Goals for 2026

Happy New Year! I used to do these goals posts, the most memorable (for me) being my 2014 goals where my stretch goal was to show Rico at Intermediare II and I ended up getting my Gold Medal on him that year. 

There have been other years where my goals haven't worked out, which is fine too, sometimes life is just like that. So I figured I'd put some goals out into the universe this year and see what happens. I'm ready for a repeat of 2014 in terms of successful goal achievement!!

We'll start out really easy though:

- TC comes back into full work - walk, trot, canter, working on Training and First level concepts

- TC enjoys his work again, even through the summer months when his balking typically is at its worst

- TC visibly puts on muscle and improves his weird hind leg mechanic

- We figure out a solid maintenance schedule (injections, nutrition, etc) that keeps him happy year round

- Haul out to trail ride a few times this year

From Sunday, I'm pretty happy with this shape
and how much he's reaching for the contact

These are more of my stretch goals with TC

- Go to a clinic with a new trainer I've heard really great things about 

- Find a facility to haul out to for next winter to keep him in work, whether that's the neighbor facility that he was freaked out by this year or another one

- Do some non-trail outings, such as obstacle clinics/shows, 

- Start jumping small fences again for fun (if he wants to)

And the biggest stretch goal

- Take TC to a dressage show! Just a schooling show at Training level or something like that

The right was much tougher that day

And then I have property goals I want to make progress on (likely won't do all of this in a year)

- Add mirrors to my arena, or at least get a plan in place to do so

- Redo the footing in my arena, even just scraping the old sand and adding new sand

- Add sand to my tracks to improve the footing, maybe buy a water trailer for the ATV so that I can water and drag it in the summer

- Add sand to TC and Rico's paddocks to give them a soft place to lay down 

- Move my arena fence to make it more rectangular, and when doing this, redo the fencing in the arena so that it doesn't look so janky and add short court letters. Come up with a better way to store jumps/poles/etc outside of the arena on the spot that I'm cutting off. 

- Redo the sprinkler system for the arena, dropping the pipes below ground so they don't grow moss inside when it warms up, and making sure the coverage is accurate for the entire arena. Maybe also replace the control system so that I can access it via the internet and then I can write a program for it where it won't water if it's going to rain lol

- Scope out expanding the arena length-wise, figure out what that will cost and decide whether I want to do it or not. I'm leaning away from it now but if it's inexpensive, I may as well add a few meters to it. 

I'm so happy with his progress this winter!

And finally, my favorite goal of the year

- Get my amateur status!!

Hopefully this year goes really well for us! I think trotting down (or even better, bolting down) centerline at Training level in the amateur division would make both of us REALLY happy. But mostly I just want him to feel happy and content in work all year long!