2019 Goals for Spicy & I

I haven't officially goal-set in about two years. Last year I unofficially had a ton written down with Indy, and none of those came to fruition. I'm tired of having my goals derailed by life, things that aren't my fault, and just bad luck. Reading Matt Brown's blogs about goal making made me realize I was setting myself up for failure, and that failure was hurting me. Just because I have bad luck doesn't mean I'm incapable, or a bad rider. It just means life happens.

This year my goal with Spicy is to qualify for ESDCTA Championships.

The beauty of this goal is how many loopholes I have in it, and how many different ways I can succeed in it. Things I didn't do that normally hamstring myself:

• Specify a level. I could qualify at Intro A if I want. Intro A is mostly walking.
• Say I have to attend ESDCTA Championships in a particular year. The qualification period ends in September for 2019 Championships, however I can also qualify for next year's any time after August.

All we have to do is get one score over 60% this year at a local show while being in good standing with the association. That's it.

The other beauty of this goal is the amount of things I actually have to do to get it done. One of which being, I have to actually have a membership. Let's be real, that's the most likely item to slip through the cracks. Spicy also needs to be comfortable on a trailer, be okay travelling to new places, be able to walk/trot (and maybe canter, if I'm feeling like setting the world on fire). 

That means lots of trail rides, lessons (on and off the farm), cross country schooling, in addition to our normal schooling at home. A goal should be something that guides you towards the things you already want to do, but shouldn't be the be all end all. It should be the cherry on top of a perfect sundae. The cherry is great, but it tastes better with real whipped cream, hot fudge, and vanilla ice cream.

Now I'm just hungry...

So Spicy's Q1 Goals are broken down as follows:

January - Ground work and cookies. It was initially ground work and carrots, but I found cookies he will do anything (and I mean ANYTHING) for. My goals for this month are to be able to catch Spicy again, and work with him in a way that refocuses his attention on me and that he actually enjoys. I want to learn how to help him when he gets anxious and worried, and how best to be a passive leader to him. I also hope that I can find ways to help him find comfort and courage in himself and not go to pieces and try and flee when things get hard or confusing.

February & March - I want to continue work through groundwork, lunging and long lining. This culminates with me getting back in the saddle at the end of March. Of course, this is flexible! Fortunately, ground work is not dependent on footing which is great because it has been an unholy mudhole for months, and with how dark it is all the time my motivation to do more than feed treats is pretty low.

Also during this time, I want to figure out what I'd like to do with him when I'm gone for our wedding/honeymoon. I'd rather not leave him sit for three weeks! I'm not sure my current barn has the facilities for a trainer to come work with him consistently, although I'm very picky about where I'd send him if I would send him somewhere.