Fury

[Fraroc]

Bet you weren't expecting this anytime soon....Well, surprise! Here it is!

Chapter Thirty-Two




Kevin woke up before anyone else in the Schaefer household. Since Karilla gave him his very own horse the day prior, he became extraordinarily excited to finally learn how to ride that horse. Despite past prejudices against people who ride horses; like his older brother, he has secretly admired horses for their beauty, grace, and intelligence and has always dreamed of riding one.




However, it seemed that other people could feel his excitement, even going as far as to break his older brother out of a deep sleep.

“Kevin…bro..….do you have ANY idea what time it is?” Mike grumbled at his brother.
“OH SH*T! I’m so, so sorry I woke you up.”
“It’s 4:45 in the f***ing morning! Go back to sleep!”
“I can’t bro…..I’m too excited.”
“I can’t believe this. About two years ago, you told me that horseback riding held absolutely ZERO interest to you, that it was SO last century, but here you are wide awake in the middle of the night because my girlfriend’s going to teach you how to ride tomorrow…”
“What can you say? People change, man. How do you explain what happened to you two years ago when you suddenly realized that you’ve been an asshole most of your 26 year existence?”
“Touche, man….touche.”




“But seriously Kevin, let’s go back to sleep before we wake up Mom and Dad. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Eventually, Kevin did as his brother asked and made his way back up into his bedroom….




Before long, the sun was shining once again. The day prior, Kevin and Mike were told by Karilla to meet her in the paddock around 1:00 in the afternoon to begin the riding lesson and sure enough, she was there waiting for the two boys with Raven saddled up. Kevin smiled in eagerness as he ran towards Raven.

“Easy there, Kevin! You’ve got a LOT to learn before you’re ready to be riding off into any sunsets!”
“Okay…learning’s good…I guess.”




“I know you’re eager to get in that saddle, but there are a lot of things that you need to know in order to get your horse to understand you and for you to stay safe while riding. The first step of learning how to ride is getting to know your horse. Like Jason once told Mike after they met for the first time, 'once you bond with an equine, you have a friend for life.' You need to let Raven know who you are, that you’re not an enemy and you’re not going to hurt her…..”
“Got it…”

Keven walked over to Raven and began petting her large head. The buckskin mare returned the favor by nuzzling him.

"Good girl....that's a nice girl...."
“I see that this step is no problem, Raven likes you already! But the trick is that you need to be more than just Raven’s rider and master. You need to be her best friend....but I see that you already have that covered...Alright then, I think we’re ready for the next step, mounting.”




“Now, the proper way to mount a horse is to mount from the left side, putting your left foot in the stirrup and throwing the right leg over, but try not to kick her on accident. She's really well trained, but just don't get in that habit. Go ahead, Try it!”

Kevin followed Karilla’s instructions carefully, but as soon as he completed the first step, he found himself plummeting back towards earth.

“Ow.”
“OH GOD!! My fault, I totally forgot to tighten Raven’s girth strap before the lesson! Sorry about that!”




After Karilla tightened the girth strap on Raven’s saddle, Kevin tried again to mount the animal to the best of his ability. He put his right foot into the stirrup and managed to mount Raven, but it gave less than satisfying results.

“Uhhhhh…Kevin…Well, you managed to get on the horse, but you’re kinda….”
“OH SH*T!! .....Oh my God..….this is embarrassing.”




Out of the shadows of the house, Mike walked out to check on Karilla and Kevin, but was greeted to a sight that he would not soon forget….

“Hey guys, I thought I’d just...…I'd......Oh my God….PFFTWWAHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!!! ”
“VERY FUNNY, ASSHOLE.”
“Oh God….I'm sorry, but that is literally the funniest thing I have ever seen! Jesus…I gotta put that on my Instagram! 'My little bro, the cowboy!' ”
“You’re taking a pic? Get a shot of THIS then.”
Kevin flipped his older brother the middle finger as he took a snapshot.




After five different tries, Kevin had finally mounted Raven in a way that Karilla feels comfortable with continuing the lesson. The next topic was making the horse move…

“Okay, so in order to make the horse walk where you want her to go, gently tap her sides with the stirrups to give her the message.”
"I think I got it.”




Kevin did as Karilla asked him to do, however instead of a little tap, Kevin violently jammed the side of the stirrup into Raven’s side, causing the mare to rear up and spring into a swift canter without warning.
“Alright… Giddyup, Raven! JESUS CHRIST!!! ”







Raven galloped around the pasture with Kevin hanging on for dear life in the saddle. For his older brother, this brought back funny memories of the very first time he ever attempted to ride a horse almost eight years ago when he was in high school. Raven then made a run for the fence by the driveway of the stable and as the buckskin mare soared over the obstacle, Kevin came crashing down off the saddle.

“Kevin! Bro, are you all right?” a concerned Mike asks him.
“Yeah….I just…That caught me a little off guard.”
“I guess I should have put some emphasis on ‘GENTLY tap her sides’, not freakin’ spur her!”
“Whoops…..sorry.”




Later that evening while Marissa and Jennifer left for home, Mike, Karilla, Jason, and Kevin remained at the stable. Inside the house, to be precise. Mike walked into the living room to see his younger brother sitting on the couch motionless, alone, and encased in his thoughts.

“Hey…Kevin…What’s up?”
“Nothing….”
“Oh come on…something’s on your mind. Spill it.”
“It’s just that….I have no f***ing clue why I don’t get it.”
“Don’t get what?”

Karilla walked into the room.

“You mean it’s not obvious enough? Horseback riding! When you started riding, you got it so easily! I mean, within a week of working at the stables, you managed to completely tame and befriend a wild and dangerous unbroken stallion that fatally attacked his previous owner! Me? I can barely mount properly and I can’t even get a horse to walk without it freaking out on me! I think I made a mistake by coming here…..I think I’m just not cut out for horseback riding.”




“Kevin, you got to remember that I came to the stables with some riding experience! Remember Jessica? My first girlfriend back in 2006? She taught me how to ride horses back in high school!”
“You were only on the back of a horse three times with her before you guys had that fight and broke up. One of those times you were buzzed and the horse spooked and you almost killed yourself.”
“……Nevertheless, she did teach me.”

Karilla spoke up.

“I think what Mike is trying to say to you is that you will get it someday. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow…Hell, it may not be next week or next month! But you WILL eventually learn how to master the art of horseback riding….I have a lot of faith in you, Kevin.”




Karilla walked over to Kevin, smiled, and gave him a friendly hug.

“Thank you Karilla, I needed to hear that someone had some sort of faith in me.”

Mike then wrapped both of his arms around his brother and his girlfriend and made it a group hug.




The next morning, Kevin drove to the stable and arrived there at least an hour before his brother did. The only two people that were already there before Kevin were Jason and Jennifer who were in the middle of a conversation….Kevin was at first against eavesdropping on their talk, but curiosity got the better of him.

“It always happens around the time when either Raven, Princess, or Dancer go into heat. Lightning goes absolutely berserk! He’s completely unmanageable when it happens! Either he refuses to leave the pasture, or he refuses to let me put a saddle on him. Hell, he’s even bolted on me when I tried to ride him one time!”
“Really? It’s weird, Fury is a stallion too and I’ve never seen him go that crazy when a mare goes into heat…”
“I’ve noticed he does get fidgety, so did Dante too for that matter, but NOT at the level that Lightning takes it. The only male horse that dosen’t act differently when it happens is Jack’s horse, Buddy because he’s a gelding.
“So....what does this mean for Lightning then?”
“I am really considering calling a veterinarian and……you know…..castrating him, so that he’s more calmer and manageable.”




Kevin was absolutely horrified by what Jason planned to do with his gorgeous pure white horse….He didn’t know all the minutiae about horses, but he knew damn well the difference between a gelding and a stallion…..and he knew what “castrating” meant….

“Holy sh*t…..Is Jason really going to do that to his own horse? He's basically going to take Lightning's manhood away! He’s going to rob something that is completely natural for an animal, the drive to reproduce! How can he be so….so cruel?!"