Q1 Review & Q2 Goals

As part of my 2014 goals I decided to try out quarterly goals to help me stay on track by regularly checking in on progress, and breaking down big-picture things into smaller steps. So here's a review of my 1st Quarter goals:

Q1 Horsey Goals:

1. Work on improving our free walk. It counts for double in our dressage tests!  Success. Still needs work, but overall we've really improved on this.
2. Focus on hind end engagement/tracking hind legs up.  Success. Again still needs further improvement, but we we are getting it sooner and and for longer periods and combining it with stretching neck and lifting back.
3. Work on making canter cue more subtle (more body and seat, less leg).  Success. Hemie caught on pretty quick - I just need to make sure I ask with as much finesse as possible.

"I'm watching you"

In terms of overall accomplishment of our 2014 goals, we are making good progress and need to keep it up. We've attended 2 clinics (goal of 4), schooled at 1 new location (goal of 2), showed at 1 new location (goal of 2), and have definite improvement on our dressage scores - though with plenty of room for improvement.


Q1 Non-Horsey Goals:

1. Put a good dent in garage organizing. Success, with photos to prove it. I've still got plenty of more work to do, but I'm off to a great start.

December 2013

March 25, 2014

2. Start including weight training regularly in my workouts. Uh....whoops? Did not do this at all really. However, I have lost just over 1/4 of the weight I'm aiming to drop in 2014, so that's progress.

3. When eating out, take half the food home (ie, reduce portion size). I did so-so on this. Overall I've been much more mindful of portions when at restaurants.

4. Check in on horsey spending at least once per month. So-so again. I'm checking in, but really could be more organized about it.

5. Prepare birthday cards at the beginning of each month and make sure all birthdays are on my master calendar. Overall I did good, with one or two hiccups.

Q2 Goals

Horsey Goals:

1. Work on my lower leg stability while jumping.
2. Work on better upper body posture for dressage (stop leaning forward!).
3. Focus on Hemie's flexibility and bending the whole body.
4. Add more lateral exercises to rides (shoulder-in, haunches-in, etc).
5. Continue working on steadier connection and hind-end engagement.

Can you tell he likes his shavings?

Non-Horsey goals:

1. Continue garage organizing - focusing on my crazy horse pile.
2. Create a more efficient workout schedule and stick to it!
3. Buy or make birthday cards so I always have a ready supply.
4. Track all horse show expenses in my show binder.

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