Swing dancing was great the other night! We got there on time, and are members until the end of the semester. What we didn't realize was that there were lots of beginners this time, so we actually looked like we knew what we were doing! It was so much fun, and we learned a new move that looks really cool.

On another note, my friend and I went to go see Wallace and Gromit last night. Talk about a cute movie! It had lots of adult references like Shrek and Shrek 2, but was still a well put-together movie! (I give it two thumbs up!)

For the past several days, it has been nothing but rain, and fortunately, it cleared up for our Homecoming Festivities. We had the Highlander Parade, which I missed due to cleaning the apartment. I guess it went okay, because I haven't heard anything to indicate otherwise. I went and walked around the games field, and it was so cool to see alumni dressed in Scottish garb, and lots of people had their dogs.

I went and met my parents in Natural Bridge yesterday, because they were bringing my niece's borrowed pony (Pepper) back to its owner, Terry. The owner had a pony for sale, which we briefly considered for Emily. Sadly, Emily doesn't have time to ride after school, so we'll hold off getting another pony until spring. Terry let me ride this sale pony, and he was pretty cool considering how poorly I rode because I'm so out of shape. As we were cantering down one side of the ring, which was supersaturated from all the rain of the past few days, the pony coughed and lost his balance. I immediately sat back, trying to shift the weight off his front end, but he continued to go down, scrambling to find his footing. I heard Terry gasp loudly, and it was weird that hearing her made me think clearer. The pony found his footing after 10 seconds, but it was a very long 10 seconds, and seemed to be in slow motion. I am proud to say that I did not come off, mostly because the pony did everything he could to keep me safe, which is saying a lot about the pony. We both came out okay, but I was really shaken up. I haven't had something like that happen in a very long time. The pony was okay, though he was scraped up at the knees, and had bluestone/mud on his face, nose, neck, and legs. The girl who was helping Terry that day was asked to come out and ride him, because it was clear that I wasn't ready to get back on him. The pony wasn't lame, and was very wary of puddles after that incident. When he went by the spot where he fell, he cocked an ear and looked really hard at the puddle. He knew he wasn't going to fall there again!

My parents had not only come down to Natural Bridge to drop off Pepper, but to see another horse that Mom and I had seen a few weeks earlier. When I'd ridden this horse, whose name is Golden Boy Danny--let me know if you can think of other names, he was really cool. He was very comfortable, and jumped pretty well for being so inexperienced. From his way of going, I could tell that he'd fit in our barn very well. When the cows started to come in the ring, he just stood there and watched them, whereas most horses would freak out and try to get away. So Mom got on him, and while she was uncomfortable at first, he took care of her and tried his best to figure out what she wanted. So Mom and Dad ended up taking the horse home with them. Mom was very excited about her birthday present (her b-day was actually on Friday). All in all, it was a good day and I was really glad to see my parents. Now I need to work up my budget so that I can hunt once a week with Terry and Rockbridge Hunt!