Tales of Tails: Sabine

Chapter Eight|I Learn How To Ride

"Where is it, where is it?" I begged for an answer.

"You'll see. But it's great for riding." Skylar said.

We were in a horse trailer heading to her special spot. We chatted in the car about horses. Okay, maybe she did most of the talking while I nodded, or said, "Cool!". After maybe twenty minutes or so, the trailer began to slow down. It came to a complete stop and I walked out with Skylar.

"Let's tack our horses while they're in there because they won't be moving, so it's easier." She said.

We walked up the ramp and put the saddle blankets, saddles, and reins on our horses. I leaned into Frost's silky fur and hugged her. For your information, it's pretty hard to hug a 24-hand horse.

"Ready?" Skylar asked.

"Yup." I responded. We walked down the ladder holding our horses' lead ropes. I step down onto the grass, 

"Where are we?" I said.

"My secret spot. We're near the Grey Mist Coast, on a mountain. But I was riding the other day when I found this trail. I followed the path until this old riding track was in front of me. I dusted it off and took away broken pieces. Nothing special, just a normal piece of land, but it's private and great to practice away from noises and other riders. It also gave me some inspiration, an old riding track. This could've been like a village once. We may never know but I guess we can imagine." She said, "Anyways, let's get to riding. You ready?"

I guess I was really pumped and excited because I said, "Totally!"

Skylar made one more stop to the trailer and closed the door to the back. She dragged over two little steps.

"Stand on here and get on your horse. When you're at the top go on tippy-toe and swing your leg over the saddle. Then put your foot in the stirrups and pull your other leg up."

I nodded with a slight "ok" and made my way to the top of the stairs. I swung my leg over and used all of my force to bring my other leg up, too. I hooked my feet into the stirrups and all of my weight was on the horses back.

"Okay," Skylar says. "Riding boots? Helmet? Gloves? Saddle and blanket? Reins?"

"Check times... however many things you said." I said and I laughed. She smiled.

"We'll start with a walk. I'll show you how to start."

She did some motions with her hands and the reins that I clearly did not understand. I just followed what I could. Soon FrostJumper began to shift her weight and walk forward.

"We're just going to try walking today, and tomorrow if you're willing we can try a slow trot." Skylar said. FrostJumper continued at a slow pace that I was very comfortable with and we went around the ring about ten times until I dismounted onto the steps and we guided our horses back to the trailer.

As I was closing the car door Skylar said, "Good job today. You looked like a natural. Well, the Bakers. Makes sense..."

I gave her a questioning look but gave it up. Maybe she'll tell me eventually, I thought.