She was a palomino quarter horse. The lead mare of the herd, they told me. At that moment it meant nothing to me. Nellie looked just like any other horse that I have seen.

They were surprised to see a city girl like me there at the ranch. If I had been younger, it would have been understandable. But as I was an adult and had no interest in horses previously, I was a mystery to them. The reason for me being there wasn’t because I loved horses, it was because I loved someone who loved horses. My boyfriend had told me that he wanted to have a ranch later in his life. He also expressed how he wanted to marry me some day. So I was there to see if I could be around horses.

It hadn’t been the first time I had ridden, however it was only a handful of times. Nothing but mere tourist attractions. This was the big deal. My riding teacher showed me how to tack up. I watched, trying to remember all the things that were happening. As soon as my teacher finished, we went around to the pasture and I soon found myself a top of Nellie’s back. I was led back and forth in front of the fence so that I could get used to the new motions. I thought I was ready to take the reins. As soon as my teacher let go, Nellie bolted for the gate. I grasped the horn while I prayed that I wouldn’t fall off. If it hadn’t been for the pommel, I would’ve flown over Nellie’s neck as she skidded to a stop in front of the gate.

I didn’t even notice that my teacher had come running after me. I was so scared and I wanted to get off. My legs hurt and so did my rear.

“I’m so sorry, Christine,” my teacher said. I noticed that she was standing on the ground next to me.

“My legs are stiff,” I told her, trying to hint that I wanted to get down. Instead she had me walk it off, while riding on top of Nellie. My legs soon loosened and my teacher made sure to hold onto the reins for the rest of the lesson.

As soon as I arrived home from that lesson, I knew that I had a problem. I was now becoming scared of horses because of what had happened with Nellie. I didn’t want to be scared, so I thought of a way to face my fears.

I made a trip to the library and checked out every single book on horses that I could get a hold of. Both fiction and non-fiction. I then immersed myself in those books, determined not to stop reading until I was no longer scared.

I knew it was a silly way to work out my fears, but it helped more than it would have if I hadn’t read all those books. I soon learned what to expect and I found some books that I really enjoyed.* After all the reading, I thought that I was more prepared for my next lesson.

My second lesson wasn’t as good as I would have liked to say it was. In fact, the same thing happened again. Nellie ran off with me again and I felt as if I was going to fall off. Except for this time I wasn’t scared. This time I was determined to learn no matter what.

The third lesson I began to have the confidence that I had lacked. Nellie was listening to me and I didn’t let her do everything that she wanted to do. My teacher was impressed. I began to enjoy riding.

Now it’s almost been a year since I’ve started riding. My new riding teacher says that I’m now at the level where I could compete at shows if I wanted too. I’m also no longer scared of horses and I’ve learned to love them. Oh, and my boyfriend is happy too.

*The books that I liked were The Black Stallion by Walter Farley, The Phantom Stallion series by Terri Farley, and the Heartland series by Lauren Brooke. (Yes, I know they’re children’s books and that I’m an adult, but to me a good book is a good book.)