October Recap/November Goals

October Goals:

-Sell Some Things
 Managed to sell a bit of tack, so on the right track!

-Fitness
 Meh. I opted to use our elliptical and treadmill at home rather than signing up for the gym, so cardio is going OK. I spend half an hour or so first thing in the morning or before bed, so the convenience factor is working for me. Was imagining hiking/running/biking outdoors as well but the weather was surprisingly horrible. Pneumonia is now making me sleep on the couch all day so I'm currently full of reasons not to work out.

-Build/paint some jumps for use at our little community riding ring. 
Yes! It cost more for materials than I expected, but I got 4 sets of jumps ready to go.

Ta da!

-Bridget - more flatwork, as per goals outlined in Progress:Bridget Edition post.
Yes! Fingers crossed, we have a forward, responsive pony. We haven't had a single head toss or shake for about a month now and she's looking for a light contact more often than not. Straightness is also much improved.

Cute pony is also pretty smart

-Ginger - continue getting her out and about!
Since I didn't quantify this one, we'll say it's good. I only got her out twice a week or so and do want to improve on that. The crazy weather and trying to reno our rental house played havoc with my riding time and when push came to shove and I only had an hour to ride, I opted to take Bridget a bit too often, since I can just hop on and go and don't need to lead her on the busy road and/or lunge prior to riding.

-Volunteer 
Yes! Spent a few afternoons volunteering at our fair grounds. Our main ring looks amazing - just need to get over there and ride in it!

-Lessons 
Yes! They're working out really well. S is a great 'eyes on the ground' resource. (And she can get Bridget to canter an entire circle. Win :)

-Two Pointober!
Meh. I was being pretty good about warming up in two point, then life happened and I went for a last minute trip then got sick so my 'go all out for an awesome time in the last week' approach completely failed. I think I started at around 4 minutes, and my last time I recorded from a week ago was 6:21.

November Goals:

-Fitness/Diet
Get back into it (fitness within reason when doctor gives ok). For now,watch what I eat better. I'm frustrated at being the person who ended up with pneumonia when everyone around me either just got a little cold or not sick at all. Asthma sucks for that and makes a likely culprit, but  honestly, I'm always the person who catches everything. I need to keep my immune system happier.

Either that or I'm getting one of these! Photo via Google search from THIS site.

-Bridget
She's done so much in the last two months I think I'm going to be less ambitious for Nov/Dec. As mentioned above, she's already got really solid basics and knows her job, so I think it will be good to let her have a little mental break and just continue to pick away at improving her strength and balance, and get her out for a few rides with friends, maybe the odd lesson. I'm thinking 3 or 4 rides a week.

-Ginger
Ginger mare is getting signed up for my weekly lesson. We'll see where that takes us. I do have those jumps sitting there, after all. We'll see if I'm brave enough to open that can of worms!

Recycling this one again because I like it. I know it's not super flattering and just looks like a normal horse and rider cruising along in an imperfect and uninspiring way, but that's exactly what I like about it! We're both so much more relaxed and content of late and just having fun.

-Clinics/Schooling Days
We've been talking about setting up a schooling day at our main arena. It's going to be super informal and just a bunch of us getting together to run through trail courses, small jump courses, and
a mock flat class or two. Just for fun and no prizes. I think it would be an excellent outing for either horse and am going to try to get it organized as a monthly thing for the winter to help us all get ready for the spring shows.
There's also an upcoming dressage clinic I really want to attend, We have use of an indoor for that, and hoping we can book the lady to travel here for a weekend later this month.

These are kind of 'blah' goals, but I'm slightly overwhelmed (renos and all kinds of testing for a potential job -yay!) in real life and need to focus some effort there when I'm feeling better.