Super Fantabulous Day!

Today was one of those days that went from really bad to really great in the matter of a few hours.

Remember when I said my animals drive me crazy?  Well, I came home today to find that the cat had knocked over a glass cup and there were shards of glass everywhere.  Meanwhile, the dog had been sick (and probably ate some glass), and she also peed in her crate.  Add this to the fact that I ran out of gas on the way home from work, and I ran out of time to cook supper so I had to eat McDonalds on the fly instead.

But then I went to the barn.  And I had my first lesson in several months.  And it was a jump lesson.  And now I'm a happy cookie.

I rode a horse named Drifter who is a cute little mare.  People seemed slightly confused that I wasn't riding my own horse, but I would rather spend my money riding a horse in the lesson who is already in shape.  I also wanted to learn how to jump (as you all know by now), and Walker is not allowed to do that anymore.  My current (theoretical) plan is to get Walker in shape and potentially put him in a second lesson to work on Walker-centric things while I continue to learn to jump in the other lesson.  If you're wondering how I intend to pay for this, you are not alone.  For each horse expense I add, I just buy less groceries.  Seems legit.

Anyway, I LOVE my new instructor (we shall call her "L").  I wasn't in the saddle two seconds before she was explaining my stirrup length (which takes a lot of getting used to, might I add), and how to do two-point.  Obviously, I've done two-point before, but tonight it just felt like it was really clicking.  Perhaps it's just that I spent 6 months dreaming and lusting over riding, but my mind was instantly in gear.

We worked on some transitions and did some three-loop serpentines.  We worked on our two point, and I'm pretty sure that I could hear my calves crying out in pain.  When it came time to canter, L said to me, "You have a fantastic seat!  Whoever taught you your seat should be praised."  And I'm pretty sure my ego swelled to the size of my head.  It doesn't matter to me that my two-point was trash, and I kept dropping my outside rein to my hip (like I've been growled about for probably 2 years straight).  SHE TOLD ME I HAD A NICE SEAT.  I was pretty much ready to marry her on the spot.

And we actually jumped a crossrail.  And even though I've jumped a crossrail on Walker before, this is the first non-Walker horse I've jumped.  And you know what?  We didn't do too shabby, if I do say so myself!