By For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Nargis: single, 20 something (a woman never reveals her age), and looking to have the best time around town. My best friend is Tina who I have been stuck with since our primary days – she might be featuring in a lot of my adventures, so might as well introduce her now (plus, I know she’s dying for a shoutout). My friends and family are constantly bugging me to share my ideas and opinions – naturally who else will give such great advice? So I thought what better time to start giving back to my community than right now. Today I am going to tell you about my first time riding a horse.
I grew up hearing people around me narrate stories of their experiences of riding a horse on their trip to Bhurbun and I’d think, iss mai aisa kya hai? Is it really like a moment right out of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara? That’s when I decided I had to try this out for myself (even if it was for the vain reason of re-making some Katrina Kaif moment in my head).
It took a month for me to build up the courage to get on a horse but I finally did and let me tell you, I get it now. I admit waiting for my horse to get ready was pure agony, but good things take time. In fact I almost talked myself out of it there and then, but you know me – once I tell myself I am going to do something, I have to. From the moment I saw my horse though (Sunny), it was like love at first, magar toxic wala nahi.
It was finally time. I was moments away from ticking something off my bucket list (albeit a fairly recent addition). Before I could start riding the horse though, the stable handlers spent some time helping me with the bridle and saddle, and taught me the correct way to mount a horse. As I adjusted myself on the saddle, Sunny started to walk slowly. I sat up straight enjoying the wind touching my face. As the helper guided him around the ground, Sunny started to pick up pace. At first, I was terrified. Not of the horse, or of the possibility of falling down – I was afraid that I could hurt the horse by pulling the reins too roughly or by kicking her sides with my heels too hard. The person helping me assured me that the horses rarely feel such a thing, but it was still something I was constantly wary of.
It felt different being up there – peaceful and freeing. The air hit differently and I was looking at everything with fresh eyes. Since I was new at it, Sunny was being guided around slowly and after 15 minutes of pure bliss it was time for me to get off. After riding the horse, you’re encouraged to clean the hooves of the horse and spend some time grooming it. I obviously happily did this, even though the brush we had to use to clean the hooves was tough to use at first. Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Sunny. It was probably the hardest alvida I’ve had in a while, but I will definitely be seeing him again.
As I walked away from Sunny, my one thought was, Tina will die when she hears of this (and she did!).
P.S – The first time you have a proper ride you will feel it the next couple of days….my muscles are still sore!
What do you think?
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