I (very) briefly considered writing up a 2017 in review for you all, but I realized it would’ve gone something like this: I have no trainer, I have a trainer for 2 lessons, I have no jumping saddle, we did some lateral work, I took May’s shoes off, May’s eye is puffy, I put May’s shoes back on, we did more lateral stuff, I found a saddle. All true, all part of the process, none interesting. SO! I figured I would just jump into 2018 with some goals!
Riding Goals
- Do 1 Clinic: my barn hosts a few clinics with great riders and trainers throughout the spring and summer. All I really have to do is get in shape and sign up!
- Do 2 Horse Trials: Whether these are recognized or schooling shows is pretty irrelevant to me. Louisville has a wonderful unrated horse trial circuit, but my barn mostly does recognized events. (as a lot of people are going at least Training level and these tend to top out around Training). Also, if I was going Training, I would probably care if my horse had a real record on USEA. The level also doesn’t really matter to me. I would like at least one to be at BN, but if we decide to start out doing on starter, I wouldn’t be heartbroken.
- Get in shape: Maybe this should be the number one goal. I’ve already done a pretty good job over the last month of going to the gym or incorporating workouts at home. Although some overindulging over the holidays means that I am not really seeing any results! Oh well, it still feels good to keep active. May, however, has been on a serious vacation since Christmas. With holiday chaos and now temps that are staying below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, she is not in any kind of work. She is turned out about 16 hours a day, and I have been going to see her to give her a grooming and check on her; however, that’s the true extent of her workload right now. However, the sun now goes down past 5:30 at night, so as soon as it warms up a touch, I can start riding at night again. (I am also starting a new job with a shorter commute and more flexible hours, so that should help too!)
- Ride 4 – 5 Days a Week: This one is on hold a bit until it warms up, but it is something I really want to commit to in the new year. It isn’t fair to ask May to step up her workload if we aren’t working regularly. 4 – 5 days is usually enough to get her in shape without overloading her and making work less fun.
- Plan Out My Rides: I am always envious of those people with calendars on their walls of what “day” it is for their horse. Jump? Dressage? Conditioning? Light Hack? They know before they even get to the barn. I have decided to become one of those people. Starting in February, you all will start seeing my monthly riding calendar at the beginning of each month and a summary of how things went the previous month. It should be a great way to track progress and find a program that works for us.
- Get Comfortable Over 3′ Courses: Pretty self explanatory. We were pretty much there in the early summer of 2016, but really haven’t jumped much since then.
Other Goals
- Blog 2 Times a Week: I have been a terrible blogger. I would like to be a better blogger. This at least sets guidelines. 🙂
- Clean Up my Email Inbox: Seriously, I get HUNDREDS of emails a day from companies. I need to figure out who I actually buy from and unsubscribe from everything else.
- Start Meditating Again: I did this for a couple of months in 2016, and it was really beneficial. I need to start it up again.
- Do One Thing Every Month That is Outside my Comfort Zone
So that’s 10 things. They should be totally doable, especially since some of them are really a Feb – Dec type of deal. 😉 Are you starting 2018 with any goals in mind, or are you having more of a “I’ll just wing it” year like I did last year?
Wing it is my motto 🙂 Great goals for you and May though!! And yes this cold bites. UGH
so done with it. And the ‘plan their ride’ people make me envious. So if you do that I will envy you too:) Happy New Year!
Let’s see how far these goals go before we descend into winging it again!
Definitely “winging it” this year! I was actually looking forward to a more scheduled year, but unfortunately not lol. We’ll see how it goes! It sounds like you’ve got a good hold on plans for the year. I know you can stick to it!
Shhhh don’t say the “P” word. Horses hear it and immediately decide to do something stupid! ? Hopefully we get through this year mostly unscathed
Hahahaha! Yessss, that is why Amber and I are winging it LOL. She heard me and decided against it hahaha! I won’t jinx it for you, tho!
omggggg i am like an obsessive unsubscriber and zealously guard my email inbox from unwanted clutter…. it stresses me out!!! lol….
seriously tho, great goals all around! good lucking figuring out your “plan rides in advance” goal too. i usually have a general pattern and rhythm to my weekly routine (it helps a lot that i have a fairly regular lesson schedule) and usually know what saddle i’m gonna be putting on the horse ahead of any given rides… but sometimes things change. sometimes something fun is set up in the jump ring, or a group of barn buddies are heading out for an unexpected hack and i wanna tag along. ya know. stuff. it’s nice to have a plan tho!
Oh man, I did an email purge resolution last year and it. was. the. best. I seriously just unsubscribed from like everything and then when I went to a company’s website that I actually buy things from, I re-subscribed to their emails. It’s so great.
I think I need to do this lol. Just delete all of them and resubcribe if I suddenly feel the need
It was actually sort of a relief to do it, like a whole bunch of mental clutter was suddenly gone. I recommend it!
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Good goals! I need to get back on the meditating routine, I always find it the most helpful the hour before bed!
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