Covet - Miles Bridgerton's story

Chapter 5 - The First Riding Lesson

"What the hell is that...? Is it a pony...?!" Geoffrey spat out when he stood waiting in the paddock and Miles finally appeared from the stables, leading a very small and furry black horse that was almost as round and broad as it was tall. The sun was blazing high in the sky since it was noon on a clear day, so they had both got rid of their jackets, but were obviously still semi-respectably dressed in waistcoats and shirts.

"This is your noble mount, Charlotte's old dressage po- horse. He is a horse! At least by a couple of inches..." Miles smirked and halted the horse in front of Geoffrey. "Geoff, meet Dewdrop. Dewey, meet Geoff." He made the introductions with a wave with his free hand that was not holding on to the reins. Geoffrey petted the animal's soft muzzle a bit warily.

"Dewdrop, could as well be 'Fairydust', or something..." He muttered in a disapproving tone.

"Come on, I could not throw you up on one of our racehorses either." Miles chuckled and glanced softly at Geoffrey. "And, as a matter of fact, I do believe his name is Dewdrop because of this white drop-formed star on his forehead..." He continued and whisked away the horse's thick fringe to show what he was talking about. "There is no chance you will fall off this lazy bastard. Also, he is a gelding, so he is nice and calm."

"A gelding...?" Geoffrey wondered.

"A castrated stallion. He has no balls." Miles explained, stroking Dewdrop's long nose, before turning towards Geoffrey with an embarrassed expression. "Oh, I am so sorry... I did not realise... I know that is only one of the many possible punishments, if you are condemned of being -"

"It's fine, I still have my balls left, thank you very much." Geoffrey snorted. "How do I get up on this thing?" He snapped annoyedly, mostly because of the fact that he was blushing, again. Miles handed the reins to Geoffrey and went to fetch a sturdy stool from the gate to the paddock, raising up small clouds of dust where he trudged in the sun-scorched sand.

"Climb up on that, put your left foot in the stirrup..." Miles began, but took a deep sigh when Geoffrey looked utterly confused. "This is a stirrup." He pointed at a metallic partly bended loop hanging from a leather strap in the saddle. "Then, throw your right leg over the horse and sit down softly on his back. Do not crash down like a bag of stones."

"Alright..." Geoffrey muttered nervously, but got up on the horse relatively well.

"See, it was not that hard! You are looking great, how do you feel?" Miles grinned and attached a long lunge line, in other words a several metres long rope, to the horse's bridle.

"Not so great..." Geoffrey sighed, but felt now grateful for the fact that the horse - which was only barely a horse - was not a single bit bigger and taller than it was.

"Have you truly never ridden a horse before?" Miles enquired, running his fingers through Dewey's fringe.

"I have, during my first year at Harrow... I fell off and gave Percy Lumley one more reason to torment me..." Geoffrey almost whispered.

"Let's not think about that now!" Miles quickly replied. "Take a couple of deep breaths for me, alright?" He said gently and looked Geoffrey encouragingly straight in the eyes from where he stood by the horse's head, which of course made it even harder for Geoffrey to calm down, but after a few very deep breaths he finally felt a bit better. "That's it." Miles smiled and stepped closer until his chest almost bumped into Geoffrey's knee. "Now, take the reins into your hands, like this... Between your little finger and ring finger." He instructed and Geoffrey found it once again very hard to concentrate on anything else when he felt Miles' warm and surprisingly soft hands on his own. "The reins need to be so short that you can feel the horse's mouth, but not so short that you keep pulling at him all the time. Also, you need to hold a firm grip on the reins, like you are holding a little bird in your fist. Not too tight so you kill it, but not too loose so it will fly away. Can you feel his mouth now?" Miles asked when he had helped Geoffrey to gather up the reins.