August Goals

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In a first for me, I think it is time I start writing down some goals for myself and the girls - to try and hold myself accountable & to have an aim to achieve something by the end of the month - besides just ride.





 

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First off I must remember to KISS; so bearing that in mind my first goal is to:
- LESSON
I want to take at least one lesson with new trainer at yard and if it goes well sign up for more!  

And if that is the only goal i meet this month, I will be super happy to have done at least that.
In saying that, I am not limiting myself to that one goal, I am however hopeful that all going well with that first goal; these other goals might be more readily achievable - or i might at least be able to start making a dent in them...

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A. RIDE BOTH HORSES
- work on walk & halt with Nancy
- work on walk with Kika
- straighten/sort myself out to help N right lead canter
- continue working with Kika on stretchy strides & relaxed trot work

B. Work on refining me
- look up
- heels down
- shoulders back...




Have I seen some sort of a brace/aid mentioned on other blogs to help with shoulders - can anyone help me find out more about this please?

To achieve these goals I have set out a rough guide/plan of attack aka a weekly schedule, which looks a little like this:

Saturday + Sunday - ride both

Monday - Ride one; lunge one

Tuesday - Ride one; lunge one - inverse Monday

Wednesday - day off for both as Wed is typically a super busy day for me at work.

Thursday  + Friday - Rinse & repeat of Monday + Tuesday

I also "plan" to keep Mon/Tues & Thurs/Fri flexible should I wish to and/or have the time to ride both - the above schedule is not set in stone. Although I hope to stand pretty firm with myself on riding both both Saturday & Sunday; to my mind those days are non-negotiable as that is what weekends are for.

As I said at the start - ACCOUNTABILITY
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In saying all this I have already messed up this week, LOL
In that i didn't go to the yard at all Monday evening as I was feeling poorly - but then rode both last night and plan to lunge Kika and ride Nancy this evening; so there is plenty fluidity & movement to the PoA (Plan of Attack).

K was a bit of a pill about things like relaxation through her neck under saddle for much of yesterday's spin so a little work in the pessoa where she is arguing with herself is in order I think. Although we did get some nicer work towards the end of the spin - I was adamant we would do something constructive with our evening. Really yesterday was just a continuation of the little bickering arguments we had in the videos from Sundays spin (posted yesterday). 
I did lengthen my stirrups a hole - which made me a bit looser in the tack for our first bad side canter yesterday evening and proved once again that I am gripping with my knees as I struggled to sit into the rocking (really more choppy) motion of her canter as she flailed a bit with her front legs initially before we could find our rhythm some bit. 
When I really concentrated on breathing and releasing the tension in my body she eventually took her cue from me and we got some much nicer work - although all still a long way from the lovely spin we'd shared on Saturday. If only i could (a) remember what i did and (b) bottle it to reaxamine at a later stage - I'd be doing well. Admittedly Saturdays spin was in one of the smaller arenas, so maybe that had something to do with it. Also we were just the two of us on Saturday, whereas both Sunday and yesterday there was at least one other horse in the arena with us - I know that distracts me as i spend too much time worrying about staying out of their way rather than riding to my own plan and trusting we can maneuver around each other. 
I honnestly cannot blame my horse's ADD on anyone but myself - poor Kika being such a sensitive creature and having inherited so many quirks from me - it is scary how alike we are. That saying about animals being like their owners ring scarily true for K & I!

 

Old photo showing Nancy's awkward Friesian inspired stance
PS: that's her mama in the background :)

Nancy was a doll as we worked on walk, trot and halting - I can feel slight improvements. Now to remember to keep changing things up so that it doesn't get stale and we both get bored. Mirrors area  godsend when trying to work on halting properly on a FriesianX horse who likes to stop and stand as awkwardly as physically possible.

All of this to say, you read it here first guys!
I have set myself my first monthly goals with a plan of attack no less - now here is hoping i can stick to it somewhat and make some improvements - keep your fingers crossed for me & all encouragement welcome ;-)