2015 Goals
I know everyone says this on New Years, but I just find it absolutely crazy that it’s 2015 already. Soon we’ll be firmly in the 2020’s and the world will be surrounded by flying cars and jet packs… at least that’s what I learned from Sci-Fi films. Right?
But for now, my horse agenda remains as blissfully mundane as ever. Last year, a lot of my goals were performance oriented. The same is true this year, but instead of “I want to win X” I’m taking a more philosophical approach. That may seem like a cop-out, but for me success in the show ring seems to be, in large part, a mind game. I’d like to get closer to winning that mind game this year, instead of feeling crumbled by my own thoughts.
Equestrian Goals for Me
- Compete in a hunter division without beating myself up about missed distances/changes
- Get really good at counting strides in-between fences (aka remember to do so) and know how many I did at any given time
- Do all the high options in a hunter derby
- Do not overface myself at a horse show – stay relaxed and calm!
- Be able to jump a course on Simon bridleless
- Post the trot with no stirrups at least once a week
While I still want to obviously improve and would love to win all the things next year, for me I need to fix the mental issues that lead to my complete and total breakdown at the year end show. That may mean some stepping down and re-evaluating. I want to work on myself and I am not going to quit showing, but this is going to be a FUN year one way or the other!
Goals for Simon
- Reliably get leads over fences
- Do lateral work at the trot with no anxiety
- Do complicated things with canter work while keeping anxiety low
- Get saddle fit confirmed/figured out/helped
- Stay sound
Simon gets off pretty easy this year. He is doing a great job with our partnership… sure, I would love auto changes but I need to be realistic. With his physical issues (hocks), I just don’t think lead changes are going to happen with him. We’ll get one occasionally, but I’m not going to hold my breath for consistent ones. So I’ll work on getting it over the fence, because I think he’ll be good at that once he grasps the concept. Really, if we can stay sound that’d be just great 😉
Personal Goals
- Keep credit card debt at $0 and build savings
- Follow a budget every month
- Re-do guest bedroom into a more functional office space
- Print my photography so I can enjoy it more in my house
- Dress better
- Get my anxiety under control
I feel like these personal goals are just the tip of the ice berg, but since this is mostly a horse blog I don’t want to list out every single thing I could do to improve myself. Plus, I have a tendency to get overwhelmed and if I write out too much stuff I’ll just take one look and go OH MY GOD IT’LL NEVER HAPPEN and then give up for the entire year. Not the best plan for success.
Happy New Years to everyone 🙂 Looking forward to another year sharing my journey with y’all.
31 thoughts on “2015 Goals”
Happy New Years!!
Those are great goals. I’m going to have to steal your posting without stirrups one! And I love your approach to your show goals this year. One step at a time!
Baby steps!
Those goals all seem quite manageable. Happy New year to you! :0)
You are definitely not the only one who gets anxious and stressed if there are too many performance goals! I really like your list of goals for the year – sounds like fun stuff to work on without being stressful.
Yeah, it certainly is a common problem in our sport. We put so much pressure on ourselves!
Those all seem like good goals, except for one: maybe if you’re having issues getting lead changes, finding distances, counting strides and your horse isn’t quite sound, perhaps focusing on doing high options in a derby isn’t the best idea? Correctness before height is always your friend 🙂
Well, I see your point but if my horse isn’t sound we don’t even out in the first place – so that line item becomes irrelevant:)
Oh that’s good. It still seems that lead changes, distances and strides are more important than height, and from what I’ve read of your blog in the past, those have been continued issues, so it seems like focusing on polishing those details is still more important than height. Good luck with it.
Super goals! I love that you put it all out there, there is a lot a bravery in that. Keeping my fingers crossed for your success and happiness!
Great goals! I am gong to take a page out of your book and budget! I may have to pass on bridleless jumping though 🙂
Your personal goal of dressing better really gets me. I inadvertently started dressing more professionally for work, and it has done wonders for my confidence. I read the blog Wardrobe Oxygen for some inspiration and subscribe to Gwynnie Bee (http://goo.gl/H0I0sk) for some fun clothing items. They do 10-32 only, and have a wide range of styles. Good investment in my life.
I will have to check them out! For me, setting a small clothing budget per month and cruising sales at Nordstrom Rack has been so helpful. You’re right – dressing better does help overall confidence so much.
I find it also helps with my riding! I ride in polos and a belt more and more often now, because though I love my tees, I think I ride better when I dress for it.
Agreed! I also think it is just super respectful to dress somehwat nicely for a lesson. Clothing doesn’t have to be expensive to look polished.
I love your goals! Except staying sound isn’t something you or Simon can really control, so I don’t think that makes it a very good goal (speaking as someone with many NQR issues of my own). Perhaps the goal should be amended to managing his soundness the best you can. Now that, is actually in your control!
LOL good point! I originally put that one on as a joke, but you’re right it’s 100% out of my control.
I’m feeling very inspired by your goals! And so agree about shows being such a mind-game.
And silly us thought the actual putting horses over fences was the hard part!
Baby steps 🙂
I am hopeful to hear about the brideless course jumping!
For your saddle fit, you should talk to Tess Wheat. She is in Austin and was a life saver for me when I was trying to find something for my very normally built but very picky horse!
Ooo, I will be contact you for her info!
Learning hot to make goals work best for you is half the battle! I think you picked some really great areas to focus on for next year and I’m looking forward to following your journey yet again!!
In my experience, the point of having goals shouldn’t necessarily be for them to keep you up at night from worrying!
I do the exact same thing if I make too many goals! I think what you have written down is very doable and you’re going to have an amazing 2015!!
Hopefully! Most of it is about attitude, which is 100% in my control 🙂
You got this! I love your personal goal to dress better :). That will make you feel great! Not that I have ever noticed poor dressing on here lol
Most of the poor dressing happens on my ‘meh i give 0 f’s today’ at work 😉
love your goals!!! and i definitely don’t see any cop outs anywhere in them – they are all solid progressive goals that we should all be aiming for. and i agree 100% – the goals shouldn’t stress us out or undermine our confidence. having fun is critical to success!! good luck 😀
I think you’ve got a great approach to your goals this year – it’s easy to make those quantifiable show goals, but riding is really about so much more that you really need to take a more philosophical approach sometimes. Definitely not a cop out!
Great goals, the mental side to riding is so influential yet we often overlook it till we over face ourselves and then crumble wondering why we are useless. I’m not saying anything about anyone but myself with that analogy. I think shifting goal setting focus to the mental side of sports is a fantastic set of goals.
Have a ball working towards a fun year with Simon – great goal ☺
Sorry I’m late to the party but you’ll be great!