The stallion was trotting in circles at the far end of the field as he watched a horse being schooled in the paddock next to him. The beauty of his movements made her stop so she could savor the way his muscles rippled under the dark satin of his coat. After a long moment of admiration, Julia slipped inside the gate and started toward him across the springy grass. Darkside’s head swung around, and he whinnied shrilly before hurling himself into a series of stiff-legged bucks that brought him closer and closer to her.
“Hey, buddy, it’s me,” she called, freezing in place. Maybe she had overestimated her influence over him. She fumbled in her pocket as his big hooves pounded the turf like a boxer hitting a punching bag. “I’ve got carrots.”
He kept coming, over a thousand pounds of muscle and bone she had no way to stop. She held out the puny bit of carrot, feeling like a lunatic. “You want a treat?”
He planted his front feet and skidded to a halt inches away from her outstretched hand. After blowing out a couple of loud breaths, he lowered his head and delicately lipped the carrot off her palm.
As the adrenaline drained away, her knees nearly buckled under her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as much to hold herself up as to thank him. “I should have trusted you, shouldn’t I?” she crooned in his ear as he went through his usual exploration of her pockets. “You were just playing with me.”
Suddenly, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she buried her face in his neck, letting her weight fall against his chest and shoulder. He was so solid and warm; she felt as though his strength was being transferred to her own body, where it hummed with almost electric energy. She clung to him, soaking up the power and comfort of the huge creature.
“You let me know when you’re ready.” Sharon’s voice came from outside the fence, pitched low and calm so as not to disturb the stallion.
Julia surreptitiously dried her wet cheeks on Darkside’s coat. She unlocked her arms from him and walked around to look him in the eyes before she touched her forehead against his. “I need your help here, buddy. You have to give me the ride of my life today because I’m going to have a very important spectator. You do this for me, and I’ll be staying here to feed you carrots for the rest of your days.” She stepped back and took his head between her hands. “You got that?”
Darkside didn’t do anything as hokey as nodding his head, but she felt the understanding between them.
Between the two of them, the stallion was tacked up in record time. Sharon threw her up on his back and checked the girth and the stirrups twice. “I guess you’re good to go,” she said. “Remember what I told you about using your leg signals. And there’s no shame in grabbing a handful of mane if you need to.”
“I appreciate your letting me do this against your better judgment,” Julia said, sensing Sharon’s reluctance to let her go off on her own.
“Just take it slow.” The other woman gave Darkside a pat on the shoulder and walked back to the gate.
Julia closed her eyes for a moment, letting her weight settle deep into the saddle. Now all that power and muscle was beneath her, controlled by two slender strips of leather and the pressure of her legs. She opened her eyes and squeezed her knees lightly.
In an instant, they were in motion, the horse’s powerful strides eating up the ground as she guided him toward the rail. As he turned obediently onto the path that ran around the perimeter of the paddock, exhilaration fizzed through her veins.
She could ride.
After a couple of circuits, Sharon began calling out helpful suggestions from her perch on the paddock fence. Julia turned Darkside through figure eights and backed him up without any trouble.
“Someone trained that horse right before Earl got hold of him,” Sharon said. “You want to try a trot?”
“Don’t I have to practice posting first?” Julia knew she had to rise and fall with the horse’s gait. Her stepfather appeared to do it effortlessly, but she didn’t fool herself into thinking it was easy.
“Nah. It’ll come natural once he starts moving. Just let his motion push you up, then sit back down.”
Julia tightened the reins and gave Darkside another squeeze with her legs. Suddenly, she was bouncing all over his back, her teeth banging together with every step the horse took. His ears swiveled toward her as though asking what the heck was going on back there.
“Up. Down. Up. Down,” Sharon chanted in time with Darkside’s hoofbeats.
Julia flexed and released her knees, trying to keep up with her instructor’s voice, and then it happened. She found the rhythm. “I’m doing it. I’m posting!”