“watch out for that—”

George, George
George of the Jungle,
Strong as he can be.
(Ahhhhhhhh)
Watch out for that tree.
George, George,
George of the Jungle,
Lives a life that's free.
(Ahhhhhhhh)
Watch out for that tree.
When he gets in a scrape,
he makes his escape
with the help of his friend,
an ape named Ape.
Then away he'll schlep
on his elephant Shep
While Fella and Ursula
Stay in step.
Well...George, George
George of the Jungle,
Friend to you and me.
Watch out for that tree!

I never thought I’d see such resemblance between myself and George. Poor little guy... by the time he’s warned, it’s too late for him to turn around! What’s he supposed to do – drop from whatever height he’s at? Probably wouldn’t work out so well.
Before anyone asks, no, I haven’t been swinging on vines. Still, the two four-inch cuts on my neck (and bruises on my nape, shoulder, and shoulder blade – hmph!) do come partially from a tree. And partially from Tonka. *laughs*

Yesterday was my lesson, and I never got a chance to ask Laura about the filly. Argh! I’m pretty pissed at myself, even though it wasn’t really my fault, considering what occurred. Laura and Bonnie came from the chiropractor (Bonnie’s the only person I know, my age, who goes to the chiropractor. She’s physically dead :D) to pick me up, and I completely blanked on asking Laura. In my defense, they had just revealed Bonnie’s weight-losing scheme. Basically, Bonnie has stopped eating. She hasn’t eaten since Tuesday, and she’ll start eating again on Sunday. Of course, Laura and I think this is the most horrific idea ever. But, to quote Laura, “What can I do? Shove food up her mouth?” And so her new dieting ways pass the ministration.

I can kind of see why she’s doing it. Although I’m sure everyone’s come to the solution that she’s anorexic, she’s not doing this to lose weight. Well, obviously she is, but not for herself. She’d like to start jumping Tonka again – at three feet, which is like jumping 6 feet for a pony. He can do it – he has before – but she wants to be at the weight level she was before when she was jumping him. So she wants to lose ten pounds. And she already exercises a lot, but apparently that wasn’t working. That doesn’t mean I approve, but like I said, I can see why she’s doing it.
So talk of that consumed the conversation in the car, and then I had to tack up Tonka, and then Laura’s friend/rebirthing client had arrived, and they were hanging out, and then I rode, and then we finished, and then Laura went into their session, and then my mom picked me up before they finished.
But, still – Bonnie’s coming over tonight, so maybe I can catch Laura for a few minutes to ask. *crosses fingers* Only the right.

Before I go on to the lesson, I’d just like to squeal with joy for a minute. My best friends, Nica and Lexa, are expecting another pair of twins. That is, their parent’s surrogate mother (who had them, as well as their older brother) is due to have twins either this week or next week. I’m completely excited – especially since Andrea promised to let me help shop for the clothes. ^^;; What? I like buying cute little baby clothes. I’ve been deprived. *sniffle*
We’re all waiting for you, Leely (...it’s a nick name) and Kai! <3

Now: lesson. All right, so I tacked up Tonka, and then proceeded with the usual flatwork: walk, trot, change direction, walk, trot, change direction, “good boy!” and let him walk. I did well at controlling him, and our flatwork was done pretty quickly. Then the canter work – thrice around the ring in each direction if I’m doing well, and then more until I work out whatever I’m doing wrong. Then the practice jump – trot up, over teeny crossrail, canter away. Once. Then the course.
My course was red to coop line (3 strides), around to the outside, to the green, sharp left turn back around, past the outside, to the diagonal, and then turn left and over the outside in the other direction. It seemed pretty simple, but the green to the diagonal was going to be a sharp turn. The first time Tonka was pretty wild, but we got through it. The next time, however, he was worse – it was my fault, since I subconsciously thought “He’ll do better this time, so I shouldn’t be so firm,” even though I know I should never do that.
Anyway, I’d already let him get away with not turning right, after the green, and so this time Tonka jumped  to the left, and even though I kicked him with my outside leg, he still went crashing through the trees. I leaned sideways over his neck, and the branch I crashed into went down – later, we were glad it had been rotten, and not green. Then he jumped into the corner, and my glasses fell off. I jumped the red to the coop so I could jump again without risking crushing my glasses, and then I dismounted and we looked together. We’d just about given up when Laura appeared, saw my neck, said “Oh my god, what happened?” (to which I cleverly responded “Um, I hit a tree.”) and then pointed out my glasses on the ground. Perfectly unharmed. It was freaky.

Anyway, I did the entire course (trotting the red to coop, then cantering the rest) and then I did it once more. The jumps had been lowered to around a foot, and next week I have a feeling I’ll be jumping the same course, with the jump sizes back to normal. I’m excited. I will whip this course’s butt! I swear it!
Tonka did well after the tree incident, so he still got a fat apple. What a good boy. *laughs*

written from my laptop, finished 10 10 AM [Thurs, April 16, 2009]