Glimmer had just finished her list of chores for the day when Adora walked in the barn, a halter dangling from her hand as she smiled at her.
"I was thinking I could give you your first lesson today, do you think you're ready?"
Glimmer's eyes darted around the barn as she twiddled her fingers nervously. One part of her somewhat missed riding while the other part wanted to chicken out and put it off for another day. But in the end she found herself giving in, nodding her head as Adora made her way over to her side. "I guess I'm ready." she said hesitantly as Adora handed the halter over to her.
"Perfect! I don't normally let beginners pick which horse to ride but I'll let you have your pick." the blonde said as she led the other girl down the row of stalls before stopping. "You can pick from any of these five horses. We use them all for our beginners and they're all really safe. You can try them all at some point and see which one you click with."
Glimmer tilted her head as she examined each horse before pointing at a chestnut tobiano paint mare. "I think I'll go with her." she said as the mare tossed her head in response.
"Her name is Lucky, she's an old mare, I think she's around 18 or so? She's really lazy and easy going so I think you'll like her." Adora said as she led Glimmer into her stall, shutting the gate behind them as she showed her how to halter the mare.
Glimmer found herself shaking being so close to the tall animal but found herself relaxing in Adora's prescence as the girl helped her put the halter on over her head and latched it shut. Adora clipped the lead rope on to the bottom part of the halter and handed the rope to Glimmer, opening the stall door as she motioned for her to lead her out.
Glimmer drew a deep breath in as she stepped forward, the mare hesitating at first before slowly exiting her stall, walking slowly beside her as Adora led her to where the cross ties are. She showed her how to attach the cross ties and then left to go grab some brushes.
The pink haired teen gave a weary smile to the mare as she stroked her neck gently. She still felt uneasy but the mare's prescense was somewhat soothing in a way. She wasn't pawing at the ground or whinnying like mad or rearing try to get out of the cross ties. She stood still with her head lowered as Glimmer rubbed her neck and occasionally Glimmer would feel her body tremble slightly underneath her fingertips.
It wasn't long before Adora came back, a bucket of grooming supplies in her hand as she set it down next to Glimmer. "Look at you, you're bonding with her already!" she exclaimed.
Glimmer blushed as she drew her hand away. "I wouldn't say we were bonding per say..."
"That's what you say now." Adora replied, a knowing smirk resting on her face. "Now let's teach you how to groom and tack up a horse."
/
An hour later Lucky was groomed and tacked up while Adora rummaged through an old cabinet looking for a pair of riding boots and a helmet that would fit Glimmer.
"Try these!" she called out as she tossed a pair of boots behind her while still rummaging through the helmets.
Glimmer groaned as she tried to put the boots on without losing her grip on Lucky's reins. She took one shoe off as she started trying to pull the boot on and she could feel Lucky's breath on her shoulder as the mare began sniffing her over. Glimmer jerked away and the mare pulled back, the teen almost losing her balance as she was still standing on one foot with the other hoisted high in the air as she pulled the boot up.
She managed to get the other one on and they were a perfect fit. Just as she finished Adora came walking back with an old black helmet in hand.
"This should be the right size!"
Glimmer gave her a smile as she took the helmet from her, putting it on her head as she did up the clasp under her chin. "It fits perfectly."
"Great! Are you ready to ride now?"
Glimmer looked back at the paint mare then back at Adora who was watching her with a patient smile on her face. She looked down at her trembling hands and took a shaky breath in. "I'm ready to give this a shot." she said, her fear fear clear as day in her voice as she tried to calm her nerves.
The blonde gestured for her to follow her as she led her down to the arena. "Don't worry Glimmer. Lucky is old and lazy and I won't make you do anything more then a walk today. If you want to stop at some point then just let me know and we'll stop."
The shorter girl nodded as she glanced over at the chestnut mare walking alongside her, sniffing the ground before letting out a soft snort. "I'll do my best to try and hang in there."
Adora opened the arena door and led her inside and over to the mounting block. "Just walk her up beside this mounting block, you want to get on her from the left side so make sure you have her facing the right way."
Glimmer led the mare up to the mounting block and stopped her once she was close enough. Adora walked up beside her and put the reins over the mare's head for her.
"Now you're going to put your left foot in this stirrup and grab the reins and some mane or the saddle in one hand and pull yourself up and swing your other leg over to the other side. You got it?"
"I think so." Glimmer said, taking a deep breath as she placed her foot in the stirrup. Panic began to set in as she gripped the mare's mane and her reins in her hand and before she had a chance to back out she pulled herself up onto the saddle, swinging her other foot into the right stirrup.
Adora cheered as she raised her hand for a high five. "Good job! Most people have a hard time mounting on their first try but that was perfect."
Glimmer blushed as her hand met Adoras in the high five. "Thank you, I thought I was going to fall." she admitted, laughing as she picked up the reins in her hands.
"Ok so shorten your reins a bit and give her a tiny squeeze with your legs to get her to move forward."
Glimmer adjusted her reins, squeezing her legs against the mare's side as she felt the paint mare begin to walk forwards underneath her. "Wow I'm actually doing it." she whispered to herself, trying to make her nerves go away as Lucky marched forward, her pace slow and steady as Adora instructed her on how to turn her around the corners and asked her to make her walk slightly bigger.
Glimmer had lost count of how long she'd been riding for when she heard a loud bang outside and Lucky jumped to the side, beginning to pick up a trot as Glimmer's anxiety came back full force. "Woah!" she said somewhat too forcefully as she jerked the reins back, trying not to lose her balance as she bounced in her saddle.
The mare slowed down and Glimmer could feel tears in her eyes as Adora rushed over to her side.
"Oh Glimmer I'm sorry! I know you've been scared of riding and then she spooked on you. Are you ok?"
Glimmer hesitated before nodding slightly. "I'm ok but I want to get off now."
"Ok we can cut this lesson short for today." Adora said, leading the young student into the middle of the arena as she helped her dismount. "She doesn't normally spook but I guess something must have fallen outside and scared her."
"No its ok, I get it. Horses are prey animals, they get scared a lot... I think I want to try some of those other beginner horses though. I just want to find one I feel safe with."
Adora nodded as she helped her lead the mare over to the cross ties. "For sure and I'll be there every step of the way to make you feel safe. I'm proud that you didn't fall off when she started trotting. I know you weren't expecting it but you handled the situation well."
Glimmer couldn't help but blush at her words, her cheeks flushing as she looked away. "Thank you, I really appreciate it."
/
Over the course of the next four days Glimmer went to the barn Adora let her try each of the other lesson horses for a shorter period of time at the end of the day but none of them were working for her. One was a little too spooky, one had a larger stride, one had too much attitude and wanted to do things her way and wouldn't listen to Glimmer and the other didn't want to move at all.
Glimmer let out a frustrated sigh as she stared at the black quarter horse gelding in the cross ties. She'd been trying so hard to rekindle her passion but after every ride she just felt more and more disheartened. She knew perhaps she was asking too much to have a perfectly safe lesson horse but more then anything she wanted to feel a connection like she had with Mara.
She collapsed to the floor outside one of the stalls, not caring that there was straw all over the floor, and buried her head in her knees, not bothering to look up when she heard Adora's footsteps approaching her.
"Hey what's wrong?" she heard the blonde ask. She looked over to see her sitting down beside her as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you feeling down that you haven't found the right horse yet?"
Normally Glimmer didn't mind talking to Adora, she found her extremely friendly and was really starting to like her but right now she was upset and she found herself biting out a response that was more hurtful then intended. "How do you know what I'm feeling? You're just another rich girl with her fancy show jumping horse. Just leave me alone, I never wanted to be here in the first place."
Hurt flashed in Adora's eyes as she pulled away, brushing off her breeches as she sucked in a deep breath. "I'm just going to head outside for a bit, just please groom him for me and I'll be back to help you put him in his stall."
"Adora wait!"
Adora didn't stop when Glimmer called her name and she felt a pang of regret as she stared at the gelding watching her. She tried to force herself to get up and start brushing him down but her mind kept going back to Adora.
Glimmer didn't have any friends, none whatsoever. There were people at her school who would occasionally say hi to her in the halls but that was it. Her social skills sucked and she had a hard time letting people get close to her so the fact she had started to form a bond with Adora was huge. Now she'd just gone and put a dent in it which after only knowing her for a week was not good.
She couldn't seem to make the guilt go away no matter how hard she tried and she threw the curry comb in the basket and raced outside where she found Adora sitting on a hay bale looking up at the sky. She quietly sat down next to her and noticed there were tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said. I'm just so frustrated and..."
"It's ok, I get it. It's not the fact that you snapped at me that's bothering me, its your words." Adora said quietly. "You don't know me either. I'm not a snobby rich girl like most people think I am. I was an orphan, bounced around in the foster care system for years. I started helping out here for lessons as a child and when I was 14 I got my first job to help pay for them. And Swift Wind wasn't some expensive horse. He'd been retired off the track and nobody wanted to buy him so he got sold to a killpen. He was listed on a rescue website where if someone would pay his fee from the killpen they'd buy him and give him to the buyer. Do you want to know how much he cost? 300 dollars.
"I knew when I saw him that he was meant to be mine so I bought him. I've paid for all his vet bills, his tack, his boarding, everything all by myself with no help. He's run me dry but he's my best friend." she finished, brushing tears off her cheeks as she laughed. "I'm sorry, I basically just spilled my whole life story to you. I don't even know your whole story, all your mom told me is that you're scared of horses."
"My dad... he was an olympic show jumper and when I was 5 I was watching him live at the olympics and he died in a rotational fall." Glimmer said softly as she tried to supress the memory. "For years I blamed the mare for killing him even though I know it was a freak accident."
Within seconds Glimmer felt arms wrapped around her in a hug as she felt Adora's hand running up and down her back. "I'm so sorry Glimmer. Rotational falls are horrible. They mostly happen in cross country but god that's so tragic. No wonder why you're scared."
Glimmer nodded as she rested her head against her shoulder. "Yeah." she sniffled. "I used to love horses but after that I couldn't help but see them in a different light. I want to love them again though, I really do."
Adora pulled away as she rubbed her chin with her thumb before an idea popped into her mind. "You go put Charlie away and wait inside, there's one more horse that I think will be a perfect fit for you."