For anyone following the NBW social media channels, you may have heard I had a bit of a tumble on Christmas Eve. I’ll go into that whole story in another post but to give you the gist – it was a bit of a nasty fall which has resulted in some ligament damage in my left shoulder. Because of this I haven’t been able to ride since the fall so I really didn’t end 2018 as I had planned and 2019 hasn’t really been off to a great start either.
I fully intend to be back riding in a few weeks but in the mean time Coco is being kept going with some help. Darielle is riding her on the flat for me and Jer is jumping her once a week, the other days I give her a lunge. This way Coco keeps progressing and isn’t held back and once I’m ready to ride again, I’m not getting back on a fresh, spring loaded ball of crazy.
With all this time out of the saddle though, I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I want to achieve in 2019. Unfortunately things don’t always go to plan when it comes to horses – as proved by my recent tactical dismount – so rather than setting myself goals for 2019, I decided to set intentions. These are a few of the things I intend to aim for with Coco in 2019.
1. Renew Riding Club Membership
I was back and forth about whether I was going to go back to riding club in 2019. Before the fall I was considering joining SJI instead but now I want to build up my confidence again before I start taking on more difficult courses. So Ill start with riding club and we’ll see how we get on from there.
2. Get Lessons Consistently
This is something I started towards the end of 2018. I kind of realised that if I was serious about improving my riding and if I really wanted to start seeing progress with Coco, I’d need the help of an instructor. So in 2019 I intend to get lessons at least every second week to keep me on track and to work on all my riding weak spots.
3. Start jumping 90s by the summer
I had intended on ending 2018 with jumping my first 90cm course with Coco but unfortunately this never happened. Now I kind of feel like I might need a bit of time to get my jumping legs back so I intend to do some more shows at the 80cm level but aim to move up to 90cm by summer. In saying that though, I’m not going to push myself before I feel I’m ready.
4. Do more cross-country schooling
I haven’t done any more cross-country schooling since my spill in August last year but it is something I would like to do a bit more of. I don’t think I’m ever going to be into hunter trials or get into full on eventing but I would like to be confident going for a play around a cross-country course every now and again so I’d definitely like to get out to some more places in 2019 to give it a go.
5. Go on Holidays with Coco
This is one of those things I always dreamt of being able to do – bring my horse on holidays! It’s on the bucket list and 2019 is the year I’m going to do it. The Munny Trail seems like the ideal getaway too so I’m determined to drag Darielle back there for a weekend – although I don’t think she’ll put up much of a fight 😉
So that’s everything I intend to aim for in 2019. It doesn’t seem like much but if I were to do even some of these I’d be happy. My biggest goal is always to have fun and enjoy my horse but I also believe it never hurts to give yourself something to aim for. Just make sure you’re kind to yourself if you don’t get it the first time round. You can always go at it again 🙂
What’s one thing you intend to achieve in 2019? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
Orla
They sound like some really awesome intentions – I can’t wait to hear how you progress with them over the course of the year (particularly the horsey holiday).
Thank you 🙂 Hopefully it’ll be a successful year! And yes, very excited about the horsey holiday. We’ve already started some plans 😉
Well, this year I am focused on getting back on my horse. He’s had some problems with kissing spine and poor saddle fit. I gave him last summer off and then brought him back this fall with the help of a wonderful rehabber. I made the decision he needs to be on pasture 24/7 to keep moving and stretching his head and neck down, sooo . . . he moved last week. It’s 70 miles from my house. My goal is to get a routine going to be able to enjoy my horse again (despite the commute).
Sorry to hear you had problems with Kissing Spine, I’ve heard so many horror stories but it sounds like you’ve got it all under control! Best of luck with your goal this year, where there’s will there’s a way and I think you’ll get there 🙂