Just for You

Chapter 7 - Emerald Eyes

We hang our saddles on the fence and grab our bridles, starting toward Simba. Here is the moment of truth. I've been thinking about what I told Connie earlier on the bus and I realise that she probably thinks I know what I'm doing. The truth is that I have never ridden a horse on my own before and the best I've done is pony rides. Pretty pathetic.

As we reach Simba, I have no idea what to do, about Simba and about my confession. If I tell her I'll have to spill the beans on the brumby and I'm not sure I want to share him with her yet, as selfish as that sounds. Argh, I've got myself in a predicament.

I turn to Connie slowly as she gently pats Simba's nose. “Ok, Connie, can I trust you?”

She gives me confused look, “Sure.”

I take a deep breath, “I've never been riding in my life.”

“Really? I thought you said you had horses?”

I explain to her about my brumby and she actually seems to understand. When I tell her about the first time that I touched the wild horse, by the creek, her eyes widen.

“Wow! That's so cool Phoebe! It is really unusual for a wild horse to let you touch him so quickly. You usually have to approach him slowly and it take a while. He must really trust you.”

“I'm hoping that, well, I can do something with him.”

Connie nodded, “That would be really good, though it will take time and work, but you aren't going to get anywhere if you can't ride.”

I nod and sigh.

“I'll teach you.”

I look up at her. She is grinning, running her hand over Simba's mane.

“Really? I don't want to waste your time or anything. You seems pretty busy here-”

“Seriously, Phoebe? I'm your friend! Of course you won't be wasting my time! Now, I'll show you have to catch and saddle Simba.”

And so my riding lessons begin. We catch Simba and Wanya and I saddle a horse for the first time with some help from Connie. We lead the horses around the paddock to a gate which leads into a large corral where Connie says we will do the basics.

Once I'm up on Simba's back and Connie is on Wanya, I start feeling a bit nervous. The ground is so far down. What if I fall off? I take a deep breath and look to Connie for instructions.

“Ok, so it's pretty simple. A small nudge in the belly and leaning slightly forward is 'Go'. You steer with the reins, left reins takes you left, right rein takes you right. To stop you pull back gently on the reins and sit back in the saddle. Those are all natural signals that the horse has built into his system. All we have to do is help the horse understand them. That make sense?”

I nod, letting it all sink in.

“Let's walk around the ring and test everything out.”

I nudge Simba's belly as Connie instructed and Simba walks forward slowly. Connie and Wanya keep pace next to me, Connie look perfectly at home in the saddle, not even holding the reins. She smiles at me and encourages me to test out the controls. I pull the reins left and then right as Simba does as I ask. We reach the other end of the corral and I turn Simba in a full circle, then pull back and we stop. Connie claps her hands.

“Well done, let's wander around a bit and just have fun.”

So we do. We walk around and around the corral, me getting more and more comfortable in the saddle and learning how to direct Simba so that he understands me perfectly. Trotting is the next step, the bumpy gait giving me a headache until I finally work out how to coordinate my rising with the horse so that my rise trot is more comfortable. I'm amazed at how quickly I am trotting confidently around Connie and Wanya, in the middle of the ring. Evidently, so is Connie.

“You're a fast learner. I bet that next time we can take a trail ride.”

I grin with excitement and at the same time Wanya snorts and shifts under Connie. “I bet Wanya is keen to do something interesting” I call, “Why don't you take her out, I should probably get home anyway.”

Connie nods and we leave the corral to put Simba way. As I pull his bridle off he gives me a shove with his nose before turning away. “I hope you're always that good.” I tell him before turning to carry the saddlery back to the shed.

A quick farewell to Mrs. Goodley, a change back into my uniform and I'm about to begin walking down the driveway. Connie rides up behind me and holds her hand out to me.

“Come on, I'm drop you home.”

“What, on Wanya?”

“Sure, she's done doubles before.”

So I grab Connie's hand and clamber onto the horse behind Connie. It feels different back here but with my hands on Connie's waist I'm able to balance myself well.

As we approach the gate, a car pulls up next to it and a guy jumps out, waving goodbye as it speeds away. As he turns around I get my first glimp of his emerald eyes and have to stop myself from staring. Connie urges Wanya up next to the boy who is standing and squinting up at us.

“Hey, Chad.”

That's Chad?

He nods at his sister and lowers his eyes, refusing to look at me. “This is Phoebe, she's new in the area. She lives down the road. You know, the old Cobblers place?”

“Hi.” I say shyly.

Chad grunts rudely and begins to walk down the driveway toward the house. Connie growls back at her brother. “Well, I'm sorry mister snotty pants! What did she ever do to you? Get a life!”

She sighs and turns Wanya down the road. Glancing back, I catch Chad spinning back around from looking at us. Connie shakes her head. “He's 16 and he thinks he knows everything.”

I stare silently out into the bush, trying to enjoy the scenery, but all I can see are those emerald green eyes.

***

A little bit of romance!! I couldn't resist!