2023 Goals... let's hear them

[Tini_Sea_Soldier1]

If it’s not in writing, we can’t hold ourselves accountable!

I’ll start…

1. Qualify for indoors
2. Do the adult eq class in Grand Arena during WEC’s Hunter Week
3. Get fitted and buy the right air vest for me (so I survive goals 1 and 2!)
4. Get a call back for Jr/AO Derby and survive the handy round (see #3 for additional support)
5. Try not to waste too many cartridges forgetting to unclip #3 when dismounting.

[foursocks]

Ooh, I’ll play! After three years of not having goals because my horse injured himself, I actually have some now!

1. Get older guy back in ring, get back up to the High AA jumpers
2. Move older guy back up to Low AOs by end of the year
3. Get new kid in ring, do the Low AA jumpers
4. Move new kid up to High AAs once the Lows get boring
5. Do one or two big destination shows, maybe Tryon, in the late summer-fall.

That’s really it–it would be fun to qualify for some stuff, but I’ve been out of the ring since the end of 2019 apart from a smattering of shows, so I’m just trying to get my groove back, get my older boy going again, and get to know my new youngster/not get bucked off by said youngster in the show ring.

Pic of new kid spooking heavily at the Blocs of Terror during my first time jumping him, for reference:

[Calvincrowe]

After a year of rehabbing my mare:

1. Jump around a course at home.
2. Jump around a course at a show.
3. Keep her sound and happy!
4. Keep myself sound and happy.

** My retired jumper is struggling to get up this winter, so another goal is to increase his hind end strength by lightly working him (per vet’s instructions) to keep that part as healthy as the rest of his 26 year old body!

[Renn_aissance]

Not completely lose all semblance of riding fitness.

My guy is retired. We walk around the property and check troughs, and “getting him fit” will involve 1/1 trot/walk intervals starting whenever the footing doesn’t suck (he needs to keep the cobwebs out of his lungs to survive the humidity in the summer.) That’s all the riding I’ve done since fall 2021. A friend let me ride her lovely horse a bit these last few weeks while she was out of town. My horse is built like a blown up pony, hers is a slab-sided TB. OMG. My adductors and hip flexors the next day. At least I remembered how to steer.

[Punkie]

What a great thread! OP, you have some awesome goals!!

For my 6 year old (to be) equitation horse:

1. Clean up lead changes
2. Consistently ship over to trainer’s for weekly lessons
3. First rated shows at WEC and HITS this winter
4. Find a hunter bridle that fits him ( )
5. First 2’6" hunter derby

For my hunter:

1. Consistent ribbons in the Adults at WEC and HITS during circuit
2. Compete in first 3’ hunter derby together
3. Improve softness over back throughout courses (he’s an ex jumper/event horse, so he can get a bit up!)
4. Improve softness to trot jumps

For my jumper:

1. Return to full work following SDFT injury
2. Work back up to the 1m by fall (he’s 22 so we’re taking it VERY slowly!)

For my coming 2 year old:

1. Introduce long lining
2. Introduce the saddle
3. Show consistently on the line
4. Work on traveling independently

[coffeehag]

I love this! As a peak adult ammy, my goals always seem a little lame but:

1. Get the 6 y/o to be OTTB coursing in the 2’ hunters
2. Continue to be consistent with working out to preserve these aging joints (she says in her mid 20s)
3. Be softer through my hands
4. Keep fox hunting!
5. Figure out where to move at the end of the year!

[TinFoilHat]

i’ve started to flesh out my goals (i usually take the full two months of December and January to think on and plan) so here’s what I’ve got so far. this is just an unformated, random list of them but when i’m actually fleshing out goals i use the GPS format:

• G oal – Choose one big goal (your ONE Thing).
• P riority – Identify three priorities or milestones you’ll need to handle to reach your goal.
• S trategy – Find five strategies for hitting each of the three priorities in a timely way.
  ++ timeline expected to complete

horse related:

• do 2-3 unrated shows (lease’s first shows ever)
• 1 rated show at EOY
• (personal and horse related): continue growing TikTok account

personal:

• launch business venture (so close)
• work out outside of horses 2x week
• fix and figure out best antidepressant combination (lol……….)

professional:

• hit annual number by Q2
• continue to flesh out opportunities in new business vertical (created last year by me as well)
• speak at a conference

[moonlitoaksranch]

1. Run outside when I can (when weather allows).
2. Tolerate the indoor running track for at least a mile run when weather is harsh (yeah, I now know how horses feel in an indoor arena, lol).
3. Learn how to cross country ski.
4. Practice violin more regularly.
5. Get mare into shape.
6. Teach mini donkey to follow us on the farm trails.
7. Finish breaking pony to cart (she’s great on long line, but I’m unsure how to attach her harness to her cart and don’t want to injure her).

[gertie06]

What’s your professional expertise? What would you speak about? My employer hosts conferences….

[TinFoilHat]

I’ll shoot you a PM!

[kaya842]

For my newer mare:

• Buy a dang saddle that fits
• Show in the 1.20s (probably unrated or B/C rated)
• Potentially get her back in the dressage ring with a goal of working up to 4th. She has the skills but per old owner hates the sandbox

For my mostly retired TB mare:

• Get her consistently sound (this is the coffin bone infection horse and we are SO close to this goal already) so that I can
• Get her fit and
• Show at First and Second level at rated shows to start getting scores for my bronze
• Show at TIP champs again depending on dates
• Show at the National Pony Dressage Cup in the small horse divisions
  My big stretch goal for her is to get my Third level scores on her as well.

Non horse specific but riding related:

• Pick up some year end awards with our local GMO(s)
• Teach SO to ride the TB well enough to trail ride together

Personal:

• Purchase new home
• Finish masters degree
• Pay off my daily driver
• Purchase a new-to-me truck
• Cut out all sugars except fruit as I’ve learned it is a huge trigger for my back pain (mostly there)
• Close all 3 rings on my Apple Watch 5 days/ week (gotta be fit to meet those riding goals!)
• Launch horse related business by Q3 (this is maybe a stretch goal)

Tons of smaller goals that make up or contribute to the above too!

[GoodTimes]

1. Try to qualify for indoors in the 3’6” A/O’s on my gelding.

2. Move the baby horse up to the 2’9” baby greens.

SO and I need to figure out what we’re doing for vacations in 2023 so I know how many days I can allot to horse shows

[blondewithchrome]

Love seeing everyone’s goals! Mine are:

1. Keep working on my confidence at bigger fences and build on the tools I have to help me feel that way.
2. Show my horse consistently in the 1m classes this year
3. Maybe try 1.10 before season end!

[Peggy]

What’s your TikTok? I can at least follow you.

[BroncoMo]

Um, ride/show more!

The last few years I’ve been trying to get my dumpster fire of a green horse sound and broke. We just hit another small bobble that hopefully we can get him over, but we are so close! One of these days I’ll write a novel on what that poor horse has been through…

I had also put my steady favorite out on lease a couple years ago so I could focus on my last couple years of school. No sooner than when I graduated, I went straight in to planning/training for a year long all-expenses-government-paid trip to an undisclosed desert. So showing and riding in general have been on the back burner for far too long.

When I get back, the one horse is coming home from lease, and I hope to be on the road a ton with the green bean. I intend on spending LOTS of time with my butt in a saddle. Hopefully lots of it at shows, because I am DONE with my passion being on the back burner!

[attempting]

what a good thread!!

horse related:

• improve sitting trot

• get consistent ribbons at 1-3 by end of year

• enjoy riding more

• compete as much as possible

• qualify for championship classes at first level

• work at barn as much as i can

this year should be a good year, hopefully!!

[LilRanger]

I’ve got some too!

Horse related:
Ride at least once a week (I don’t currently own a horse so lessons for now) take some jumping lessons this year!

We are now back to full time in office at work
Fitness, fitness fitness! I’ve gotten soft and blobby which isn’t helping me learn dressage.

Make the yard more bird friendly for my wild friends.

[TinFoilHat]

VeryAverageAmmy - appreciate it!!!

[Peggy]

Horse Goals

1. Keep horse sound and happy.
2. Continue having fun and improving.
3. Get more consistently competitive in the Low AA (1-1.05 m jumpers). I won a classic and ended up tenth in the zone in 2022. At my age the odds of moving up aren’t great.

Other goals

1. Keep working on photography. I signed up for an Advanced Project class via my local camera store/photo academy. Now I need to come up with a doable project and execute it over the next year.
2. Get Africa photos (from July 2022) processed. I have culled and done some processing, but need to get through all of them. And hopefully make a book.
3. Get 2022 Photo Book done in the first quarter of 2023.
4. Try to get more stuff done around the house including framing and hanging photos, reviving my vegetable beds, and getting the house painted.
5. I’m retired, so have no career goals, but would like to visit former colleagues more often, especially now that they are all teaching on-ground. I retired at the end of spring 2020 so there are some people (most of the department) that I haven’t seen since we all went our separate ways in March 2020.

For the last several years I had no horse goals because the horse was not sound and happy. Or, the goal was to get or keep the horse sound. Or jump a fence on a horse I own (as opposed to one of several catch rides I was very happy to have). As of a year ago when he was sound and back in work, I figured I’d be happy to do the 2’6" hunters. And here we are.

If anyone wants to follow me on IG for a medley of horses and photography I’m @peggykline

[ZuzusPetals]

— Stay the hell on
— Back to jumping simple courses by summer