2017 Goals

 

I may or may not have copied my 2016 goal post and just changed the words, haha. It was easiest because I like the format and my goals this year are basically the same as last year.

Once again, they are all competition result oriented because that's how I am. End of story. I don't do dressage for the sheer joy of training my horse to carry himself properly. I enjoy competing and training to compete. I am lost without a competition goal. It's probably rather sad.

Attempting to keep this in mind.
I may have done better last year.

2017 Main Goals

• Second Level Rider Award - I need one more score.
• Centerline Scores 1* Rating - I have 3/10 points towards it already.
• Bronze Medal - I need two Third Level scores.
• Third Level Horse Performance Certificate - This will be significantly harder to get than the First Level award.
• Region 2 Championships at Third Level - Go there and compete, and do it well (top 6 or 63%+)

2017 Stretch Goals

• Earn one Dover Medal - Because medals are cool.
• Centerline Scores 2* Rating - Because why not go for broke.
• US Dressage Finals at Third Level - Because why not go for extra broke.

Once again, all horsey goals, all competition goals. Also, significantly more goals than last year (4 vs 8), and I think much more difficult because it spans two levels worth of work. Last year I set 3 Main goals and 1 Stretch goal. I finished all three main goals quickly, and missed the stretch (which was ok). Some further details:

• Second Level Rider Award: 4 scores at 60%+ from 4 different judges from at least 2 different shows. I have 3 scores from 3 different judges already. Hopefully I can knock this out at the first show. Sadly, Second is the last level that has a Rider award, so it's all about Penn from here on out.
• Centerline Scores 1* Rating: 10 points at Second Level. (Click here for more info about the ratings) I currently have 3 points from my work with Mikey. This rating doesn't count for a damn thing because it's not USDF and I'm not a Pro, but I want it anyway. It will take me 4 to 7 tests to finish (I don't anticipate any 70+% scores) and I've only allocated 5 tries at 2-3 over the summer, so this might be hard to get.
• Bronze Medal: 6 Scores over 60%, 2 at First Level, 2 at Second Level, 2 at Third Level. For the love of all that is holy, can we get this taken care of already? How many years in the making, you know? I just need the two third level scores.
• Third Level Horse Performance Certificate: 10 scores at 60%+ from at least 4 different shows and 4 different judges, where at least 4 scores need to be from the 3-3 test. I plan on attending 6 different shows, over 5 weekends. Riding Penn at least twice per weekend at 3rd level, this should take through Championships to finish. I won't be heartbroken if we don't finish it this year, if only because I know we'll be repeating Third at the start of 2018 because we'll be working on things past my current knowledge.
• Qualify for Championships: 2 scores at 60%+ in 3-3, from 2 different shows. This falls in line with my other goals, but could come into jeopardy if we don't have all our ducks in a row early in the season (3-1 vs 3-3). I went through my show list, and I may have to pick another show in June or July to go to- The first 3 shows on my list are two day shows (vs 2 one day shows), and I can only get one qualifying score each weekend. I can take 2 cracks at it in a weekend for sure, but only one will count.

For the stretch goals, these are all things that I would like, but probably wouldn't be disappointed missing out on (because hell, I'll be tired after getting my Main Goals done!).

• Earn one Dover Medal. Win the 2-3 Dover Medal Class. This is pretty straightforward. I gave myself five shots at it this year. It's not a Main Goal because it's reliant on a placing, not a score, so even if I have a ride of a lifetime, someone else could too and beat my ride.
• Centerline Scores 2* Rating: 1* Rating + 10 points at Third Level. (Click here for more info about the ratings) I currently have no points at third and no 1* rating. Perfect. I actually think I have a better shot at getting the points for the 2* rating than the points for the 1* rating.
• US Dressage Finals at Third Level: Top 2 or 65+% for a Wildcard invite. Self explanatory. Finals will always be on my mind every time we go to Championships because there's always a chance of going.

2016 Small Goals

This section is to map out my plan for meeting my Main and Stretch Goals. I'm not bothering to write down the schooling shows because I think we'll only be going to 4 or 5 of those, most of which will be before the first recognized show and probably be pretty bad because I need some confidence at these levels and Penn needs the experience. Guess I'll have to fake it to give Penn a good experience!

By "only" going to these shows, I'm actually cutting it close with a lot of my goals. I've left 4 blanks in the schedule- I could ride a test there (and before creating this chart, I had 3-1 in those slots), except I think we're to a point where 2 tests per day will be hard, and 4 tests in a weekend will be a lot for both of us- I've always checked out mentally in test 4. Note I didn't ride a 4th test this past year. The only show I have 4 tests is Loch Moy, and only because it's two separately numbered shows and so will have 2 Dover Medals up for grabs.

Second Level Goals:

Second Level and I haven't always been friends, but if an ill-educated Mikey can get a lifetime high score (which was also at Second Level) of 64.2%, I think Penn can do it since he's far better educated than Mikey was when he was showing Second.

• I have 2-3 on the schedule for every time a Dover Medal is offered, except at Championships because well, come on. I'm not wasting an entry on that when the competition is so stiff.
• I would hope I could complete my second level rider award in those 5 tests. If not... well the year is not going to go as planned!
• I'll need to score over 65% twice and between 60 and 64.999% three times at minimum to accumulate my last 7 points for CLS 1* Rating in those 5 rides. It took me 9 rides (3 Mikey and 6 Penn) to get 10 points at First Level. Maybe this should be a stretch goal too!

Third Level Goals:

Third Level is my nemesis. Maybe we'll get along better at the end of this year. One can only hope. This is by far the level I've struggled with the most (well, most publicly- it took me years to move from Training to First with any kind of success, but I did that in the privacy of my own arena). I actually don't plan on sending Penn out in a double for this level this year. I don't think he's ready for that much bit, and it might cover up any collection holes we have (preventing moving up in the future).

• If I can't seal the deal and get my Bronze this year, I think I'll sell Penn and buy a goldfish (or maybe a koi pond). I mean, unless something horrible happens where we can't compete... If I can't get the job done in the 11 tries I have on the table for this year with the really fantastic instruction I should be getting this year... I need to re-evaluate my program or myself, because it will not be Penn's fault if this goal fails.
• I only have 4 shots at getting two 60%'s in 3-3 before the August qualifying score cut off, but the weekend I ride 3-3 twice will only have one counting score even if they're both 60+ (so basically 3 chances?). I mean, I could swap out those 3-1's for 3-3's for extra chances, but I really wanted to start with something easy. I would hope it doesn't take me that long to get 60%, but you never know. And if it does, I probably have no business going to championships at Third Level anyway.
• I am 100% ok with Penn not getting his Third Level Horse Performance Certificate this year. It's on the list because he'll be entered in enough tests to get it (11 tests, so one oops test allowed).
• I am 100% ok with not getting my CLS 2* Rating this year. Again it's on the list because I'm planning on riding third 11 times this year, which I hope will let me accumulate most of the points I need.
• I am 100% ok with not going to finals too. It would be a neat perk, but to be honest, I was relieved after 2016 championships to be done showing for the year.

Obviously the biggest goal for the year? Bronze Medal. #bronzeorbust

2016 Training Goals:

The "Small" Goals will test my "Training" Goals. As they should- horse shows are a test of your training. You get feedback, bring it home, then make changes according to your feedback. Below are all of the movements from 2-3, 3-1, and 3-3.

2-3 Movements/Skills:

• Medium walk
• Free walk
• Collected trot
• Medium trot
• Collected canter
• Medium canter
• Transitions: walk/canter, canter/trot, collected/medium/collected
• 10m circles in trot
• Shoulder In
• Travers
• Halt, rein back
• Turn on the haunches
• 3 Loop serpentine, no change of lead
• Simple changes (canter/walk/canter)

Third Level Movements/Skills:

• Medium walk
• Extended walk
• Collected trot
• Medium trot
• Extended trot
• Collected canter
• Medium canter
• Extended canter
• Transitions: walk/canter, canter/trot, collected/medium/extended/collected
• 10m half circles in trot
• 10m circles and half circles in canter
• Shoulder In
• Half Pass: trot and canter
• Turn on the haunches
• Flying changes

At the end of the year, I'll look back on these like I did for Training and First and evaluate how well each one went for us on a 1-10 scale. There will be more charts. #mathnerd

If all else fails, Penn can be a magazine model.

Hopefully when I look back at this at the end of the year, I don't say, "I spread myself too thin."