Free rein

2: Feeling Free

The next day has arrived and I am going to walk down the street to look around. Walking down the street while eating a bagel, I see a horse in a paddock looking a bit uneasy. A horse with a dark brown coat which changes to white with dark spots on his back is aggressively walking around the paddock shaking his head. I slowly approach the fence. The horse stops, looking at every move I make, judging whether I am a threat or not. The closer I step, the more forward his ears turn. In a soft voice, I try to calm the horse. "Hey, it's ok, I don't want to hurt you." The horse looks deeply into my eyes. There is something comforting about this horse, something familiar.I'm not sure what. As I am an inch close, the horse spooks. I step back, shocked. "Hey, I wouldn't go near that horse again." I turn around to see a boy, my age and around my height. Short dark brown hair swept away from his face, with the most beautiful hazel eyes I have ever seen. "Oh um why is that?" I ask, staring into his hazel eyes. "Well, he is basically a wild horse. That's why he is here far away from the other horses." Did he say other horses? Like a stable or something? I didn't exactly come here to be with horses, but they are my favourite animal. "Other horses?" I ask over excited. The boy smirks and walks away. I follow him to a stable that is small but comfortable. There are lots of horses and their riders that are walking around tacking and untacking their horses.

There is one horse that catches my attention. A truly beautiful black horse. I walk up to the horse setting my mission to pet it. "That's my horse, Raven" I look behind me, a very pretty girl, dark skin and dark curly hair. Her hazel eyes kindly look at the horse. I can see they have a connection that is unbreakable. I smile and step out of the way. "By the way, I'm Zoe. Nice to meet you." She says, smiling at me. I smile back "I'm Sarah". Continuing to smile she walks her horse into a jumping ring. I follow behind willing to watch Zoe ride. She mounts the horse smoothly and begins to ride. Walk, then trot, then canter. I stare in amazement. "That's Zoe. Isn't she amazing?" A bright voice next to me exclaims. I look at a girl with blonde braids and a bright smile. "I'm Beccy, you really should see Bob and I do the dressage routine that we performed at the county show last week." I smile and reply "I am Sarah and I would love to see your performance" I don't exactly understand what dressage is but I have heard of it. "Yeah, Zoe! Pony club is so proud of you!" She yells. "Pony club?" I ask. "Oh, its a club that I have with my best friends Jade and Zoe," she explains. "Woah sounds like fun," I say enthusiastically not knowing what will come next. Beccy just continued talking about pony club, then how she has been on adventures with pony club, then her horse Bob and how she has to share him with her brother. I don't understand how we got here, but she starts talking about a guy named 'hot Marcus'. I just nod my head pretending I can understand.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The boy from earlier walks up to me. "Can you ride?" In shock, I stare at the boy and nod my head. "You should ask Marcus to give you a lesson." I can ride a horse? Now? I haven't ridden in years. "I would love to ride a horse, but I don't have any equipment." I stare at my worn out sneakers. A tall boy with dark hair walks towards me. "I'm sure we can find a helmet your size." He says smiling at me. He is the charming type of guy that would steal anyone's heart. "What about my shoes?" I say looking at my shoes. The tall boy also looks at my shoes. "They will be fine for today." For today? Does that mean I can get more classes? But how I don't have enough money for lessons. The tall boy throws a helmet at me, I catch it with my fast reflexes. "Try that, it should fit." I comply and it is a perfect fit. I nod my head already running for the horses. The tall boy walks a horse with a shiny brown coat out. "Do you know how to tack up?" he asks. "It been a while, but I should." He nods his head and passes me the lead. "This is Major. Be nice to him." I chuckle as I stroke his neck. I talk to the horse telling him he is beautiful. "Do we have a horse whisperer here?" The boy says sarcastically placing the tack on the fence. I smile and tack up the horse identifying the different parts of the saddle and bridle. I've still got it.

I walk Major to an empty ring that is next to the jumping ring Zoe is riding in. The tall boy closes the gate and holds Major's reins for me. "U need a leg up?" I shake my head, placing my foot in the stirrups using momentum to swing my other leg to the other stirrup. "What's your experience with horses?" I look at the boy who isn't so tall anymore. "Well, I've been on two horse camps when I was 10." He looks at me and nods his head "That's ok. We'll just take it slow for you. I'm Marcus the main trainer at the stables." I smile. "I'm Sarah. We can go slow but not too slow ok?" Marcus smirks and says "Show me what you can do. Go trot for me." I squeeze my legs slightly to speed Major up to a trot. I was successful and I post to the trot. All the knowledge I have ever had is coming to me and it feels great. I feel free. Ready to take on the world. "Ok canter," Marcus says. I've only cantered like once. "What happened to take it slow?" I say slightly out of breath. Its been a while so I am very out of shape. "Well, I can always take you back to a walk." Without hesitation, I squeeze Major again and we go to a canter. I could feel that I was too stiff and my heels weren't down enough which caused me to bounce a lot. "Relax Sarah," I think about mum. How she used to tuck me into bed every night or the hot chocolate she made. Thinking about my mum really helps me calm down. Lately, it's been really hard without her. Suddenly my canter was smooth and I was really enjoying myself.

I just wish Mum could see this.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞