Taming Grey

Chapter 21-early morning

One month. 15 days. Hours of training, frustrations, and pain. Today I will ride Grey. All my hard work over these past weeks all comes down to today. Hopefully, it will all pay off.

I'm up before dawn and quickly grab something from the kitchen. The barn is silent with all the horses out in pastures and paddocks. No one is working which makes the place seem empty. I make my way to the tack room to grab Grey's halter and lead. As well as a small cup of grain and a few brushes. .

Grey's sleeping form can be spotted under the run-in shed. I move towards her and gently put on her halter, then offer her a treat. Lazily, she takes it from my hand. I feel guilty for a moment for waking her up at such an ungodly hour.

I lead her to the fence and loosely tie her. I pour her grain in her feed bucket and let her eat as I brush her. Brushing all the grime off her coat my thoughts drift away. The nervous butterflies take flight in my stomach. I was worried I would have a repeat of last time. When she finishes eating I move her to the round pen, then jog to the barn to grab her tack.

Carefully, I saddled Grey up looking for signs she may freak out. When she showed no such signs I continued. I sent her out to the edge of the round pen and asked for a trot, immediatly she obliged. She held her head high, and flicked her ears back and forth listening. With the sun barely peeking over the horizon she looked like a ghost. Her man and tail flow out behind her, and I felt my heart strings pull at how much she means to me.

I ask Grey to lope, then trot, before I switch sides and repeat. I bring her in to me. I lead her to the edge of the round pen and pick her bridle up from where I tossed it. Cautiously, I take her halter off and replace it with the bridle. I go slow to make sure to not overwhelm her. I lead her back to the center. From here I flap her stirrups getting her used to them again.

Now I flex her head and prepare to mount. Taking in a deep breath I hop up but do not swing my leg over. She licks her lips as I scratch her neck. Then slowly I slide my leg over, but I don't release her head yet. I wiggle the saddle a little and she tenses before she relaxes again. I allow the reins to slip through my fingers and she un flexes her neck. There was no sudden bursts; she stood there a little tense but defiantly way calmer then last time.

"Walk on." I squeeze a little with my legs and she hesitantly starts walking. I lay my hand on her neck with the reins, which are slack. She follows the outer edge of the round pen. She walks a few laps before I decide to see if I can switch directions.

Lightly, I lean the outside rein against her neck and slightly pull the inside rein. She doesn't get it and keeps walking. I use a little leg pressure to encourage what I want. I make sure I turn my head and open my hip. Hesitantly, she turns. It's slow but I'm proud. As soon as we complete the turn I drop all the pressure and reins, and give her a good scratching on the neck.

"Good girl! Good job!" I praise.

I don't ask for anything faster than a walk. I learned last time to go slow and take my time to insure that everything goes well. And if it wasn't for Isaak's help by showing me new ways to connect with her I don't think this ride would've been any better than the last. I mentally thank him.

I only ride her for a another 10 minutes because I really don't want to over do it. When I'm done I flex her head again and get off. I let the reins go and give her yet another good scratching. I'm am so proud and excited.

I lead her to barn after I replace her bridle with her halter. I clip her into the cross ties and untack her. Then, I run a few brushes over her before I lead her back out to her paddock.

She walks to her water and she takes a few long gulps before walking to her shed. She receives a flake of hay then I walk to the barn. I climb the stairs into the loft and lay down on one of the bales. The sun is half out now. Birds are beginning to wake up and I bet the stable hands are about to wake to get ready for a day of work.

I lay here and listen to the sounds of the early morning.

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An: I think is my favorite chapter yet. What do you think?

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