Buttercup

The week flew by, Mary didn’t know what she was most nervous about. The evaluation or her riding lesson with Tenac. A few times during the week she had decided to tell him to forget it. But then she thought that as she had asked, she needed to follow through.

She couldn’t believe she had actually asked him. She had been thinking about asking Kopa ever since he took her riding. But at the same time, it seemed a daunting task. Even though horses fascinated her, they were big, and she felt like there was no chance they would obey her command.

Kopa had gotten her pants and a shirt that she could wear. He had told her that it was easier to learn how to ride in pants than in a dress. It felt strange to be waring them, but she put them on together with the shirt and a cloak that just went down to her knees. When Tenac knocked on the door, she was nervous but ready.

“I see Kopa got you clothes” Tenac told her, and she nodded as they started walking towards the riders base, where the lessons would take place.

“I should have mentioned it, but it didn’t occur to me that you would need new clothes. Sorry” Tenac said.

“No, it’s okay. I didn’t give you any time to prepare” Mary told him.

As they arrived at the outer parts of the city Mary saw several big buildings that were arranged to create a number of open spaces in between them.

“This is where we live and train” Tenac told her. “Over there are the living quarters, the dining hall and offices and classrooms and such” he told her and pointed at several buildings further away.

“The field in front of it is where we exercise and train” he continued. “Then there are the weaponry and inside training halls” he pointed to buildings that were only two stories high.

“The rest is stables and saddle chambers, except the big building at the end, that is our riding house.” He finished as Mary tried to take everything in. She nodded.

Everywhere she looked there were grey-clad people and most of them greeted Tenac as they were walking past them. Tenac lead her to a stable, she could hear the sound of horses and smell the distinct smell of them.

Despite being surrounded by horses her whole life, she had never handled them or been close to them, except for when Kopa had taken her for the ride.

“Before you can get up on a horse, you need to learn how to handle them from the ground” Tenac told her. “It is important that a rider creates a connection with the horse. It doesn’t need to be a deep connection or a long lasting one. But for a time, you and the horse need to cooperate” he continued, and Mary nodded.

“As you are new at this and I want you to feel comfortable when you do get to get into a saddle, we will be working with the same horse each time. That way you get to know each other.”

He was going up to a box where a small, chestnut, horse was looking out. It had a white blaze running down its muzzle. It looked at them curiously.

“This is Buttercup, she is a very friendly and kind horse” he told Mary as he rubbed his hand along the horse’s head. Mary stretched out her hand and let Buttercup smell it.

“Hello Buttercup” she said, and the horse butted her hand with its muzzle. “You really are friendly, aren’t you” Mary said and rubbed her hand at the horse’s forehead.

At this Buttercup closed her eyes and leaned her chin on the box door, letting Mary rub her forehead.

“You have found one of her weaknesses” Tenac laughed. “Good start. Today you will brush her and feed her.”

“Okay” Mary said, not sounding too confident.

“It will be fine” he told her. “We’ll start by putting a halter on her. A halter is used when we want to handle a horse that we can’t trust completely to obey us. Some riders, like myself, have their own horse that are trained to the point that we don’t need to use a halter” he explained.

Then he talked about safety around horses. What not to do, where not to stand, important things to remember and finally he showed her how to put the halter on. After managing to get it on Buttercup on the first try, Tenac made Mary take it of and put it on five more times.

Tenac told her how to lead a horse, what to think about and how to act if they got scared or acted up. He helped her lead Buttercup out of the box, and she got to lead her around the stable passages for a while.

As they tied her up in the passageway, Tenac started telling Mary why it was important to make sure the horse was clean before putting a saddle on them and after a ride. He showed Mary the different tools and how to use them and what areas on a horse that could be more sensitive than others.

It was a lot for Mary to take in, but she did her best to remember the things she was told and started brushing Buttercup. Buttercup seemed to enjoy it and leaned into Mary’s strokes. Mary laughed and scratched the horse behind her ear. As Mary got more comfortable, Tenac took a couple of steps back and leaned against the wall, watching her work.

“Tenac, don’t tell me you are abandoning Addon in favour for Buttercup” Mary heard Sinhera laughing.

“Not going to happen, but Buttercup is perfect for Mary” he responded with a smile.

“Mary?” Sinhera looked around and Mary had to take a step around Buttercup for her to be seen.

“Hi” Mary said.

“Hi there, didn’t see you” Sinhera smiled. “So, you are looking after Buttercup?”

“I am, she’s a sweetheart and has been verry patient with me” Mary told Sinhera.

“That she is” Sinhera agreed and rubbed the horse’s forehead, to Buttercups utter joy. “But maybe not the smartest or fiercest one.” At that remark Mary just shrugged, she didn’t need a fierce or smart horse.

“Mary needs a safe and stable horse” Tenac said.

“You are right, Buttercup is perfect for a beginner” Sinhera admitted.

Mary gave the horse an affectional pat on her neck and continued to brush her. Mary had already become attached to the little chestnut horse that patently let Mary care for her without making any fuss.

“Is it your first time in the stable?” Sinhera asked.

“Yes, Tenac have been showing me the place” Mary nodded.

“It’s nice to see you here, hopefully we will run in to each other more often if you start spending time here”

“I would like that” Mary smiled at her.

“So would I, and when Tenac have taught you to ride, then I will teach you to ride with a dress. Tenac may be our best rider, but he has limited experience with riding with a dress. Wouldn’t you say Tenac?” Sinhera smiled.

“You got me there. I’m not the best teacher for riding bridal style” he admitted and chuckled. Both Mary and Sinhera laughed.

“I need to get going, it was nice to see you Mary” Sinhera said.

“You too Sinhera” Mary agreed.

After finish brushing Buttercup to Tenac’s satisfaction, Mary led her into the box and Tenac took her to the storage area and showed her what to give Buttercup to eat. The horse was more than grateful as she started munching on the oatmeal, leaving the new batch of hay for later.