2017 Goals

2014 Goals (updated)

1. Love my horse unconditionally each and every day. - Always a work in progress :)
2. Listen to the lessons I am learning from her about patience, joy, perseverance, living in the moment, making plans, not counting my chickens, tomorrow is a new day, never take your health for granted and ride the horse you have that day. - Again, something of a daily reminder
3. Keep my horse as healthy as I can afford. - I have the vet bills to prove it!
4. Train Abbey to be calm and workable in new environments. - Accomplished Sept.2014
1. Load on trailer calmly
2. Unload calmly
3. Settle into new environment without much stress
4. Maintain focus in new and stressful situations like the outdoor warmup pen, show pen, overcrowded areas, wash rack, and scary everything that comes rolling and walking by
5. Don't get scared when things don't work out the first time, or the second time, or....
6. Live within a horse budget (TBD).
7. Wear all my show clothes at a show and show my horse in 2014. Sept 2014
8. Show in pleasure class. Sept 2014
9. Show in horsemanship class. Sept 2014
10. Show in trail. Sept 2014
11. Walk over bridges. Sept 2014
12. Side pass over rail to right without clunking, consistently.
13. Side pass over rail to left without clunking, consistently.
14. Side pass L to right without clunking.
15. Side pass L to left without clunking.
16. Back around obstacles with control and no clunking.
17. Simple lead change with two beats or less in between.
18. One-handed loping consistently with collected departs with drive from behind, lift in the shoulder, balance, cadence, and steady neck.
19. Work on sitting up, shoulders back, and right hand correctly positioned.
20. Keep feet underneath me.
21. Ride more through my leg.
22. Flying lead change.
23. Lope the pinwheel.
24. Go on some trail rides with friends.
25. Learn how to hook up a trailer, load my horse, and driver her safely.
26. Win a ribbon, any color, at a show. Sept 2014
27. Be able to keep my horse trained and conditioned through the fall and winter with minimal help from trainer (save some $$).
28. Make plans for 2015 show season. Four shows would be good, maybe five. Three shows in a series, with one to get acclimated in the early summer where we don't actually show, or if we do it's no big deal.

Aaaannnddddd We're BACK!

Like the wind... the very slow wind.

It's been a while... a lot has happened since our last post. We showed. We placed. We took a break. A long one, one that was much, much too long. It's complicated, but it's just life sometimes. We showed again. We went to a clinic. I bought a truck. I bought a trailer. We started trail riding. We survived the horse-eating cows (oh, they humanity!). We have even done a few speed shows and expos (verrryyy slowly at a blistering Western Pleasure pace). And now I am looking at moving barns because board is going up again, and I would really like to have her closer to my house. That makes me sad and scared and excited all at the same time.

What I know about me is I am only happy when I'm slightly unhappy, meaning I need to want something, need a purpose, need a dream, need a goal. I have some big ones, that may be more than I can handle. We'll see.

1. Spend less on board so I can spend more on actually riding
2. Move Abbey closer to home (and not feel guilty about leaving my current barn)
3. More clinics
4. More shows
5. More hauling new places (like Montana next summer - eeks!)
6. Buy property with a view of the sunset, build a house, and put a horse or two on it
7. Live happily ever after

We have looked at some property, but aren't finding much. Prices are high, parcels are small, and most of them are wet where we live. It's a work in progress.

I am going to go look at a barn tonight or tomorrow to see about moving, and have a friend who lives super close to me where I would really like to go, but they need to build more stalls first. Until then I am trying to stay motivated to just get out there an ride my horse, and hopefully, show in two short weeks. I'd better get back to work :)