Mean Girls

So I had my lesson at Other Barn tonight, and seriously. What is up with the other girls who ride there? Why are they so damn unfriendly (or at least not receptive at all to someone else being friendly)? I'm referring to girls who are probably between the ages of 14 and 17, for the most part. I realize I'm an adult, so they don't exactly view me as one of their peers. But I am at least a young adult and I'm riding right along with them in the lesson program, so it's not like I'm an alien.

I was very shy as a child and young teenager. So okay, I probably wouldn't have walked up to an adult in my riding class and chatted her up. But you know what? If that person approached me and struck up a friendly conversation, asking questions about ME and my riding and my horse, I'd at least respond in a likewise friendly manner. With these chicks, I get nothing. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they are still young or socially inept, but come on. Learn how to interact and not be rude!

On my very first lesson at Other Barn, I asked two of the girls a few really simple, duh questions -- "Have you guys ridden here long?" and "Can you tell me something about this school horse I'm riding?" You could hear crickets chirping in the background. I think I saw a tumbleweed roll by. HELLO. Eventually they kind of grunted one-word responses, so at least I knew no one slipped an invisibility potion into my lunch.

After that first ride, I was leading my schoolie into the barn when Girl Rider #1 told me, "Just stop him right there and untack him in the cross-ties." Oh, sweet, someone spoke to me. So I parked my schoolie, took off his bridle and slipped on his halter, and reached for the cross tie. And he flipped out. He practically mowed me down and I was lucky I managed to stop him from either trampling me or running out of the barn. At this point, Girl Rider #2 passes by, watching my entire struggle with him and clearly not even considering trying to help me. "Yeah," she said, "You can't cross-tie him. He flips out." Then she left while I was still trying to calm him down.

WTF. Girl Rider #1 must have known this about him since she'd been riding at Other Barn for years and had logged quite a few dozen rides on this very horse. So what's up with her trying to kill me? When I was a kid, I read those Saddle Club books. You know what I'm talking about. In the beginning of the series, didn't the girls play mean tricks on the new rider? (Lisa? OMG how do I remember these things?) Like they'd give her a bridle without reins or a saddle without stirrups or something and watch her squirm. That is how I felt on that day.

Even after typing all that, for the most part, I really don't think the girls at Other Barn are malicious. I think they're just a little self-absorbed and haven't yet learned how to talk to people. Still frustrating, though.

There was one teenager -- ONE -- out of all the girls I've had lessons with who acted like a human being and smiled back at me and actually joined the conversation. She and I aren't in the same class anymore but she still makes a point to smile and say hi when we pass each other. Other girls I rode with for months take on this stony I-can't-see-you expression when we cross paths in the barn. What's up with that?

It's not like I'm trying to become friends with these girls, or to fool myself into thinking I'm a teenager, too. (Yikes, who would want to relive THOSE years?) I just don't see why we should all be in a class together and not be friendly or support one another. You know?

Man, I feel old. And cranky. No wonder snooty teenage equestrians won't give me the time of day!