The Black Horse - a star stable story

Chapter 2

I walked into the stables the next morning dressed in riding gear and carrying tack. I walked up to the black horse's stall and looked in. He still looked just a nervous as yesterday. I open the door and the horse turned to look at me. I held out a carrot for him since he was so nervous. He ate the carrot and I clipped the lead rope on as he was eating. I tied him to the stall door so he wouldn't walk away while I groomed him. He was alright while I groomed him if anything it actually made him calmer. It was when I picked up the saddle that there was a problem. He reared and started panicking in the stall and I dropped the saddle and raced in there to calm him down however he was fine right when the saddle hit the floor. I held up the bridle experimentally to see no reaction. This is so stupid I thought putting the bridle on the saddle still on the ground. I walked outside up to a mounting a block. This is really dumb I thought again getting on the horse bareback. He reared the instant I touched his back but I had been expecting this kind of reaction and was ready for it. I barely managed to stay on as he reared and bucked for a good five minutes before finally deciding it wasn't going to work. Instead of taking off though to my amazement he just stood there. I let him stand for a minute before asking for walk. He picked up a canter instead but I managed to get him into the arena. Nina was down there already trying to get her horse to trot but every time she asked he bucked. As I watched she finally got him to trot but he only went a few steps before stopping. My horse was now standing still again and Nina walked up to me. "Your riding him bareback!?" she said sounding kind of nervous. "He panicked when he saw the saddle" I explained "so against my better judgement I decided to try" "Well let's hope it works!" she replied going back across the ring and trying to trot the other way. It took about ten minutes but I finally got my horse to walk instead of canter. I found he acted less nervous if I gave him enough control of his head to look around at his surroundings. I didn't do much, just work on halt and walk transitions and that seemed enough for him. By the end of my ride he seemed way less nervous and actually started acting more friendly to me. The next three days were simple. He still wouldn't let me saddle him but started to behave very well bareback. I was confused by the whole saddle problem but happy with the progress we were making. Friday afternoon was when things started to get confusing. I was alone in the barn grooming my horse, Nina was down in the ring already. Then the horse turned and looked at me. I noticed he looked a lot more comfortable around me then before. And then to my amazement the horse said "Can I trust you?"