Goals

Kay life:
1.Finally saw Skyfall with my brother last weekend.  Oh.  My.  Gosh!!  I've never actually been scared watching a Bond film before, and I was most definitely on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding for most of it!  Totally, totally brilliant!  I can't wait to see what they do next!

2.Was in a wicked bad mood this week.  Been in a wicked bad mood for a while now, most unlike me.  Then on Friday it went poof!  Don't care why, just glad that's gone.  Also totally helped that my horse was a superstar and my coach helped me through some problems I've been having.
1st level is looking reachable again, woot!

3.My brain kicked into overdrive last night.
I'd just turned out my lights and settled onto my pillow and suddenly I was like: If money was no object what kind of facility would I really want to have?  And even though I went through a lot of the material things, it also somehow put into perspective how I'd want to run my business, what kind of clientele I'd like to attract, and so on.
And then this morning I read a great article from Dressage Today about how some people went pro under the mentorship of Lars.... totally blanked on his last name (still learning about the big dressage peeps).  And what really struck me was that it wasn't about winning at shows, it wasn't about the olympics, but about the every day struggles and the journey of training horses.  And I was like: Oh my gosh that's it!!

See for a long while I always, always, always wanted to go to the olympics.  But ever since working for a grand prix show jumper one summer it really hasn't been as important to me.  Yeah sure part of me still really wants to, but I dunno.

And, finally going to admit this to the public, I've been (for the most part) enjoying riding a lot more since I've switched to dressage.

There.  Said it.  This former jumper has completely converted...

Cause there's just... I'm not even sure how to put it into words.  Yeah I've been trying for a few minutes and just can't quite explain it.  But it's a really exciting training a horse through the levels in dressage.  And Belle and I are still schooling 1st/2nd level, I can't wait to feel what it's like to move up higher!

Now I do realize that to reach my goals there's a lot more I need to do.  I need to ride more, and take every opportunity I can.  I've gotten better, but I do still feel I need to do more.  Can we invent an 8th day?

What I really, really want to do though is train horses for people with lower budgets.  Because I love this sport, but it really is geared towards people who either have money or have connections or both.  That's great and all but there's a lot of people who, like me, want it really badly but have neither.  They can't get their hands on those horses that will bring them up the levels, or whatever's holding them back.

But I also know that it is possible for a lot of breeds to compete at whatever level.  Granted it all completely depends on the horse, but having a warmblood also does not guarantee it'll make it grand prix.

I'd also really love to see more programs for adult amatures to give them opporunities like what the junior riders have.  I'm all for getting kids into sports and helping them along.  But what about us folks who work two or more jobs to sustain our riding, and just can't quite get that break we need to get recongized?  To get experience and to get that step up into the professional ranks of things.  Or to get a feel of an olympic style competition?

Kay my brain is shutting off so I'm not sure if I'm making sense.

But even if I don't see it come to pass, I want to have enough influence one day to be able to bring something to the adult amatures.

I'd love more than anything to be training, riding the greener horses, spending more time with horses than doing stalls.  I feel like I'm close and could be there, and I know I need to show more motivation on my part, it's been a struggle for a while.  Sometimes I feel like I chose wrong going to college, but no sense beating myself up about it.  I am learning a lot, and I've gotten a ton of experience and I know it can work cause I'll make it work.  Or something, I dunno.

I just know it's something I really want to do.  Getting a couple rides on my coach's 2 year old really invigorated me.  There's something about a young horse that is just so fun.  A little scary, sure, but hey everything related to horses can be a little scary if you think of the what ifs too much.

But for fun here's the material side of my dream stable:
LOTS of land.  With a forest on property for lots of hacking fun.
Coverall arena and barn.  I love, love, love how bright and airy they are!  No insulation in the barn except for water taps.  Makes blanketing infinitely easier!  (Tackroom, viewing area most definitely heated!)
Number of stalls undecided, but I'd figure around 10-15, at least to start.
Layout also not really important in my mind for now.  But would love an indoor wash stall with hot water (makes washing gray horses so much easier).  But I'm perfectly happy with any form of wash stall.  Also would like grooming stalls, cause they keep the aisles clear!  But a lesser priority.
Arena size, I'm torn.  On the one hand I love the feeling of stepping outside after the winter and finally stepping into a bigger ring.  On the other hand I thought it'd be fun to have it big enough to have a full size dressage ring with a bit of extra room for an indoor fun show or something.  And more room is good for clinics!

There was more, but a lot of it is still flexible in my mind because although I have my ideal if I see a freaking gorgeous already set up place that I like and can afford I'd take it.  Or on the other hand I'm completely willing to compromise things to get set up and running and improve as I go.

But it felt nice to finally have something more concrete in my mind.  Makes it easier to work towards it.