2019 review and 2020 goal setting?

She rides him now when her arm feels ok and adores fussing him. So if she has a horse at all it will be him. But her plans for 6th form changed when she sold Deedee and she's decided to go to college about 1 1/2 hours away. Katie is staying nearer home to ride. So I'm not sure she will have another horse but it depends how agr feelx after the op
 
Bernster said:
I’m similar in that the winter isn’t great training wise. Had a good year though and did everything I aimed for. maybe not as often or as well but def had fun along the way.

Would like to consolidate our jumping at 70 and see how we go. It’s very slow progress for me on that front. Then continue in much the same vein but in a good way, as it’s all stuff I enjoy and find challenging enough to still be nervous, but not so That i lose my marbles completely!
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lesson 1 - post early on these threads cos it’s easier to find your original reply!

lesson 2 - be suitably vague in setting goals so as to ensure achievement of them!

Progress report. Hmm. Marbles are still intact, just about, but this year is proving to be pretty trying in various ways. The latest and most worrying is vet coming on Friday to check F as new physio has picked up a lameness issue on his right hind. Leaving aside being miffed at physio doing a flexion test, I’m hoping it’s nothing serious. He needs a new saddle too so even if we, fingers and toes crossed, can continue, it’ll be a while before he’s all sorted anyway. Orses eh.
 
Not sure if this is more of a competing/'proper' training goal thread but will join if that's okay (or point me towards another general riding goals thread if there is one!). I don't have any 2019 riding to review (or any for the 6 years before that!) and my goals are humble for this year given I'm just getting back into lessons. I think it will still be nice to look back at the end of the year and see how far I got! :)

I'd like to be able to canter again, trot work without stirrups, have a lunge lesson and a simulator lesson (never done those two before), and go on a hack.

I also wanted to do a Challenge Award or similar as my longer term goal would be to look into sharing a horse but not sure how much of this side of things is going to be possible with Covid restrictions in place. I think the new riding school I'm going to has riding club things you can do without your own horse so maybe there might be more goals there (prelim dressage test maybe?) but again depends on what events are allowed.
 
SaddlePsych'D said:
Not sure if this is more of a competing/'proper' training goal thread but will join if that's okay (or point me towards another general riding goals thread if there is one!). I don't have any 2019 riding to review (or any for the 6 years before that!) and my goals are humble for this year given I'm just getting back into lessons. I think it will still be nice to look back at the end of the year and see how far I got! :)

I'd like to be able to canter again, trot work without stirrups, have a lunge lesson and a simulator lesson (never done those two before), and go on a hack.

I also wanted to do a Challenge Award or similar as my longer term goal would be to look into sharing a horse but not sure how much of this side of things is going to be possible with Covid restrictions in place. I think the new riding school I'm going to has riding club things you can do without your own horse so maybe there might be more goals there (prelim dressage test maybe?) but again depends on what events are allowed.
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it's competing AND training so non competitive goals are very much welcome :)
 
DressageCob said:
Aims for 2020

Albert
Keep him happy and engaged. Do the odd dressage competition, no major ambitions for championships etc. But to be consistent at Novice and Elementary would be great. Also to be more confident with him jumping would be great. He loves jumping but tends to overdo it these days, since his height perception seems to be off ? And I'm a wuss.

Toby
To do more 80Ts this season. If we could get a double clear that would be amazing. If we could cross country within the time allotted that would also be fab. But in reality I'm just happy getting through all three phases! I want to learn to soften more in the air, go with him so I don't take his jump away.

Dressage-wise, competing consistently at elementary would be great. Maybe a medium by the end of the year or in 2021. The movements are there, they just need refining and I need to be more correct with my aids and position.


All in all, I am happy with my boys and if we can keep doing what we are doing I will be very fortunate indeed. ❤️
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I like taking stock too.

With Albert I'm more or less where I intended to be. He is working better than ever on the flat. His medium trot has really come on and he has started learning a baby half pass.
I've only jumped him a couple of times. I haven't jumped during lockdown at all. I'll pick it up again at some point, but I'm reluctant when he's schooling so well ? I tend to treat him like he's made of glass...oops.

With Toby I'm ahead of myself. We have competed at medium, albeit online dressage. He is doing well and in our lessons the half passes are getting better and better...I just need to relax during the test to be able to pull them off.
On the other hand, I have shelved any plans to go out eventing. Partly because of the pandemic cancelling everything, but mainly because I'm really enjoying moving on with our dressage. I've got some health stuff going on as well which means I will find it all a lot harder and that's not fair on the boy. He loves his dressage too so I think he won't mind too much!
 
I didn't put anything on this thread originally, because I was feeling extremely down about Blue. After her all-round lameness and bilateral hind lameness had been diagnosed and fixed, she'd then started bucking when ridden, and vet had tactfully hinted that, as she's not insured, it might be worth considering whether she was really the horse for me, ie, consider PTS rather than carry on throwing money at her.

I went for the, "Turn her away for six months and see what happens," method. During the pre-bringing-back-into-work checks, the physio identified some issues around her withers which she thought were likely due to saddle fit. Throw in the bucking, the jumping when I leaned forward to dismount, the retreating to the back of the box at the sight of her saddle, and the fact that she was perfectly happy in a bareback pad, and I decided that probably all the saddle fitters who'd given her saddle the okay were mistaken. Considering those were the symptoms that had led to her being turned away for six months...

We're now nearly two weeks into trialling a new saddle, and things seem to be going well. No hint of a buck, she stands like a rock for dismounting, and she looks no grumpier than usual when the saddle appears. We've done four weeks of hacking in walk and are just introducing some small bits of trot. I'm also having weekly lessons on her, just in walk, and more for my confidence than anything.

I'm wary of making future plans, because it all depends on whether the saddle was the root of the issue. The vet is optimistic; the physio is pessimistic; I veer wildly between "We're doing Badminton grass roots next year!" and "She won't even stay sound enough to be a field ornament." Blue's opinion seems to be, "Ooh, hacking, yay! Schooling, boo! Let's jump this trotting pole!"

However, I do have a couple of weeks off work coming up, and I'm planning on using them to get her more comfortable hacking alone. She'll go anywhere with a buddy, but naps a bit on her own, and I've never really had the confidence to push her through it. I'm fed up of always needing company to hack, and if she does only come sound enough for light hacking, she needs to be good at it. I'm also going to crack on with getting her to load in my shiny new horsebox that she refuses to go near, damn it.

Other than that, let's see how she does.
 
I didn’t set any goals, but I was on track for our first baby hunter trial after a winter of hunting and finally getting somewhere confidence wise, when she went really weirdly explosive / sore in canter, and lost a load of weight. So hunter trial cancelled, and a week later we went into lockdown so no exploratory vet visit available.

Chucked her away for a month, dealt with the fact I lost the job I was supposed to start, started long reining her everywhere, got the job back, started riding gently again, dealt with a dog attack to the face, and now we’re back to lessons / popping fences. She’s still EVER SO SLIGHTLY short on one side, but putting it down to lack of strength / work and it’s getting better. She’s happy in her work, but keeping a close eye on it.

We are using lockdown to work on our jumping. We’ve never been so in tune in the 3 years I’ve had her. She is an absolute joy to have at the minute- she even nursed my boyfriend over his first ever jump at the weekend. Without loads of other life distractions she’s become a welcome focus and it’s paying off.

We WILL do a hunter trial in the autumn, even if it’s 50cm, and next year I want to do a BE80. Finally. Hopefully after another winter hunting and some serious investment in jumping lessons we’ll get there!

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Bernster said:
lesson 1 - post early on these threads cos it’s easier to find your original reply!


lesson 2 - be suitably vague in setting goals so as to ensure achievement of them!
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I did the same thing ?


Rosemary28 said:
I just want to do more with Rollo. Just get out more in general, as we've been a bit hampered this year by many many things.
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Well, aside from a few weeks off road work, I’ve definitely achieved this! We’re managing 5 miles now, which is good considering all the issues we had last year. Aim for the rest of the year is to keep him sound and lami-free, and to keep having fun. My friend’s daughters ride him and they’ve been keeping him busy too. I’m so pleased with his progress!
 
2020 has kind of gone out of the window. We had the herpes quarantine in Jan, then Sugar went lame and then COVID-19....

But we did get good news last week, back to full flat work w/t/c and my ask and seat has improved in canter (thanks to all my theory homework during non riding time!). I find that if I am more relaxed, my seat is better etc. so focusing on not tensing up. Though I kinda miss my rehab lesson of just pootling around, I think my coach was trying to kill me last night :p

All being well back to jumping next month. So my goals to finish of 2020 is to get a consistent nicer canter and finish my teaching certificate that had to be put on hold with all the shenanigans of this year.
 
I just had my first lesson at new riding school - my second attempt at getting back into riding this year and I have to say it went quite a bit better than the first. Not sure why - I noticed I got a good 'vibe' about the place when I arrived, the instructor was very good, and the horse I had was quite a bit smaller than at the previous school (not that I usually mind height, I just think it was a bit of a shock after such a long time without riding!).

I can report one of my first goals for the year achieved already in that I did some canter work (wasn't expecting to!). My other goals are depended on the Covid situation (like so many things!) so I might have a think about some more goals I could set for my private lessons.
 
I've been continuing to ponder goals for the rest of the year, seeing as doing canter work and work without stirrups were ticked off within my two lessons. Also I feel like riding is just giving me such a boost/something to feel hopeful about.

Having a lunge lesson is on the list still but I think I'd need to work out what the aim of it would be rather than just because I've never done it. I'd also definitely still like to try a simulator lesson.

I'm very excited that the riding school I'm at has a riding club and I was asked last week if I'd like to join in with the activities on offer - including online dressage competitions. I think there is one this month (Dressage Anywhere?) so thought that could be a good one to do if my instructor thinks it's appropriate, even if just for a bit of feedback and the experience of doing it.

I'd also like to add going on a hack and maybe .... *whispers* jumping (even if it is literally just one jump for the whole of this year but I do like the idea of being able to do a small course of fences at heights usually put up for tiny tots). :D
 
Passed my 4 Management at the first attempt - happy days! Think I'm done with exams for this year.

I will say well done to the BHS for being able to run it and having a 21st centruy approach of offering it online via video call, as hard and horrible as it was to do! Staring directly at a FBHS being grilled at your computer is not a fun experience :oops:
 
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