Free Rein||Broken Home/Pin

Chapter 9

Amber POV:
Zoe brought Raven into the arena and Pin and I followed. I laid Ravens bridle on the gate for the arena and Pin put the saddle on the top rail of the fence around the arena.

"Ok. So Zoe, I just want you to walk him around the arena for a minute" I say. Marcus was walking with her, probably just in case Raven spooked or acted up.

"Give him some more lead, you don't want him to feel trapped" I add. Zoe reluctantly loosens the lead and Raven puts his head down more. He was relaxing. I smile.

"Ok. Perfect. Now bring him over to me" I instruct. She brings him over and I pull a sugar cube out of my pocket and offer it to Raven. He takes it and licks my hand afterwards, causing me to make an 'ewe' sound.

Zoe smiles. "I think he likes you" she says. "Or he likes sugar" I shrug. I grab his saddle pad and approach his side. He's eying the saddle pad and his nostrils are flaring. Zoe gently strokes his shoulder. "Hey. It's ok" she coos softly.

His ears dart to her direction and he lets out a huff. I gently throw the saddle pad over his back and place it where I want it. He seems a little tense but otherwise ok.

Pin hands me his saddle and girth. I take both and mouth a 'thanks' to him. He smiles and I turn away. I show the saddle to Raven and he smells it. His nostrils flaring and his eyes focusing.

"What's she doing?" Zoe asks. "She's letting him smell it. To prove that it's no threat and that he'll be ok" Marcus explains, watching the horse. I was about to attempt to put the saddle on when Mia spoke up "hurry up. I want him saddled!" She exclaims loudly and spooks Raven, causing him to bolt and drag Zoe to the ground.

"Mia!" Marcus yells, helping Zoe up. I shoot a glare at Mia before Pin and I chase after Raven. He had run to one corner of the arena and Pin steps forward, but I grab his hand and pull him back.

"What?" He asks. "You never corner a frightened horse" I explain. He sighs and steps back and I let go of his hand. "How do we get him out then?" He asks. "Just back away, give him some space. He's feeling pressured and you need to take that pressure off" I tell him.

He nods and we both back up. Raven watches us intently and as soon as we're far enough away, he takes a small step away from the corner. I smile and look at Pin. "Told you so" I smirk. He looks down at me and gives me a 'really?' Look.

It was now that I realized how close we were. Our shoulders were pressed together. He was taller than me and he was looking down at me, our faces only inches away from each other. I was so distracted by his beautiful eyes that I didn't even notice where Raven was until he nuzzled my hand.

I look down and noticed that he was searching  my hand for a treat. I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled out a sugar cube. Raven takes it and that's when Pin cautiously takes his lead rope and tugs on it lightly.

Raven follows the two of us back to where Marcus and Zoe are. I pick up his saddle pad and brush the sand off. Time to start again. Pin hands Raven's lead back to Zoe and Zoe thanks him. Once again, I take Ravens saddle pad and place it on his back. He seems unfazed.

I grab the saddle again and let him smell it again. After he smells it, I stand beside his shoulder and hold the saddle over his back so that it wasn't touching yet.

Very carefully, I lower the saddle lower and lower until it's resting on his back. He snorts but seems ok. I give him a few sugar cubes to reward him for the behaviour. Now for the more tricky part.

Pin hands me Ravens girth and I offer it to Raven. He smells it and seems unsure but he eventually just looks away. I put the girth on the first notch and move to the other side. Pin follows me.

I bend down and take the girth from under his belly and bring it up slowly. I can tell that the pressure is increasing because his ears go back more and more and more until their nearly flat on his head.

He lets out a heavy snort and he kicks his hind leg towards me. I jump away at the last second and fall against someone. Pin had been standing behind my and caught me before I fell. "Uh. Thanks" I say, standing up and approaching Raven again.

Zoe was giving me a weird look but I ignored it and focused on trying to get Ravens girth on. Slowly, I tightened it and eventually got it tight enough that it wouldn't fall. I gave him a treat. Zoe thanked me and started walking him around with a saddle. Now we have to get his bridle on.

With a bit of time and patience, we managed to get Ravens bridle on and Zoe was currently walking around with him, Marcus still by her side. "I think Marcus likes Zoe" I mutter quietly to Pin, who was standing beside me.

He nods. "Seems so" he says. "I think that's enough for today Zoe. We've pushed him lots for one day" I call out. She nods and I open the arena door to let her out. Having someone sit on him would be too much for 1 day.

I was kind of tired after that so I went into the barn and sat on one of the hay bales and leaned back against the barn wall and simply closed my eyes. I felt someone sit down beside me and I open my eyes to see Pin siting with me.

"What up?" I yawn, closing my eyes again. "Nothing. Are you ok?" He asks. I nod. "Just tired. It's been a long day so far" I mutter. I hear him say a quiet "ok". I lean my head on his shoulder and just simply rest there.

Secret POV:
Damn. She has a boy protecting her now? Great. He'll probably be a problem for sure. I saw a picture in her room of her with a boy that looks exactly like this one. If he gets in the way, he will be eliminated. No exceptions. I'm getting paid too much to have mistakes, and something tells me that this boy will cause me to make some sort of mistake.