“Holy core workout, Batman. This feels weird.”
“It takes time to get used to. Keep your muscles engaged but not tense, because Eclipse can feel everything you do up there. If you’re scared or agitated, that’s going to translate through your body language to him.”
She reached out to pat his neck. “I’m sorry I’m nervous, baby.”
“He’s a pro at lessons, so don’t stress too much.”
We walked until her posture adjusted, tension slowly dissolving out of her. It took a few loops, but all that mattered was that it happened eventually. I passed over the reins and showed her how to comfortably hold them while still maintaining control before setting off on another loop. She guided him carefully around the curve and I turned to her with a grin. “There you go. Good girl.”
She jerked the reins, her cheeks bright pink, and Eclipse halted.
Ah, fuck, that was not an appropriate thing to say. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“It’s okay, I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“I’ll try not to say it if it makes you uncomfortable. It slipped out.”
“No, I like it.” Her cheeks turned even darker pink.
“How are you feeling up there?”
“A million times better than when I started. Feels like one of those rhythms your body has stored away in a genetic vault or something.”
“Humans and horses have been partners for a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”
“Why don’t saddles come in memory foam? My butt cheeks are starting to hurt.”
I laughed. “Yeah that happens. You have to ridea lotfor that to stop.”
“Pretty sure that just kills the nerves in your ass,” Madison said with a chuckle.
“You’re probably not wrong about that. Whenever you’re ready, you can hop down if it hurts. Our only goal for today was to get you comfortable up there.”
“I’m going to practice some self-care and get off the horse. I have a client’s nest to set up later today and I need to be able to move to do that.” She angled Eclipse toward the arena boundary and paused. “Do I have to do anything special to get off?”
“Not really. Just make sure you don’t yank the reins. Do you want to use the wall to step off or slide down right now?”
She eyeballed the ground. “That’s a long way down, though.”
“I’m right here.”
Her gaze shifted from me to the wall and back again. “Okay, here’s good. I’m not always gonna have a wall. What should I do?”
“Get your other foot out of the stirrup. You’ll put your weight on this one,” I said, patting her calf, “and swing your leg over, then you can step down.”
“If I fall, I’m blaming you.”
I braced one hand on her knee while she untangled herself and when she kicked her leg over, I moved my hands to her waist to balance her weight. “I won’t let you get hurt.”
Her step down was more of a controlled fall with how tall Eclipse was compared to her, and her weight smacked against my chest.
“Motherfucker,” she squawked.
“You okay?”
“Could use longer legs, but yeah. Ow.” She bent forward to rub her inner thighs, her ass brushing against me. “This is like a spin class from hell. I don’t think I’ve ever worked some of these muscles. Are there secret layers that come into existence specifically when riding a horse?”
It took me a few seconds to formulate a response, and even longer to detach my hands from her. “Definitely seems like it in the early days. I promise it gets easier. Horses are a weird shape.”
