# A Girl Walked into a Barn



## Bright (Aug 18, 2014)

Sounds good so far.


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## Bright (Aug 18, 2014)

I would love to see more of it


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## Kotori (Jun 18, 2012)

Glad to see someone likes my drivel! Posting this made me realize that I need to work on compartmentalizing into chapters. The flow and fast pace of the story makes it hard to separate it. 


Actually grooming the horse took longer than Liz had thought as well, because Nicole had found an itchy spot for Patch, and the girl had looked so delighted at his reactions that she didn't have the heart to stop her. Saddling up took next to no time in comparison, as she explained where the saddle should sit, and how to keep the pad from constricting the horse's shoulders. Last thing to go on was the bridle, with the horse actually lowering his head for the bit.


“Always put on a helmet before you ride.” Liz told her firmly, while handing her a helmet, and then, they were moving towards the arena. Predictably, Nicole fumbled with the clasps as she shoved the helmet on while leading the horse. “Mount up from the horse's left – just like you would leading. I'll make sure he doesn't move.” It was here that Liz could see how uncertain Nicole really was, as she showed hesitance at reaching her leg over the horse's back. Liz said nothing, patiently waiting and Nicole finally mounted, sliding on uneventfully. After adjusting the stirrups slightly, Liz sent them off to walk around the arena. Nicole was obviously tense, gripping with her knees. Liz' forehead creased slightly; this was extreme, even for a beginner. “Is this your first time riding?” Liz asked, and Nicole jumped slightly, before shaking her head “I rode at my parent's friend's house once. It didn't go well.” she tried to make it sound like nothing, but Liz could hear the tremor in her voice. “What happened?” Liz asked, and Nicole took a shaky breath. “I got bit, a couple of times. Stepped on. Almost kicked. And when I finally mounted, bucked off.” Liz grimaced slightly, before Nicole added “twelve times.” 


That took some determination, Liz thought, as she stared at the eight-year old in wonder. “I broke my arm on the last one.” she added, and Liz could barely hear her. Though she had tensed up further during her story, Nicole was now beginning to relax. Liz took a deep breath, before starting the lesson for real.


Nicole hadn't fully relaxed, even by the end, but it was a good deal better than before – she wasn't gripping with her knees, her heels were starting to drift down, and her steering was much improved. She wasn't as flighty on the ground, either. She walked straight beside the horse, if not with confidence than with determination. They made an odd sight though; 16.2 hand horse being led by a girl who barely reached the bottom of his shoulder.


“Give him a peppermint before you put him back. He's been a good boy.” Liz instructed, before going to fetch a horse. “Oh I know he has.” Nicole cooed to Patch, giving him the peppermint right after the bit left his mouth. While he happily crunched on it, she took the saddle off, noticing with a bit of surprise the lack of sweat; she had thought that he would be tired after the lesson for sure! Still, she gave him a good brushing down, and even combed out his tail and his mane, wondering how it grew to the same, uniform length all down his neck. 


Nicole jumped when Liz spoke “He looks good. You can put him back now.”. Nicole tried not to pout as she lead him back to his stall, backing him in like she had watched Liz do it, before clipping the stall guard. She turned and began walking away, before realizing she had forgotten to take the halter off. She quickly ran back and pulled the halter off, nervously looking to where Liz was. After a minute passed with no change, she relaxed slightly, and hung the halter up. 


Liz looked up from her grooming of Pickles to find Nicole watching her from the other cross-ties. “Still here?” she asked in surprise, checking her watch. Their lesson had run nearly half an hour late, and it was now a full forty-five minutes past when the lesson should have ended. Plenty of time to have gotten picked up, in other words. Nicole just shrugged self-consciously, as if it were her fault, making Liz sigh. “Well, there are books and such in the office if you want to read them, or you could clean stalls. Feel free to get some water. Bottles are in the cabinet.” Nicole nodded, before going into the office. Liz hoped her parents would arrive to pick her up soon; no way could any eight-year old have the patience to just sit around and read for long. 


The relief she felt when her parents finally showed up during Diane's lesson was nearly overwhelming. An hour and forty-five minutes late, but at least they came.


Liz nearly jumped when she saw Nicole, not having expected to see the girl curled up on the couch in the office as she was. “They haven't came yet?” she asked, not quite surprised. In the month she'd been giving bi-weekly lessons to the girl, she'd realized the parents were sporadic in their arrival times. Sometimes, they'd be only half an hour or an hour late, while others, they were as much as three hours late. This one would take the cake for longest time left though. A quick glance at her watch told her that it was nearing 5 in the afternoon, nearly four hours late. That, combined with the knowledge that she had been dropped off early, made Liz wonder what she should do in this case. She couldn't just leave her here overnight, and the girl was certainly going to get hungry soon. She removed her black Stetson cap to run a hand over her hair “Well,” she started “How about we go on a short trailride? I don't know about you, but I get bored of the arena.” Nicole perked up quickly, though she still took the time to write down what page she was on, before closing the book and carefully returning it to it's proper place on the shelf. This was the first time she had suggested something other than the normal lessons, and she was probably happy that the time she spent cleaning stalls was being counted. 


Nicole's head was on a swivel as they rode out. Liz couldn't help but grin at her reaction, though she suspected that the city girl had never been in a real forest. “If you ever want to ride out alone, I color code different sections of the trail. Yellow is walk only, blue is trot, green is canter. Orange means some sort of hazard.” Nicole nodded, though she doubted that she would be trotting alone anytime soon; she barely did that in the arena. 


Liz glanced back to see Nicole looking straight up, and glanced up as well. Squirrels were jumping right over them; a common occurrence. A gentle shake brought her attention down to Liz, who silently pointed. Following her finger, Nicole's jaw dropped as she watched a small herd of deer contently grazing, though their heads went up as they heard the horses. The horses, for their part, stayed steady and disinterested, even as the herd ran off. “Lots of deer around here. Turkey too. Makes for an interesting ride.” Liz winked at her, before nudging her mount into a trot. Patch's ears went forward, but he faithfully waited for Nicole to gather the reins and re-enforce her seat before he went into a slow trot when she cued.


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## arabbarrelracer (Jun 2, 2015)

its awesome!!! where's the rest? lol


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## Bluediamond (Oct 7, 2015)

Fun! Looking forward to more.


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