Lobsters are Jedis.

I had a great time at the barn tonight. Larry called us and told us that we could ride, so I put on my riding clothes and met Stella at her stall. I could tell she was feeling her oats, so I brought her out and longed her for a bit. I'm glad I did, too. She was actually quite lazy as I worked her on the longe line except for the first canter departure. When I kissed to her, she squealed and leaped into a fast canter. I don't know whether that would've escalated into something bigger if I'd been on her back. It doesn't really matter, though.
I tacked her up and we had a very interesting ride. We spent a lot of time in that transcendent state of perfect understanding, where there's no resistance, no pain, and absolutely nothing more satisfying. My hip was terrible earlier in the week, but it didn't hurt last night when I was on Stella. Stella was a little weird during this ride, even though we had some amazing moments. When we were walking, she would randomly decide that she wanted to turn around and walk in a completely different direction. When I asked her to turn, she'd barely respond or almost do a 90-degree turn. We usually do lots of work in the center of the ring to avoid the whole glued-to-the-rail mindset (I've heard stories of pleasure horses who simply can't function unless they're plodding along the rail.), but we mostly stuck along the fence tonight so that Stella could get into her head that plunging to the inside of the ring at the canter is completely inappropriate. She did that a few times, and it was really annoying even though it didn't unseat me at all. I don't know what was up with her.
When we were trotting, Stella started out kind of silly. She was feeling very energetic and was having a good time flying around the ring. We trotted through a really muddy area once and Stella broke into a canter. She sent up an impressive spattering of mud, which decorated both of us for the rest of the night. We worked through the energy to have some excellent, unified moments. I think I'm still leaning forward a bit as I post down, even though I straighten out when I rise. I worked on that a little.
Our cantering was amazing. I was ready for Stella to take off bucking or something, but I was pleasantly surprised when we departed into one of the most beautiful canters I can recall. (Do I say that a lot?) We did an amazing lead change too. I'm so glad we got a chance to work together last night.
My sister and Elizabeth also sang me a song about lobsters. They love to hang out in the lounge and sing improvised songs about random topics. Since I love lobsters so much, they did one about lobsters. It was absolutely amazing. Then, they started to sing a song about squash. I found a roll of duct tape, so I ripped off a few shreds and made a duct tape mustache, reminiscent of the paper mustaches that I used to make and wear while "mocking" my old Latin teacher. I also danced along with their song. I happened to turn around one time and saw Larry watching me through the window on the door. It scared me to death, and I squealed in a combination of surprise and glee. I turned so rapidly that I lost my balance and "sat" down on my butt (I didn't actually fall, but rather allowed myself to plop down onto the floor.). Then Larry and I started laughing and pointing at one another. It was hysterical. I guess that's payback for scaring the kids so many times :)