Now or Never (Q1 goals)

What having dinner with your trainer looks like

In the spirit of holding myself accountable I set some goals on paper last night with Emily. I explained to her what I was hoping to accomplish for the year and we pulled up the calendar and made some notes. Obviously the list pictured above highlights A LOT of events, but it gives us something to strive for every month. Now that we actually have a fabulous ring, I can truly make plans for us!

2016 Q1 Goals:

• Leg Riley back up - conditioning on hills, flat work and jumping
• Look at competition schedule and decide on a first outing
• Jimmy Wofford Clinic (on Riley's birthday no less!)
• Lesson weekly with Emily and once a month with an outside trainer
• Work up to 4 days of riding with Riley (Flat x 2, condition day, jump day)
• Ride a sale horse for every one ride on Riley to build my fitness and skill (the pony counts)
• XC school (Boyd's?)
• Sign up for MCTA and TIP for year end awards (I think this creates a fun incentive for us to do our very best!)
• Monthly conformation shots

I think these are ambitious but attainable goals. I'm extremely lucky to have the opportunity to ride lots of different horses who all have something to teach me. And, as much as I'll get something out of riding them, I'm also able to trade in sweat equity for training rides on Riley.

Boot camp starts this weekend!

You ready Riley?

Starting from scratch -- the project pony

So if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you're probably aware that there's a new pony friend in my life. For those of you who don't... let me introduce you to a little pony named Sugar:

Kinda in loooove with her.

Legging up -- considerations

Go away snow + mud!

With the worst of winter behind us in the Northeast, it's time to start legging our horses back up. Unless you're lucky enough to have an indoor, keeping a horse fit and going up here has been nearly impossible (even trailering to an indoor has been tough!). In previous years, I remember distinctly seeing groups of riders walking and trotting along the roads near our farm all season long. This winter, the roads were much quieter, either people migrated to Aiken for a few months, or conditions on the roads were just too treacherous (see: ice).  So, with the ice melted and very little snow on the ground, we've finally been able to get our guys going again. *ps. while I could have technically gotten Riley going a little sooner, starting and stopping with him isn't good for anyone!

After a full weekend of what I consider a good start to getting him legged up, I found myself thinking about the process and what I consider when bringing a horse into work after several months off.

Gearing up, so to speak.

While winter beats on mercilessly in the Northeast, I've been starting to think about the year ahead for Riley and I. I have come up some some short-term goals but they are all contingent upon various things falling into place! Looking ahead for the next 4-6 weeks they look something like this:

*Leg Riley back up -- he's been on vacation for roughly 2 months and was ridden very lightly in November. We'll start road walking and hacking followed by some trot interval stuff before I ask him for anything proper.
*Move to new farm -- that's happening soon, so the transition period maybe interesting to say the least (more on this in a minute)
*Look at some clinics/shows to knock the dust off (tentatively, we are thinking maybe the end of April as a rough goal for a baby HT)
*Train him on the Equineciser (sp?) to work on a baseline of fitness even if the weather is bad -- this is going to be a very cool addition to his schedule!
*Re-introduce the Pessoa to help with his topline. He goes pretty well in this regardless, but I want him to have at least a little work under his belt before I ask him to work 'hard'.
*Get Riley's front shoes put back on at his next trim.

Treats go here.