The Black and Sugar

CH5: Blooming

It'd been awhile since I'd gotten back on my stallion. The Black was as powerful as ever though, prancing full of excitement. Hope sat smoothly on Sugar, her feet dangling loose along his sides, hanging low past the stirrup irons. She wasn't comfortable in the racing saddle on the grey's back. "You okay? You looked uncomfortable," I said casually. She shrugged, still smiling.

"The saddle, I'm not used to it. It's okay though, I basically broke Sug here bareback," she smiled.

Out of the blue, the Black broke into a brisk canter. I was taken by surprise, but didn't stop the stud. Sugar snorted, and broke into a slow gallop as well. Hope found her stirrups, and stood up high in them. I turned the Black loose, letting him run, and found Sugar matching our strides, Hope looked at me and smiled.

The trail curved sharply, a veer I'd forgotten about. I blew off the turn, but Sugar and Hope made it easy, moving over to the other side of my steed. She watched me as I looked back at her, and smiled. The stallions were now running hard, stretching out with effortless strides and pinned ears. I realized Sugar didn't need such a hard ride, I pulled lightly on my stallion, talking to him with quiet words, and he finally slowed himself down to a trot, followed by an easy walk. He was breathing hard, and so was Sugar.

"The Black, he's incredible," Hope said, breathing heavy. "He moves so perfect, like a machine, it's... elegant." Alec nodded in agreement. He patted the neck of the black stallion, who was already breathing more evenly. As Sugar walked alongside him, he bit at the younger horse, who squealed, and moved away, but didn't inforce himself.

They reached a meadow that Alec knew about from his many rides through the woods on the Black. He slid off the stallion, and tied his reins to a tree. Hope repeated the action, and tied Sugar away from the other horse, with a long enough line that he could graze in the lush grass. She sat down in the middle of the meadow, kicking off her small toms. I sat down next to her, and noticed her sparkly colored toes.

We sat and talked, laying casually in the grass. We talked about everything under the sun, from horses, to the news, and politics. Hope was wild, and brilliant. She'd done a lot in her few years of freedom. And she had quite the track record with her horses. Many she'd finished, and many were successful.

We laid in the sun until its beating rays pushing us away from the sunny clearing, and got back on the horses. We took a different trail back, one that came out past the four paddocks and onto the other side of the property than which they'd left from. The stallions had caught their breath, and walked along one another, quietly stepping in unison. "You know," I said to Hope. "The Black has never once been this nice to a horse, especially another stallion," he looked at the two bobbing heads, neither even had an ear turned towards the other.

The horses halted slowly as Hope responded, "well, I am a great trainer am I not," and turned in the saddle, facing me forwardly. Her playful grey eyes looked happy, if you couldn't tell by her warm smile. Before I even knew it myself, we were leaning off the sides of our stallions, our lips quietly meeting each other. It was good, like sparks flowing through my body, a feeling I hadn't known since the first time I sat astride the Black.

I reopened my eyes and smiled into her own, the grey shade of her eyes playfully gleaming. She leaned back again, sitting straight in the saddle, and sliding off the side. I watched her silently, until I saw movement in the back of my eye, and looked up, to see Henry was walking towards the two. He was close enough, he would have seen them. A rush of irritation ran through my spine as I slid off the side of the Black, him turning his head to me and nickering, almost silently.

Hope turned her head away and had seen Henry already too. "I'll take him in if you need to talk to Henry," she said, reaching out her hand for the reins. I was shocked momentarily. Her hand was maybe three inches away from the Black's face, and he didn't even turn an ear. Nobody but himself and Henry could get near him, and here she was, right in his face. Then he remembered his confusion when he found the stall clean. Somehow this girl had the Black's acceptance. He nodded, handing the long black rein to her, and she led away the two horses into the stallion barn.

He watched her and the two stallions hind legs move rhythmically to the barn for a long moment before turning away and meandering toward Henry. He figured the old trainer would be mad at him, for taking out the Black, and letting Sugar go a day without his directive training. He held his hands tightly in his pants pockets as he met Henry.

"She's not even been here a week and you like her already," Henry gruffed said right off the bat. I was waiting for something stunning to come from him, but not that. He shook his head, continuing, "it's fine, whatever. Did the horse at least get a good workout?" I looked at him, nodding. The trainer nodded, turning away. "Okay then, go on. We've got colts to work."