River would ride Hope, because he’d been on a horse before. She was really tall and wide, but calm. Theo had been training her for over a month and gotten pretty far. Truce, her brother, was getting there, too, but Theo said he responded better to groundwork, whatever that meant.
Time jumped forward, and suddenly it was time to mount the horses. Theo had given us helmets, even though he rarely wore one himself.
“It’s for safety’s sake. Do you want a back protector?” he asked, raising a brow.
“What’s that?” I wanted a suit of armor, please.
“It looks like the bulletproof vests cops wear. I have one you can use if you want it?”
I thought about how unwieldy one of those probably was for a beginner and shook my head. “No, I think I’m fine with the helmet.”
There was a mounting block in the corner of the arena, so we went there. Even with it, River had to work to get on Hope’s saddle. When he got there, he laughed with delight.
“I’m so high up! Also, I don’t think my hips have been stretched this much in a while.”
Lake cackled, and it took me a second to realize where his mind had gone.
When it was my turn, Theo held Salem still while I clambered on top of the poor gelding. He flicked his ears back a couple of times, then seemed to decide I was okay, and finally just…stood there.
Theo helped me adjust the stirrups while Lake helped River, and soon enough we were ready. Ish. Yeah. I would probably never be ready for something like this.
“Okay, let’s lead them around for a bit so they can get their bearings,” Theo told Lake, and both of them clipped lead ropes somewhere on the horses’ head gear.
And then we jerked into motion.
A squeak like I’d never made before fell out from my mouth, and I blushed. It was jarring, being moved like this by a massive animal underneath me.
“You okay?” Theo asked, grinning a little.
“Yeah,” I replied, realizing that I really was fine. “As long as I can concentrate on being up here and not having to steer, I think I’m fine for now.”
“Good. Let me know if anything changes. We’ll take it slow for a while; we might trot for a bit at some point, but not until you’ve figured out how to sit there comfortably.”
“Any tips?”
Theo kept walking next to Salem’s head and tilted his own. “Relax as much as you can. You’re in a western saddle so keep your feet the way I showed you in the stirrups. What I think helps the most is if you just let the horse’s movement move your hips.”
“Relax the hips, got it.” I nodded determinedly.
Lake, Hope, and River were walking ahead of us at a sedate pace, but they were still faster because Hope was so much bigger than Salem. It tickled my funny bone for some reason, and I chuckled at the sight.
River heard me and turned his head to look back. “What’s so funny?”
“You’re going faster.”
“Oh, yeah, we are!” He laughed with delight and then turned back.
After a while, Theo asked us if we wanted to trot.
“Yeah, I want to try,” River said immediately. “I’m guessing it’ll be different with her being so big, though?”
“It’s interesting for sure,” Lake replied. “Canter is my favorite on her, because she’s like a giant rocking horse.”
That sounded terrifying to me.
“So, you about ready to trot?” Theo made sure I saw his grip on the lead rope. “I’ll be right here and I can stop him as soon as you say if you feel like you’re falling.”
I took in a deep breath, pushed my mom’s fears out of my head, and nodded. “Let’s do this.”
