You wreck be, baby.

The horse loaded up fine Tuesday and off we went about 40 minutes away for our jumping lesson.

When we got there, I discovered that he had pawed and in the process his leadrope (which I usually just drop at the front of the trailer) was now underneath him - covered in poo and wetness. Ugh. I had no choice but to reach down and get the damn rope. For the rest of the day my hands smelled like poo.

Hampton stood like a gentleman in the wash rack to be tacked up and we quickly lunged outdoors before I hopped on to warm up. He was a little tense and wiggly, but in general was being quite good and only called back to another horse a couple of times.

Me and T-Bone. Noticed my jammed heel and braced legs.
(Notice how he is also braced.)

Our instructor is about the cutest, sweetest thing you'll ever meet. She was so nice to me and seemed to really like Hampton. (Who doesn't? He is a charmer.) We worked on keeping him straight and I was also really happy that she was picking on ME too. My dressage instructor is incredible but we focus much more on the horse. I know my bad habits, but sometimes you need reminders. The big one for me is to bend my knees. I tend to slam my heels down and brace in the knee. This is really obvious when my stirrups are shorter in my jumping saddle.

I also have really tight hips. "Shoulders of a princess, hips of a whore." Well, I guess I spent too much time studying in college and not whore-ing around because my hips are not so whore-ish. They are actually pretty tight and part of the reason I tend to brace with my legs. I guess I have hips of a prude. Geez.

We spent time time trotting over ground poles, and then a simple grid of 3 trot poles and a 4th one set at a distance as if it were to be a crossrail later on. Hampton motored right through. I was pretty proud of him and felt it was a good confident ride for him - even though it was bare bones basics and I knew he could do this anyway.

His douche-bag left lead canter transition did make an ugly appearance, however. (He hasn't done this since May) This of course after I raved about what a good boy my horse ALWAYS is and how he tries so hard to please me.

Me: "Ok Hamps, left lead canter now please."
Hamp: "F*** You."

(squirrly bucking, leaping, head toss)

Me: "Excuse me?"
(ask for left lead again)
Hamp: "Screw off lady! I have better things to do than use my hind end!"

(more bucking, another leap)

Proof we can produce a nice left lead canter thanks!

At this point my instructor is giggling. She said she could tell this wasn't normal behavior for him, but often times new environments and a little pressure bring out such antics. I did refrain from calling my horse bad names, smiled and we worked through it. He is so intelligent in that he knows just how naughty he can be and not unseat me. He doesn't want to toss me, he just wants to flip me the bird. Typical teenager.

Oh guess what we will be doing this week? Canter transitions!!! Congrats Hampton. Punk.

Also: 81 peeps are following my blog! That is super rad if you ask me. :) Thank you all!