“Do you ride her?”
“Oh, sure, all the time.”
“Get on now! Let me see you!”
“Yeah? Well, if you want. Let me grab a halter. I’ll walk her around the ring here for you.”
Sabin runs to the barn and returns with a halter. He hops into the paddock, slips the halter over Mia’s head, and then leads her out.
I stay outside the fence, but I follow him to an area by the barn. “Now, what are you doing?”
“These are the cross ties. I just temporarily tie her up here while I brush her to get any dirt off. I love this girl, but she’s a messy one, and I got on these fancy duds to impress you.”
“Jeans and a T-shirt?”
“Whatever. I’m a sexy beast, and I don’t need Mia ruining my look. So, now, I’m gonna tack her up.” He looks at my confused face and laughs sheepishly. “Sorry, that means I’ll put on her saddle pad and saddle and then cinch her up. Tighten her saddle with the cinch,” he explains. “Then, on goes the bridle, which is the piece that goes over her ears and forehead and has the metal bit for her mouth. The reins are part of that, too.”
I have my phone out, and I’m taking tons of pictures and video while Sabin seamlessly readies Mia. I’m so impressed with what he knows how to do and how at ease he is.
“Now, off to the arena. That’s the large circular area right there.” He points next to us.
I go around the outside of the area and lean on the rails to watch him.
He leads Mia into the area and brings her closer to me. “So, you always do everything on the left. I stand on her left, mount from the left, all that.”
In one smooth move, Sabin steps a foot into the left side stirrup, grabs Mia’s mane, and pushes up, swinging his right leg over her. I see how perfectly suited he is for this. He takes her on a slow walk around the edge of the circular pen, all the while talking to her and stroking her mane. Not that I have any expertise, but Mia seems very responsive to Sabin, very tuned in to him.
He loosely holds her reins and makes a clicking sound, and she picks up her pace a bit so that they are trotting rhythmically. When he slows her down and looks as though he might stop, I call out for him to keep going. I drop my arms on the railing and rest my chin down.
I could watch him forever. This is Sabin at peace.
It seems he’s been wearing that cowboy hat all these years for a reason.
I hear footsteps scraping across the gravelly road behind me, and I tense. If that parallelogram parasite has come back for more, I’m going to beat her to a pulp. Ready to do battle, I turn.
Mercifully, it’s not her. It’s a man with brown hair and gray streaks, a thin but solid build, fitted Wranglers that hug him well, and intoxicating pale blue eyes. He’s a little Paul Newmanish, and I try not to giggle and blush when he introduces himself.
“Hi, there. I’m Pearce.” He actually tips his hat to me.
I somehow refrain from curtsying in response when I shake his hand.
“I’m Blythe. It’s very nice to meet you. You’re Sabin’s boss, right? And this is your property? It’s just beautiful here.”
“Well, thank you. And that’s right. You’re Blythe from Maine? Sabin’s talked a lot about you. Happy to have you here. You and the family are all around for a few weeks, I believe.”
“Yes, we’re renting a place in La Jolla.”
He whistles and gives me a smile. “Not too shabby. Glad it’s slow right now with work. He’ll have plenty of time to spend with you all. First time in California?”
“First time in California and first time this close to a horse,” I say.
“Well then, let’s do this right.” He waves Sabin over, and when he gets within earshot, Pearce says, “Why don’t you get your girl Blythe up on Mia?”
“Yeah? I didn’t know if that’d be all right with you.”
“Of course it’s all right with me. You know what you’re doing. You know how to be safe. And I don’t think you’d let anything happen to this young lady, would you?”
“No, sir,” Sabin says.
