Page 36 of Alexis

“That sounds easy enough,” he said, nodding. It did not sound easy, but he didn’t want to let her see his fear.

“Watch me first?” she offered.

“Sure,” he said.

She approached her horse slowly and calmly, even though he knew she was excited.

Just as she described, she placed one hand where the horse’s neck met its back, her left foot in the stirrup and swung her other leg over, mounting the animal in a single, fluid movement.

“Ready to try?” she asked him as she reached down to scratch the mare’s neck.

“Yes,” he said with more enthusiasm. She made it look fun. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Approach him calmly and with confidence,” she reminded him.

He made eye contact with his horse.

It snorted at him and stamped a hoof.

“Talk to him gently, in a low voice,” Alexis suggested.

“Hey buddy,” Tiago said as calmly as he could.

The horse quieted a little, but swished its tail as if it didn’t like being condescended to.

Tiago could hardly blame it.

He slowly approached and put one hand on thewithers.

The stallion’s skin twitched under his hand, and it gave its head a shake, like it didn’t want to be touched.

“He’s just a little grumpy,” Alexis laughed. “He’ll feel better when we get moving.”

Tiago nodded and slipped his left foot into the stirrup. It wasn’t as easy as Alexis had made it look. He had to balance, and the angle was odd.

No sooner was his foot in the stirrup than the damned beast danced his back legs away, leaving Tiago to chase after him.

“Talk to him,” Alexis reminded him gently.

“Hold still,” Tiago said in a deep, calm voice. “We’re going for a walk.”

The animal snorted, but mercifully stayed put.

Tiago hopped closer and then swung himself up.

Looking around, he realized he was up pretty high, and the horse was nudging his front leg, leaving Tiago suspended with nothing keeping him on the horse but his feet in the stirrups.

“Excellent,” Alexis said. “How do you feel?”

He shrugged, not wanting to seem cowardly. Balance had never been his strong suit. But he was clearly going to need it.

“Next thing to do is get a better grip on the reins,” she said. “Look.”

He managed to wrest his slack reins up into a fair imitation of hers.

“Now put your heels down and keep them down,” she said.

He obeyed.

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