So if you’ve read the last two posts, you now have a 90-day goal for your riding and horsemanship. You might be wondering what to do next, given this whole inconvenient pandemic at the moment.

First, write that 90-day goal down at the top of the page. Let’s say your goal is to do smooth canter departs on both leads with your young, excitable and very green horse.

You have 90 days – or 3 months – or 12 weeks to accomplish that goal. Write down the numbers 1, 2 and 3 on a vertical line on the page under your goal. Each number represents one month. Write down what you would need to accomplish by the end of each month in order to reach your goal at 90 days.

Write those things down even if they seem impossible to do right now (due to coronavirus shutdowns). In the case of the canter departs for the young horse, you might write down something like this:

1st Month

By the end of this month, my goal is to have my horse quietly walking and trotting with soft transitions — at all speeds of each gait. He will understand the basics of a very simple leg yield.

2nd Month

By the end of this month, my goal is to have my horse trotting well at all speeds (with rhythm and relaxation). As he trots in a straight line, he will happily understand how to shape his body for a canter depart when I ask. He will be more balanced in both directions at the trot.

3rd Month

By the end of this month, my goal is to have my horse w-t-c with soft transitions in both directions. He will become more confident with trot to canter transition as well as the canter to trot transition. He will better balanced and understand to move forward calmly (without rushing).

Ok — now is the fun part. Look at your situation. Can you ride your horse at this time? If so, great! Go ahead and start executing your plan.

Or is your boarding facility closed to boarders due to coronavirus? If you can’t ride or visit your horse, there are still MANY ways you can make progress on your monthly steps to your 90-day goal. You’ll have to do it by working on yourself — by training your eye, building body awareness and studying biomechanics.

The good news is that it will be fun and interesting! And you’ll have significant gains in your performance when you return to the saddle. Best of all, you will be much more knowledgeable about the specifics of your goal – and will be ready to have rapid progress when you are reunited with your horse.

Stuck in quarantine and don’t believe me? Go ahead and send me your 90-day goal (with your steps for each month) to horsewisecoach [at] icloud.com. I’ll send you back a custom plan to achieve that goal without being on your horse at all. Free of charge. Because I’m in quarantine too — and helping you reach your goal is super inspiring for me!