Mid year goal setting

Here's a hearty dose of humility if we're all going to spend some time looking backwards to compare to where we are now.

This is my horse "Gin" in an event in 2015. He had no shoes on his hinds and it had poured and was slick as hell. You can see that I was not the confident rider explaining that all would be well to my poor boy. I was scared and unsure what to do as he was doing reining slides into the jumps. Mind you this is baby novice and I have competed through Intermediate.

Watching this now makes every time I have jumped Cudo over 1.20+ seem like a surreal fantasy.


Em
 
Pippity said:
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.
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That's actually very nice of you to say. My horses are, despite their flaws (which are, of course, my fault ;) ), very very generous and helpful and facilitate me doing all kinds of silly things. They make it easy to get on and do silly stuff.
 
[QUOTE="milliepops, post: 14051059, member: 54458" 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. [/QUOTE]

I totally get this. I feel the same until I do a competent BE90 but like you I don't want to get round just by the seat of my pants. I don't by the photos when I go to shows because I think my lower leg position looks crap and the jumps are too small.
So much of riding is about whats going on in our heads and if we are constantly belittling our efforts it can't be a very positive experience for the horse
 
Oh I totally relate to that! I did buy all the photos when I was eventing my oldie but even then I was cringing! I'm glad to have them though, as Red said earlier I do cherish those memories. And I'll just have to let myself off my faults because I can't change it now ;)
 
Ambers Echo said:
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.
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(Like MP I too “liked” as I relate to your insecurities etc a lot, rather than “liking” them)
I do obsess over things I’m doing badly and having a boost in some other horsey way helps blur the focus on whatever I’m beating myself up about.
It’s a shame you don’t enjoy hacking - I think you’ve mentioned previously this is because of heavy traffic? Are there no options to box somewhere to hack off road? When I was getting fed up in lessons my friend and I boxed to some forestry and had a great ride and reminded me how much I loved hacking when I was young and not to let schooling / competing issues etc spoil that “pure” enjoyment of my horse.

Anyway my long term ambition is to do a BE90 on mr H before we are both too old! I quite agree with the previous poster who said take loads of photos so you have all the memories - I just frame the ones where my lower leg position doesn’t look too bad and the jump doesn’t look too small!
 
Pippity said:
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.
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yup me too. I dont think JFTD realises how much she inspires people. Shes out there doing it every single day. I love that she does different things, and every time I see a photo of Captain Carrot I secretly plot to get my hands on a quarter horse of my own, because she just looks like the most amazing fun. For almost everyone thats what its all about
 
JFTD-WS said:
I remember in primary school, my parents responding to marks like 9/10 with "well it could be better...". They're both very anti-being proud of things - you don't want to seem cocky or upset people who haven't done as well
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I think there's a lot of us in the same boat by the sounds of it.

I am minded of This be The Verse by Philip Larkin ;)
 
I’m going to invite myself to jftd’s archery. Mr H would love it. With our lack of brakes we could cause all kinds of carnageo_O:eek::p

Sounds like a lot of us have self esteem/ confidence issues, which as has been said, is mildly comforting.

Ps can I throw David Cameron overboard?
 
Reacher said:
I’m going to invite myself to jftd’s archery. Mr H would love it. With our lack of brakes we could cause all kinds of carnageo_O:eek::p

Sounds like a lot of us have self esteem/ confidence issues, which as has been said, is mildly comforting.

Ps can I throw David Cameron overboard?
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You'd be welcome, though I've no idea where you are in the country ;) Brakes are, I gather, optional (although personally I do like to have them!).

We'll make the scurvy dog walk the plank, arrrr me hearties!

No, no idea why I'm a pirate today, but we're on a boat, so let's roll with it...
 
BunnyDog said:
Here's a hearty dose of humility if we're all going to spend some time looking backwards to compare to where we are now.

This is my horse "Gin" in an event in 2015. He had no shoes on his hinds and it had poured and was slick as hell. You can see that I was not the confident rider explaining that all would be well to my poor boy. I was scared and unsure what to do as he was doing reining slides into the jumps. Mind you this is baby novice and I have competed through Intermediate.

Watching this now makes every time I have jumped Cudo over 1.20+ seem like a surreal fantasy.


Em
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Good of you to post that BD, the standard your usual videos are so unattainably above my level - I wish I could ride just a 90 cm course with your style and ability
 
JFTD-WS said:
You'd be welcome, though I've no idea where you are in the country ;) Brakes are, I gather, optional (although personally I do like to have them!).

We'll make the scurvy dog walk the plank, arrrr me hearties!

No, no idea why I'm a pirate today, but we're on a boat, so let's roll with it...
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Arrrrr Jim lad!
🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️
 
Reacher said:
Good of you to post that BD, the standard your usual videos are so unattainably above my level - I wish I could ride just a 90 cm course with your style and ability
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You do realize that I had to learn all the things I know now as I went along in horse life. Anyone can learn them and having goals is a way to help focus your energies on exactly what you want to attain. I'm not special. I was NEVER a natural rider, I had to work very hard and very long to get where I am now and honestly it's still a shock to me that I am here jumping 1.40 at home. I have always referred to myself as a "mediocre" rider. There are so many people who are better than me in every discipline out there. But likewise there are so many people below me in skills too. I am in the middle and my wish is to keep myself as solid as I can be and "Stay in my lane" enough that I focus on improving myself and don't worry about those above or below. That lesson applies to all of us, and at almost 48 years old I finally get it.

Em
 
BD I thought you were much younger. I thought your apparent chipper-ness was a product of the cheery optimism of youth. I'm both wrong and (possibly irrationally) quite impressed that you're a proper adult and still so ... well balanced?

(just to clarify, this is meant to be complimentary... I'm not sure it comes over that way, but it's a good thing in my book!)
 
JFTD-WS said:
BD I thought you were much younger. I thought your apparent chipper-ness was a product of the cheery optimism of youth. I'm both wrong and (possibly irrationally) quite impressed that you're a proper adult and still so ... well balanced?

(just to clarify, this is meant to be complimentary... I'm not sure it comes over that way, but it's a good thing in my book!)
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lol! I also thought she was younger.
 
@JFTD-WS I so appreciate it. I do take it as a compliment and I really do feel a lot younger. Until I fall off... then it's harder to shake the passing of time on my poor body. But I try to be a positive and thoughtful person who shares the balance I have fought so long and hard to find and the lessons I have already spent a lifetime learning.

When I was younger I was fighting with horses (literally I thought I could bully anything into submission. Ugh horrid memories) I had very bad self esteem that I am still working on to this day. I had parents who helped with the horse expenses but really don't know that I took advantage of it. I really kind of shifted around age 30 when I chose to do it all myself including pay all the bills and I relearned how to listen. To the horses, the trainers and my own gut. It's been a much better life with horses since then. I recommend it.

Em

ETA: Shamless Plug: New Cudo video just posted on a new thread. He was a little wild yesterday.
 
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JFTD-WS said:
Well that's no fun. Share... How long have you been at it, what are your plans going forward - this is a goal setting thread after all! I'm colossally nosy, but there's so few people on here playing at this madness, you're my only hope for archery chat :p
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I've had two training sessions so far, one day in April and a weekend in June. That photo is from the June weekend.

Plans / goals for this year are more consistently hitting the target, and possibly learning to use a thumb ring.

I also have some other, non-archery goals which include leaving the ground in a competitive session without embarrassing myself.
 
broughsuperior said:
I've had two training sessions so far, one day in April and a weekend in June. That photo is from the June weekend.

Plans / goals for this year are more consistently hitting the target, and possibly learning to use a thumb ring.

I also have some other, non-archery goals which include leaving the ground in a competitive session without embarrassing myself.
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Epic :D I started in April too - did my first grading last weekend. My goals include repeating the grading (you need 2 scores for anything above s1, my last score was an s6, but no use by itself!), hopefully starting on silly trick shots and getting my mare a bit faster up the track. If I can sort that by the end of the year, I think it'll be a decent start.

I'm too lazy to mess around with tape indefinitely and don't like the idea of a thumb ring being so tight, so I'm planning on devoting a few days to massacring my thumb so it forms a callus and I don't have to bother :D

My non-archery goals are similar - my mare also needs to hit up some competitive jumping, if I can manage not to embarrass either of us!

eta, since you shared yours... Captain Carrot being Cool.

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JFTD-WS said:
I'm too lazy to mess around with tape indefinitely and don't like the idea of a thumb ring being so tight, so I'm planning on devoting a few days to massacring my thumb so it forms a callus and I don't have to bother :D
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Worth trying the finger draw? Our coach came back from a recent coaching weekend and showed me that (my feeble office hands weren't coping with thumb draw). Its a bit harder to get, but actually faster once practiced... (I also think it is shown in the Horse Archery bible).

I haven't added any horse archery goals as my girl is lame (so I'm missing archery camp), and I really don't feel ready to try it with new one yet (not sure completing the track in 4.1 seconds and being unable to stop will be any use!!!).
 
AlexHyde said:
So asides from Doodle this year has not gone to plan!

I did move to Wales, but Skylla did not agree it was a good thing and so ulcers put us back! We're back on track now but the last comp I entered for her was cancelled due to Equine flu, so by the end of the year I hope she will have done something exciting to update you all with!

Topaz did her first PSG as planned though unaff, her BD one was booked but then she went lame! So we have one more chance the end of Aug before I need to do her Advanced again, so fingers crossed for that one!

All in all a bit up and down at the halfway mark, though I'm hoping to really kick on for the remainder of the season :cool:.

Plus I'm definitely with you MP, I much prefer watching amateurs as I can relate to them, love the pro's but they are just so far away from what I can achieve it's not a learning opportunity as much as they person on a native/TB/bonkers carriage horse (just me and Steph Croxford there :p).
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It has since been decided that Skylla is going eventing :p:cool:...

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McFluff said:
Worth trying the finger draw? Our coach came back from a recent coaching weekend and showed me that (my feeble office hands weren't coping with thumb draw). Its a bit harder to get, but actually faster once practiced... (I also think it is shown in the Horse Archery bible).

I haven't added any horse archery goals as my girl is lame (so I'm missing archery camp), and I really don't feel ready to try it with new one yet (not sure completing the track in 4.1 seconds and being unable to stop will be any use!!!).
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I'm a masochist, I quite enjoy a bit of pain ;) I will probably play around in future, but currently trying to get everything working normally. I don't mind taping and using my thumb, but there's no way in hell I'd use a thumb ring. (And yes, it is in the bible :p )

Shame you're missing camp. I presume this is the Edinburgh one? I'm sure doing it at warp speed would be entertaining (and excellent on the speed points side :p )
 
JFTD-WS said:
I'm a masochist, I quite enjoy a bit of pain ;) I will probably play around in future, but currently trying to get everything working normally. I don't mind taping and using my thumb, but there's no way in hell I'd use a thumb ring. (And yes, it is in the bible :p )

Shame you're missing camp. I presume this is the Edinburgh one? I'm sure doing it at warp speed would be entertaining (and excellent on the speed points side :p )
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Haha - I agree with thumb rings - really uncomfortable.

Yes it is the Edinburgh camp (being held in Fife) - open to anyone who's a member of the association, and it looks like it'll be a good one (shameless plug!). And the venue is very open - so at warp speed I could end up in Aberdeen! My loading needs a lot of work so I can manage more than one arrow in a run - never mind trying for speed points.
 
McFluff said:
Haha - I agree with thumb rings - really uncomfortable.

Yes it is the Edinburgh camp (being held in Fife) - open to anyone who's a member of the association, and it looks like it'll be a good one (shameless plug!). And the venue is very open - so at warp speed I could end up in Aberdeen! My loading needs a lot of work so I can manage more than one arrow in a run - never mind trying for speed points.
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Just the idea really creeps me out, and watching my coach put his on (just demo-ing it, he doesn't use it routinely afaik) made me feel a bit unwell.

I thought so. I'm sure it will be an epic one - aforementioned coach is up there coaching and he's a proper little legend :D I have the opposite - a steady quarter horse with cruise control - no issues getting off 3 in 90m (nice bonus points on my grading score!), but will def have to speed up when timing starts to matter!
 
JFTD-WS said:
Just the idea really creeps me out, and watching my coach put his on (just demo-ing it, he doesn't use it routinely afaik) made me feel a bit unwell.

I thought so. I'm sure it will be an epic one - aforementioned coach is up there coaching and he's a proper little legend :D I have the opposite - a steady quarter horse with cruise control - no issues getting off 3 in 90m (nice bonus points on my grading score!), but will def have to speed up when timing starts to matter!
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The club are looking forward to the coaching - he seems to be a bit of a legend. Your mare looks like she's really taken to it - I can see you doing the polish tracks before long :-)
 
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