A/N sorry for the delay guys! My daughter wasn't well last week and then decided to pass her germs on to me so now I'm dying sick but I need to get these out to you guys! Thanks to all the review and follows you guys have given me it means so much. Thanks to javistg for being a brilliant beta! Anyway without further ado Chapter 2!
I show Peeta around the stables, the feed room, the office and explain which horses are okay to go into and some to leave to me and Gale.
"It's nothing to do with you or your abilities with the horses; those horses are either very nervous or aggressive and they know us, and we know how to handle them," I explain to him when I see his eyebrows furrow in question.
Once we finish the tour, I bring him into the tack room to show him our lesson schedule on the white board and the key to the tack and bridles on the other.
"All the horses used in lessons are on there, numbered 1 to 20, and the tack with the same number tag goes on that horse. Some horses need more than just the saddle and bridle and that will be beside the horse's name on the board. So, Peanut is number 6 on the list and along with the saddle and bridle, he needs a riser, it's the foam pad that goes under the saddle, and front, and over-reach boots. You just find the saddle and bridle with the number 6 tag, get a saddle pad and riser from over there, and the boots will be in the chest of drawers labelled pony. Understand?" I ask him.
He looks a bit flustered and the look he gives me says he hasn't entirely got it. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop from laughing at him.
"It's not as hard as it sounds. Either Gale or I will tell you what pony to tack up, all you have to do is find the horse's name on the board, find the corresponding tack and anything extra it may need. Now have you got it?" I explain to him.
"Yeah, I think. I'll just have a hard time remembering which horse is which," he laughs.
"It's easy, all the names are on the stable doors," I respond smirking at him. "Now grab Peanut's tack. You're going to learn how to tack and lead a pony."
As we work together tacking up, I ask him more about his riding experience. He's ridden Western, but is mostly self-taught, and the fastest he's gone is trot. That's going to be interesting when I stick him in an English saddle.
Out in the arena, he does pretty well. He can even manage to jog backwards with Peanut as if he were helping the rider.
Once we're done with showing him how to lead a pony, well, as well as we can without a rider, we take Peanut back to the stable and we untack him.
Once we have put the tack away correctly I pause for a moment, thinking of what horse to give him.
"You said you can walk, trot and canter; sorry lope, yes?" I question him.
"Well, kinda, yeah. As I've said, I was never taught, I just got on a horse and held on for dear life. The saddle horn helped me a lot," he says shyly.
"Well, unfortunately for you, the saddles we use don't have horns," I say and he blushes. "So, you will have to learn how to keep your seat without it."
I pause as I finally think of the right horse for his size, build and experience.
"Right, you grab Hunter's tack and go tack up," I tell him as I turn and grab Mockingjay's tack.
"Wait, you're not coming with me to supervise?" he squeaks at me with a panicked look on his face.
"No. If you were paying attention like you were supposed to, you'll know what to do. Meet me in the boot and hat room in 5 minutes," I call the last part over my shoulder as I walk out to go tack Jay up.
Finally alone with my own thoughts again, I think back over the last 2 hours. Peeta seemed very capable with the horses, and it was as if his presence in the barn had them at ease; even some of the more nervous horses came to their stable door to look at him when they normally hide in the back.
Actually, thinking back, his presence also calmed me: I don't usually talk that much. Or it could have just been that I'm in my element that made me speak so freely.
Once I have Jay tacked, I walk back to the office to get my own hat, and then walk down to the 'boot' room as we call it. Not all of the kids who come for lessons are from well off families who can afford to buy them new hats and boots if they decide to like horse riding, so a lot of the kinder rich families have donated some boots and undamaged helmets to us for that purpose, along with others we have bought.
Peeta is nowhere to be found in the 'boot' room so, I walk up to Hunter's stable to find Peeta struggling with the girth of the saddle. It seems that whoever's saddle is above Hunter must be one of the ponies' --as the girth is a tad too small for Hunter by about 2 inches. I snort in laughter causing Peeta to jump.
"Shit, Katniss! Don't sneak up on a horse like that," he tries to brush off his fright.
"Hunter saw me so, he wouldn't have done anything," I reply with one eyebrow raised at him. "Looks like you have the wrong girth. Go back and get another one about 3 inches longer and you'll be fine."
As he's gone, I check over Hunter's tack to see if it's fitted correctly. Once he's back, I tell him his mistakes and he amends them, then we go to get him a hat, then lead the horses into the arena.
Once there, I leave Jay standing quietly alone while I walk up to Peeta and Hunter to help him up.
"Right. The correct way to mount is use a mounting block," I start off. He blushes furiously at what I've said, confusing me. So I explain further. "Mounting from the ground will pull the saddle sideways twisting the spine, and using a block makes it less stressful on the back. But before you try mount the horse, you must remember to check your stirrups are pulled down and check your girth again to make sure the saddle won't slip too much once you put pressure in a stirrup."
I stand at Hunter's head giving him scratches as Peeta checks what I've told him to check
"You should really be holding your horse while doing this but, as it's your first time, I'll let you away with it. Now, while still standing on the ground, lengthen the nearside stirrup to what you think is an acceptable length. Once that is done, bring your horse up to the block or, if someone is holding your horse, go get the block."
He does as instructed and brings it over and after a couple attempts of placing it on the ground, once too far and then too close, I continue.
"Now, grab hold of your reins in your left hand, keeping the contact on the bit to stop the horse walking forward, or back and face his hindquarters. Put your left foot in the stirrup, and bring your right hand to rest on the cantle but on the right side."
At this point I've let go of Hunter's head and walked around to the right side of the horse to pull on the stirrup leather.
"Good. Whenever you're comfortable, hop and then swing your right leg over the saddle and land, GENTLY, on the horse's back. I'm going to be pulling on the stirrup leather here to stop the saddle twisting, and then I'll help you adjust your stirrups, so try not to kick me in the face please," I say to him because he looks like he's terrified. That gets a snort out of him and he seems to relax a little.
He takes a deep breath, swings his leg over and lands gracefully in the saddle. After adjusting his stirrups and showing him how to hold the reins, I stand back and observe him.
"Shoulders back, heels down, elbows bent and eyes where you're going, not where you've been or down. Remember, there's no neck reining in English riding. You want to turn left, lightly pull the left rein, you want go right, pull the right."
I pick up the mounting block, quickly run through the motions and mount Jay. The only reason I've brought Jay out is to show Peeta certain things if needed. I've noticed some people don't understand only a vocal instruction so, I try to give them a visual one as well.
"Now, Peeta, when you're ready, give Hunter a little squeeze and head on out to the track and show me what you can do," I call over to him.
He turns red again, his eyes shift to a darker colour, and he seems to mumble to himself as he moves out towards the fence.
Why do I have a feeling this is not going to end well??
A/N Again I want to say thank you for all the reviews, you are all so kind. And I'm sorry stjohn27 you'll have to wait until the next chapter for the lesson! I hope to have it out soon though so no panic. I'm interested to see what you guys think, though, shall the lesson go well or will there be a fall? Ooohhh let me know what you think might happen. Again thank you javistg!!!