Gonyaul's Horse-riding Practice

It was later in the evening of day two of the preparations. Things were getting pretty much brought to a close and last second details were getting taken care of. Gonyaul was finding that there was not much left for him to help others with at this point. That is when he had the brilliant idea to practice horse-riding.

He retrieved the tack for the horse that he had ridden earlier in the day and carried it over to where they were tied up. His horse, which Gonyaul had given the named Amu (which was the word horse in Vaux), seemed completely disinterested in his presence despite Gonyaul's enthusiastic greeting.

"We practice to be better together." He proclaimed confidently. Amu just simply looked away.

Gonyaul went through his mental notes and recreated the equipping the tack process. He first placed the saddle blanket, pausing to admire the texture of the fabric. Then he placed the saddle itself on the back of Amu, who still was not giving him the time of day. Gonyaul wrapped the front and back cinchas into place to secure the saddle to Amu and tightened them. That got Amu's attention. The horse made a flustered sound and gave him a look like, ~~You do that again that rough and I'm going to kick you into next week.~~

"I apologize, too tight." Gonyaul bowed and fixed the straps accordingly.

Next Gonyaul attached the breast collar into place, placed the headstall over the ears, noseband over the snout, wrapped the curb strap under the mouth and connected the tie down to the breast collar. It took a while for him to get Amu to accept the bit; however, eventually they traded; a bit in the mouth for a sopping wet palm. Gonyaul inspected all the bindings and nodded in satisfaction that he had replicated everything Islana had taught him earlier. Of course he didn't remember even a third of the names she gave these items; however, at least the process was fresh in his memory.

Taking the reins, Gonyaul led Amu out into the closest field. The young man looked eager, Amu looked mildly accommodating at best. When Gonyaul attempted to mount, Amu decided it would be hilarious if he moved forward each time the rookie tried to put his foot in the stirrup. After many failed attempts Gonyaul paused to assess the situation.

"Would be easier if you hold still." Gonyaul reminded Amu.

His next attempt Gonyaul went faster. His right foot pushed down hard into the stirrup as he attempted to pull himself up and over. He had forgotten to secure the stirrup setting. The material gave way and dropped his foot a foot lower as he pushed down. Gonyaul lost his balance and grabbed the back cincha so he didn't fall. This startled Amu as it created a sudden tightening of the back cincha wrapping around the horse's lower abdomen. Amu took off.

It was a good thing Gonyaul was very flexible. His right foot was caught in the stirrup. His right hand on the carrier, his left on the back cincha; he was getting dragged into the splits across the ground. He was eventually able to get his foot free and push away. He backwards rolled into a crouch when he hit the ground, watching as Amu kept on running.

The next twenty minutes was spent chasing down Amu and getting the horse under control again.

Not to be discouraged, Gonyaul fixed the stirrup straps correctly this time and was able to get atop the horse. Success! He began casually riding at a slow walking pace. He practiced turning left and right, stopping and starting. It looked choppy at best, but he was able to manage.

Then Gonyaul got the brilliant idea to try going faster. What if he needed to on the open road. He tried giving the Amu more leg and was successful into getting Amu to engage into a trotting speed. The next thirty seconds was Gonyaul getting bobbed up and down in the saddle, not having expected that motion from the horse. Nor did Gonyaul realize how he was supposed to hold his inner thighs against the horse and raise himself up higher in the saddle so the carrier didn't smack him repeatedly in the tender regions between his legs. He quickly brought Amu to a halt and then dismounted clumsily.

He slowly and gingerly walked Amu back to where the other horses. Gonyaul then proceeded to reverse the tack off the horse. Once finished he looked Amu in the eyes and smiled.

"Thank you for practice. We did good."

Amu just looked back with an expression in the eyes that said, ~~Our definition of good is not the same.~~

Gonyaul waddled slowly away to return the gear. He was going to have to walk it off before returning to the others. He really hoped no one saw any of that.