New Year's Resolutions

After what I consider a successful year, my biggest New Year's Resolution with Walker will simply be to continue on this track of progression that we have been having.  2013 will be a big year for us both, mainly because I graduate from law school and so I will be moving us both to a new barn.  It will be very sad for me to leave the barn that has helped me get back into riding and the barn owner who helped me find Walker, but I'm excited about our new facility and having a change of pace.  So I've broken my goals up into a couple little lists:

Goals to finish off at the old barn (and to finish off Winter):
- take jump lessons with my current instructor (who has a history in jumping/dressage, as opposed to the trainer at the new barn who is mainly Western)
- really work on improving our speed control, riding into corners, lateral movements, etc.

Goals for the new barn:
- make everything work (potential lack of locker room, getting into a rythym, finding horse friends, etc.)
- conquer the outdoor arena with its lack of fencing (also read as: don't die when Walker figures out that he's not fenced in)
- conquer the indoor arena when I have to share it (I realize from reading other blogs that it seems to be common to have people in the arena while you're doing lessons, but that isn't allowed at my barn - my goal will be to really control Walker so that I don't get in the way of the lessons and so that we manage to play well with others!)

Goals for me:
- improve riding position
- look into taking lessons at a barn in the my new city run by an Olympic eventer (in other words, learn to jump on a horse that actually jumps and get some instruction without breaking the bank)
- ride other horses sometimes too - to give Walker a break and get more practice with different types of horses
- get over lesson/show/clinic anxiety
- remind self that I don't "need" everything immediately and I don't have to be perfect

The only man I'll be kissing this New Year's Eve

In other news, this is ironically my 100th post.  I started this blog 100 posts ago as an outlet for my time with Walker.  As supportive as my non-horsey friends and family try to be about my passion, it is difficult for them to get excited about the minutia that horse people go crazy over.  I also didn't want to bombard them with "Walker-this and Walker-that".  We horse people have a tendency to do that - to be entirely 100% about our horses.  I needed someone to tell, and so I originally started this blog with the intention that I would be telling no one because, of course, no one would read it.  Now people actually do, and I'm happy that there's a nice little horse community of bloggers out there who understand this insane passion of ours and are able to offer advice and support.  I have a few blogs I read religiously, and I feel just as attached to everyone's ups and downs as I do my own.  Frankly, it's nice to know that other people just "get it".

Happy New Year everyone!  I'll see you in 2013!