2017 Goals

It’s a requirement if you have a blog to write something about goals at the beginning of each year, right?

Blog or not, I have been thinking a lot about my plans for 2017. The past 12 months have included a ton of change and while a lot of it has been rather painful and involved me sobbing on the couch (more on that in a later post… I’m looking at you, Marley!), I am consciously trying to focus on the opportunities that lie ahead.

Part of the reason I’ve struggled since moving back to NYC is that in some ways I feel as though I lost my horse-y identity. I of course enjoy taking lessons and spending any and all time at a barn – but I’ve come to get a tremendous amount of satisfaction and pride out of horse ownership. Obviously I knew this was a big part of my life, but I underestimated what a gaping hole it would leave. It’s been a challenge to find a new normal and start to navigate what my horse life can and should look like now.

All that said, I’m so happy to have found an incredible trainer and supportive, fun barn community. I have to drive a bit further than I would like to visit them, but it’s worth it! With that in mind, this year I’m hoping to:

• Lesson 1x / Week
  • I would love to lesson more like twice per week but I’m starting a new job and am not sure what the realities of that schedule are going to be. For now, committing to getting to the barn for a lesson one day per week seems both reasonable and enough to ensure that I at least won’t slide too far backward in my riding.
• Ride anything and everything
  • I’ve sort of been getting my sea legs at the new barn, but eventually I hope to be able to hack out in addition to taking official lessons.
  • While I’m bummed that I’m not currently a horse owner and am missing out on that long, slow burn of partnership building that is so incredible – I want to take advantage of this opportunity to ride a whole variety of horses.
• Participate in at least one event or schooling show
  • Dressage show, combined training, actual event – I’m not going to be picky with this one because I don’t, um, currently have a horse. But that’s cool! I’ll find one somewhere along the way and hopefully get off property at least once.
• Move them hips!
  • I have tight hips. Really tight hips. It’s a family curse and gets worse when I’m not riding regularly. New trainer has been great about giving me exercises to push me here, and I need to stay focused on maintaining that independent seat. I know I’m older than I once was, but I also know that I did at one time have a fantastic seat — so it’s possible!
• Maximize out-of-saddle fitness
  • Given previous goals and comments about not getting as much riding time as I’d like… when I’m not riding I want to work on my fitness in a very focused way.
  • #1 – Cardiovascular fitness, aka running. Running is the second best thing for my brain after sticking my face in a horse’s neck. Need to do this 3x per week.
  • #2 – Core? What is core? My legs and arms are really strong, like freaky, not-totally-feminine strong. My core? Notsomuch. I’ve made progress here thanks to pilates and a horrifying torture class called BodyBurn – need to commit to 2 workout a week that really target my core and riding muscles.