I'll make my Way

Well, this past week has been busy! We're starting to get 'real' homework (hah) and real projects. Woohoo. I'm absolutely (note sarcasm) thrilled about it. By and far, though, none of it is unmanagable.

Today I turned in my first rough draft of a paper for English. I'm in College Writing II, so I'm mostly with sophomores. Scary! Nicole's in it with me, though, so I'm not all by my lonesome. Another girl, Nora (I ride with her sometimes) is there with me as well.

However, today we did a 'workshop'. Post our papers online in our class discussion forum and we were assigned groups and were supposed to critique and edit eachother's papers. I was in a group of six, five papers were posted.

No one was brave enough to touch mine. I find it vaguely hilarious, but a bit irritating as well. The only remarks I got were "Nice comparison" and "very true!" Whilst it's a nice boost for my ego, it's utterly worthless when I have to edit and improve it. Gr. At least I know what I can fix (we are our own worst critic?) The topic is wonderful, though, it's on 'Political Bias' as it shows up in newspapers.

You can just imagine that I have fun with that.

Tonight I've got one paper to write and five questions to look up for science. It's not too much to do, but I'll be honest - I'd rather be doing other things. Like sleeping! I am becoming a master of the 'power nap'. On M/W/F I have an hour break between classes. I always take a halfhour nap. I have to tell you, I love that break...

((FOUR HOURS LATER:::)
Well, the paper is completed and printed (NOTE: Want to make a happy El? Find an old printer that's user friendly, because it's a serious pain in the butt not having one. Make friends with people who keep the same hours as you, who have printers. Harder than you'd think) and the homework is done.

Yay.

I also helped Meg with two of her papers and her stats homework. It's really strange. Between 9/10-12, is homework time down in our room. It also evolves into fun hilarity, but homework gets done. Who'd'a thought it?

Tomorrow (/today) is friday! Yay!!!

And now, for funny stories. Slight profanity. Beware. But keep in mind, I live in a co-ed dorm. It was bound to happen?
Earlier, Meg, Kristen and I were all around doing our 'thing'. Me, my ten page paper. Meg was reading her chapters and Kristen was watching star wars. Someone knocked on the door and we opened it. Down the hall a guy was like "Holy crap! The door's open!"

No duh.
Door is closed if you knock on it, and presumably, someone will end up opening it.
Um.
Wasn't this obvious?

But they were going around drawing 'inappropriate' things on doors (dry erase markers) and dry erase boards. Oh joy. After about an hour (it was 10 when 'quiet time' comes into effect, we had another girl from down the hall, Brittany, who's not afraid to yell at people, stop by and ask us WTF was going on because she heard everything clear as day) we sicced her on them. She told 'em to be quiet, blahblahblah.
it was quiet for a while, but not for long.

When Courtny and our RD came through, I'm like.... "Uh, you might want to check some of the doors.. It sounds like they've been drawn on."

They got in trouble.
I got my peace and quiet.

I win!


Away from dorm stories, Eagle's been good/soso.

Last thursday I had a private lesson with the farm director, Sandra (Sam). She, however, got 'abducted by the dentist's chair', so she showed up late. Nora and I were together (our horses both have issues with relaxing and accepting leg contact) and so we were just meandering around the outdoor arena, with one of the other coaches, Michelle, talking to us.

After a while she told us that she'd give us a flat lesson.

Oh my gosh! It was mostly all on a circle (ugh) but apparently I've been riding 'off center', to the inside of Eagle's spine, which threw him off balance, which made him quick and tight, which meant he ignored me when I said "plsstoppppppp".

Correcting that.. changed my horse. He was in frame, he was listening, he stopped when I sat up.. it was amazing. It was the horse that I remember from four months ago before we ever had 'issues'. It's the horse I fell in love with in the first place.
I was ready to cry because I was so happy.

Then Sam showed up after about an hour (Eagle and I had cooled off, we were just about ready to go in and be done) and then she's all "So. Are we gonna jump him today?"

Uuuuh. I wanted to say no. Hot & tired & blah. But I said yes, because, well, no isn't exactly an option. :D

So Nora and I both start jumping. Sam's favorite excersize is three fences down center line, a stride (12 feet) apart from each other. We start out with small fences, a little 6'' X to a 1' vertical to a 1'3 vertical. Puuuuny fences.

After two times through that when Eagle settled down (The wonderful flat lesson continued! He was in my hand the entire time!) Sam said he needed bigger fences, so we chilled for fifteen minutes while she worked with Nora.

After that, she raised the fences to 2'0, 2'3 and 2'9. That last fence was as big as I've jumped in a long time, really. Eagle can do it, I can do it.. it just looks scary when you're riding to it. Eagle didn't realize the fences had changed. :D:D Poor dude, he was "But I have to JUMP now??"

The thing is, Eagle loves eventing, the cross country part of it. We jump long and flat. What Sam was trying to go for is jumping with more 'scope'. Think of the horse making an arc with their body. Instead of jumping flat, (getting in the air & then going straight over the fence) she wanted him to jump up and travel over while going up & down.

She did one of my personal favorite (not) things. Diane back at Fox Meadow did it to me allll the time. She put rails infront of the fences. Nine feet out, it slows the horse down before the first fence and gives them a 'boundary'. The way Diane put it is that he can 'color in the lines, now'. Holy cow.

He jumped me out of the saddle!!!

But he was such a good boy, that's the horse I love. That's the horse I bought and the one I've missed, coming here.

There has been some 'so-so' stuff going on (we're playing with bits so we can actually stop when we go outside. Teehee) but that's another story for another day. Sleep is mandatory.

xoxoxoxo.

I love you all. I miss you. <3