I Am [not] Afraid of Horses (Cody.)

[Jalen August]

Jalen sighed as she exited her car, backpack over her shoulder, the wind blowing playfully in her hair. Today was the day she tried to conquer her fear, something that didn’t seem as big with Cody by her side. She pulled her hat down lower, wondering if she was fooling anyone with the cowgirl look. High brown cowboy boots enveloped her feet, which stepped along the trail Cody had told her to meet her at. She hadn’t seen him in a while, and she couldn’t decided if her pounding heart was from seeing her lover, or from the fear of the horses he was going to teach her to ride.

A sweet, white embroidered shirt fluttered over her upper body, tight jeans on the lower body, tucked into her boots. She could embrace this look. Her blonde hair was loose and getting caught in the wind as she made her way to Cody, and the two horses he had next to him. “You sure I shouldn’t have brought body armour?” She asked her boyfriend, placing a small kiss on his jaw line. She stayed closed to Cody and kept a wary eye on both horses. They certainly looked swifter than Tank.

“I brought everything you said I should bring,” she said, smiling through her nerves. She would never even dream about doing this. She was doing it more for him than herself, but it was worth doing. Besides, she trusted him. One of the horses approached Jalen, neighing something to Cody. The blonde backed up instinctively, grabbing one of Cody’s strong forearms. “So uh, where do we begin?”

[Cody Branson]

He had had the idea of teaching Jalen to ride was a bad one. Really, he thought to himself, she was scared of the horses; why would he push her to do something she didn’t want to do? But he had pushed, and she had said yes, and now he felt kind of guilty as he loaded Summer and Troy into the trailer. Summer, a sweet-tempered and calm palomino mare, would be Jalen’s mount of the day, while Troy, his blood bay stallion, would be a great teacher for the young mare and her inexperienced rider. Cody had been training Summer to be a good teacher for younger riders, but she would be good for Jalen.

Once he had gotten there, he had unloaded the horses when the breeze brought her perfume on the breeze. He tilted his hat up and looked in her direction, smiling at her choice of wardrobe as she drew closer. She looked more and more like a cowgirl every time he saw her, except for at the family picnic. Her outfit back then…he had liked it immensely. “I won’t let you fall off, Jalen, I promise,” he greeted her in return, pulling her close when she kissed his jaw line. He pressed a kiss to her temple, enjoying her presence. He could feel her tremble against him, probably because she was nervous.

Cody looked at Troy when he neighed, drawing attention to himself. Cody chuckled and patted the stallion’s neck. “This is Troy, my horse,” Cody introduced the stallion. “He says you look very pretty.” He pointed to the palomino close by, watching them with curious eyes. “And that’s Summer, you’ll be riding her today. She’s very sweet, and she’s a student like yourself. I’m training her to be a riding horse for beginners.” When she gripped his forearm, he smiled and held her close again.

“We begin by putting your things in the saddlebags and mounting up,” he told her, taking her bag and doing just that. Summer waited patiently, reaching out to gently touch Jalen’s shoulder with her nose, bonding with the girl on the primal level with touch.

[Jalen August]

Jalen smiled, glad to see that Cody wasn’t in the business of seeing her hurt. “All of the horses seem to think that,” the blonde said, starting to wonder if Cody was just saying that’s what the horses said to make her feel more comfortable around them. She glanced at the darker horse, a shy smile passing her face. “Hi Troy,” she said, his big baseball sized eyes gleaming at her. It probably wasn’t everyday that a human greeted him. “Hi Summer,” she greeted the other horse, still clinging to Cody. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

The blonde watched Cody unpack and repack her things onto Summer, and the horse nudged her gently. “Hi,” she said hesitantly once more, trying to touch the horses nose, but ended up sort of pushing her face away instead. Summer looked a little annoyed, but she tried again, stepping a bit closer to Jalen before bumping the bottom of her jaw on top of Jalen’s head, sort of like snuggling. The girl grinned a little and reached up to pat the horses face. There, a bond had been made, and no one had gotten hurt. Yet.

Jalen jumped as Troy neighed loudly, stomping around in a small circle. He must’ve been eager to get going, and Jalen relaxed back into a smile. Summer nuzzled the blonde once more and pushed her a little again, “Easy girl,” Jalen said, stroking the horse’s neck, keeping her horse happy. Her horse, she was getting possessive already. Summer sniffed Jalen’s hair, knocking the girl’s hat over. Jay giggled, reaching down to put the hat back on her head, turning her head towards Cody. “So... Now what?”

[Cody Branson]

“Normally horses don’t take the time to gossip about humans, but it’s been a while since they’ve seen anyone besides me and my family, so any newcomer is remarked upon,” Cody replied, looking at her as she greeted the stallion. He watched as Summer made friends with the girl, which made Cody happy; because of the mare’s submissive personality, she was at the bottom of the herd pecking order, which meant she was the last to eat and play and be taken into the barn at night. Troy had become her friend, and she had risen in the ranks, since the blood bay was king of the horses, but she needed a human friend.

He was glad Jalen was getting used to the horses.

Cody tsked his tongue when Troy neighed, making the horse quiet. “Now we ride,” Cody said with a grin as he led Summer over to where he could pick Jalen up and settle her on the horse. Summer shifted her weight, trying to make the girl comfortable as Cody placed the reins in Jalen’s hand. He swiftly walked over to Troy and mounted the stallion, walking him to Summer’s side. “So you hold the reins in your dominant hand, like this,” he showed her, holding both reins in his right hand while resting his left on his thigh, “Sit up straight in the saddle but keep your hips moving, and just tug the reins left or right to turn Summer’s head.”

He demonstrated by moving Troy in front of the mare, using his hand and legs to maneuver the stallion in a circle around Jalen. “Any questions?” he asked when he stopped by her side again, looking at her with bright blue eyes.

[Jalen August]

Jalen had mixed feelings towards the horses, but it was good for the most part. The blonde gave a small nod when Cody said they would ride now, and he lifted her up onto Summer before she could protest. The fact she was even on a horse was exhilarating and fear inducing. Cody had placed the reins in her hand and was saying something, but it all went over Jalen’s head. Did he honestly believe she had heard any of that? Really, she was staring down at the horse she sat upon, studying her movements and getting used to being on top of the world.

Blinking a few times, a dumb look on her face, Jalen was looking at Cody, but not saying anything. “Dominant hand, move it to where you want the horse to go.” She reiterated, the reins in her right hand, her other hand in a tight fist. Cody looked so relaxed, he was making this easier than it seemed – at least for Jalen. “Okay, I can do this...” The blonde said, squeezing Summer’s sides with her legs. The horse took it as a cue and shot off at a fast pace, making Jay yelp and hold her hat with her left hand, holding onto the reins with her right.

“How do you stop?!” She asked Cody, fear in her eyes, but oddly, a small smile on her face.

[Cody Branson]

Cody laughed as Summer shot ahead, eager to follow her rider’s cues. He kneed Troy into pace beside the palomino, making sure that the mare wouldn’t throw off the blonde. Cody looked up when Jalen asked her question, and was surprised by the look on her face. Yes, there was fear on her face, but the smile…he had not expected that.

“You pull on the reins and say ‘whoa’ at the same time, also digging your heels into her barrel,” he told the blonde, still stunned as he reached over to show her what she needed to do. He clucked his tongue instead of saying whoa, just to tell Summer that this was an expert pulling on her reins. The palomino snorted and slowed, Troy slowing beside her. Cody chuckled softly and halted both horses, taking off his hat and running his hands through his hair before re-seating his hat, looking at Jalen.

“You okay?” he asked her, looking down to make sure she had listened to his instructions and wasn’t off balance in some way. The mare looked back at him and he looked up at her, and by the look in the mare’s eyes, he knew that Jalen had been okay.

[Jalen August]

"What the hell is a barrel?!" Jalen hollered as her horse kept going at a faster pace than she was wanting it to go. Sure, it really was only a faster than usual trot, but for the blonde, Summer may as well have been flying through the air. Jay was relieved when Cody slow down her horse, and she tried to remember how to do the same thing for next time.

"How come she did that?" Jalen asked in response to Cody asking if she was alright. Summer looked quite proud of herself for taking such good care of her rider, even though the girl was shaking a little from the adrenaline rushing through her body. Jay gulped as she sat upon her unmoving horse, her ass hurting like crazy already. She hadn't exactly gone with the movements the horse was making like Cody had instructed.

Shaking the reins a little, Jalen brought Summer to a slow walk, and Jay made extra sure not to squeeze or pull on anything too aggressively. "Become one with the horse, become one with the hose, become..." The blonde didn't really realize she was saying her mantra out loud, in front of Cody no less. But until she was comfortable with the horses being around her, which included riding one, she wasn't paying very much attention to her studly boyfriend.

[Cody Branson]

“She was trying to show off for you,” Cody explained, sending a sharp look to the mare. Summer snorted in apology and looked forward again, her head dipping low. Troy shook his head and lowered it to put it under Summer’s and lift her head back up; Cody knew the mare wasn’t happy about what had happened, but with Jalen, Cody didn’t want anything happening to her that may scare her away…or hurt her in any way.

Cody moved Troy away as Jalen tried to ride Summer on her own, repeating a little mantra that made the man smile. He kept Troy’s head at Jalen’s leg, staying behind the girl so in case anything happened. Troy rubbed his cheek again Jalen’s leg in reassurance before moving up to walk at Summer’s side. Cody’s leg brushed Jalen’s occasionally as they walked the horses, both the mare and the stallion comfortable with the pace their humans had set. The adrenaline from earlier calmed down.

Cody looked over at his girl and brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face. “Are you doing all right?” he asked again, wanting to make sure she wasn’t thinking about getting off the horse after the earlier scare and leaving.

[Jalen August]

Jalen grinned when Troy become so sweet towards Summer as she cowered under Cody's scrutinizing glare. "Aw, don't be so hard on her, it's not her fault I don't know jack about horses," the blonde said to her boyfriend, a playful grin still held fast to her face. Why is that her dream guy had to love horses anyways? Fate would certainly play things out that way for her. "I'll get the hang of this yet," Jay said, holding onto the reins carefully, a new found spunk in her tone of voice.

Reassurance came from both Cody and Troy as they came up beside Jalen. A small flush was on the blonde's face from the unusual way she was acting, but if she wanted to learn to ride a horse, she would have to focus especially hard - hopefully Cody would understand that. The pace they kept now was making Jalen look more graceful than she felt, but at least she was getting the motion right, and it wasn't uncomfortable anymore. Obviously her cowboy knew what he was doing.

Smiling into Cody's touch, her dark brown eyes met his and she couldn't help but think that they matched the sky perfectly today. "If I wasn't alright, I would've been long gone by now," she said, pushing her hat down a little more as it began to slide off. "It's really beautiful out here Cody, where exactly are we headed?" She asked, not sure if it was meant to be a surprise or not. If it was, she wouldn't mind if he sidestepped the question.

[Cody Branson]

He smiled at her when she looked at him, his hand moving to position her hat. It looked so good on her. “We’re just going to ride today, get you used to moving on a horse. Nothing special,” he answered, keeping Troy close to Summer. The horses were talking to each other in low nickers, commenting on their riders and the environment, and Cody had a feeling that once Summer was fully mature, Troy would want to breed her.

They rode down the trail, enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest around them while the horses carried them. Cody kept sneaking glances between the trail in front of them and the woman at his side, and he still couldn’t believe at how lucky he was to have her. “Jalen,” he spoke softly, looking ahead between Troy’s ears, “I’m really happy you came out today. I’m sorry if it seems like I forced you…I know you don’t like horses that much.” Pink tinted his cheeks as he apologized; he felt bad for asking her to do this when she was so scared of them in the first place.

Movement up ahead made Cody pull on the reins a little, slowing Troy and, by proxy, Summer as a mother doe and her fawn crossed the trail. Troy snorted, which made the deer look at them in curiosity.

[Jalen August]

Jalen smiled. No destination in mind: that sounded just perfect to her. “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the ride,” she said, quoting one of her favourite sayings. “However,” she said, the sun catching her eyes in just the right way that made the dark brown melt into a kind of hazel, “this day is special no matter what you say.” The blonde had said it in a challenging tone, but really she didn’t mean anything by it. She didn’t want to say any time spent with him was special, she would end up gagging after saying something so cheesy.

The girl felt really out of her element. The sounds around her were unfamiliar, and that only worsened her nerves. Maybe if she had her iPod in, she would’ve felt more at home, but the sounds around her were also beautiful, she just had to get used to them. When he spoke her name, her head turned to him softly, a nervous smile etched into her delicate face. “Don’t be sorry babe, I wanted to do this,” she said, her knuckles going white from the drip she had on the reins.

Upon seeing the deer, Jalen’s eyes lightened up some more. She held her breath and watched them stare at her. They were small, dark, speckled, and something about them put the blonde at ease. Eventually they hopped away and Jay looked to Cody. “They were cute! Just like small horses,” she said with a smile, her lips pulled up in a smile so high her teeth sparkled through. “This is great,” she said, getting used to the faster pace Summer started to take once the deer had passed.

“So why did we pack all this stuff?” Jalen asked, glancing down at the saddlebags both of their horses wore. “It seems a little cumbersome to bring it if we’re just going for a stroll.”