Mon Chéri

29

CL16:

Clara was tacking up a horse for Nova while Nova was tacking one up for me. I knew nothing so I felt a little stupid being here but I have to learn one way or another. "So Charles, do you want to ride first or do you want to watch Nova and I ride first so you can get a bit of a better understanding of how your body needs to move?" Clara asked. "I'll watch you guys first. I want to embarrass myself the least amount possible." I said. "Nothing to be embarrassed about, we all start somewhere." Nova said and I smiled. They weren't making me feel dumb for not knowing things. "Here you go, I want you to watch us while holding Lemons here." Nova said handing me the reins I think that is what they're called. "Okay." I said and grabbed the reins. "How do I pet them? Like a dog or?" I asked. She smiled and grabbed my hand putting it out flat. She moved it towards the horse's nose and it sniffed me. "See how her ears aren't pinned? She likes you." Nova said. "Now just pet her." She added and I did. I smiled as my hands brushed the hair on her face. "Alright now let's get rowdy." Clara said and jumped up on her horse. "What's that one's name?" I asked Clara gesturing to her horse. "Chance, the one Nova is on is Pickles." I chuckled at the name pickles. "Bitch this is the fucking bucking horse you got isn't it?" Nova asked. "No that's Demon." She replied. Fitting name.
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The girls warmed their horses up as they said and rode around slowly. "So why is this one a problem?" I heard Nova ask. "Ask him to canter." Clara replied. Nova made a kissing noise and the horse started to have a temper tantrum it seemed. Nova held his head close to his body and stayed in the saddle the whole time. "I am not the one!" She yelled and made him back up. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. "This is why I put you on him." Clara said. "Because I'm the one that broke the rest of your top runners?" Nova asked with a laugh. "Fuck yeah." Clara replied and laughed. "Okay, Charles watch how our hips move to stay in the saddle. Keep your back straight and your head up. Let your hips be loose in the saddle and squeeze with your legs." Nova said. They trotted around and then went into whatever a canter was, then a gallop, then a run. It was beautiful to watch. I never realized how beautiful horses were and the riders were so in sync with the horse's movements.
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An hour or so went by and they decided to take a break. Now it was my turn. They tied their horses to a post and walked over to me and Lemons. I chucked every time I thought of the name. "Okay, so you're always going to get on, on the left side. So put your left leg in the stirrup." Nova said and I did. "Now hoist yourself up and sit as softly as you can." She said and I nodded. I got up and then went right back down. I tried again and the same thing happened. "Okay, I'll leg you up." Nova said and she grabbed my right leg and pushed it over the horse when I got up. The horse moved a little and I can't say it didn't startle me because it did. "You're okay." Nova said putting her hand on my leg. I put my right foot in the stirrup and grabbed the reins. "See now you're on." She said and I smiled. "Holy shit I'm on a horse." I said and it dawned on me. I was on a fucking horse. Nova giggled and Clara laughed. "Now give him a light tap with your heels and smooch." She said and I did so. The horse started walking and I smiled. "Soft or hard mouth?" Nova asked Clara. "Soft." She replied. "Okay, so when you want her to go a different direction just pull on that side of the reins but be gentle. You don't have to yank on this horse's mouth." Nova said. "Got it." I said and walked the horse into the arena the girls were in. Nova disappeared from my side but I let it be and just walked the outer edge of the arena. I kept my hips loose and my back straight. I felt the movement my hips needed to do that they were talking about earlier, so I understand why they say loose hips. I heard hooves in the dirt behind me and I looked back to see Nova. "Hey, you came with me." I said with a smile. "Of course." She said and we rode together. "Okay, so trotting is harder to sit than a canter. But a canter is faster so what do you want?" She asked. "Easier and faster." I said and she laughed. "Make a kissing noise and say canter. He knows verbal cues." She said and I did so. "Oh oh." I said and we were going much faster than a walk. "Just relax tighten up your core look ahead and let your hips move with the horse." She said and I tried my best to relax as much as I could. The more I got used to it the more smooth it got.
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"Hell yeah. You did awesome." Nova said as she jumped off her horse. "Thank you." I replied breathless. "This is so much work holy crap." I added and they giggled. "Nova go show him what you used to do." Clara said. "Let him get off first." Nova said and she held my horse's reins while I got off. "So what did you use to do?" I asked as I tied my horse to the post hoping I did it right from watching them. "Western pleasure." She replied. "Go bitch, y'all have two more hours before you gotta go." Clara said and Nova nodded with a sigh. "Excuse me if I'm rusty." She said and got up on Clara's horse. "Pickles doesn't know Western pleasure but Chance does. He's actually Nova's old horse." Clara said. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah. When Ferrari signed her she shipped him out to me." She replied. "She was still doing it while racing?" I asked. "No. She hadn't raced in a year when they signed her, but during that year she got back into Western pleasure as a pastime." She said. "That's cool." I replied. "Alright, y'all better watch I'm only doing this once I'm fuckin tired." Nova said and we chuckled. "Hyip." She said and the horse started going. Head down and hooves moving ever so elegantly. She gained some speed and sat back while the horse did a skid-like thing to a stop. They started spinning around and went back into their pretty soft movements. I have no idea what was going on but damn it was pretty to watch. After a few more moves she stopped her horse and pulled her feet out of the stirrups. Slowly she got her feet in the right place under her and stood up on the horse's back. She then bowed toward us and sat back down. When she got to us she was nothing but smiles. "That was fun." She said. "That was beautiful Chéri."