Zabby
Well-Known Member
You're walking home. You just had a riding session, and it didn't go too well. Your horse rushed, refused to stop and even bucked a bit with you. You felt quite lousy in there. But that was then, now you're already calm again. It's dark where you walk, some would call it pitch black but that's not really true. The gravel road you walk on is a dark grey line on the black ground, but the air around you is more of a dark blue with a greyish tone. In houses at a distant there's yellow light, coloring the mist around them and turning to a light grey before it gets dark again. The trees on your right side is a black contrast to the lighter grey, and the air is cold and full of moisture from the fog. Your horse is walking next to you, you're not holding him. It's not necessary, despite your disagreements on the lesson, you're friends. And you have the same goal. You listen to the hoofbeat and take a deep breathe, looking up in the sky, expecting to see a moon or stars, but it's just darkness. Some bird is hooing, you guess it's an owl.Suddenly you feel an urge to run, and you do. Like a child on a summer field you let yourself fly over the ground, trusting your feet to find their way and breathing the cold air, your arms open, welcoming the night. You smile when you hear the hoofbeat change behind you, a canter. When you slow down and walk again, they change once more and you feel the warm air at your cheek from his nostrils, the siluette of his head against the air when he seems to ask gently "Why did you do that for?" Still smiling you stroke the base of his sweaty ear, inhaling his scent. He snorts at you and throws his head a little, just to softly blowing on your cheek a moment later. You follow the line of the road, watching the mist around you and again breathing the fresh air. Your feelings are impossible to describe, you're both alone and not. You have a strange sense of confidence and relaxation. The ride, walk and run havn't made you tired, just given you more energy. But it's a nice energy, letting you relax both your mind and body. A warm light ahead of you, surrounded by the black, familiar shapes of trees and bushes, tells you you're home. Your horse looks at you, as if asking "Can I go ahead?" Why not. You give him a pat on his neck and see him run. The hooves hit the ground in a four-beat, his head is high with a beautiful curve and you can imagine his nostrils flaring excitedly. Soon he's just a black shape, a flash of color coming back as he slows down outside the barn door and the light falls over him. When you enter the barn moments later, he's waiting for you, he' standing towards the door where you come rather than the stall with his food. You take the bridle off first, letting him stick his head into his stall and eat and drink while you remove his saddle and brush the dried sweat off his coat. You open the stall door and he finds his way in. A last stroke of his forehead, then you leave.
