Kallichore, I have so many treats, of all kinds!

I hopped onto Nico’s back, well practised at this point. We’d been out on a ride yesterday when we’d seen the cutest palomino mare, slightly away from the rest of the herd, and Nico seemed to have fallen in love. And who was I to deny Nico anything?

I’d spent the night last night weaving some bell ribbons and checking that everything I’d need for the day was secure in my bag. I’d managed to get a good night’s rest, and so the sun hadn’t quite risen by the time I was striding over to Nico’s stall, saddle in hand. As we walked out, under the archway to the ranch, I looked up at the dawn sky, and realised that there were massive clouds threatening to roll in. I pulled Nico to a halt, thinking about whether I should postpone this for a day that didn’t threaten rain. As I thought, Nico nickered softly and pulled the reins forward. I laughed.

‘Okay buddy, we’ll do this today then.’ I urged him on and he happily broke into a steady trot. The air was muggy and smelled of petrichor, another indicator that a downpour was headed my way. I wrapped by coat tighter around myself as the wind picked up. We headed straight to the meadow where we’d seen the mare yesterday, but my luck simply wasn’t that good. The meadow was empty, and apparently the horses’ had had a good run around because the hoofprints pointed in every direction, leaving me not a single clue about which way to head next. The first light raindrops hit my arm and I sighed.

‘Okay Nico, trusting you here.’ I relaxed my grip on the reins and let them loosen, giving him his head entirely. He stood still, his head high in the air, ears twitching as he listened for things that were well out of my hearing range. He let out a little snort under his breath, and then walked forwards. The fact that he was walking rather than speeding told me that he wasn’t particularly sure on which direction to go either.

We walked for a few hours, the rain steadily drizzling down on us as the clouds continued to get darker and darker overhead. I pulled him to a stop in a more sheltered section of a meadow, old trees stretching out above us and keeping off the worst of the rain. There was some grass here and a little stream for Nico to have a drink. I dismounted, and sat on a fallen log next to Nico as he happily ate some grass. I pulled out my sandwiches from the bag and devoured them, wishing I’d packed something warmer to eat. At least I’d learn for next time.

I stood and stretched, packing away my rubbish and giving Nico a fuss. I was trying to gather my willpower to get back on and continue the search, when Nico’s head shot up in the air. A few seconds later, the noise became audible to me too – hooves, approaching fast. I grabbed Nico’s reins and head him steady, expecting to see another rider galloping through, but instead the golden mare swung in from the other side of the meadow and pelted past us, galloping as fast as she could.

‘Son of a…’ I exclaimed, before grabbing my bag and vaulting up onto Nico’s back. Nico was ready and broke into a gallop the second I was securely in the saddle, chasing the mare for all he was worth. He called out to her, the neigh reverberating through me, and she turned her head and neighed back, but didn’t slow for even a second. I was watching her carefully, and for a moment my brain couldn’t quite comprehend why the ground looked so weird where she was, and then I realised – the downpour had arrived and the mare had run right into it. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes as we galloped in behind her, the freezing rain hitting us like a sledgehammer and making me gasp. Nico gave a little whinny of annoyance and sped up even further, and I hunkered down in the saddle, making my centre of gravity as low as possible to help Nico not slip on the wet grass. We were catching up to the mare, slowly, and I could hear her panting breaths as she ran. I pulled one of the bell ribbons slightly out of my pocket so I’d be able to grab it easily, and debated loosening my lasso – but the ground was getting slippier by the minute and the last thing I wanted was for either of the horses to fall, so no lasso today. Luckily Nico and I were very well practiced in our trick riding, and I trusted him entirely.

I pressed my heels into his sides and he increased to his top speed, agonisingly slowly drawing closer to the mare. Her tail was whipping in the wind and the rain on her coat made her look as though she was made of metal. I grabbed the bell ribbon from my pocket as Nico caught up fully and began to veer sideways towards the mare, fully in sync with my plan. I began to lean out of the saddle, slowly, giving Nico time to adjust to the shift in weight. The mare snorted at me but didn’t move away, galloping in a straight line. Closer, closer… Now! I leaned fully across and clipped the ribbon in her mane, whooping as she kicked out at me, but Nico was already veering away and slowing down. I pulled myself upright in the saddle as the golden mare disappeared into the gloom, and hugged Nico hard.

‘Let’s go home and dry off, eh?’