Chapter 4 #3
“Look, Aurelia. I agreed to help you, but you’re going to have to be honest with me, or else I can’t do this. This doesn’t work otherwise. I can’t teach you to ride if you won’t even touch a horse.”
Aurelia reaches up to twirl a lock of long black hair around her finger. “Fine. I’m kind of scared of them. But that’s not a problem. I’m an actor. I’ve pretended to be a lot of different people in my life. So all I need to do now is pretend I’m not afraid of horses. No big deal.”
I sigh, suddenly doubting if this is going to work at all.
We only have six weeks before the film crew descends on our ranch.
“That’s not the way it works. You can’t pretend with them.
They can read you better than any human could.
If you’re afraid, they’ll know it and they’ll take advantage of you.
Not to mention, horses are fearful on their own.
I know they look big and fearsome, but they’re prey animals.
They’re on alert all the time, so they need you to be the confident one. ”
She studies the horse through narrowed eyes. “They’re afraid? Of me?”
I laugh. “Could be. Or a leaf blowing the wrong way on a tree. A plastic bag flapping across a field. So many things can set them off. But if they trust their handler, their rider, they’ll do so much for you.”
She nods. I can tell she still doesn’t get it. But few people do if they don’t live and breathe the world of these creatures.
“I tell you what. I’ll take you down to the barn and we’ll get to know that space. We’ll groom one of the horses and see how you do. Don’t worry, I’ve got the perfect horse in mind. She’s gentle and sweet as can be.”
“Okay. We can start there.” She nods, looking a little more sure of herself, or at the very least pretending she is. Hard to tell.
We make our way to the barn. The door groans in protest as I swing it open.
I’m going to need to oil that one. Everywhere I go since I got home, there’s something else that catches my attention.
Whether it be something that needs a minor fix or a major repair, there’s lots of work to do on the place.
The warm, homey smell surrounds me, accompanied by the reassuring sounds of the place. Soft nickers and whuffles, hooves pawing at the bedding. The lights shudder to life. Most of the horses are out in their fields already, so only a few heads pop out to see who’s coming.
“Gross. Does it always smell like this?”
I laugh, turning around to see Aurelia still standing in the shadow of the door, nose wrinkled in disgust. “Sure does, Hollywood. That’s the beautiful smell of horses, leather, and hay. Might be the manure getting to you, though. Don’t worry, you get used to it.”
“Doubtful.”
“You live in LA, don’t you? Seems to me like you’ve gotten too accustomed to the smog stank. This is the good stuff. Nature at its best.” I hold out a hand. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Flash.”
She raises an eyebrow, glancing at my hand like it’s a venomous snake.
I reach up to fiddle with the brim of my hat. Right, that may have been a little presumptuous. “Sorry.”
This time I gesture for her to follow me down the concrete aisle to get to Flash’s stall.
A black face with a long white blaze running from her forehead to her muzzle pokes out over the stall door. The horse leans into my hand when I give her a good scratch on the neck.
“This is Flash. She’s a good ole girl. Won a few championships back in her day. Then had some beautiful babies.”
Aurelia takes a step back as the sound of the door latch sliding open rings through the place.
Flash dips her head to let me slide the red halter over her face.
“I’m going to bring her out, if you want to move back down the aisle a bit.”
The horse’s hooves ring out on the concrete as I lead her into the aisle, snapping a crosstie onto either side of her halter.
My student has made her way almost back to the door.
“Come on back over. Say hi.”
She eyes me suspiciously. “You sure those things are going to hold her?”
“Yes, yes, I am. Flash is an old lady. She’s not going anywhere.”
“Fine.” She advances toward us slowly, stopping when Flash reaches out her nose to sniff the stranger.
It looks like this is not going to be as easy as I thought. I walk over to Aurelia. “Just stick with me. I’ll stay close. If that helps.”
She eyes me for a moment, closes her eyes, and drags in a deep breath like she’s steeling herself for the moment. “Okay.”
I stay by her side, lifting the rope for her to go under.
“You want to approach them from the side. They can’t see that well directly ahead, so you can startle them.
Go slow.” I’m standing so close behind her, I can feel her body heat, but she doesn’t protest, so I reach an arm up past her shoulder.
“Then you can give her a pat on her neck here.” I run a hand down the horse’s soft neck. “Your turn.”
I wait to see if Aura is going to relax a little and let me teach her, or if she’s going to keep insisting she’s not scared while refusing to even touch the horse. Because if that’s the case, it’s going to be a long six weeks.