Back in the Saddle

I've been a little absent here lately but I have thought about bloggin now and then. It's been pretty busy around here for various reasons but at least the hectic part is done with now that Halloween has come and gone. I always look forward to Halloween but I'm always a little relieved when it's over. My costume this year was nowhere near difficult as thought it would be but it didn't come out as good as I had hoped. The armor finish wasn't the mirror smooth shine I had hoped for but it photographed well so I can't complain too much. The broken wings were more of a hassle than I expected though. I made them a little long so I had to strafe everywhere I went. They did look good though and I managed to not impale anyone on them so it worked out in the end I guess.
I loped for the first time - accidentally. It wasn't quite an accident but I didn't know what I was telling Bank to do. I was happy with trotting around the arena when Jody tells me to bring my right leg up and kiss at him. I miss the last part of what she said as I rode by her and just did what she told me. Next thing I know I notice his head dipping down further than usual. I was a little worried especially when I noticed how far up in the saddle I was and that his head was coming up pretty fast. I wasn't very comfortable leaving the saddle. We come around the corner and he's ready to keep going even faster. He came back to a walk pretty easily but it would have been nicer if I heard the last part of what Jody told me...
Anyway, now that I know what to expect when I kiss at my horse I really enjoy loping. In fact, I don't see how anyone goes anywhere on a horse without loping there. Last lesson Lana and me had I got to lope some more and she recorded it on my camera. We got home and watched on the living room TV and I was like, "You didn't get me loping?" She just laughed and said, "You are loping." It feels a lot faster than it looks damn it. I felt like that wussy kid getting his jollies off on the little peewee roller coaster. We ended up going on a trail for a bit, got bitten by every mosquito within a half-mile radius and felt awesome. Lana says they'll soon be trying to get me on a horse without a saddle. I'm not sure I'm ready for that but at least there's no way they can sneak that one past me.
Well, I'm feeling a little outta it right now so I'll just leave ya with this video. It may not look very fast but I was hauling some serious ass...