The Silver Owl

31

I step onto the unicorn. I rarely rode horses, none the less rode bare-back. I feel very unstable and like I'm going to fall off at any given moment, but Zac oozes confidence, so I decide to let it go, and not worry about it.

I feel Zac shift the slightest bit forward, and Jewel begins to walk forward. I expected her foot falls to be far more harsh than they are. Zac steers her around the house several times. Jewel is about the size of a Clydesdale.

We decide to wander the forest until we find a place that is big enough to try out some real speed. Zac said he wanted to see how she cantered, but I really wanted to her to gallop. I mean, who doesn't want to see a unicorn gallop?

We ride north first. I like north. It's not like we had any better ideas. I take careful note of the trees, like I did before. We don't find anything, so we all ride back to the cabin. This time we decide to ride east. (Zac and I almost felt like it was ridiculous to ride west because of all the 'western cowboy' stuff.) After travel for about 15 minutes in a eastern direction, we stumble across a rather large clearing in the trees.

One tree is fallen toward the edge. The roots are knotted, and exposed. I slide off Jewel, who nods at me affectionately, finally.

Zac looks around the clearing, "I think I'll just walk around a few times before I try to trot or canter and gallop."

I stand toward the edge as Zac slides off Jewel and walks her around the clearing. Jewel almost looks like a smaller horse at the other side. I realize how huge the clearing really is.

Jewel stops to graze a few times, but for the most part she is very responsive and trusting to Zac and I. I smile to myself at the fact that the first human interaction with a unicorn, that man kind knows of, is us. And Jewel loves us.

She tolerates most everything we try out, Zac trying to find a good way to place himself to canter with her. She is very relaxed. Zac rides Jewel around a few times, just as a walk. Then he leans forwards and throws his arms around her neck.

Jewel begins to canter gracefully,while Zac controls her path and edges around the clearing. I watch Zac's face morph into slow horror, as Jewel refuses to slow down as she approaches the dead tree. Zac sits frozen in horror, and Jewel runs at it with confidence.

"Oh- oh crap!" I hear Zac yell from the other side of the clearing.

Jewel gracefully jumps over the branch, and I hear Zac's voice shake with fear as she hit the ground. Zac sits up quickly, which immediately stops Jewel's movements. 

Zac slides of her back and says something, he walks away from Jewel, who heels behind him. Like a dog almost. Please tell me what trick this unicorn doesn't know?!

"Jumping on horses is scary," Zac states, I look at his hands which shake violently, "I remember when I was just a kid, I used to like horse back riding. So my mom took me fairly often, but when she tried to get me to try to barrel race, or do courses with jumps in them, I was always to scared. But you don't ever jump on a bare-back horse- erm- unicorn. That was- oh my gosh I don't even know..."

"Wow, I didn't think it was that scary," I admit, I didn't think it was that scary, I mean, sure you're going really fast, and there is an object in your path and the only way to successfully get across it is to jump, and if you are not perfectly in sync with your horse- oh.

"You have to be perfectly in sync. And if you're not, someone can get seriously hurt."

Both of us climb, with some difficulty, onto Jewel, and we ride home.

"Hey Zac?" I ask.

"Yes?"

"Do you think we could get her a saddle?" I feel like I am asking a stupid question.

Zac turns and looks at me, "I was actually thinking something similarly. I normally ride English, which is a more formal type of riding. I like to use an Australian Stock saddle."

"I have no idea what that is," I tell Zac, and I feel so ignorant right now.

"That's okay, most people don't."

We arrive at the cabin, and I slide off Jewel with the help of Zac.

"So," I begin, "What will we do with Jewel for the night?"

Zac thinks for a moment while he strokes Jewel's coat, Jewel closes her eyes.

"Well," Zac says with confidence, "considering she is still technically a wild animal, I think we should leave her out, and if she chooses to leave, well, then she chose to. We didn't keep her captive."

I nod, I'm slightly worried Jewel will wonder off, and we will never see her again, but I understand what Zac means.

Zac and I walk into town that night. We looked around and talked with the locals, and thankfully their was a saddle shop not 100 miles away from where we were. Unfortunately, it was 3 1/2 miles.

We walk all the way to the saddle shop, only getting lost twice, the saddle shop has a cute little sign with a pasture painted on it. We enter and a little bell rings inside. There is a classic wooden desk, and a young man standing behind it.

"Hello, welcome to Sal's Saddles. How can I help you today?"

I look at Zac who smiles kindly, "We are, um, looking for a saddle," I stammer. You don't say. Why else would we walk into a saddle shop!?

"What kind of saddle?" The clerk asks kindly, he doesn't laugh at my lack of knowledge. Zac places a hand on my elbow, and steps in front of me.

"We are looking an Australian Stock saddle, we have a horse which we've broken in, and we'd like to get a saddle for her."

The clerk looks surprisingly pleased, "We don't sell too many of those here."

• • •

We walk home from quite an ordeal trying to find a saddle that would work for Jewel, which was significantly harder, considering she wasn't able to come with.

When we arrive, I walk around the house, to see that Jewel hasn't moved very much.

"Hey Jewel," I say, "Look what we got for you."

Zac stands next to me and raises the saddle. We bought a hole bunch of stuff, and I convinced Zac to stop by the grocery store and buy some carrots and a couple of red apples for her.

Zac saddles her up, and climbs on. Her puts his feet in the stirrups, and leans forward. Jewel moves forward, and Zac looks much more at ease.

"I never really liked riding bare-back," he tells me. He rides around as the sun sets, and Jewel visibly begins to tire.

Zac hops off, and removes her saddle. He took the brush out of his new bag, and began to brush her.

I bring Jewel an apple, as she sniffs is suspiciously. I snicker at the fact she's never eaten an apple before.

Once she took a bite, she began to eat the rest of the apple greedily. I walk over to Zac who brushes her.

"Can I try?" I ask Zac who looks at me in shock, but then he smiles.

"Of course. Here," Zac takes his hand out of the brush, and I slide my hand in. Zac takes my hand in his, and brushes Jewel. Jewel decides that the apple was tasty and that grass is the second best option at the moment.

We spend the next several hours caring for Jewel, and when we finally went to bed, once my head hit the pillow, I'm fast asleep.