Year End Goal Evaluation

Fancy pony.

Well, it is time to look back over the year and see how we did with our goals. I think I had mentioned that halfway through the year I was going to pop in and see how I was doing, but uhhh, that didn't happen. It is all good though! Alright, time to see what we accomplished.

Nose bra!

1. Discover my illness and kick its ass- Hmm. Fail?
       Well, I learned a lot about what else is going on with my body and how certain tests are done. Two more doctors determined they were convinced it was still Lyme disease and we discovered that I am baseline for Sjogren's disease. I certainly do not feel any better, had to leave my job in February, but I try to put this failure on the back of my mind. This is still a work in progress.

2. Complete my first 3 Day Event- Fail.
       I wanted to, so so badly, but it just wasn't in the cards. When you don't have the funds, it just ain't going to happen. And that is ok. We probably would have been able to finish, but not done well, so hopefully next year we can attack this goal again and do it well!

Taking names over the 3'9" jump.

3. Reach a new personal record jump height on Bacon- Success!
      Bacon and I busted this one out of the park when we competed in the high jump competition on Halloween jump night. We attempted 4' and cleared 3'9", while our highest jump from last year was another airy 3'3" vertical. Not only did we beat it, but we did it in costume.

Jumping our last fence in our first novice derby.

4. Compete at Novice somewhere- Success!
       Bacon and I competed in our first novice derby in early June. We finished on our dressage score and it was a new level of fun I had reached while competing. Just a year before in the same derby, Bacon and I had our first show doing the crossrail division.

Making faces and not pooping my pants before a test.

5. Learn to relax during our dressage tests- Some success
      While we are FAR from dressage champs, Bacon and I's dressage game stepped up this year. I was a bit less tense and had a somewhat better understand of how to ride the tests. We improved on our scores by a minimum of 8 points. Next year I hope to get even more relaxed and more refined in our tests.

Vegas and Mr. Mayhem love.

6. Ride all of the ponies more this year- Some Success
      While most of the rides were done bareback, all of the ponies were ridden (sporadically) throughout the year, and Lucy even got to play dressage pony. I wish I could ride them all more, saddled for real work, but none of them seem to be complaining about it and I just do not have the strength. Maybe next year.

Don't touch it!

7. Do more course work- Success
      While our coursework was still limited, it was better than last year. We competed in our first jumper shows and came out smiling. Bacon loved it once she figured out the fun game and we ended up reserve champs in the 3' after our first show. We also did a clinic with Nicole Cobb and it was a blast. Except for the whole asthma attack. I still find jumper shows scary because I have such a difficult time memorizing the courses, but I am not nearly as petrified as before.

Next year, we will have a picture like this of all three musketeers.

8. Get more awesome pictures- Success
       Definitely a success. Tons of fun photos taken by great friends, husband and even a professional photographer while all dolled up. That's a win.

9. Pay off my damn saddle- Success
       Got that sucker paid off. Thank you tax refund!

YAY saddle! Ready for a training level jump.

10. Do a training level jump- Fail
         I had hoped to get more cross country schooling under our belt for this to be able to happen, but that was a no. Next year we will get this done for sure. I know we can do it.

So, that makes it about a 75% success rate? Not too bad for an achy diseased person. I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot of cool things happened this year. Bacon and I conquered a lot of goals and we had a lot of fun doing it. Next year is always full of questions and one can always hope the answers will be good ones. And even if they aren't, we know eventually there will be good ones waiting.

Looking forward to next year!