Chapter 8 Misgiving

"I'm not too sure I like this idea." Kjelle was on the horse, tipping and already losing her balance. Her hand gripped the small nub at the front to center herself and her knees pinched together at the centre. She looked at her mother, unsure if this was a good idea after all. Kjelle had forgotten she had to learn about riding before she could actually ride.

"You'll be fine, kid. Now stop slouching, and take the reins." Sully lightly slapped her legs. "Stop pinching!"

"Sorry ma'am." Kjelle nervously loosened her body and gripped the reigns.

"Alright, go around, and walk. If you're as hopeless as I say you are then we're going to have to start slow." Sully, after adjusting Kjelle's hands. "Now nudge her on."

Kjelle looked ahead and gently kicked the horse. The mare glanced back at her and started to walk. It felt impossible that this was happening. Whenever her mother had gotten her on the horse during her childhood the mare would instantly throw her off. Kjelle had come to the conclusion that horses generally didn't like her.

But now that she was actually riding she felt a sense of achievement, but it still made her nervous. Was she doing as well as she thought she was?

The mare tossed her head. Kjelle pulled back and straightened the horse. She could imagine all the things she was doing wrong right now and the thought made her nervous. She was critiqued hard on her riding because her mother was such a natural. She gripped hard on the reins, determined to do well.

The horse pulled again and glanced back at her.

"Good girl." Kjelle mumbled petting the horse before pulling the reins again. She was going to do well, she convinced herself. She was going to impress her mother.

"Stop pinching your knees!" She heard her mother yell and just as she looked over the horse reared up and threw her off.

Kjelle yelped, landing on the hard dirt floor. She crawled over to safety as the mare walked off, tossing her head.

"Are you alright?" Sully strode towards the horse and looked at her. "Hey kid, you alright?"

"Fine, ma'am." She said. "I thought I was doing so well."

"You started pinching your knees again. On top of that you were yanking on the reins too hard. She didn't like it." Sully patted the horse's neck. Kjelle stood up and dusted herself off.

"I guess I have some work to do." Kjelle frowned. Her mother patted her shoulders.

"Hey, don't worry," Sully chuckled and offered her hand. "We're not all experts the first time."

Kjelle smiled and took her mother's hand. Sully pulled her up easily and then took in a deep breath. "It seems we have some work cut out for us. Now, get back on her."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Kjelle mumbled again, but Sully was already dragging her back towards the mare.

Author's Notes

I always thought Sully would be a tough but fair mom :) kind of like my own ha ha haaaa...

Big thanks to my floormate for reading this again, this would not be possible without her, or YOU for that matter :) so thanks for reading!

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