Despite my total lack of ambition so far this year (and most of last month), I have tried to think about what I want to do with these gosh darn animals of mine besides watch them frolic out of my family room window. Everyone is out of shape and semi-feral after almost a month off - an accidental vacation that is hopefully coming to an end this weekend. I think, when you look through the list, my ambitions are kind of the same across the board - have horses in work, and progressing in that work. Get them out to do things (for the sport horses) and try to better my own riding in the process.
Bailey:
- Jump more XC
- Figure out a discipline she likes and pursue it
- If possible, go to a show/event/etc in this discipline
Arya:
- Confidence dependent, start jumping and introduce XC
- Confidence dependent, start pursuing more dressage skillz: lateral work, being more through and forward into the bridle, half halts, explore variation in gaits, etc.
- Confidence dependent, go to a clinic or take some lessons
Bizzy:
- Come back into semi-regular work when the ground unfreezes
- Toodle, lunge or ride 1x a week (or more, time permitting)
- Figure out a feed plan that works for her... rounder stature especially once we have pastures.
Donkey:
- Regular grooming and handling to prevent her from becoming feral
- Perhaps: learn to pony, or lunge. Will most likely work on teaching her to load
General:
- Regularly evaluate all horses for diet changes, tack fit, etc. Ensure all needs are met
- Groom all animals more regularly - preferably 3x a week, if not being regularly worked
Farm:
- Fence new pastures
- Learn about and start composting bedding and manure / Move the current muck heap to a better, permanent location / Investigate spreaders to use the compost on the hay field
- Find a farmer to bale the hay field and bale our own hay
- Replace trailer tack room floor with something easier to maintain/clean than carpet
- Keep things cleaner! Powerwash the trailer, clean tack regularly and pursue organization solutions in the barn.
- Build at least 1 new jump and paint the ones I have.
Me:
- Ride more, excuses less.
- Go to a clinic or show - I'm aiming for Adult Riders camp if it's similar to the 2017 format (and at a venue I need to jump at more to hone my chill), but would like to ride Arya with Dom Schramm, and find BB a trainer or clinician who works for her.
- Find boots that work for my day-to-day riding needs
- Track horse and barn related spending by category and month
- Jump more XC
- Figure out a discipline she likes and pursue it
- If possible, go to a show/event/etc in this discipline
- Confidence dependent, start jumping and introduce XC
- Confidence dependent, start pursuing more dressage skillz: lateral work, being more through and forward into the bridle, half halts, explore variation in gaits, etc.
- Confidence dependent, go to a clinic or take some lessons
Bizzy:
- Come back into semi-regular work when the ground unfreezes
- Toodle, lunge or ride 1x a week (or more, time permitting)
- Figure out a feed plan that works for her... rounder stature especially once we have pastures.
Donkey:
- Regular grooming and handling to prevent her from becoming feral
- Perhaps: learn to pony, or lunge. Will most likely work on teaching her to load
General:
- Regularly evaluate all horses for diet changes, tack fit, etc. Ensure all needs are met
- Groom all animals more regularly - preferably 3x a week, if not being regularly worked
Farm:
- Fence new pastures
- Learn about and start composting bedding and manure / Move the current muck heap to a better, permanent location / Investigate spreaders to use the compost on the hay field
- Find a farmer to bale the hay field and bale our own hay
- Replace trailer tack room floor with something easier to maintain/clean than carpet
- Keep things cleaner! Powerwash the trailer, clean tack regularly and pursue organization solutions in the barn.
- Build at least 1 new jump and paint the ones I have.
Me:
- Ride more, excuses less.
- Go to a clinic or show - I'm aiming for Adult Riders camp if it's similar to the 2017 format (and at a venue I need to jump at more to hone my chill), but would like to ride Arya with Dom Schramm, and find BB a trainer or clinician who works for her.
- Find boots that work for my day-to-day riding needs
- Track horse and barn related spending by category and month
This reminds me I still need to come up with 2018 goals 😂 yours sounds both attainable and excellent! Except maybe the tracking spending thing. I'm attempting that myself even though it terrifies me 😶
ReplyDeleteThe tracking is the one thing I know I will be able to achieve if I hold onto my receipts! I maintain the family finances through a spread sheet and added a new tab for equine finances, with categories up the left to break out types of spending and months across the top. I also am keeping count of the number of bags of shavings and feed purchased per month along with the cost, so I can better plan my feed store trips and budget for shavings. I even am going so far as to use the electricity meter I bought to measure power use so I can figure out how things like the electric buckets, auto-waterer heater and fans impact our electric bill. I'm a total nerd.
DeleteI'm not getting *quite* that in-depth, but I am making an effort to track spending on feed, tack, vet, etc.
DeleteI don't think most sane people would go that in depth - my dad is an energy engineer so I tend to go looking for savings in that realm when I want to do things like lower my electric bill - and happened to have the meter purchased to verify if both heating elements in my auto-waterer are working without being able to get it open right now. The majority of my line items are much more sane, promise!
DeleteA great set of goals!
ReplyDelete