2014 in Review and 2015 Goals

2014 was an incredible year for us... I want to revisit the goals I had set for myself at the beginning of the year, then talk about what ACTUALLY happened, then attempt to make some goals for next year even though I can't begin to guess what the next year is going to hold for me in terms of horses.

Previous Goals for 2014
Goals for 2014
Show at Prix St George again and improve scores on the pirouettes, extensions, and tempis
- Never happened, we moved up to I1 instead

Qualify for CDS Championships at Prix St George (maybe...)
- Never happened, we moved up to I1 instead

Show at Intermediare I and score in the 60s
- Happened in June 2014

Ride regularly/semi-regularly with Alfredo
- I rode once more with him before changing trainers

Establish a solid piaffe and passage including pi/pa transitions
- Yes this happened, we earned 7s and 8s on those at our last Grand Prix

Ride in a clinic with someone awesome
- I rode with Olivia LaGoy Wenz 

Fix the kicking lead change
- This was gone by August/September 

Put the ones on
- We had up to 8 at one point and then his toes didn't want to do them anymore

Fix my inability to use my inside leg in half passes
- This was gone half way through the year

Crazy Reach Goals (that don't even make sense but I want to have them anyway)

Ride a musical freestyle (and maybe get my USDF Silver Freestyle bar)

- Nope, I focused on my Gold instead. 

Debut Rico at Intermediare II in the fall
- This happened in summer (August 2014) and it's funny that a year ago I didn't even consider that my Gold was a possibility (October 2014).

Jump semi-regularly
- We jumped a few times throughout the year but I wasn't willing to risk his soundness once the gold medal was on the line. He got to jump this fall/winter.


Key Moments of 2014

At the beginning of the year, I was pretty excited about finally having an FEI horse after debuting at Prix St George in September 2013 and having Alfredo tell me that Rico had Grand Prix potential in November of 2013. I was still working with Tracey. Prix St George had been such a massive goal for me that I felt a bit lost through the winter and spring. I believed that Grand Prix wouldn't happen until 2015 or 2016 but I also was running short on funds and feeling burnt out by spring 2014.

Figuring out his passage button, thanks Alfredo!

In February I injured my back. That sucked. I couldn't ride for very long and couldn't sit the trot. It took me about a month to realize that the reason why I was so fragile was that I lacked the necessary strength to have a horse this athletic. In March I started CrossFit and didn't have back problems again this year.

I also got Rico's hocks done in March during my injury. My vet caught his coffin problems very early and we were able to keep him sound until late August. I was super grateful for that.

In May I did a clinic with Olivia LaGoy-Weltz. This same month, we started having serious problems with Rico's lethargy. He constantly felt like he was going to stop, that he didn't want to do his work. I came close to giving up and retiring him.

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz clinic

At the end of May, we we did blood work and found that he was mildly anemic. We also showed and made it through Intermediare I (I had signed up before these major problems were happening). My plan was to scratch him if we got there and he felt terrible. He was okay and we earned a 63.1% but I was still feeling really awful about how Rico was going. All of my posts from this time mention the possibility of his early retirement because of this problem.

Intermediare I

In June, we managed to get in another Alfredo clinic, which was okay, but Alfredo made it clear that we had some major issues in terms of energy and responsiveness. Later that month I scoped Rico to test for ulcers. It was found that he DID have one and that it was healing. I did a month's worth of gastroguard.

Alfredo

In July, after a bad lesson from Tracey, I switched trainers. Heidi instantaneously fixed our lethargy and responsiveness problems. I feel forever indebted to her for that. She also made it very clear that we could get my USDF Gold Medal. On this horse. This year. I was in shock.

In August we moved up to Intermediare II with a 60.7%. A few weeks later, as I was about to sign us up for our first Grand Prix, Rico went lame. I was devastated. But I signed us up for the Grand Prix anyway. I wanted to see our name on that entry form.

Intermediare II

Lame

Rico had a vet check and we injected SO MANY THINGS. The lameness was caused by his failing coffin joints. He was sound when I returned from CDS Jr Championships and we pushed on, hoping to get through the first Grand Prix.

We competed in our first Grand Prix in September, just 364 days after our first Prix St George at the very same show in 2013. We earned a 61.3% to WIN our class. Rico was strong, powerful, and sound. We pushed on for an additional six weeks to our second one.

First Grand Prix

In October 2014, we earned my USDF Gold Medal, showing Grand Prix for the second time with a whopping 65% for second place, only .7% behind the winner. Unfortunately Rico's coffin joints took a turn for the worse that day and I made the decision to semi-retire him for the winter, and reevaluate my idea of leasing him in the spring.

USDF Gold Medal

Semi-retirement

In November and early December, we had a lot of adventures. From teaching lessons to trail riding to jumping. In mid December, Rico began feeling iffy again so I decided to give him at least until January off. At the same time, I took on a project baby horse owned by a family friend to give me some time in the saddle.

One last dressage school on a fit Grand Prix horse

Jumping

Trail riding

Trail riding again

Bridleless jumping

Bridleless trail riding

Baby horse!

Goals for 2015

I am having problems even coming up with these because I am currently horseless. But here goes nothing:

Get a job and start saving money
- This is the first step toward getting a new horse.

Graduate from my MA program
- Yep this should be doable.

Finish thesis
- This should also be doable.

Buy a project horse
- This may be anything from a barely broke baby to an older horse with training issues, any breed from Arabian to OTTB to another warmblood to even a pony.

Develop new horse to prepare for sale in 2016
- I would like to return to the show ring, either in dressage, jumpers, or eventing.

Continue with Crossfit
- This includes fixing my wrist injury, no more back injuries, and maybe a bodyweight back squat this year.


Overall

I'm incredibly grateful for all that Rico gave me this year. We had to overcome a bit to make it- from his ulcer problems, my trainer problems, and his eventual soundness breakdown. I'm sad that our time together was cut short by his soundness, but words can't express how glad I am that he held on for me to get my USDF Gold Medal. I never thought it would be possible on him. But he's an incredible horse and I was wrong to have ever doubted him.

I want to continue with horses, but life will certainly not be the same without Rico waiting at the gate for me to get him out and head to work. He is patient, hard working, trusting, and forgiving. I will miss his stupid spinning spook, his obsession with the neighbor cows, his desire to be as dirty as possible while expending the least amount of energy rolling, and most of all, his heart. I'll miss going to the barn every day, brushing all the dirt that he manages to pack on overnight off of him, schooling his incredible passage and questionable pirouettes, feeding him as many cookies as he can weasel out of me, and leaving him ground tied in the barn where he won't move a muscle unless there's food nearby and I'm not watching too closely.

I'll be hard pressed to find another horse with so much talent and with such an amazing mind. All I can give back to him is as many years as he has left in a big green pasture and as many trail rides as his toes can handle. It doesn't seem like enough for how much he's given me.

He's an incredible joy, and such a character.