It had been a while since I’d been on a horse, but I quickly remembered how to swing myself up and find my seat. “Hey, girl,” I whispered, patting her neck. Giving a gentle nudge, we trotted forward into the morning light.
I closed my eyes, breathing in the mountain air, remembering what it was like to be out here, at one with the wilderness.
Fuck, it was gonna be really hard to leave this behind. I thought about my life in New York, how crazy it was. I was always running somewhere, always rushing off to another meeting. My nights were filled with fancy dinners and business meetings.
But out here, I could just slow down and live my life without the expectations of filling my days and nights with pointless shit. Did I really want to leave this behind? Even if I didn’t get alongwith my old man, I could still live here. I could still see my mom away from my dad. Things wouldn’t be that bad.
Susie snorted, pulling up short. I opened my eyes, looking for whatever spooked her, but there was nothing around.
“Hey, it’s okay, Susie girl. There’s nothing there.”
I nudged her forward, but she refused to move. A loud, forceful snort expelled from her nostrils as she started backing away.
“Susie—” And that’s when I saw it.
A squirrel.
“Really, girl? That thing isn’t even a quarter of the size you are. It can’t hurt you.”
She let out another sort, shaking her head as if to tell me she wasn’t moving an inch. It was clear we weren’t going anywhere as long as that squirrel was around. So, I swung down off her back and ran at the squirrel, scaring it off.
Grinning, I turned around and held my arms wide. “Problem solved, Susie Q!”
She nickered, extending her neck in thanks. Holding out my hand, I gently stroked her mane, worried she might freak out if I moved too fast. I’d never seen a horse afraid of a squirrel before.
“Alright, girl. Should we try again?”
She let out a whinny, her head bobbing up and down. That was about as close to a yes as I was going to get. Getting back in the saddle, I gently nudged her forward, taking note of every time she got spooked.
A twig snapped in the distance.She took off, galloping fast away from the sound.
I took her to the river for a drink.A fish jumped up and scared the shit out here.
“Okay,” I laughed. “Only water from the trough for you,” I said, petting her mane.
She huffed out a snort, backing away from the river as quickly as possible.
Maybe that was enough for one day. Call it a rough day. Maybe she just wasn’t in a good mood today.
“That’s okay, girl. What do you say we head back to the barn?”
She whinnied, jerking her head at me.
“We’ll have to work on this some more. You can’t be afraid of everything.”
But as I climbed on her back again, a slight breeze coasted over us, and she startled, taking a few steps back.
“Maybe you can,” I muttered. “Okay, let’s get home. I’ll give you a carrot.”
She seemed to understand that just fine, and immediately took off back to the stables. We trotted close enough to the river to enjoy the sounds, but not close enough to see any jumping fish.
We passed through some taller grass where the cattle used to graze, but that had her stopping in her tracks. I searched the ground for any signs of animals that might spook her, but there was nothing.
“Come on, girl. We’re almost home.”
She backed away, lifting her hooves high.
“Susie, would I lead you astray?”
