afterthought

during my lesson today, Vivian and i discussed objectives and goals, and what the best approach would be to move me up the levels. she suggested other lessons i could join, and what next steps we could take. she thought out loud about other potential horses i could try out, and after mentioning some ponies, and me telling her i'm just not a huge fan of ponies and prefer some substance under me (i'm much more comfortable on big horses), she  came to the idea that i'd do well on Bambino. i looked into who he was, and it turns out hes a slightly higher level dressage horse, a Dutch WB; 16.3. she said he's probably a great match because she doesn't want to give me anything too easy because i'm "a good rider," and she wants to challenge me. Bambino seems pretty fun to me. Then after my lesson the sweetest thing.. the head stablehand, Mario, who is in charge of basically everything from the time a horse is brought out til the moment you mount, started talking to me. what he said touched my heart. he told me that my disposition made him happy, and that a fellow rider mentioned to him that i was a beautiful girl and he wanted to pass it on to me..that my cheeriness was contagious and that he wished everyone at the stable was such a sunny person. he went on to say he wanted to replace some "less upbeat people" with me in lessons that were too full! he went on and on, just saying how my sweetness made everyone want to be around me, and that he knew i would make it just by the type of person i was. i can tell you i was flattered immeasurably and blushing at that point! he said that he got so stressed out dealing with negative people during the week but my eagerness to be there was refreshing and made him happy. 

the Babe

i told him all that was very kind, but it's just because i am so enthused to be riding. otherwise i'm a complete ogre. :-p
anyway, then Mr. Mario said on a side note, that he'd be interested to see how i do on Bambino. vivian hadn't said anything to him, so now i'm even more eager to try this guy!
once mario got me into the ring, he said what to me was the biggest compliment he could have done,
"i like you on Zori, because when you ride her, she comes up through her topline and gets round. no other students ride her so correct like this."
now THAT just sent me to the moon!! now i just have to convince all the judges of exactly what Mario just mentioned! and that, my friends, is what dressage is all about. i'm so excited to start the new week, i've got 4 LESSONS. yayyyyy!