So, How Did We Fair With Our 2016 Goals?

It is that time of the year again. Did we finish our goals? Looking back, we had some fun ones, as well as practical and I feel pretty good coming out of this year. I know I have a couple things in mind for next year, but first we better check and see how we did.

1. Compete at a USEA sanctioned event- YES

Look at that cute little husband in the background videoing.

Although I had my heart set on competing at Aspen only to have that idea crushed, Bacon and I were still able to make it out to our first recognized event this year. Stanton Farms turned out to be the perfect starting place, as it was small, quiet and I had great support with me to help me out. There was some bad news though. I had too much fun and immediately wanted to go and play in the next one, which my husband made happen. We made in to Spokane Sport Horse Farms in October, too!

2. Become a better dressage rider- Yes

Some day this will be a pretty picture.

This was a pretty vague goal, because how does one measure this exactly? I want to say this was accomplished though. Would I call myself a dressage rider? Absolutely not. But I read, studied, watched videos, practiced on Bacon, and finally was able to do my first couple of lessons. I tried to better myself as a rider, and I can see progress was made. We had our best dressage score to date, in Spokane with a 32.8. So that was also exciting.

3. Get Bacon's feet in good order- Yes?

Progress

Ha! Well. Success? Yes, she had bad frogs and contracted heels. But we also discovered that bipartite navicular bone in the front right too. After the first set of frog support pads and magic cushion showed incredible frog growth, we knew we were on a good path. Her heels are still expanding currently and everything is looking better. We now know to keep that foot in mind and my farrier and I work hard to keep her happy.

4. Be less of a passenger while jumping- Yes

Look at me looking where I want to go next.

This will probably always be a work in progress. I still struggle with seeing distances and making the best decisions. But I have been planning my routes and counting strides better than I have been. And remembering how I want to ride a specific line, and that is BIG for me. Mostly I just hang on and point the horse. So, I will take this progress.

5. Play with more reining stuff on Pandora and Vegas- fail

Panders, you little turd.

Well, that didn't pan out as planned. I sold miss Vegas in June and rode Pandora mostly bareback. We did have one jump school on Pandora where she had to have to a little discussion with the whip about manners, but I had fun on her. She is definitely a cutter and smarter than me.

6. Jump and answer some training level questions- Yes!

I have only one photo of the training level jump. And you've already seen it too many times.

One of the funnest parts of the year! Bacon and I checked this off of the list in April at Tulip Springs. We jumped our first corner, trakhener, and coffin ever, and they all happened to be training level or above. Bacon did it with ease and I had an absolute blast. Most everything we jumped the second day was training level, and I had the most fun I have ever had horseback. I was so proud of my horse.

7. Try to fight through the sickness- Yes

Goats will make you feel better. And piss you off sometimes.

Well, I am still diseased. What else is new? I was able to eat all year though, and able to finish all of my chores every day by myself (mostly). I still struggle though, that is no lie. Currently, my tremors are getting worse and I am getting more sensitive to noises and even worse with sleeping. I get dizzy and lose my balance easily, so I am amazed I am not falling off all of the time. I will have to see how next year goes.

8. Go hiking! -Eh?

One cool view!

We went on two hikes this year, which was not enough. We had a great hike with my grandma in June, and I thoroughly enjoyed that hike. In July, we tried to hike to a waterfall with my brother and hubs. Actually two waterfalls. And we found one, from afar. We wanted to get closer to it, so we crossed a deep creek (bad idea when you have no extra pair of shoes or socks) and tried to hike up the side of the mountain. Only, this sucker was steeper than hell and I was dying trying to get up there. We only made it up about half way before I waved my white flag. I just couldn't do it. Plus we still had to make the hike back down and across back to our starting point. I was too weak. But we did also make it out on a little hike with the goats too, so that was kind of fun.

Also not a regular view

I'm on a rock!

Bonus Goals:

Horse Moto/video: still thinking of ideas and ways to make this happen. Bacon is able to be led by Blake on his motorcycle, and rides next to him on his big or small bike with no problems.

Musical freestyle: Ha! Nope. Still a dream.

So there you have it. Not a bad progress report at all, given all of the weirdness that happened at the beginning of this year. What are we aiming for next year? Well that will have to be for another post.