Goals for Adults

[Elevation15]

I am going to be aging out at the end of this year, and I'm feeling a little lost!

For years, my goal was to compete in the big eq. I never quite got to that level, but it was always what I was working towards.

Now that I'm no longer a junior, I need something new to work towards. Just as a little background, I competed in the mini equitation throughout high school and am now in college, where I'm not getting to ride very much.

What are some good goals for younger amateurs to strive towards?

Thanks in advance

[hellerkm]

How about picking up a cheap greenie and successfully bringing it along? The ability to find and afford a horse might be tough to work out but if you got a green bean from the track and brought it along and then sold it for a profit would be a great way to make the transition.

[SkipChange]

How about picking up a cheap greenie and successfully bringing it along? The ability to find and afford a horse might be tough to work out but if you got a green bean from the track and brought it along and then sold it for a profit would be a great way to make the transition.

I'm going to disagree a little...if OP is going to college and might not have much time to ride, buying a green OTTB might not be the best idea...If I was picking up a green bean to train from the ground up, personally I would like a lot of time to do it! Secondly, I'd like to know someone was qualified before I recommend they purchase a horse to train themselves (no offense to anyone here, you could be highly qualified).
OP Do you currently own a horse?

Depending on where you live, you might find your local show association has an Adult medal. I don't know the spec's for "mini equitation" is so can't really get a feel for what level you're riding.

[superpony123]

skipchange - mini eq (mini medals) is 3'

anywho, OP, do you have your eq horse still? see what your local assoc. has to offer: many areas have adult medals, which are at both 3' and 3'6'' (or, depending on where you live, one or the other. but often ive seen both)

or, you could change it up and go for the hunters. maybe do ammy owner hunters (that's 3'6", right?) or adult ammies (3') or you could go into the jumpers.

though a lot of this would depend upon if you have a horse, and if not, what you can afford to ride (maybe a partial lease is an option for you?)

[BridalBridle]

ON Jan 1 of each yr ..since the yr I graduated from college(long time ago) I have written down all my goals for that yr. I break it down by personal, health, horse.
Personal goals include family, spiritual, business.
Health goals are reg health testing, exercise, inoculations, taking care of my body.
Horse goals are actually a list of goals for each horse. It may be health and fitness, high score awards, going up a division, training, selling the horse and their relationship with me and or the trainer.
I spend a lot of time on each. I allow myself to be flexible(that quit smoking was on the list for a bunch of yrs and so was the lose weight:winkgrin::winkgrin:). I put the list in my wallet and check it about 3x's a yr. I also map out a plan to make those goals work.
I would say that I'm on a 90% success rate of the goals and in MOST cases I exceeded the goals I set. At the end of the yr I review it and try and figure what I could have done better and what I did right.
If you don' t write down the goal, it will not happen. Success doesn't happen by mistake.

[Lucassb]

I am going to be aging out at the end of this year, and I'm feeling a little lost!

For years, my goal was to compete in the big eq. I never quite got to that level, but it was always what I was working towards.

Now that I'm no longer a junior, I need something new to work towards. Just as a little background, I competed in the mini equitation throughout high school and am now in college, where I'm not getting to ride very much.

What are some good goals for younger amateurs to strive towards?

Thanks in advance

If you still want to pursue equitation, there are options for adults. I never got to do the eq as a kid and always wanted to - I finally had the opportunity to do that this past year, (MANY years out of the junior ranks, LOL) and had a ball. There are also obviously options for hunters, jumpers, etc.

Check out what is offered in your area; around here, we have a ton of adult medals including the New Englands which are quite competitive (and also really fun.)

If you want to keep moving up, there are areas that offer 3'3" and 3'6" eq for adults, too.

You will have plenty of options, not to worry!

[Claire_T52z]

I assume the mini equitation is the CET mini medal? So again I assume you live in Canada. Surprisingly in Canada there are many more classes at 3'-3'6 for an adult hunter/equitation rider than other places.
1st you can still compete in the CET, it takes the same rules as the USET finals because it's a jumper medal you can compete in it until you are 21!
I know the jump canada medal has an adult component to it.
There are lot of other medal classes, but i'm pretty sure they lean more towards Jumper medals than Equitation.
I know that there are lots of adult type hunter/equitation divisions for everything under 3'. I also think that there is an adult division for 3'6 hunters.
My advice would be take a look at the prize list at the next horse show you go to and see what they offer!
Good Luck!