As follow up to my last post...

I thought I should also post some of my goals for the next year with my pony, since I'm trying to stay in this positive mindset!

1) get back to jumping solid 3' courses. Was doing this pretty succesfully, but we backed down due to the refusing issues.

2) get to three shows. I am DYING to show but due to money issues, haven't been able to get my *ish* together. Those money issues being buying my um...Antares saddle. That was basically where all my showing money went this year. Oh well...Ponyface needed it, I swear!

3) really drill down my flatwork, maybe even take a couple dressage lessons. Last night we did a ton a flatwork and Arwen was GREAT when we started jumping, even though she generally depises flatwork. What I want to be able to successfully AND correctly: haunches in, shoulder in, leg yield down center line, and really work her consistently in a nice, round and engaged frame. When my trainer gets on and shows me what she can REALLY do (because all the buttons are installed, I just have to learn how to push them correctly) it is beautiful and impressive.

4) try and get through the next two months with no refusals. I know that this will also link back/improve if I get more serious about demanding more from her on the flat.

5) keep working on my equitation. I know, this is very general but its always a work in progress so I gotta throw it in there.

Thats it for now. I'm sure these will change/evolve as time goes on, but these are the immediate things I would like to improve. For most of these (except the showing, since the season doesn't really ramp up until March) I would like to get them accomplished by January. That gives me a good 4 months, which doesn't seem like much but I think if I really buckle down and get a little more serious about this, they can be done. Because really, the things I want to improve are about ME, not the horse. She doesn't need any additional training, she is almost too smart and too well trained. I, on the other hand, still sometimes feel like a bumbling fool up there and I think that is why we run into issues. So I want to work really, really hard on this stuff going into the winter time, because I think it will also help make her a much more rideable horse when the cold really sets in (she was a bit of a fire breathing dragon last winter). Wish us (okay, just me) luck!