The Foundation of a Goal

 My life follows a calendar year pretty perfectly. I was born on January 1, so a new year is also a literal start to another year of my life. As such, it's a good time to reflect on what I'm leaving behind, and look forward to what I'd like to come in the year ahead. 

New Years Day snuggles

There have been so many great posts lately from fellow bloggers on goals, or something of that nature. This year, many bloggers have been far more introspective about what goals mean to them, what it means for their horses, and how they view their lives with their horses. A few posts have resonated with me, and as I went to edit this blog this morning, I can't help but think about what Emma posted this morning from guest blogger Carly (formerly of Poor Woman Showing). 

Carly offered an interesting perspective on goals, and she put things in a way that made me pause and think. As riders and horse people, it's so easy to write down a goal and say "THIS is what I want to do". Carly referenced earning your bronze medal as a dressage rider - but HOW do we get to the bronze medal? What things do we need to put into place to get there, and frankly what is our definition of earning that medal? Is it just getting the scores by any means necessary to get the medal, or is it mastering the skills needed to be successful at each level, and the bronze is simply recognition of those skills? As I read through this post, I do believe I firmly sit in the category of wanting to do something well and have the medal as the 'nice to have'. I am someone who is more about the journey than the destination, but I do like to have a big idea in mind. 

We love big goals, but we also love wandering through the pines with friends. If we never enter a show ring, I will be okay as long as we get Tilly to be a fun all around horse who enjoys her life. 

It's funny, because when people ask me what I want to do with Tilly, one of my first answers is always that I'd really like to work towards earning my bronze medal with her. I'd also like to jump her, hunter pace, and maybe see if she enjoys foxhunting. I don't have any major competition goals outside of the dressage arena (maybe, at that), but I'd be open to considering some horse trials or low key events, and some jumper shows if that's our jam. I mostly want a confident and happy all-around horse to enjoy, but I chose her because I believe she has the potential to help me achieve a goal that I, like so many other riders, have in the back of my mind. 

From the summer before she entered her yak era. 

So what does that mean for a two year old? 

It means that the 'big idea' goal isn't even at the forefront of my mind day to day. My goals for her are broken down into bite sized pieces, and even some of those things require more thinking on how I can reasonably achieve them. Having a youngster is so much fun, but it's also a huge responsibility. It's not training for sport at this stage - it's training for life. Right now, I'm not worried about what we'll score at shows, I'm worried about how Tilly trailers, behaves at home and in a new place, whether or not she has the skills for day to day life in whatever situation is ahead of us. Along with that comes the responsibility of considering what is appropriate for her age and body. The last thing I want to do is push her too far, too fast, but then again I don't want to go too slowly either and miss opportunities to really make an impact during her formative years. 

Important life skills: stand nicely on crossties first with friends nearby, and now we've leveled up to without friends nearby, too. 

Tilly is AWSSR registered (American Warmblood), but her sire is a full Clydesdale and her dam is a Holsteiner with some TB blood in there. Two big breeds will inevitably (well, usually - genetics are weird) lead to a big baby, and Tilly is that. She's lovely, thick but not too drafty at two, with long legs and the way her neck ties into her shoulder makes me very happy. At 15.1 hands (as of November when I initially wrote the core of this post, oops), she's butt-high but I'm not worried about it. She will be three on April 21, and I think she's going to be a bit closer to 16h by then. 

Big Oak Farm's Cook's Mr. Magnificent, photos borrowed from their stallion page

I didn't pick Tilly for her breeding, I picked her for her temperament and conformation (and I did want a draft cross). That being said, her sire is well put together and not overly huge for a Clyde, which I love.  

All of this to say, she's going to be a big girl. And that's great - I want her to be. I know she will end up somewhere around or just shy of 17h with a thick body. With any luck, her conformation will be as lovely as I think it will be, which will set us up for success for those big goals I refuse to think about too much. But she's also half-draft, and drafts grow slooowly. I don't expect her to be done growing and filling out until she is eight, which gives us five and a half more years to go. 

Overall, I'm incredibly pleased with the progress we've made since she came home in March. Breaking down her skillset into segments, she has a pretty good resume for a two year old. 

• Trailers like a champ 
• Sensible and obedient on our off-property adventures (so far)
• Leaves her friend in the field with no fuss, and is in the field by herself when her friend leaves with no fuss
• Stands on cross-ties, and can be left alone on cross-ties, and behaves at all times with minimal dancing (which only happens when her quarter runs out. #babylife)
• Ponies off a friend
• Stands great for the vet and farrier
• Allows anyone to blanket her, no halter needed, in her field
• Easy to catch for anyone, and still comes to me every time I walk to her field
• Is generally not spooky, and when things scare her, she is curious and wants to touch it (so far)
• Has never shown an affinity for on-lead shenanigans that put her human in danger, and if she spooks or gets 'up', she never makes it even to the end of the lead. She is happy to live in her bubble around her designated human, which from experience, is not something all baby horses are happy to do

A lot of her achievements don't seem like much, but I've worked with a lot of young horses and Tilly is just a genuinely good kid. She's also better behaved than many of our seasoned horses, and is overall better behaved at two and a half than Goose was at eight when I bought him. She had a good start in life and I'm glad that I can continue her foundation at an age where things will really sink in for her. It's incredibly important to me that she is started slowly, both for her growing body and her mind. Foundational elements are the name of the game. 

The day I bought Tilly in March 2024: she tied, loaded perfectly in the trailer, calmly came off the trailer, and acted like she owned the place.  

The day I bought this beastie in 2012 he broke crossties and it took his previous owners an hour to get him on the trailer to bring him to me, and then he dragged us all over his new farm before we could get him under control. Goose was NOT a good citizen at 8 years old but with time and consistency he became the best boy in every way. 

That being said, I'm excited to push into some next steps over the next few months with the idea that she will likely be backed next summer at baby bootcamp. 

As a rule, I don't like young horses to be doing too much too soon. 'Too much' has a lot of interpretations, and many considerations go into what that means for any given horse including breed, natural mindset/personality, career ambitions, physical growth rate, and more. 

For me, knowing that Tilly will be a big girl, and because she has such a willing mindset, I'm not super worried about drilling anything into her right now and she really doesn't have any super naughty baby habits to break. I want to develop a willing partner for myself and any of her other future riders, who is confident in herself, her environment, and her job. It is equally important to me that I have a fun horse to be around as it is to have a fun horse to ride. If I can get these foundational elements right, I'll be able to visualize future career ambitions more clearly for our partnership. 

Right now our partnership involves playing in the field and pets because it's too stinking cold

Like with any horse, consistency is key and for Tilly, consistency means working one to two times a week and she'll get time off here and there because I'm traveling. She is retaining everything she's learning in these sessions and I'm not overworking her body. She lives out full time with another mare and they are bonded but not unreasonably so. She is happy to work, and happy to be a horse, and I really can't ask for much more than that. When talking with trainer D about the right time to back her, we both determined that this fall wasn't it. She's still a baby in her body, has a lot of growing to do, and frankly she's such a good girl and so willing, we didn't feel the need to have someone sit on her too early to get it over with while she's little. In general I'm not against backing most horses at two, but I don't think it's important for Tilly right now. In short, if I can keep up with this slow consistency through the winter, I think we will be well on our way to doing more come springtime (and warmer weather!)

With the tentative thought that she will go to trainer D's for ~60 days next summer for phase one of baby bootcamp, I have some thoughts around what we should be working on over the next six or so months:

• Off-property adventures where possible: focusing on being comfortable in new environments, tying to the trailer, and working in new spaces 
• Wearing more tack including surcingle, saddle, bridle, boots, etc 
• 'Park' at the mounting block
•  Be comfortable with things flopping on and over her back in terms of tack and humans at the mounting block and in general
• Build on her groundwork and lunging skills: more consistent circles, less diving in to her human, sharper transition reactions to cues
• Long lining: I haven't had a bit in her mouth yet, but I'd like for her to understand the concept of steering and long lining, potentially first in a halter, and certainly with another human to help at first
• Clipping and mane maintenance: she is open to both of these, but her quarter runs out quickly which is fine. Continued exposure so these become less of a big deal and more routine
• When possible, work with Tilly when other horses are in the arena so this too becomes routine
• Standing still: she's great on crossties, but if I stop while leading her, she is a total busy body and I need to really work on her parking brake

From there I can spiral into even more goals, but those require the foundation outlined above. Which, by the way, is by no means a comprehensive list and I'm sure there are things I'm missing (open to thoughts and ideas!). 

"Please do not give my mom ideas, I already know what I'm doing and am perfect."

 None of these things are above her skillset even now, but I like the routine we have of working a few times a week and learning how to be both a horse in the field and a good citizen in the barn. I'd love for her to maintain the quality of 'less is more' in terms of how she is learning - there is no part of me that wants to drill things into her day after day, both from my current personal capacity standpoint and for her longevity and well-being. I'd love for her to grow into a horse that doesn't need to be worked six days a week to maintain a brain cell, though of course I plan to increase her training load as appropriate for her stages of growth, development, and training. 

When I think about our goals for this year, it really comes down to me helping Tilly build a solid foundation to set her up for the future. It's fun to think about all the little nuances we take for granted in our grown-up equine partners and figure out the basics to create, or in some cases, not create, a behavior in a baby horse. The big lofty goals can stay lofty for a few years. I'm going to enjoy the journey in the meantime. 

I love that there are quite a few bloggers out there with young horses at the moment, ranging from brand new weanling to young OTTBs. It's fun to read about everyone's different perspectives on their young horses and how they approach the challenges they come up against as I share my own with Tilly. Any other things I should consider for Tilly's 'to-do' list? What are your thoughts on starting a 2-3 year old and what would be on your curriculum? If anyone has any resources that they love (youtube series, trainers they follow, books, etc) feel free to share!