2018 Goals

Finally, the last year-end post is out the door! It was the perfect week to get all of these written up as all I've been doing at the barn is having mental breakdowns over dealing with the cold. How cold? So cold the fucking lighter I had to go out and buy to thaw the snaps for the water buckets shit out on me after all of two minutes of exposure. This is decidedly not helpful when the snaps re-freeze in the time it takes you to pound ice out of buckets. And the hose froze despite being kept in the heated tack room, and my face just burns nonstop, and I hate everything about this state.

But that has nothing to do with goals, so let's get these going!

1. Fully outfit Opie in all his own necessary gear. Most of what he has was Bobby's and most of it works for him. I did buy him his own fancy dressage saddle that was mostly for me as the Stubben fit him fine (It's for sale--someone please buy it!), but was a mess for my body parts. However, we are down to no jump saddle, and a jump girth that's too big for his itty bitty self. I'd also like to get him a blanket with a neck for next winter.

2. Figure out the best show routine to make Opie comfortable off property. He's a pretty sensible dude so I'm not expecting him to be unmanageable, but I know he's going to revert to weaving and screaming. I'd like to have those things completely nixed when we leave the barn.

3. Complete 25 hours for TIP trail riding patch. Mendon Ponds, here we come!

4. Be able to trailer Opie by myself. This ties in closely to the goal above as I trail ride almost exclusively by myself. I also show a lot by myself, so he's going to have to learn about self loading.

5. Smooth out the basics. I want to develop a better canter and have him working through lateral moves--leg yield, shoulder fore, shoulder-in, haunches-in. I'd also like to start seeing some adjustability within the gaits.

6. Don't get hung up in how everyone else is progressing. So many bloggers got new partners in 2017 that it's easy to compare yourself to what someone else is doing. People think the way they're training is the best way and the only way, and if you're doing it differently you're doing it wrong. I've been down the OTTB training road several times before, and I need to trust myself instead of getting caught up in someone else's journey.

let's do this thing!