Goals Report

I hope Cupid is enjoying the last of his break because I'm planning to start back up this week, maybe some ground driving tomorrow.  :)  But first, I am going to look back at the goals I had for this year and start thinking about some for 2019.

Pigpen, enjoying his time off

1) Develop a more effective leg.  I resort to using my upper body too much.  Even when I try / think I'm using my legs, like to keep Cupid straight when I know he's thinking of shying away from something, he ignores me so I know I need to be more effective.  Plus I let him break from the canter way more often than I should!

I'll give myself a B- for this one, there has definitely been progress though still room for improvement - especially in making sure I don't let my leg get short.  Several lessons on the lunge line helped as well as a lot of practice leg yielding.  Both my leg and intention have gotten stronger, especially when riding in the spooky outdoor arena.  Not breaking in the canter has also gotten a lot better, except at the end of the year when I think we were dealing with a bit of soreness it was pretty hard keeping him going on the left lead. 

2) First level dressage by the end of the year.  Of course that means rocking training level first.  Our first rated show is only a few weeks away!

C.  We are schooling First Level, though not there yet.  And while we managed to break 60 in Training, it took all year.  I am thinking of doing one show at Training (try out the new T-3), and hopefully be ready for First at Greenville in March since Cupid seems to like that venue.

3) Flying changes.  Left over from last year.

F - unfortunately we spend the better part of the year trying to just get the left lead :/  There were a few periods where it was good, and we had very smooth trot changes and played a bit with walk-canter transitions but it was not consistent.

In addition to doing rated dressage shows, I hope to do a few hunter schooling shows and be confident to canter.  I'd also like to learn to do trail obstacles, and continue getting experience on trail rides.  Most of all, I just hope Cupid and I stay healthy!

We didn't do any hunter shows, but did a working equitation clinic and then schooling show.  We definitely got lots of trail experience, and I feel Cupid is pretty solid on that front.  Overall Cupid did manage to stay pretty healthy, just a few minor short term things.  I managed to continue riding through my pregnancy, which was very fortunate. 

So looking back I don't feel like I did great on achieving my goals, though did progress towards them.  Still overall I am happy with how the year went, happy with and proud of Cupid, and looking forward to continuing on this journey!