Tony the Pony: State of Affairs

So, I'm not dead. I was struggling through some depression at the end of December/early January. Then we traveled to see family in January, then I got sick. Then we had RIDICULOUS amounts of snow (for our area anyway. It's been gross). Then I got sick again. Then we got snow again. And now here we are. It's March already. Yikes. So I guess this is our state of affairs/goals post with some random media interspersed.

So cute.

The last thing I was writing were my 2017 goals. I got about one sentence in. At the time I started writing that post, I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing this year. My 6-month lease on Lines was meant to be up on March 16, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to afford to continue to keep him. His owner and I chatted last month, and we decided that I will keep him for another 6 months. In September we can talk again. Most likely he'll go home at that point. I am planning to have a season at 3rd level (possibly 4th by the end of the season), do a 3rd level freestyle and qualify for championships. I don't think I'll be competitive at championships, but I do want to at least go and compete.

Swishy tail! Not enough bend for a half pass...

With that, I'll lay out my goals/show plan for this year.

March:
-Lines and I will do one schooling show at WEC. While we are there, we will video our freestyle pattern so we can start mixing the music.
-Tony will get restarted after 6 months off. I'll be farm-sitting at his farm, so will have two weeks of living with him to get him going again.

Little better angle and bend.

April:
-Another schooling show at WEC
-Ride in my GMO's ride-a-test/schooling show
-Put music to our freestyle and iron out any wrinkles in our pattern

May:
-First rated show of the year at WEC. Qualify for our freestyle (need 60%+ at 3-3)

June:
-Rated show at WEC. Ride 3-3 and ride our freestyle in a show for the first time

We have a normal, attractive canter now!

July:
-Dressage at Devonwood. One of my big goals for the year is to ride in the freestyle night at Devonwood

August:
-WEC show. If needed, get last qualifying scores for champs

September:
-Championships in Idaho. 3rd level AA and 3rd level freestyle
-Lines goes home

October:
-Tony's turn again. Schooling show at the end of the month (1st or 2nd level, depending on how much work he's done over the summer)

November/December:
-Possibly bring Tony to my trainer's barn, as we only have an outdoor at home and winter is the worst.

Shoulders-in at a decent angle!

Throughout the year. I'll continue riding with JW. We've been consistently riding with her once a month for the last 6 months, and we've improved so much. Our last lesson with her was last week. It was on a Thursday/Friday so I only ended up riding one day (also I'm super broke). She said it was our best riding yet, and I felt like the quality of our work wasn't quite what I've been getting in my rides alone, so that's actually awesome. She helped with my issues with our trot lateral work, so I'm headed in the direction that way.