Yippee ki-yay
Short term goals specifically help you to plan and take action on tasks that can be completed in the near future. Objectives that you can achieve in the near future, typically within weeks or months.
The other day I had a total yippee ki-yay moment when the first video of my three year old seen trotting around in the indoor arena arrived to my phone. A big day for any horse owner, and or horse breeder.
The three year old is the oldest of my last trio of ladies standing.
Watching the video, and also sharing it to like everybody and anybody I know. Really made me feel like the ultimate proud mama.
At least until that moment I happened to open Instagram [no I am not that active over there] and was slammed with a video of soon to be three year old stallions in my face.
And just like that I had a minute of questioning myself, as well as my pretty soon to be four year old, her level of education. Her baby sister’s [that we still struggle to even catch] lack [because we cannot catch her..] of education and basically everything else around my horses.
Then it hit me.
Those feelings I experienced there and then coincides where modern horse keeping have landed.
That “instagram feeling” of being [left] behind.
Not being good enough.
Not keeping up to standard.
Thankfully it didn’t take long before the actual rock solid horse education within took over the flow of thoughts. Cause the current educational standard of my soon to be four year old actually goes hand in hand with how it used to, and should be.
She is actually on a perfect level.
Training of the young horse.
The training system I grew up with, and which was practised when I went through an old and approved system of my riding instructor’s education descend from the age of the cavalry.
A military training system in which every age of young horses, normally in between four to six year’s of age, had their own very much specified educational goals. The end goal was to hand the horses over to the cavalry.
During this time it was almost considered a “capital offence” to even think of bringing out a four year old into anything that could be resemble a competition. At least if you were planning to actually ride them.
Then things changed. Suddenly the competition age had been lowered. Fast forward, we now see three year olds [mostly in dressage] on an educational level that back in the days would have been reserved for the soon to be seven year olds.
A qualified guess is the correct educational levels one should achieve with the young horses of today is laying somewhere in between these two [extremes if you’d like].
She’s ready!
But an educated guess is these pushed boundaries, and levels of education are also the reason why we now see so many wrong doings against horses in equestrian sport.
Add on social media to the equation and we have a bad spiral on our hand. Cause no one likes to be left behind right?
For me I have a plan for my three year old. Which means we’re aiming for the four year old championship about nine months from now. A friend of mine was, quite rightfully I might add, asking me: But why?
The answer? Cause it is a good idea to set goals. Both short and long time goals. This particular four year old championship is a short time goal. On par with the make sure she is saddle broken before the end of the year.
However, the long time goal is to turn her into a nice little sport horse.
So if any of the short term goals we’ve set up along the way won’t be full filled the world won’t stop turning.
The main goal is she is well prepared for the following task on her educational ladder, so we can look ourselves in the mirror and say; She’s ready!
What do you think? Please don’t be shy to leave a comment 👇🏻
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