Typically Chrissy™

So Tuesday I went to the barn, to cover for another of the working students who couldn't make it. It was 35 degrees(!!), windy, and snowing/sleeting. Needless to say I was cold. Linda was so grateful to me for coming out that day(I don't know why, I was just covering for another girl) that she kept thanking me, and thanking me, and thanking me. She even let me get up to ride for a bit when I had a free moment. I got up on Strider, whom I had never ridden before, and the first words out of my mouth were, " HOLY MOLEY!!". Strider was amazing. He has a bit of a hitch in his walk, but it's nowhere near uncomfortable. I gave him a little squeeze to ask him to trot, and what did he do? He picked up the most collected canter I have ever seen, felt, or ridden. I would have just let him go at it, but it was cold outside, he hadn't been warmed up, so his muscles were still stiff, and I couldn't let him hurt himself bu straining a muscle or something. so i brought him down to a trot, which was so smooth I didn't even realize we were trotting. It was smoother than any other horse's walk. amazing, right? So we trotted around the ring a few times, he kept trying to canter but i wouldn't let him. Then about 5 minutes after I had gotten up, the girl arrived who had a lesson on him. So I got off, but we had to take him off of the hackamore and put him in a halter and clip-on's. Apparently, I heard later, that he kept trying to canter. So Jen(the instructor) had to put the girl, who was about 5ish, I'd guess, on the lunge line. After I got home that night, I remembered why I quit being a working student on school nights. After getting up at 5:30 to go to school, being in school for 6 hours then going straight to the barn and staying there for 4 hours, doing hard, physical work. So when I got home around 7:30, all I wanted to do was eat a hot dinner, take a hot shower, and go to bed. But, alas, I still had to do all of my homework. Thank goodness my working student day is now Fridays. TGIF!!

If you ... then you're a horse person.
* Believe in the 11th Commandment: Inside leg to outside rein.
* Know that all topical medications come in either indelible blue or neon yellow.
* Think nothing of eating a sandwich after mucking out stables.
* Know why a thermometer has a yard of yarn attached to one end of it.
* Are banned from Laundromats.
* Fail to associate whips, chains and leather with sexual deviancy.
* Can magically lower their voices five octaves to bellow at a pawing horse.
* Have a language all their own (”If he pops his shoulder, I have to close that hand and keep pushing with my seat in case he sucks back”.)
* Will end relationships over their hobby.
* Cluck to their cars to help them up hills.
* Insure their horses for more than their cars.
* Will give you 20 names and reasons for that bump on your horse.
* Know more about their horse’s nutrition than their own.
* Have neatsfoot oil stains on the carpet right next to the TV.
* Have a vocabulary that can make a sailor blush.
* Have less wardrobe than their horse.
* Engage in a hobby that is more work than their day job.
* Mucking stalls is better then Zoloft any day.

-So today, I was standing in the shower and was just letting my mind wander. I ended up thinking about Eve and the apple. So then I start thinking about how, if she had just left it alone like God said to, we(women) would have life a lot easier. A LOT. So then what runs though my mind? Geeze Eve, couldn't you just have said no to the apple? God said not to eat it, so how hard is it not to eat it?!?! If He says do or don't do something, its really not that hard to obey!!
-Immediately following that thought came this one: God also says not to lie, not to steal, not to covet, but you don't have any trouble doing those things, do you? You're just as bad. You are in no position to be criticizing Eve, when you're doing the exact same thing. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. So, that really made me think. And its making me think right now. We're a great lot of hypocrites, we are. Constantly critisizing others, while omitting the fact that well, we've been there and done that too.
-Especially now, with the elections coming up on November 4th. Talk about name-calling, fact-omitting, slimy-schemed people in the public eye. I'm in no way saying that I'm well versed in the current political situation, but I also know that the candidates havent been A-1 examples of honesty either. Especially since they're in the public, in the press and news, and their actions will be used as examples. Well, Obama said it on TV and Palin made this gesture during a debate, so it must be okay. That kind of thinking makes me mad.
-Oops, got off the subject. I didn't mean to go into politics, but it was such a perfect example. Anyway... I think that everyone needs to start examining themselves and their lives a bit more closely, and critisizing others less. Really... we live in a society that does not applaud when people change for the better(for the most part), but also does not condemn when people change for the worse. The feeling of indifference and apathy permeating the attitudes of people all around the world, permits the 'blind-eye'. The first step towards creating a better society lies not in focusing on changing others, but instead is really focusing on changing ourselves for the better. Once this concept sinks into our abnormally thick skulls, maybe we have a chance at peace.
-In short, stop pointing at other people, and remember this quote, because it rings so true: "Who are you to judge the life I live? I know I'm not perfect, and I don't live to be. But before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" -Bob Marley

Hello loves. Its October the 16th, and ITS MY BIRTHDAY IN 9 DAYS!!! 17 YEARS!!! So I'm psyched. Over our last weekend, which was 5 days since it was a Jewish holiday, I finally got my drivers permit!!! Yeah, its a bit late to get that since I'm already almost 17, but i had to fulfill all of my mom's prerequisites. So I am the proud owner of a slip of paper from the DMV that says I can drive. YAY! I'm also a very good driver. The instructor even said so lol. I read an article in a magazine in August about how horseback riders are pre-qualified for driving, since riding a horse in an arena full of other horses is just like driving a car, in terms of forward thinking, watching where you're going and multi-tasking. I looked for the article online to give you a link to check it out, but it is in the august issue of Horse & Rider, so I couldn't access it. Sorry. I'm now proud to say, and very very excited about the fact that I'm a working student(again) at my barn. I used to go there 3 or more days a week last year during the winter to earn my lessons, but had to stop since I couldn't get a ride reliably. But now I can again!! I'm so excited =]

• I'm back! So this one came to me a couple of days ago and I figure I'll write about it. You hear it from everyone. 'Just be yourself, just be yourself, don't pretend to be someone else just to impress others around you, etc.' Well, that takes alot of self-confidence to just be yourself, throwing that habit of worrying what people think of you constantly, to the wind. Well, I did it, and for the first time since 4th grade, I have alot of friends! I speak my mind when I want to, am loud and obnoxious sometimes, but have managed to attract more friends as I am.
• Zane, thanks for the idea! 'Looking a gift horse in the mouth' is just like 'straight from the horse's mouth'. Somebody gives you a free horse? Well, its not terribly polite to check it's teeth to make sure it's as old as the previous owner claimed. Thats like... getting a present for your birthday, then asking for the reciept so you can check how much it costed.