OO-RAH!

Chapter 4

"Are you sure you can ride?" I ask Chase as he tries for the thousandth time to mount the horse. Chase has been trying to get on the horse for about five minutes, and he's refusing to let me help. 

"Of course. It's just been a few years." he claims. After a few more failed attempts, and one close call, Chase caved in and asked for my help. I laughed and walked over to him. 

"Okay so we're on the left side of the horse, so place you left foot in the stirrup." I instruct him. Chase follows my instructions as I go. "Good. Now, put put your left right here, on the horn of the saddle, and your right hand on the back of the saddle." I guide his hands to where I tell them to place them. "Now, for the tricky part. You're going to lift yourself up with your foot still in the stirrup, and as you come up, you're gonna swing your right leg over so that way the momentum you create will help up get on the saddle." I tell him. He nods his head with confidence. And if you don't build up enough momentum don't panic. Just try to build as much as you can, and if you have to just keep pulling yourself up with the saddle as support. If you really have to, go ahead and use his mane. Horses are much stronger than people think, and have one of the highest pain tolerances in the world, so if you use his mane to pull yourself up he'll barely feel it." I reassure him. 

Chase gets his left foot firmly in the stirrup and I kneel down on the ground, with his right foot in my hand. As he pushes himself up, I assist him by pushing his right leg up so he has more ease with swinging it over. Chase was able to get his right leg to rest on the saddle, and pulled himself up the rest of the way.

"Alright! That wasn't too bad." he says optimistically. I laugh at his remark before walking back over to Lady and mounting her with ease. Mounting a horse was set in my muscle memory, it was as easy as walking to me. Once I was sitting on the back of Lady, I was consumed by the many memories I had riding with her. The view from the height, the feeling of her muscles moving in her strong legs, and just the feeling of being on a saddle again almost brought tears to my eyes. I grab the reins and ride over to Chase, who I decided was riding Dixie since Tucker didn't take too well to strangers, and Sahara was a little chaotic for a rider like Chase. I lean over slightly to untie Dixie's reins from the bars on his stall and hand them Chase. 

I click my teeth and pull Lady's reins to the direction of door. Once I was outside, I stopped and waited for Chase to make sure he was still behind me. That's when I realized Chase didn't know the commands. 

"If you want him to go, click your teeth twice and pull his reins in the direction you want to go so his head turns in the direction. If you want him to stop, you just pull the reins back towards to so his head lifts up and he'll stop." I yell so he can hear me from the barn. Pretty soon, I hear the click of teeth and the echoing steps of Dixie's hooves on the concrete of the barn. In no time, Chase was right behind me as I led him through a small patch of trees a little ways past the side of the pasture. Once we reached the small wood, Chase caught up so that he was riding right beside me. 

"So how long has it been since you were on Lady?" he asks. I could feel his eyes looking at me, but I kept my stare forward so I could make sure we were going the right way. 

"Last time I was on my horse was the week before my parents' accident. I was too busy dealing with the funeral, legal work, and just felt too tired to even consider getting a saddle on her." I start to say. I let out a quiet sigh as I though about the darkest moment of my life just two months ago. "I used ride whenever I was stressed, or if I just needed time to be alone and think. Riding was my escape, especially after I stopped racing. I felt like it was the only thing I had left at that point." There was a moment of silence, but before I knew it we had reached our destination. "We're here!" I say in excitement.