Chapter 10 #2
“I hae nae named her yet as she haes only just come intae adulthood, but she was used tae teach the children tae ride. She’s gentle and I thought she would be a good horse tae teach ye with. Ye dinnae hae tae worry about breaking her in.”
“What does that mean?” Kirsten asked.
Marcas flashed her an excited smile. “Oh, well, sometimes when ye get a wild horse it haes nae learned tae obey a master. It’s willful and stubborn, sae ye hae tae teach it tae learn.
When ye ride it, it will try its best tae fling ye from its back, and ye hae tae hold on for dear life.
Eventually, it reaches a point where it realizes ye arenae gaeing tae let gae, and it accepts ye as its master.
But ye arenae ready for that.” Kirsten was going to do something similar with Marcas.
She wondered if he knew how much he and a wild horse had in common.
She turned to her horse and examined the mare. The hide was flecked with dark spots. Her eyes were wide and dark, and as she twisted her head, the horse’s mane rippled.
“Gae on, touch her,” Marcas encouraged. “The best thing ye can be is confident. Animals respond tae strength. They can sense yer emotions, sae if ye are afraid, they become afraid as well.”
Kirsten reached out a tentative hand. Her fingers trembled slightly, but only until they met the warm flesh.
She pressed her palm flat against the horse’s body and felt the warm life flowing through it.
She could feel the deep thrum of its heartbeat and enjoyed the soft snuffling noises it made.
When Kirsten looked at the horse, a name came to mind immediately.
“Dae ye mind if I call her Skye?” she asked, turning to Marcas.
“Ye dinnae need tae ask my permission. She’s yer horse now. The lady of the clan should hae her own horse. But ye might want tae check with her first.” He nodded towards the horse. Kirsten laughed and turned her attention back to Skye.
“What dae ye think, Skye? Dae ye like the name? I think it suits ye well.” She patted the horse, and Skye whinnied in response. Kirsten giggled and decided that she would take that as an affirmation.
Marcas showed Kirsten how to fix a saddle onto the horse’s back, and then they led Skye out into one of the wide fields where sheep and cattle grazed.
There were a few other people in the distance practicing fighting while on the back of a horse, but they were on the other side of the field, so Kirsten didn’t have to worry about them.
Marcas explained the basics of how to guide and control a horse, explaining that the horse was going to obey her, but also that she had to listen to the horse as well and let her own instincts guide her.
She couldn’t make the horse do anything it didn’t want to do, so Kirsten was going to have to be mindful of the limits of the horse.
He explained that since Skye had been used to train children, she was used to the familiar tug of reins that meant different things, and that Kirsten should not have any trouble controlling her.
Marcas helped her onto the horse. He placed his hands around her waist, and Kirsten felt a flare of passion rise within her.
Marcas told her to also try and use her thighs to send the horse instructions.
She would have to use her thighs to grip the horse and ensure she didn’t fall off, and that if she did fall off, she should try and remember to roll away, just in case the horse came back and accidentally trampled her.
When Kirsten looked at the thick, heavy hooves, she swallowed her fear, hating to imagine what it might feel like to be stomped on by them.
“Take it slow and easy. Skye will take care of ye, and I’ll be right here watching in case ye get intae trouble,” he said.
Kirsten nodded and pulled on the reins, remembering the different signals that Skye responded to.
The horse had been trained well and responded immediately, starting off on a slow trot.
Kirsten experimented with guiding the horse in different directions.
The movements were shuddering and jerking, and she had to get used to balancing with the constant shift of her body; her thighs soon began to ache.
Skye was indeed a gentle soul, and it didn’t take long for Kirsten’s fear to subside.
The horse seemed to enjoy being out of the stables.
Her eyes were bright, her head pointed to the horizon.
The field was a wide-open space; Kirsten decided to let Skye have a little fun.
Skye increased her pace until she was running in a gallop.
The world blurred around Kirsten, and the wind whipped through her hair.
The thunder of hooves was the only thing she could hear.
Animals moved away as the white horse came storming across the field.
Kirsten’s heart thumped in her chest as she smiled.
She kept a tight grip on the reins and squeezed with her thighs, ensuring that she did not tumble from the horse.
The field had seemed massive, but the horse was fast and traversed the distance without much difficulty at all.
She was approaching the other side of the field in good time, and Kirsten suddenly felt a prick of panic as she caught sight of the men fighting on horseback.
She and Skye were on a collision course with the men, and they were so focused on their fighting that they didn’t see Skye hurtling towards them.
“Stop…stop!” Kirsten yelled as she pressed her thighs together and pulled back on the reins.
Her cheeks had reddened with the effort, and her palms stung as the leather bit into her hands.
Skye whinnied as she was forced to slow completely.
She stopped so abruptly that she reared back on both legs.
Kirsten felt the world lurch. It seemed as though her thoughts were going to pour out of her head as she leaned backward, and she was afraid that she was going to fall.
She closed her eyes and held on to Skye with all the strength she had, relief sweeping through her when Skye lowered her front legs and regained her equilibrium.
She paused for a moment, gathering herself.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this exhilarated.
Even though she had ridden a horse with her father and brothers before, they had never done anything like that; she wondered what other things she had missed out on.
She turned Skye around and felt a true bond with the horse.
Kirsten led Skye back across the field at a gentler pace.
She passed sheep and cattle, and Skye gracefully moved over the sloping rise and descent of hills, back towards Marcas.
This time, Kirsten spent more time looking at the beautiful landscape than she did focusing on the horse.
Looking at the world from horseback was different than looking at it in any other way.
She felt as though she was just as much a part of nature as anything else.
A calm feeling settled over her as she returned to Marcas.
“That was wonderful!” she said, as Marcas helped her down.
His hands once again curled around her waist, feeling so strong and powerful.
Desire flared inside her, sparked like a vibrant flame.
She wanted to be close with him again, to feel the heat and the lust of his body, and she couldn’t wait.
Riding Skye had roused something inside her.
It freed her soul and made her believe that anything was possible.
Returning to the stables, Kirsten thanked Skye for allowing herself to be ridden, and said that they would see a lot more of each other.
She fed Skye a treat and laughed at the tickling sensations of Skye’s tongue as the horse ate it directly out of her hand.
Then, Kirsten turned to Marcas. Fueled by a sense of liberty, she flung her arms around him and kissed him passionately.