Snow in Hollywood
Posting a little early, I know. I have something going on tomorrow that I plan to post about, that may take up an entire post on its own, so I thought I would post a little early.
The start of the week was just off. It was three days in a row of "those days". You know, the ones where you're dropping everything, running into stuff, words don't work right, and you can't seem to function properly. By Wednesday afternoon it was at least getting a little better. That day, after classes, a friend and I went to a hair salon and I finally got my hair cut! It was down past my shoulder blades and was becoming too much of a hassle to care for, so I have been wanting to get it cut. I decided to get it just about shoulder length (so I can still pull it back in a pony tail), with layers. I love the layered look.
My riding lesson on Tuesday was frustrating. Given how out of whack I was, everything just kind of fell apart. I was riding Irish, who is known for being a saint, and I will grant that he is kind and looks out for you. We just had a really off ride. Warm-up was ok, but it all fell apart when we took our first jump. I hesitated in the approach, and he clipped the jump and stumbled after it, and it was all downhill from there. I started throwing my hands away over the jump, then overcompensated to fix it and wasn't giving him his head. I was getting incredibly tense to every jump. My form was lacking. He started being overly catious to look out for me, and would take jumps slow and started chipping (jumping from right in front of the jump, instead of leaving a few feet in front of it). My instructor was really good about helping me work through it, but I still walked away feeling horrible about the ride.
My lesson on Thursday went way better! I was so happy, I got to ride Twist. Twist is my favorite horse at our school. He is grumpy on the surface, but loves being pampered. He is also a princess in so many ways. It's so funny, if you clean his feet and put on hoof polish, he steps really nicely and perks up, hahaha. He is a mooch, too. I call him the Royal Treat Inspector, because he always has to search everyone for treats. I'll admit, that's not a great habit, but he is a school horse. If he were my personal horse, I'd work on his manners, but he isn't mean about it and stops when you tell him off, so there isn't much harm. Riding him makes me feel bad, but not as much as it used to. He has a sensitive back, and a harsh or heavy rider will make him back sore. He is also lazy and will overplay it and act lame when you're riding, but I've ridden him enough to know when he is faking and when he is actually hurting.
Anyway, during yesterday's lesson we did some work without stirrups. It's very difficult, but it builds up leg strength. The last time I had to canter without stirrups, I was on a giant horse known for being a huge bully who took off bucking and almost tossed me. I will admit I have been terrified of cantering without irons since. In this lesson, my instructor knew I was nervous, but didn't really know why. Still, she encouraged me to try it again, and since I trust Twist more than most any horse we have, I gave it a go, and did surprisingly well. It was the boost of confidence I desperately needed. We also had some time to work independently, and he and I were doing flying lead changes, which is technically above the level of our lesson (I ride higher level dressage, but my class was cancelled this year, so I am in a lower level jumping class because I havn't really jumped before). Our teacher was impressed and spent some time teaching the others the basics of a flying change.
After that, we did some group work trotting and cantering over poles on the ground. Twist likes to forget his feet, and initially was tripping over the poles. He got better as time went on, but it makes me a little nervous for Tuesday's jumping lesson. I know he isn't a great jumper, which means that for the first time I will have to carry my horse over the jumps, instead of the horses I've been on who have carried me and my uneducated behind. I am pretty excited, though. I do want to find out for myself how he jumps, given he has been a dressage-only horse for many years and only recently learned to jump (Dressage doesn't jump, it's just pretty movements). So, even though I am nervous, I am really looking forward to Tuesday's lesson!
Gaming: I caved and preordered Horizon Zero Dawn a week before it dropped. I regret nothing. I have been keeping an eye on it since its first announcement, and was so excited to play. It definitely did not let me down. I have put in just under three hours so far, because I have been busy working on my senior thesis, and I love it. The setting is pretty large, and looks gorgeous. The enemies are unique and really cool, and their AI is really interesting and advanced compared to most enemy AIs I have seen in games. I will say that so far I'm not overly impressed with any of the characters, but I am also not very far in the main storyline at all yet, so that may very well change. I love the unique concept and the combination of technology with the stone age. I like the simple crafting system that you can access on the go (it makes encounters so much nicer). And I am so excited to see where the game goes! Oh, and I think my favorite thing so far is photo mode! You can hide your character, change brightness, time of day, add filters, and so much more! When I game, I love to take screenshots of landscapes, and I can see myself abusing the hell out of photo mode and taking way too many pictures, hahaha. If you want to see the game for yourself, you can watch my playthrough of the beginning of the game here!
Wow... I don't think I have much more to say. In regards of tv shows, I have watched some more One Tree Hill and Supernatural. I started Wakfu and am only a couple episodes in. My thesis has been taking up almost all of my free time, so I haven't been able to do much of any reading or gaming. Tomorrow is the annual Random House Book Fair! I am pretty excited! I go almost every year. I plan to post about it this weekend!
Hope everyone is having an awesome week!
The start of the week was just off. It was three days in a row of "those days". You know, the ones where you're dropping everything, running into stuff, words don't work right, and you can't seem to function properly. By Wednesday afternoon it was at least getting a little better. That day, after classes, a friend and I went to a hair salon and I finally got my hair cut! It was down past my shoulder blades and was becoming too much of a hassle to care for, so I have been wanting to get it cut. I decided to get it just about shoulder length (so I can still pull it back in a pony tail), with layers. I love the layered look.
My riding lesson on Tuesday was frustrating. Given how out of whack I was, everything just kind of fell apart. I was riding Irish, who is known for being a saint, and I will grant that he is kind and looks out for you. We just had a really off ride. Warm-up was ok, but it all fell apart when we took our first jump. I hesitated in the approach, and he clipped the jump and stumbled after it, and it was all downhill from there. I started throwing my hands away over the jump, then overcompensated to fix it and wasn't giving him his head. I was getting incredibly tense to every jump. My form was lacking. He started being overly catious to look out for me, and would take jumps slow and started chipping (jumping from right in front of the jump, instead of leaving a few feet in front of it). My instructor was really good about helping me work through it, but I still walked away feeling horrible about the ride.
My lesson on Thursday went way better! I was so happy, I got to ride Twist. Twist is my favorite horse at our school. He is grumpy on the surface, but loves being pampered. He is also a princess in so many ways. It's so funny, if you clean his feet and put on hoof polish, he steps really nicely and perks up, hahaha. He is a mooch, too. I call him the Royal Treat Inspector, because he always has to search everyone for treats. I'll admit, that's not a great habit, but he is a school horse. If he were my personal horse, I'd work on his manners, but he isn't mean about it and stops when you tell him off, so there isn't much harm. Riding him makes me feel bad, but not as much as it used to. He has a sensitive back, and a harsh or heavy rider will make him back sore. He is also lazy and will overplay it and act lame when you're riding, but I've ridden him enough to know when he is faking and when he is actually hurting.
Anyway, during yesterday's lesson we did some work without stirrups. It's very difficult, but it builds up leg strength. The last time I had to canter without stirrups, I was on a giant horse known for being a huge bully who took off bucking and almost tossed me. I will admit I have been terrified of cantering without irons since. In this lesson, my instructor knew I was nervous, but didn't really know why. Still, she encouraged me to try it again, and since I trust Twist more than most any horse we have, I gave it a go, and did surprisingly well. It was the boost of confidence I desperately needed. We also had some time to work independently, and he and I were doing flying lead changes, which is technically above the level of our lesson (I ride higher level dressage, but my class was cancelled this year, so I am in a lower level jumping class because I havn't really jumped before). Our teacher was impressed and spent some time teaching the others the basics of a flying change.
After that, we did some group work trotting and cantering over poles on the ground. Twist likes to forget his feet, and initially was tripping over the poles. He got better as time went on, but it makes me a little nervous for Tuesday's jumping lesson. I know he isn't a great jumper, which means that for the first time I will have to carry my horse over the jumps, instead of the horses I've been on who have carried me and my uneducated behind. I am pretty excited, though. I do want to find out for myself how he jumps, given he has been a dressage-only horse for many years and only recently learned to jump (Dressage doesn't jump, it's just pretty movements). So, even though I am nervous, I am really looking forward to Tuesday's lesson!
Gaming: I caved and preordered Horizon Zero Dawn a week before it dropped. I regret nothing. I have been keeping an eye on it since its first announcement, and was so excited to play. It definitely did not let me down. I have put in just under three hours so far, because I have been busy working on my senior thesis, and I love it. The setting is pretty large, and looks gorgeous. The enemies are unique and really cool, and their AI is really interesting and advanced compared to most enemy AIs I have seen in games. I will say that so far I'm not overly impressed with any of the characters, but I am also not very far in the main storyline at all yet, so that may very well change. I love the unique concept and the combination of technology with the stone age. I like the simple crafting system that you can access on the go (it makes encounters so much nicer). And I am so excited to see where the game goes! Oh, and I think my favorite thing so far is photo mode! You can hide your character, change brightness, time of day, add filters, and so much more! When I game, I love to take screenshots of landscapes, and I can see myself abusing the hell out of photo mode and taking way too many pictures, hahaha. If you want to see the game for yourself, you can watch my playthrough of the beginning of the game here!
Wow... I don't think I have much more to say. In regards of tv shows, I have watched some more One Tree Hill and Supernatural. I started Wakfu and am only a couple episodes in. My thesis has been taking up almost all of my free time, so I haven't been able to do much of any reading or gaming. Tomorrow is the annual Random House Book Fair! I am pretty excited! I go almost every year. I plan to post about it this weekend!
Hope everyone is having an awesome week!