“Don’t worry, Patience will take good care of you.” He strolled over to Luna, placed his hands on her knees, and smiled up at her. “And I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you. Okay?”
“I believe you.” There wasn’t a second of hesitation in her voice.
“Good.” He slid his hands from her knees. “Go ahead and climb down on this side of the fence.” He stepped back to give her room to make her way down into the paddock. “Okay, you’re going to grab the saddle horn with your left hand”—he demonstrated with his hand—“and wedge your left foot into this stirrup.” He tapped the stirrup. “Then you’ll hop up and swing your other leg over the saddle.” He noticed her looking at the height of the horse with concern. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right here if you need help.”
“Okay, here’s goes nothin’.” Boone held the horse steady while she followed his instructions, lifted herself up, and plopped her perfect butt onto the saddle. “I did it!” She shifted her backside a bit and kept hold of the saddle horn.
“You sure did.” He’d never seen this side of her, the relaxed, fun-loving side.
Patience cranked her neck around to side-eye Luna. She gave her head a good shake, causing her tack to clink and rattle.
Sassy started fidgeting with excitement at the prospect of a ride.
“Hold on to the saddle horn while I lead the horses out.” He didn’t really need to tell her that, since she’d had an iron grip on it from the moment she dropped onto the saddle.
Boone strolled over to open the gate, returned and grabbed the reins for both horses, then led them out of the paddock.
“These are the reins.” He handed them up to her. “Think of them as the steering wheel. You pull the right one, she’ll turn right. Left one, she’ll go to the left. Pull toward you, and she’ll stop.”
She wrapped her fingers tightly around them.
“Relax your hold a bit.” Her hold was so tight, her knuckles were white. “All it takes is the slightest tug to make her turn. Other than that, Patience will do all the work for you.”
One at a time, she released the leather straps, wiped her hands down the front of her thighs, then picked up the reins and held them loosely.
The horse picked that moment to shift her weight.
Luna’s eyes widened, her entire body visibly stiffened, and she grabbed the saddle horn with both hands.
“It’s okay.” He laid his hand on her knee and looked up at her. “She’s just shifting her weight and getting used to you being up there.”
“Oh, of course.” She rolled her eyes. “Duh, that makes sense.”
He held Sassy’s reins, stepped into the stirrup and threw his leg over her back. He wedged his right boot into the other stirrup, and his saddle creaked when he settled onto the soft leather. It was well broken-in and as comfortable as a saddle could get.
“Now, to get her to move, give her a light tap in the side with your heels. Like this.” He demonstrated with Sassy, who starting walking. He stopped and twisted at the waist to look back at her. “Give it a try. And remember, just a light tap is all it’ll take.”
Her chest rose and fell as she let loose a deep breath before doing as instructed. Patience slowly started moving toward Boone, and Luna’s reaction was priceless.
“Oh, my gosh!” Her eyes lit up, and her smile beamed like sunshine cutting through clouds. “I’m doing it! I’m riding a horse!”
“Yes, you are.” Boone chuckled at her childlike glee.
Patience automatically moved up alongside Sassy, and they started loping across the barnyard toward the large field. Once there, he spent a few minutes giving Luna some more basic instructions and reassured her that she could trust that Patience wouldn’t do anything crazy.
“We’ll head to that big pasture over there.” Boone would show her a few more things, and he was confident she’d have a great time. “You ready?”
“Ready.” She nodded.
He gave a light tap of his heel to Sassy’s side, and Patience automatically followed her to the large pasture. He kept their pace nice and steady, not too fast, and made sure to keep an eye on Luna, just in case she got nervous or scared. Though, from the joyful look of wonder on her face and the way she was comfortable enough to lean forward and brush her hand down Patience’s neck, she appeared to be doing just fine.
They practiced stopping, starting, and turning in both directions. She even rode around in a big circle a few times. She was afast learner, figuring out her center of gravity early on, and was a natural when it came time to transitioning from a trot to a canter.
“You sure you’ve only ridden that one time?” he asked.
“Trust me, I’m sure.” Her grip on the reins was relaxed, and her shoulders had visibly softened. “Patience makes it easy.”
“Okay, let’s ride.” He moved across the large pasture to where their actual ride would begin.
