It’s been about a month since I formally declared 2013 goals, so you’re probably wondering why I’m writing a progress post so soon.  Well summer is winding down, and my last three horse shows of the year will be here and over before I know it.  Recently I had a revelation that if I didn’t actually work at attaining these goals, then they would never happen.

Well duh, right?

So I have been working.  Here’s the progress so far.

Get a clean change while doing a course at home or at a show – This has happened, but not well.  When Simon is relaxed and we do a serious flat school, I will practice 1-2 changes per ride.  One of these rides we did get a full change from left to right (his better way)… but that full change included a bit of a crow hop and a slight trip.  He still got praised though – progress!

Do the horse strides for an entire course while in control – Definitely not there yet, but thanks to my trainer’s rides on Simon and my increasing confidence it’s feeling more attainable.  In my last Sunday group lesson, we did a course consisting of a small gymnastic to a lot of singles with long approaches.  I’m trying to hang less, and ride him more with my body.  The medium canter on course is starting to feel comfortable to me, whereas the collected canter used to be the only time I felt in control while jumping.  Jury is still out whether or not we will try to do the horse strides at our show in three weeks.  I will just do what my trainer tells me to – this might be a goal that only happens at home in 2013.

Trot/Canter 5 minutes straight with no stirrups – Ouch.  I’ve turned Thursdays into “no stirrup days” but I think Tuesdays are going to have to become no stirrup days as well.  I haven’t been timing myself, because I am afraid at how not near 5 minutes I am doing.  We can do 1-1.5 laps around the big grass ring, and then I take a walk break and then trot again.  Simon really needs me to ride well at the canter instead of flopping around complaining about sore muscles, so I’ve just been doing the trot work.  It’s definitely helping though – on ward towards strong legs!

Lose 15 pounds – Zero.  Zilch.  Perhaps even negative progress.  While my riding is stronger, I need to get back into a gym and healthy eating routine stat.

Learn to braid tails – Another goal I realized I needed to practice in order to do.  This past weekend I braided his tail, and while doing so discovered a new sarcoid wart underneath his tail as well as the fact that Simon hates having his tail touched.  This is going to be good practice for both of us, because my first attempt was definitely not show ring ready.

Compete in an under saddle class without losing our cool – I’m planning on just doing one flat class at our next show.  The ring we’ll be showing in is grass and much bigger than the tiny kid ring at Rio Vista.  Hopefully less ring traffic will mean a calmer Simon (and Lauren).

Go to a horse show without duct taping my boots – I’ll know for sure if this goal has been met at the end of the day on September 14th… but I’m pretty sure we’re going to be able to check this one off thanks to my new Mountain Horse field boots.

Show confidently in 2’3″ at the November Waco Show – I hope to check this off in September!  I’m feeling much stronger and less likely to die on course than I did in June.  We’re planning on showing 2’3″ in September and maybe again in October.

So that’s the status of things.  I probably could have picked bigger goals, but with the ups and downs we’ve had this year I will be tickled pink if we can accomplish these!

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