However, this approach to riding - especially if you want to do it competitively - does tend to leave you unorganised, unprepared and without any real linear progress to reflect on. I also look back on my time at pony club, where we'd follow the eventing calendar from late september to may with a well deserved break over winter, and feel like I really miss the thrills and spills of competing regularly over a full season!
Oscar appears to be fully recovered from his back injury and, although it turned out to be a quick and inexpensive fix, it probably could have been avoided had we been riding out consistently instead of maintaining a base level of fitness with one to three rides weekly.
The above, coupled with the fact that I genuinely miss eventing and having that full season to progress with, has inspired me to be a bit more prepared for when next spring rolls around. There were a few things that stopped me in my tracks this year, such as working at polo and being scared to go without a support person to shows, so I will have to make an effort to avoid these setbacks next time.
I've written a few optimistic plans for autumn/winter this year:
I say optimistic because my previous attempts at setting goals have tended to go way off - whoops.
The overarching goal is to be ready to go by the time the first horse trial or pony club ODE opens for entries next spring. I listed my float for sale and we've had a little bit of interest; but there isn't much of a market for a float needing repairs. Even if it is at a fair price. I'm not looking to re-list if it doesn't sell, I think it has four or five days left on its' listing before I withdraw it and we'll pay to have the repairs done ourselves. It's just welding underneath, a couple of bulbs and a wheel bearing adjustment which isn't a major investment on a super reliable float.