december review + 2015 quarterly goals

Happy New Year!!! I'm really looking forward to what 2015 might have in store for us, tho I think it'll be a bit different from this past year, where everything we did was shiny big and new. Moving forward, our progress will likely feel slower and more incremental, but that's ok. Progress is progress, right? 

In the meantime, here's a review of how December worked out for us. 

December Goals:

-Snow pads for isabel's shoes?  Punted until next shoeing cycle bc our world is mud right now. 

-Groundwork when riding is not possible. Specific goals: get Isabel to stand on a pedestal and practice long lining. We stood on a pedestal!! But haven't tried long lining yet. Our riding has been interrupted by rain more so than snow or ice. And who wants to long line in the rain? We will hold on to this goal for when the cold really sets in. 

-3 lessons. Holidays and winter weather may take a toll on our typical riding schedule. This month went pretty well for lessons, all things considered. We missed one OF lesson bc of the holidays, but managed to sneak in another with Dan, so it all evened out. I do expect that weather will start interfering in the next couple months tho. 

-Continue on concepts from bio-mechanics lesson (improve lateral balance!). Isabel is definitely getting steadier in the contact. I need to do more practice on smaller circles tho. 


Looking forward to 2015, I'm thinking that monthly goals have been useful - but the time frame is a little too short. So I'm going to set quarterly goals instead. 

2015 Q1 Goals:

• Start working on preliminary show schedules for the year. Would like to do a few different types of shows - including dressage and jumpers shows (and games or trail challenges??).

• Dressage lessons - where art thou?

• Introduce more ground work (including long lining) when riding becomes impossible due to weather.

• Explore alternative schooling arenas if Isabel's ring at home continues to deteriorate. 

• New saddle options? I am constantly paranoid about the Wintec, and would like to maybe get some professional opinion on this... Plus, we saw from bareback pics that my position can be better than what I normally get with this saddle. 

• Get Wick (friend B's leased OTTB) loading/unloading well enough to be deemed road-worthy. Then he and B can start accompanying us to weekly OF lessons!!!