Bitching My Way Out of a Paper Bag

First, some good news: I no longer get nervous when cantering Marve, and he hasn't been running away with me. Yay! The last few times we had a pretty nice canter and I always felt like I was in control. This is such a relief. We've even been cantering the full length of the arena with no problems -- previously, I stuck to a lot of circles because going large got him all excited and quick. So I don't know if I've just been lucky the last few rides, or if my slightly increased confidence is helping both of us have a better canter. My position is still crap, of course, but that's another story. :)

Now let's move on to yet another delightful tale about the snooty girls at the barn. Or should I say the queen of snooty girls.

For the most part, these teens have been vaguely polite to me in recent days. One in particular -- she's 18 -- seems pretty cool and I definitely plan to keep bugging her with questions because she's a great rider and knows a lot.

But then I had an encounter while riding in the indoor the other day. A girl rode in on a big fancy horse. I gave her a smile and said hi.

Her response? The most withering ice queen look I have ever been given in my life. Okaaaaaay. So we rode around in silence for a while.

And then, when we were both walking, she approached me and started spewing these super insulting comments, implying just vaguely enough that maybe I've never met an equine before and might be confused as to how I ended up bouncing around on a horse at that moment in the first place.

I could go into detail about the whole exchange, but it was so immature and stupid -- and would probably get me all fired up again -- that I don't even want to bother. Rest assured that it was uncalled for and it was ridiculous. I think I handled myself pretty well because I wouldn't just sit there and take it. I asked her to back up her statements with actual observations of my riding. Which she totally couldn't, of course, so that shut her up. But I also had to really fight not reply with something equally snotty and mean. Must. Be. Bigger. Person. (And am, physically and age-wise, ha.)

Anyway, the whole thing left me feeling shocked and furious. What the HELL is going on with these brats at the barn? I never encountered girls like this when I was growing up. Where I came from, you were likely a nerd if you rode horses (cough cough), but these girls are like the bitchy prom queen/cheerleader types on horseback. The whole thing pissed me off so hard that I was thinking that no matter how well everything else is going in this lease, it's not worth it to put up with that kind of shit from girls not old enough to vote. Or maybe even drive.

As I rode, something kept bothering me about this girl. Even her face made me angry, and I didn't know why. If a random person saw her on the street, they'd surely think she was pretty. But to me, her little face, her eye makeup, her expression, everything makes me think of the stereotypical mean girl you'd see in a cheesy high school movie. Just everything about this chick -- from her appearance to her actions to her tone of voice -- is a cliche, synonymous with "hot bratty high school girl." Was that why she looked familiar to me, because I've seen her counterparts in trashy movies?

About halfway through my ride, though, the heavens opened up and I realized who she was. OMG! Earlier in the summer, the barn hosted a dressage show and I dropped by for a few minutes to watch. I was at one of the stable's information booths, which was manned by an adult and a teenage girl (enter ICE QUEEN). I chatted with the woman for a few moments about the stable and volunteering, and then, not to leave her out, I turned to the teenager and said, "Hi! So do you volunteer here a lot?"

This girl responded by narrowing her eyes, tossing her shiny, shiny hair over shoulder, letting out a jesus-christ-you-are-dumb-as-shit sigh and then saying, "I OWN my own HORSE" with such venom in her voice that frankly, I was almost impressed. Then, just before scowling and turning away from me, she muttered under her breath, "God. Some people don't know anything."

I am not kidding. That is how it went down.

You know how you're always reading about jaws dropping in shock, and it's usually hyperbole? Not in this case. My mouth literally was hanging open as I stared at the wake of this girl's insane bitchiness. I was rendered utterly speechless. The adult at the table kind of gave me a shrug, like, "At least you haven't had to sit with her at this booth all day."

I have met some bitchy people in my life. But this little snot makes all of those other bitches look like they can't bitch their way out of a paper bag. (And, by the way, I typically don't like when the term "bitch" is applied to women, but when I see or think of this ice queen, the rest of my vocabulary is temporarily erased.)

So THAT was the girl bugging me in the arena. When I saw her at the booth, I might have pegged her at about 15 -- though I am really bad at age estimation -- but on the horse, with her helmet, she seemed like she might be older. I don't care if she's 13 or 17 or 26 or whatever, her behavior is completely inexcusable.

Even so, I felt better for realizing this was the same girl. It's all her problem because she's horridly unreasonable, and it has nothing to do with me. Or with any of the other girls at the barn, for that matter.

I rode around happily for the rest of the time. No way was I going to let some misguided little girl wreck my ride. And, while it's not very zen-like for me to think this, I realized that one day she's going to have to pay for how she treats people. Eventually, her behavior is going to catch up with her, somehow, some day.

Until then, I will kill her with kindness. Either that or with a low, guttural "Who the fuck do you think you are?" when she says something offensive. You know. One of the two.