Mid year goal setting

[milliepops]

You would be correct. None of us are losers. And every day on the back of a horse is a blessing.

How true 😎

It's hard to look at yourself through one eye and see someone worthy, while the other eye sees a numpty that is flailing around feeling incompetent 😂 but you're dead right, it's a privilege just to be doing it at all 🦄

 

[JFTDWS]

You would be correct. None of us are losers. And every day on the back of a horse is a blessing.

You are someone that someone else can look up to. Even if you don't believe it, there are those who use the rest of us as motivation. For me that means being the best I can be in my time here doing this. I want to be worthy of someone wishing they could ride Cudo or jump a fence I just jumped.

Em

Well I was talking about a very niche form of loserdom - the tendency to sit on my horse's mouth and ride like a chump - but you're right, of course, that horses are a blessing and they're bloody generous and epic little devils to put up with us (mine not least).

That said, nobody (and I mean nobody) is looking at me and thinking "I wish I could do that...". More "ffs, give over, I've seen half-drunk monkeys with more skill than you!"

 

[milliepops]

That said, nobody (and I mean nobody) is looking at me and thinking "I wish I could do that...". More "ffs, give over, I've seen half-drunk monkeys with more skill than you!"

Careful, you'll be accused of fishing for compliments 😉
I do wish I could do different fun stuff like you do, all my riding seems a bit dull by comparison!

 

[JFTDWS]

Careful, you'll be accused of fishing for compliments 😉
I do wish I could do different fun stuff like you do, all my riding seems a bit dull by comparison!

Well no, because there's no point, because I don't believe them. Which is irrational. There was actually some pretty positive stuff flying around yesterday from someone who knows what they're talking about, and empirically I ought to be happy about it. But instead I'm seriously considering pretending the whole thing never happened because then I don't have anything to live up to... Mental...

Do remember my dressage maxed out at medium. No decent changes or piris or fun stuff here.

 

[milliepops]

Ah
Well if they know what they're on about, it would be disrespectful to ignore their opinions. Does that help?

 

[JFTDWS]

Ah
Well if they know what they're on about, it would be disrespectful to ignore their opinions. Does that help?

I used that logic to fix my unfortunate tendency to respond to "go and do X" with "oh dear god are you trying to kill me?". I've replaced at least some of that with "OK" which is a step in the right direction. A particularly ambitious sounding suggestion for next time was met with "I'm not sure I'm physically capable of that, but I do kinda want to find out...".

I'm an absolute arse to coach, to be fair. I really feel for people who have to put up with me

 

[milliepops]

As you say then, baby steps

 

[JFTDWS]

I'm working on it

(tells self "stop being such a loser, now ever people on t'internet think you're a whackjob!")

 

[milliepops]

(We're all wackjobs too)

 

[JFTDWS]

"We're all mad here... I'm mad, you're mad..."

"How do you know I'm mad?"

"You must be, or you wouldn't have come!"

The Cheshire cat is my spirit animal.

 

[DabDab]

So I have had a mixed year of goal achieving.
Wonderful little mare came completely sound and was ready to do a short ride. She then smacked herself the week of the ride and was lame. Vet was unsure if that was why she was lame, but she is now sound and trotting so will hopefully do something this year!!
Maisy has been crap all year. She has gone intermittently lame with no diagnosis being found. I'm not sure what the future holds but given her history she will come right eventually, just not this year!!
Winnie's aims were to do more endurance and get jumping with a view to doing some BS. The endurance has happened but the jumping has taken a back seat. As I have to go out to jump, and she is doing more serious distances requiring a week off after competition and tapering of work in the lead up it makes it hard to fit in. My tentative aim is to step up to FEI and do a 120k which will be unknown territory for me. We will get jumping later on!!
Tamba has done everything I asked. He has jumped round hunter trials done some combined training and been to two endurance rides with another planned. I'm hoping to get him to a BE by the end of the year, although our dressage needs some serious work!!
I'm very lucky to have incredible support and can really get confidence waning when that goes.

Just wanted to say that I quietly love reading about your endurance. I would really love to do some competitive endurance at some point but just don't have the time to put in the miles at the moment, so I always look for your posts in the weekend plans thread.

 

[zaminda]

Thanks DabDab, it's a great sport and very friendly. I don't think you actually need to be doing much to start, as the rides themselves bring them on. I certainly don't ride everyone every day! If you ever want some help getting started let me know!

 

[Red-1]

That said, nobody (and I mean nobody) is looking at me and thinking "I wish I could do that...". More "ffs, give over, I've seen half-drunk monkeys with more skill than you!"

Do remember my dressage maxed out at medium. No decent changes or piris or fun stuff here.

See, you have lost that one already. Have a look at my long term goals!

 

[j1ffy]

I’m enjoying reading about a huge variety of disciplines on this thread - dressage, eventing, SJ, driving, endurance, horseback archery..!

I didn’t post on the original thread, but my goals would have been improved scores at Medium, Areas at Ele and Medium and a go at an AM by the end of the year. We were doing ok at the first, had a crap Areas but were eyeing up a second, when Indio’s physical issues caught up with him.

So, my mid-year aims are:
- Short term - find a loan horse (I have two promising options to see at the weekend)
- Mid-term - learn to ride said loan horse
- Long-term - do a competition on loan horse

All a bit vague but if I achieve my short-term aim I can solidify the others!

 

[Reacher]

I could have written this!! Down to the flatwork and lack of brakes being the issues. Except I don't like hacking so if I gave up competing, I think I'd just give up altogether. I know I need to sort my head out and not just my horse because it is meant to be FUN. But I am struggling to be accepting of the endless, endless repeating of the same old mistakes. Any tips for how you got there?

Hmmm.....that’s a good question, I’m not sure I am “there” yet, with me the feelings of hopeless uselessness come in waves so I’m probably just in between a wave. But I tend to focus on the negatives - I’ve found having a few different instructors that have different strengths is helpful, one focuses on the details that I need to improve on though that tends to make me a bit depressed, another is less detail focussed but is good at boosting my confidence and I come out of lesson with a smile on my face.
I find it difficult to see improvements so having someone who can point them out helps. And doing something where you feel you have achieved something is a boost - I entered the unaffiliated eventers challenge feeling it was a bit of a gamble - but we got around , flew the Xc and we had basically jumped a “light” be90 course.
Sorry for the rambling answer, I will reflect and if I manage to come up with anything more illuminating I will tell you!
What I will say is, last year I believe, you entered your first be80? You are now doing BE90s - you are doing well, - you are where I wanted to be 12 months ago! 🤗 - believe in yourself!!!

 

[Reacher]

.

Do remember my dressage maxed out at medium. No decent changes or piris or fun stuff here.

Your dressage maxed out at medium?? I’m still struggling at prelim!!! (Sticks tongue out) If I tried archery I’d shoot my horse!

 

[milliepops]

I’m enjoying reading about a huge variety of disciplines on this thread - dressage, eventing, SJ, driving, endurance, horseback archery..!

I agree, the multi discipline threads are really interesting
Best of luck finding a great loan horse x

 

[Ambers Echo]

What I will say is, last year I believe, you entered your first be80? You are now doing BE90s - you are doing well, - you are where I wanted to be 12 months ago! 🤗 - believe in yourself!!!

Thank-you. If I asked myself 2 years ago what I would be happy with in 2 years then this would be it. But my brain is annoying in that as soon as I have achieved something it automatically downgrades the difficulty of what I have done. Maybe everyone is like that to an extent. But my definition of 'good achievement' seems to be 'stuff I can't do yet'! I'm working on it. At the risk of too much self disclosure, that MIGHT have something to do my parents version of 'encouraging me' to improve myself: things like my Bs at A Level (shame they weren't As) my Uni place at Warwick (well it's not quite Oxford) and my mum's comments on my new dress on my 18th birthday: "You'd really be quite pretty if you weren't so fat". A just not quite good enough narrative has become a bit of a habit.....

JFTD-WS: "maxed out at medium!" Shamefully poor on your part. You should hang your head.

 

[JFTDWS]

JFTD-WS: "maxed out at medium!" Shamefully poor on your part. You should hang your head.

It is shameful. If I hadn't accidentally taught my pony early in life that flying changes are immoral, we'd have at least made AM

See, you have lost that one already. Have a look at my long term goals!

Well I could say that our scores were never particularly respectable - I'm not even sure I did a BD medium, I think my membership expired and I didn't renew it while I was still at ele. But I have been told by some fairly decent (classical / biomechanic) names that Fergs was correct and very much an established medium horse at that point, so in the hope of aspiring to BunnyDog's desired level of positivity, I won't...

Your dressage maxed out at medium?? I’m still struggling at prelim!!! (Sticks tongue out) If I tried archery I’d shoot my horse!

It's mostly people that are at risk from me. Although, to be fair, that is somewhat deliberate

OK in the cold hard light of morning, I'll say the grading score I have was probably pretty good and maybe I'm not actually awful at this sport, at this point. I am, though, still very new to it, and constantly skating along the line of "all the gear, no idea", except without a lot of the gear, because I keep shooting my arrows in half And mostly I worry about posting on a public forum where anyone might lurk as if I know what I'm doing, and have them thinking "bumptious idiot doesn't know what they don't know yet!" - which is probably accurate, but I'm not sure I need that reputation getting ahead of me!



[eta - I also don't need a reputation as a murderer / maim-er of people. The above comment about shooting at people is in jest. I have never shot, nor do I plan to shoot any living thing, including humans, and I am quite safe to have around. Honestly...]

 

[milliepops]

Thank-you. If I asked myself 2 years ago what I would be happy with in 2 years then this would be it. But my brain is annoying in that as soon as I have achieved something it automatically downgrades the difficulty of what I have done. Maybe everyone is like that to an extent. But my definition of 'good achievement' seems to be 'stuff I can't do yet'! I'm working on it. At the risk of too much self disclosure, that MIGHT have something to do my parents version of 'encouraging me' to improve myself: things like my Bs at A Level (shame they weren't As) my Uni place at Warwick (well it's not quite Oxford) and my mum's comments on my new dress on my 18th birthday: "You'd really be quite pretty if you weren't so fat". A just not quite good enough narrative has become a bit of a habit.....
.

Liked because it's relatable not because it's likeable
I think lots of us probably do that self-downgrading thing too. I know I do. Objectively I absolutely never ever thought I'd be competing at the level I am with Kira, it's outrageous, and I'm wildly proud *of her*. But somehow everything I ever did before seems completely crap. And I know I'm crap at this level too, so that doesn't help! I won't feel like I'm any good until I ride a GP test, and then I know I'll have done it so badly I will feel embarrassed to even say I've done it. hey ho! Such is life. Luckily the horses themselves are oblivious to all this.

[eta - I also don't need a reputation as a murderer / maim-er of people. The above comment about shooting at people is in jest. I have never shot, nor do I plan to shoot any living thing, including humans, and I am quite safe to have around. Honestly...]

yeah you were completely useless to me when I wanted my neighbour shot, so I will vouch for that.

 

[Denbob]

This is such a great thread to read!

I think mine were just to keep on keeping on with Denzel back in work. Since then we've had a nasty fall, an 8 week break and some serious issues with self-doubt and confidence. Will try and keep it fairly positive although reading most of these I feel a little bit less than competent.

Things we have achieved:
- He is now officially able to leave the ground, I have video evidence of him jumping 70cm with a friend and being very mannerly and polite about it.
- His canter transitions (also with a friend....) have come on in leaps and bounds, and I might even be brave enough to attempt them myself soon.
- Two intro tests both scoring low 60%

Things we are yet to achieve:
- Feel safer out hacking, I used to love hacking so it's incredibly frustrating to have to conquer these demons all over again.
- Leave the ground with me on board
- Pony club camp, we were booked for one in the spring but loading issues resurfaced and we didn't get to go so going to try again in October
- Crack the aforementioned loading issue.
- Stop being such a bloody wimp about life!

 

[Alibear]

I'm hoping its OK to put a little progress update in here. Daisy scanned in foal with a heartbeat this morning so that goal is now done and out of my control from here on in

 

[milliepops]

I'm hoping its OK to put a little progress update in here. Daisy scanned in foal with a heartbeat this morning so that goal is now done and out of my control from here on in
View attachment 34797

💕
Exciting times

 

[Ambers Echo]

I'm hoping its OK to put a little progress update in here. Daisy scanned in foal with a heartbeat this morning so that goal is now done and out of my control from here on in
View attachment 34797

Oh wow! How lovely x

 

[JFTDWS]

I'm hoping its OK to put a little progress update in here. Daisy scanned in foal with a heartbeat this morning so that goal is now done and out of my control from here on in
View attachment 34797

Oh that's awesome, how exciting

 

[Red-1]

Thank-you. If I asked myself 2 years ago what I would be happy with in 2 years then this would be it. But my brain is annoying in that as soon as I have achieved something it automatically downgrades the difficulty of what I have done. Maybe everyone is like that to an extent. But my definition of 'good achievement' seems to be 'stuff I can't do yet'! I'm working on it.

Liked because it's relatable not because it's likeable
I think lots of us probably do that self-downgrading thing too.

I used to do that. At one time my lifetime goal was to do a Novice at Chatsworth, long story but think non horse girl with no money, living in a city sees wonderful horses and wants to be the rider one day.

Then I started riding and realised that the goal was actually quite a big one so got a horse with ultimate aim of doing Pre-Novice. Then achieved Novice, then got a new horse and thoight BE90 was beneath me as I had done bigger... Then Novice started to look small.... Always I did down my achievements as my goals became bigger. I too found my previous achievements were rubbished by myself. Mr Red-1 would not even come and watch a BE100 as he considered it not a real competition, just a training day.

What changed? I did! I became fat, middle aged and windy! I would dearly LOVE to do a BE90 now! I admire myself at what I achieved. I am proud of the drive I had, even though at the time I usually felt not good enough.

My advice? Take photos. Loads of photos of you living your dream. One day you will likely be not doing that any more.

 

[JFTDWS]

My advice? Take photos. Loads of photos of you living your dream. One day you will likely be not doing that any more.

Now that's advice I like!

 

[Pippity]

That said, nobody (and I mean nobody) is looking at me and thinking "I wish I could do that...". More "ffs, give over, I've seen half-drunk monkeys with more skill than you!"

For the record, you're exactly the kind of rider I want to be. You crack on, try all kinds of things, don't let any nerves stop you, your horses are all sound and happy, and you have fun. I can't imagine wanting anything more from my horsey life.

 

[AandK]

I think subconsciously, I do have short, mid and long term goals. For the ginge it's roughly this:

Short: continue to improve the canter, practice loading and get out to a low key clinic as first outing (have one in mind mid Aug)
Mid: do a simple prelim dressage test end of Sept/Oct and start a bit of jumping by the end of the year
Long: assuming all goes to plan, then work towards an ODE mid 2020 (e.g. get out SJ spring time, and a bit of XC too!)

I had all sorts of wild dreams when I first got Andy 17yrs ago, young and foolish! I thought we would get to intermediate level eventing eventually (oh how I laugh when I read that now!), which was a bit bold given that I had no prior experience when I got him - didn't even know how to ride XC! Fortunately for me he is the forgiving type. We did get to BE100 (or PN as it was back then) but the year I thought we'd make the step to Nov, he had an injury and I managed to lose my bottle (again) and the dreams got downgraded. The last few of his ridden years after an op in 2015 were more about just enjoying it and having fun, and not getting eliminated! However, what I am realising now, as I start from scratch again (he has done less than Andy had done when I got him!) is how much I have learnt from our partnership over the years, good and bad, it is all helping me so much with Charlie. I am so grateful for that.

 

[milliepops]

However, what I am realising now, as I start from scratch again (he has done less than Andy had done when I got him!) is how much I have learnt from our partnership over the years, good and bad, it is all helping me so much with Charlie. I am so grateful for that.

it's so hard starting again but I think this is a really good point