Blind for Love [Kaylor]

The Horseback Ride

"Where are we going?" Karlie asks, laughing, as Taylor takes yet another turn. They were out in the middle of nowhere, vaguely near Taylor's Mom's place in Tennessee. Vaguely, because they'd been in the car nearly forty-five minutes, the sounds of the city and other cars slowly fading until Karlie was sure they were nearly the only car on the road. 

"You'll find out when we get there," Taylor quips, steering the car around the remains of a deer on the side of the road. "It's not much further."

Karlie gives her a look, though she's hopeful that Taylor's eyes are actually firmly on the road. "You said that twenty minutes ago."

But soon the crunching under the tires tells Karlie they were on a gravel driveway, likely headed toward their final destination. Did Taylor have a home out here? Maybe one the media didn't know about? Why had they driven so far?

"Hi Taylor!" Karlie recognized Mama Swift's voice right away. She knew Taylor's Mom was still a bit leery of her, and she understood why. Some of Taylor's past girlfriends hadn't deserved her, and hadn't treated her like they should have. Karlie planned to do everything in her power not to be like them. She knew the only way she could prove that, though, was to act on it. Showering her girl with the love she deserved, and treating her friends and family with respect as they got to know her. "Hi Karlie!"

"Hi Ms. Swift! I didn't know you'd be here."

"Neither did Taylor, but she asked me about setting this up before y'all arrived, and I wanted to make sure everything was settled. You girls have a good day."

Karlie could hear in the crunch of the gravel under Mama Swift's boots that she was now striding purposefully in a direction different than the one she'd come from, while Taylor continued to unload something from the car, something that she refused to let Karlie help with, even though it was heavy and Karlie was the stronger of the two. All Karlie knew about their plans for the day was that Taylor had told her to wear old jeans and boots with a low heel, and her hair down or in a low bun. Why, Karlie had no idea.

Taylor came round the car, offering Karlie her right elbow "unless you'd rather use your cane and follow my voice?" Karlie preferred both, actually. Her cane for the uneven surface and new place, but Taylor's elbow so she could use the sounds around her to get a better feel for where they were. The way the wind changed told her there were buildings to her left and in front of them, and she could hear the sounds of large animals moving through tall grass on the right, which told her if she went far enough that way she'd encounter a fence, probably two or three rails, hard for someone like her to find because only the posts went to the ground where her cane could hit them, and the rails were too far apart to be easily detected with her hand in front. Definitely better to let Taylor lead. 

If the sounds hadn't alerted her, the smell certainly would have. They were DEFINITELY on a farm. Given this was a date arranged by her girlfriend and her girlfriend's mom, if she had to guess, the source of the smell and the sounds of large animals moving around came from horses. The last time she was close to a horse she was six, and rode a pony at the fair. All she remembers is they're BIG. Kariann has tried for years to convince her that blind people can ride horses and that many really enjoy it. Her friend Molly, introduced to her by Casey Neistat, a fellow YouTuber, actually loves it. But to Karlie, it's always seemed a bit scary. Letting some huge animal be in charge of taking you places? She's considered getting a guide dog in the past, but always decided against it because of the problems of international travel with an animal, and she supposes it's not really that different, but a guide dog can't throw you on the ground at will.

Taylor can feel the tension in Karlie's hand on her arm and knows she's figured out what they're doing here today. "It's okay, Karlie, you don't have to ride if you really don't want to. But being with the horses has always been really relaxing for me. It's one place I can be truly alone, here on the trails. So I wanted to share at least a small part of that with you. Let you meet them. Get to know them. See that there's nothing to be scared of. The horses here are super sweet and gentle, and they use them for equine therapy for all kinds of people, including other blind riders. But if after you say hey to Peanut, you still don't want to ride her, then that's fine. We can hike to a closer picnic spot and just enjoy the sound of the leaves underfoot and the way the wind rustles through them and having the sun on us."