A/N: the first part of the chapter that is in JB's POV will have the correct color and gate of the horse in parenthesis after his description.
Chapter 20
Johnny's PoV
I sat on the top rail of the round pen watching Sam as she rode a grayish horse (Blue Roan Mare). I was amazed by how right she looked. If I hadn't known better I would have said that she looked like she had been in the saddle her whole life. I couldn't help but notice how much more beautiful she looked when she let hers self relax while riding. I had never seen her so relaxed even while singing. I watched as she made the horse run (Lope) around the corral. I was surprised that she didn't fall out of the saddle like I was sure I would do. She eased the horse down to what bi guess would be a jog (Trot). I watched as the horse walked a couple more circles before she pulled the horse to a stop.
"Are you ready to try?" she asked as she slid out of the saddle.
"Honey are you sure I should be on a horse?" I asked. I openly admitted to my self that I was scared of the big creature.
"Baby I swear it wont be bad. It's really easy if you just try." She said as she walked over to me. I couldn't help it. If she asked me with those sad eyes and full pouting mouth to jump off a bridge onto a highway I would have.
"Alright I'll do it for you." I said jumping down to the ground.
"Good to hear. And besides Johnny if you're considering moving back here with me then you're going to have to learn how to ride a horse and learn how to do every thing else on the ranch." She said leading her horse to the barn. I leaned against the wall and watched as she unsaddled the horse and switched the thing on its head (Bridle to Halter). She carried the stuff to a little closet like room at the end of the barn motioning for me to follow. "Alright before you ride you learn. This is called tack." She said motioning to the sets of riding equipment. "This is a bridle." She said holding up the thing she had taken off her horse's head. I nodded thankful that she wasn't trying to make me feel like an idiot. "Grab a lead rope." She said pointing at a pile of ropes with clips on the end. Your tack, which is the saddle and bridle, and a bucket from over here." She said grabbing a bucket herself. I followed her out with what felt like fifty pounds on my arms.
For the next twenty minutes Sam showed me how to groom and tack a horse before helping me walk the brown, sorry, bay horse down to the same ring that she had ridden in.
Sam's POV
I held the mare's head as Johnny mounted. I could tell that he wasn't exactly comfortable so I double-checked that every thing was right. It was.
"Johnny sit back a little in the saddle relax but keep your back straight and rest your right hand on your leg while holding the reins in your left." I instructed pushing and pulling him till he was more relaxed. "Alright now I'm going to go sit on the fence I want you to try to use your legs to make him go the pace I yell if you want him to go faster then you squeeze your legs, to go slower to put tension on the reins." I said as I walked over to the fence. I watched him. I called out different gates to him and soon even taught him a couple of simple things to do to his mount if it started acting up. after having him in the saddle for a couple of hours I helped him untack and groom his horse before we headed back to the bunkhouse.