter trot and canter circle. I've spent some time outlining the things I actually feel like we need to work on and rather than keeping them in the background and limping through the rest of the year with these goals I figured it was time to clear the slate and start fresh.

Remainder of 2017 Goals

Build Katai's Strength:

This involves a few things including continuing to challenge Katai's balance with things like counter canter, walk/canter/walk transitions, trot poles, varying terrain, 10 meter canter circles 

Another thing it includes is riding more and longer. I've discovered that I'm only really riding for about 15-(maybe)20ish minutes each time I ride! I had videoed a couple of rides and found that including my walk warmup, walk breaks, and cool down I was in the saddle for about 25-30 minutes typically which just isn't long enough at this point. It's not my physical stamina that makes me cut it that short, it's more mental but I need to figure this out so that I'm riding closer to 40 minutes for at least 1-2 of those rides each week. I've really gotten my consistency up and have been keeping it there but now it's time to increase the duration of my rides.

Speaking of varying terrain I'd REALLY like to make more opportunities to ride outside. Jane has one small hill on her property and if I ride down the road I can ride up and down the banks on each side in some places. At the very least it's a good mental break from the ring but hopefully it's just one more way to strengthen the pony.

Show Experience:

As mentioned previously I'm planing at least two more shows this year. My main goals for these shows are to improve Katai's relaxation and rideability. I want to continue to be able to relax and have more fun, and I'm really hoping that she'll start to calm down more at the trailer and when I handwalk her around.

The smaller part of this goal is that I'd like to continue to practice my grooming and show prep including learning how to braid better and getting Katai more white and clean for the next show. This involves more desensitization to spray bottles and coat "products" for Katai so that she can let me do this especially when we arrive at the show grounds so that I don't just decide to throw up my hands and show with green spots on her legs.

Such grubby legs for this show!

"Fix" the Walk:

All I want is for Katai to relax in the walk. It's my fault that she's tense since she doesn't realize that walk is anything other than a way to get to trot. I just haven't practiced a medium or working walk enough so she's either on a loose rein or I'm just shortening the reins to trot. 

More consistency with riding a medium walk and practicing other movements at the walk should be all we need here. Now I just need to do it (see also, riding more and longer above)

Honest Connection to the Outside Rein:

We're pretty much there with the left rein but not with the right. She's starting to get it at the trot but at the canter if I put any contact on the right rein she trots. Again, I just need to practice and actually do it. This is sort of also connected to my loose hip on the right which means my leg turns out from the hip so my knee points out which also contributes to her bulging out through that shoulder. 

Latteral Work:

As mentioned I struggle with this but instead of practicing I just give up. I need to just practice, practice, practice. (see also, riding more and longer above)

Change it Up:

Originally part of what I loved about ponies was their accessibility and wanted/planned to do more different things. Without a trailer I'm certainly limited in what I can do beyond dressage right now but I have been spending more time riding outside and want more practice riding down the road. 

May Goals Review and June Goals - With Show Media!!

I love this one :) There aren't many from outside (this was warmup)
since my friend who took these wasn't available until we did our Intro C indoors.
I'll post more of those soon!

Goals Recap for May:

More Trailer Loading Practice: Success!! I took full advantage of having the ability to practice with Jane's trailer and loaded Katai at least once per week. We struggled a bit at the first show (but got her on both times) and then it was better at the second show.

More Consistency: Yes! If nothing else, with the show we were back to the basics and I really was able to focus on things like maintaining bend and roundness even when Katai had lots of reasons to not listen and not make it easy.

Have a Successful Show(s): This is a two parter for me. I'm also going to role both shows into this one even though one actually happened in June.

1. Success will mean Katai being more relaxed, less frantic, and thus the ability for us to have more fun. Meh, not especially. She was a bit more relaxed at the schooling show but less so at the rated show and she really wasn't relaxed at either.
2. My other goal this year is to win our Intro C class. Nope not our Intro C class but both Training classes at a rated show so I think I surpassed this one :)

And this one!

Goals for June:

Practice More Lateral Work: I've been letting my perfectionist tendencies get in the way and not practicing this since I know we struggle. Instead we just need to practice more of it so that we actually improve. This is the same thing that happened with the canter and now I just need to make these movements as consistent as our canter has gotten.

Continue With Trailer Loading Practice: This was the largest point of stress for me about both shows (whether we'd get her back in the trailer and how much stress it would be). My future goal is to get Katai self loading so that at some point I'd be able to trailer her myself. We're a long way away from that but we're going to just keep right on practicing until we get there.

Practice Other Show Skills: Not that we don't need general riding practice but I have Jane to work with me on that. I want to work on/continue working on the other things that were stressful this weekend such as the hose and baths, riding outside, riding near the trailer, and putting any sort of "gunk" (show sheen, green spot remover, coat conditioner) on the pony without her freaking out. I also want to work on having a bridle number on her bridle so that I don't need to wear it on my boot next time.

April Goals Recap and May Goals

Goals for April:

April was so much better for us than March!

Trailer Loading Practice: Pretty much every day that I've been able to (not raining and I'm at the barn with some daylight) I've been working on trailer loading and it's been paying off. She's been on and off quite a few times and while she's still anxious she's not freaking out quite as bad and is calming down quicker after.

Practice Riding the Lateral Work: Again, I'm doing a much better job at practicing this and we've been doing more lateral work in my lessons as well.

Structure Rides More Carefully: Meh, I have been feeling better about this and about how I'm structuring my weeks in general between lunging, riding, and trailer loading.

Trail Ride: Nope, I didn't get this accomplished but I'm happy enough with the trailer loading practice and once the ground dries out (crazy rain!!!!!!) I'll spend more time riding outside.

Goals for May:

I'm so looking forward to May :)

More Trailer Loading Practice: All of the trailer loading practice! I'm going to fully take advantage of the next month or so to do as much of this as possible.

More Consistency: With this I just want to continue to keep things like roundness or bend more consistently through the ride and not lose it for as long as I am now. I've already made lots of progress on this but I need to keep pushing and not just maintain what I've got right now.

Have a Successful Show: This is a two parter for me. Success will mean Katai being more relaxed, less frantic, and thus the ability for us to have more fun. I realize this is a tall order since it will only be her second show (and third time she's trailered off property for an event) but I'll be happy with even small progress.
The second is my goal. Horse shows don't make me competitive, lesson environments do, shows don't. Who knows maybe my mom was competitive enough for both of us at competitions ;) or maybe I just don't care. The more I've thought about our show last year the more I think that part of our extremely low score was that I didn't care enough. I got into the ring with a very relaxed attitude and only got tense/worried when Katai was threatening to blow up. I sort of think that if I'd gone in the ring with more of a plan or goal I'd have ridden rather than just letting her do her thing and would have gotten a better ride. So, my goal this year is to win our Intro C class. Yep, it's a tall order and could be impossible but there's my goal :)
Wether we win or not I'm not going to be upset or anything other than proud at both of us for doing it. However, I am going to push myself this year to do better than just be present and while a score of 40% would technically be an improvement I'm sure we can do better than that.

February Goals Review and March Goals

Blurry photos courtesy of my phone
Missing my Cube!

February Goals:

"Ride her Neck":

This had to do with really riding and keep her contact and flexion more consistent. Rather than losing my concentration and just letting her bum along for half of the arena Jane wanted me to keep it more actively.

This has been good!! It's not that I'm at 100% but I've been doing a lot better and, wouldn't you know, now that I'm more consistent she's figured out what's "right" and keeps it better herself.

Ride More:

My goal was 6 days per week and mostly I'm really happy with this!! I may not have been riding 6 days per week but I have been to the barn 6 days per week pretty consistently in February. I haven't been riding 6 days (which wasn't really the goal, more like work her 6 days per week) but she's had spa days, lunge workouts, and at least 3 rides per week.

Improve That Pesky Right Leg:

Meh, this one is going to be a long term thing since I know it's not going to be "fixed" in a month but I didn't really make as much progress as I wanted to in February. I'll be

Pats for the pony :)

Goals for March:

Let Go During Lateral Work:

It's crazy how things work out but only a day after I'd read this amazing post by A Enter Spooking, Jane worked with me on not juggling so many balls in the lateral work and just letting Katai be unless she was doing something wrong. It was a huge lightbulb moment for me so now I want to try to replicate it for my rides without all of the coaching from Jane.

For some reason I find this photo so cute!!

Structure Rides More Carefully:

I've been getting some good work during my rides but I know I'm not always structuring them as well as I could be. For March I want to make sure that I'm doing stretchy rides in between more collected work rides. I also want to figure out before my ride what my main items to work on are so that I don't end up doing a bunch of random stuff that doesn't work together.

Work on Trailer Loading:

So far our weather has been unseasonably warm so I'm hoping that continues which will mean that I'll be able to work on trailer loading. I'm really planning/hoping to do quite a few shows this year (more on that later) which means that the pony needs to be able to load.

Our halts are getting better :)

Ride More:

I'm keeping this at least one more month. Again, the goal is to be at the barn 6 days a week which I think will be easier now that it's getting lighter out earlier :)

January Recap and February Goals AND 2017 Goals Update

This picture took a lot of work! Pony kept trying to follow me.
Look at how cute her little Navy ROOTD is!
Also, "love" how everything outside of her blanket is yellow

January Goals

Ride More:

Nope! I did ride more consistently than I was in December but it was closer to 3 days a week than it was 6. I am continuing to work my way up though and the last couple of weeks I've been able to ride more consistently.

Focus on Forward:

Yep! I'm really happy with this one but now wouldn't you know, I need to ride more with my hands. Dressage is just so hard!

Groom Better:

Meh, I did more consistently groom with multiple brushes (George Morris may be having a panic attack somewhere but being happy about multiple brushes is where I'm at right now) than I had been and I did a nice spa day where I clipped, detangled and brushed her tail, trimmed her tail, "pulled" her mane, and sort of scrubbed at some of her green spots with a green spot remover. Overall I'll take it :)

Pony humor=pooping consistently at that far corner
so I need to walk as far as possible to clean it up

February Goals:

"Ride her Neck":

I'm taking this one directly from Jane. It's not as crazy as it sounds, basically I've always had an issue with getting Katai where she should be on the contact and correctly flexed and then I let it go and don't remember to get it back for at least half the arena. That means that she's going incorrectly more than she's going correctly and that's not ok at this point. I need to step up and RIDE! At my last lesson Jane coached me every stride to "ride her neck" meaning correct flexion, no pulling, getting her stretching forward to the bit, NO giraffe pony etc. and I did it! Now I just need to do that on my own and not make Jane lose her voice yelling at me for 5 minutes ;) I also need to not lose the forward, and relaxation, and stretchy that I gained this past month.

Ride More:

I'm making this a goal again. I don't know that I'll consistently be able to ride 6 days per week but I'm making it a goal again. I'm on my way this week so now I just need to stick with it.

Improve That Pesky Right Leg:

My riding position has come a really long way with Jane over the past few months but I'm still struggling with my mutant right leg. I'm going to focus on keeping my hip more closed on that side and keeping my leg back and not braced in front of me. If I can make even a little progress on this during February I'll be really happy.

Getting some use, complete with pony slobbers

Overall Goals Update:

No, this isn't going to be a normal thing each month. In fact I'll probably wait until the end of the year to review my overall goals but I did have one big change that I'm making and wanted to mention it now rather than waiting for December. 

Get a Trailer:

Yeah, I'm disappointed about it but it's for a REALLY good reason. The next few paragraphs are going to be about my personal life so if you can't be bothered feel free to skip down. It's just that this is playing into everything about my riding life right now so I figured I'd mention it.

I've changed a lot about my life recently and the reason  is because I finally stopped living with the idea that I was "getting by" until I have a partner and therefore a second income/all the other amazing parts of having another person as a support system. Last fall I switched my mindset to "owning" my life and not waiting on anyone else. Because of that I switched where Katai was boarded and when I had the opportunity I moved to my grandparent's house all so that I could pay off debt.

I mentioned in this post that I was hoping to build/buy a tiny house and wanted to do it before I hit 40. For the past couple of months I've been thinking a lot about where I go from here. My car getting hit was such a blessing in disguise since it meant that I could pay off even more debt and between that and the other changes I've made I'll have a very large chunk of my debt (everything except student loans) paid off by early next year. 

Spending way too much time pinning tiny houses on Pinterest...

The thing is that this living situation will only last through December (at the earliest hopefully) since I know my family wants to sell this house. I'd just stay and keep paying off debt for a bit longer otherwise (and that's still the plan if it looks like it won't sell this year) but it put me in a situation where I was starting to think about next steps. The more I thought about it the more I realized that it might actually be a good idea to go straight from this place into a tiny house. I've been able to find tiny home loans where monthly payments would be less than a cheap apartment in this area. Even better, it would mean that I'd own my home by the time I'm 40. That would give me so much flexibility to buy land and build a barn, at some point, that I can't even believe it. Even better, I could spend this next 7-8 years living in a couple different place so that when it comes time to buy land I'd know where I want to buy (hopefully).

This was built by the company I want to work with

Of course it's not a perfect plan but I'm feeling more happy and relaxed about my future than I have in a LONG time and it just fulfills so many of the goals/plans that I have for myself. With that being said the amount I was going to get for my tax refund was going to buy my trailer this year (a small, old, modest two horse since I just don't need anything fancier) but if I put that towards debt instead I'll have everything paid off by December this year which perfectly fits with the rest of my tiny house plans.

It doesn't mean that I'm going to let my plans to show this year go out the window. I've already started talking with Jane and as soon as the ice is gone I'm going to start practicing trailer loading Katai on her trailer. She's also willing and able to trailer to some shows as is one of my barn mates. The women who trailered us to the Hunter Pace lives two houses away from Jane's barn and I know she'd invite me to do more paces with her. Plus, L and my previous barn manager both have trailers and would likely be willing to trailer me and my pony places especially if she's more well behaved. I think that with those options this just makes more sense and is a smarter plan for me this year. I just need to be more stubborn about making it happen but I can do that, especially with such a great prize on the horizon :)

August Goals Recap

This whole summer has felt really hit or miss for me. I’m not sure if I’m just that much more motivated and working that much harder than I have in the past on my goals or if it was just a weird summer (I sort of think it was) but I feel sort of like when I look back the whole thing was in a fog.

August Goals:
1. Work Outside
Meh - I honestly hated the footing in our outdoor. It just felt way too deep to me and really changed Katai’s way of going. Still not sure if I was just being a baby if it’s actually too deep but I didn’t want to risk it. Because of bugs and riding schedule I didn’t get out much at the barn but I did go to the Hunter Pace!! She clearly showed that she can do that well so now I just need to do more work at the barn and make it a more normal thing.

2. Stretchy Trot
Not bad, I didn’t specifically focus on this as much as I’d planned but I did more lunging with the neck stretcher and she is pretty confirmed in stretching down when I ask for it.

3. Massage
I’m not as far as I’d like to be in this book so I haven’t done much with Katai yet. I’m going to keep plugging away!

4. Strength
Yes!! I’ve started working out again and have just been more physically active going on more hikes and doing my work out at home more regularly. Also, see below.

5. Ride More
Yes!!! Really happy about this one. With one big exception I’ve been out to the barn consistently about 5 days per week. I can tell in my strength and Katai’s ridability.

September Goals:

1. Continue to Ride More
I want to continue to get 5 rides/Lunges in per week for the entire month!

2. Work outside
Reading about Megan’s work with TC over at Enter A Spooking and how she’s been showing him around the new barn has inspired me to do the same with Katai at this new facility. I think that it became a bigger deal that it needed to be at the last barn because it was an exception rather than the rule that I rode outside. Here I don’t have an outdoor arena but there is a space to ride/work and a quiet(ish) dirt road that I can ride on so the plan is to start taking her out for hand walks to explore after our rides. I think it will be good for both of us!

3. Massage
Since I’m nowhere near being ready to do a good massage with Katai yet I’m going to schedule one for her over the next month or so. Between the hunter pace and her shenanigans at loading to come to this new barn I think she’s carrying some extra tension.

4. Adjust to my new coach and the new facility
I’m going light on the goals for the rest of the month because I know that Jane, based on my previous lesson with her, will do completely different things with us. Apparently she already has plans for us at my first lesson with her (next Tuesday) which is both exciting and terrifying haha. Mainly I’m just going to do light stretchy work with Katai for the next week to make sure that she’s feeling as good and loose as possible for my lesson. Plus, honestly, you pretty much can’t do too much loose stretchy work with this pony.

July Goals Recap

Previous Goals Recap:

1. Proper bend to each direction - I honestly think this is something we should have better by this point. I’m sure if I were a more advanced rider that this would be more consistent than we have it right now. I’m going to just keep working and improving my skills at this.
-Meh, I just wasn’t able to dressage consistently enough in July for this to get any better. Between the weather, my travel, and moving her back and forth to the other barn (and all the drama that entailed) I just haven’t had many regular dressage rides. Luckily she hasn’t back slid (much) but I also didn’t make much dressage-y progress.

2. Work outside - I just need to get her outside as much as I can and for as many different activities as possible
-Yes! I’m getting so much better that this! Pretty much every day that I could, where the weather cooperated, I rode outside.

3. Do chiropractor prescribed stretches before every ride (also getting a massage book so that I can do some of this myself :)
-Meh, mainly just because I wasn’t doing these before outdoor rides or lunging sessions and I didn’t have many dressage rides so I didn’t do many stretches with her. I am a ways into the massage book so going to continue working on that!

August Goals:

1. Work Outside – Yes it went well last month but I need a reminder to continue to make this a priority. Soon it will be snowy and icy outside and impossible so I need to get out while we can.

2. Stretchy Trot – I think from the lack of rides and all the trailering drama Katai has been tight and tense through her back. I want to head it off by doing a lot more stretchy work this month and really confirming that I can get her to stretch out when I ask for it.

3. Massage – As mentioned previously I’m partway through the book I got (really good book by the way and I’ll do a review at some point) and want to finish this up and start practicing on Katai.

4. Strength – In previous posts I’ve mentioned that I’ve really let my strength go. A combination of just not riding as often, and doing more trail riding, and letting my normal riding workout go which means that I’ve lost a lot of strength. It means that I’m flopping around up there and that’s making Katai crabby (I really don’t blame her) and tense. I also want to work on Katai’s strength and add more cantering into our workouts since she’s wearing out pretty quick for how far we are along at this point.

5. Ride More – This is the biggest goal and will make everything else easier. I just need to focus this month on getting out to the barn more.

June Goals Recap

Update to current goals:

1. Proper bend to the left – I’ve been chipping away at this all month and it’s actually getting better. At the very least she isn’t as surprised when I ask for the bend through the jaw now so she get less defensive. However, either through focus on this side or possibly saddle fit(?) she’s now struggling more with proper bend to the right

2. Stretchy Trot – I’ve been working on this a lot this month. I’m getting better at getting her stretching out but she’s still struggling with her balance a little. Once we’ve gone back into work I haven’t focused on this as much and I think with a little loss of strength she was struggling more with this last week when I worked on it.

3. Canter Transitions – These are getting way better! I’ve had a few great transitions to the right (her tougher side) but her transitions to the left are consistently  WAY better. This is a total win for my new goal setting format

4. Lateral Work – This is getting so much better!! I’ve been doing a lot of shoulder in and nose to the wall leg yield along the wall and she’s really getting it. Her balance has been getting better and she’s getting a bit better at working through and not getting tight through her back. We’re still having some rushing but that’s been getting progressively better.

5. Cavaletti Exercise – I haven’t done this one again but plan to pull it out again in the near future

I haven’t quite decided how I’m going to transition from previous goal to new goals but I think that what I’m going to do is kick anything off the list that’s going well. My goal is to get these items at a good point and then at least maintain but shift my focus to other areas. Then if for some reason I’m having trouble maintaining progress on something I’ll put it back on the list.

 New Goals:  

1. Proper bend to each direction - I honestly think this is something we should have better by this point. I’m sure if I were a more advanced rider that this would be more consistent than we have it right now. I’m going to just keep working and improving my skills at this.

 2. Work outside - I just need to get her outside as much as I can and for as many different activities as possible

 3. Do chiropractor prescribed stretches before every ride (also getting a massage book so that I can do some of this myself :)

2015 Goals Recap

 Time to recap my goals from the beginning of the year!

Knowing what I know now I think that a lot of these were way out there for 2015. I've also switched my focus a little and thanks to regular lessons with a great instructor I've got better ideas for goals for 2016 which I will be sharing soon!

23 completed out of 48 so almost half accomplished :-)

Completed Goals

- cross train, add cavaletti
- stay still for mounting

- continue with clipper desensitization

- perfect trailer loading – On this last barn move she hopped right in despite the wind blowing and the trailer being completely different than she's ever ridden in so I'm pretty confident in her trailering skills.

- get used to riding around other horses and busy warm up areas

- listen to outside leg cues

- get a halt that regularly lasts at least 20 seconds by the end of February

- find someone to take regular lessons with by the end of February

- renew my subscription to Dressage Today and read every article

- update the name of this blog (I promise it will be the last time)
- make good turnout a habit (pretend I'm getting ready to ride for George Morris everyday lol)
- Order the saddle by the end of June
- save up and purchase a saddle that fits both of us better – Picked one out!!

- get a new job and move to a metro location (more on this in a future post)
- find transportation to shows
- take regular lessons - at least once per month

- learn to keep my lower leg back on a regular basis

- practice a more proper arm position
- gain miles in the saddle
- do a better job of journaling my riding in my blog
- learn to weight each seat bone as needed

Goals for Katai that didn't get completed:

 

- get chiropractic done at least three times in 2015 (33% completed)

- get at least three massages in 2015 (0% completed)

- start serious fitness training as soon as it's not slippery out to include canter sets (25% completed)

- add more structured lunging - at least 3-4 times per month (15% completed)

- practice with show environments by trailering off property at least five times this year (0% completed)

- show in three dressage schooling shows with at least one at training level (0% completed)

- ride in one two clinics - can be any discipline (0% completed)

- perfect standing tied to the trailer (0% completed)

- nicer canter transitions (no more ear pinning and less choppy trotting) by the end of March (became better now worse so we'll go with a 0% completed)

- better bend at all gaits to the left (20% completed)

- more understanding of whip cues by the middle of the year (45% completed)

- understand all three intro tests by the end of April (0% completed)

- begin trying our hoof at training level tests by the end of May (0% completed but we could ride them now)

- gain trail riding experience both by ourselves and with others - get outside and ride trails at least 3-4 times per month (60% completed)

Goals for me that didn't get completed:

 

- find a good yoga class and go at least twice per month (0% completed)

- get regular massages (0% completed)

- run in at least one 5K by the end of April (providing I can find one and the weather isn't too horrible), one 10K by the end of June, and Ragnar (total of about 13 miles) again in the late summer (0% completed)

- lose 15 - 20 more pounds (15% completed)

- regain jumping skills :-) (0% completed)

- ride different horses (0% completed)

- put together at least one set of show clothes (schooling show appropriate) (0% completed)

- determine which schooling shows to attend and get signed up (50% completed - found them just didn't sign up)

- memorize intro tests by the end of May (0% completed)

- take more and better pictures and videos (20ish% completed at least I was sharing a few more!)

- read and review a horse book every month – February Success! (18% completed)