Burning Desire

Chapter Thirteen

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It was late afternoon by the time I'd finished my yard chores for the day; cleaning tack, mucking out and exercising several young horses. I didn't realise I'd been putting off riding Brenna until I'd finished cleaning Milo's stall and was struck by a sudden awareness that before I could return home, I still had to exercise the troublesome mare. A sigh wove its way out of my lips at the thought, especially considering how our hack had resulted yesterday. But I couldn't put it off any longer.

I groomed the liver chestnut KWPN and tacked her up swiftly, still trying to radiate a low energy so as not to provoke the mare. She was still like a gun ready to be fired at any second, feeding off my attitude as if it were the trigger. Maintaining a calm, almost bored manner around the mare was key to getting her to do the same.

I lead her to the indoor arena which I'd requested beforehand to be vacant; I didn't want to provide the mare with any distractions or the chance to lash out at another horse. I lunged her for ten minutes before mounting; encouraging her to stretch her muscles and work in a relaxed, long and low frame. Then, I slipped onto her back as quietly as possible.

I walked the mare around on the outside track for a few rounds of the school, slowly feeding her the reins until she reached into the contact. The mare was exceptionally relaxed for once and without the usual tension that restricted her, the smoothness and freedom of her movement was revealed fully. I liked the way she felt; she was a forward-thinker with smooth movements that made it easy to go with her.

But Brenna's tendency to overreact to any pressure on her mouth would prevent us from progressing any further. So far, I'd made an effort to be extra soft and forgiving with my hands in the hope that she would soon realise that I wouldn't tug at her mouth like previous riders had, giving her a reason to trust me. But the reins were still a fundamental measure to communicate with the horse, and if we couldn't establish a firm contact without frightening her there was no hope.

I halted the mare in the centre of the arena and completely dropped the reins. Brenna lowered her head and her eyes hooded over, in a state of such tranquillity that she appeared ready to fall asleep.

"It always has to be complete extremes with you, doesn't it?" I chuckled under my breath.

Slowly, so as not to startle the mare, I took hold of the inside rein and barely touched the outside rein to pull Brenna's head around to the inside. The mare snorted and began to walk, resisting the contact. Though she bended around my inside leg nicely and her hind-quarters were engaged beneath her, it wasn't what I was aiming to achieve. I kept hold of the inside rein, consistently but quietly, but didn't put any leg pressure on.

Brenna continued to spin around for a few minutes until she realised that I wasn't going to drop the pressure on the inside rein. She grinded to a halt, her head angled towards the inside, and I felt her soften slightly in response to my hand pressure. As soon as I felt her thaw, I released the rein instantly.

This exercise was a good way to teach a horse to flex at the poll and give to pressure, two things Brenna was struggling with. I took hold of the inside rein again and Brenna twisted her nose towards the inside, although this time she neglected the walk. When I released the pressure, she instantly withdrew her head. It took a few attempts, but eventually the mare held her head towards the inside even after I'd dropped the rein contact. I repeated the exercise on the other rein before sneaking her a polo to reward her.

I nudged the mare into a walk around the outside track and she bounded forward at a lively pace, glad to be moving at last. I tugged at the reins slightly to steady her and she snorted in displeasure, but to my delight she did not overreact and take off in fright.