Cob Jockey

I am so excited to write this post! I'm still pretty green to this whole owning a sport horse pony thing, and so the last two years my goals have been more vague dreams than concrete goals.  I didn't know what Connor would be capable of, or how fast he would progress, and that made goal setting hard.  Two years in, I know how to set concrete goals that will make us reach and give us something to work for while still being attainable.

1. Show First Level Dressage
I thought this would be a reach, but my trainer gave me an emphatic "Oh yeah, you'll get there this year."  Even if this occurs on the last day of 2014 at a schooling show, I'll be happy.

Baby Dressagin', 2012

2. Go Beginner Novice
So much goes into this - jumping higher, schooling XC more, learning the new 2014 Dressage tests, buying hind boots, but we're ready to move into legitimate eventing territory.  We'll go starter for one event before moving up.

Make those jumps bigger, the Cob Jockey team isn't afraid of flowers anymore!

3. National Dressage Pony Cup - Training Level (and also show at the KHP for the first time)
This is my big goal for 2014!  It's a ponies-only Dressage competition held at the KHP in conjunction with MSEDA in September, and Connor's full sister has done really well in it for multiple years now.  For AA Training Level, we would show Training test 2 and 3, which means I'll spend the spring and summer focusing on cleaning up the basics of our Dressage - better figures, better transitions, more accurate riding - and that can only help everything else.  I would like to be showing Training and schooling First most of the year.

(We should make it a full-sibling party - Nicole, you and Comrade should come too!)

Connor's full sister cleaning up at the NDPC a few years ago.

It's going to be a Dressagey year for us, and my Dressage-focused eventing trainer is totally on-board.  We've seen that better Dressage means better jumping for us, and better Dressage + better jumping = finishing on your Dressage score in eventing.