It was a simple enough plan. Meet at the Claremont Riding Academy on West 86th Street, take a riding lesson, hit the six miles of bridle path in Central Park for an hour or so. When I met my friend Kayren up at Claremont, we were actually excited at the prospect.
It seemed incongruous with city life. An urban stable? A vertical barn? How deliciously rural I thought.
The four story stable presented a cackling gaggle of prepubescent girls donning suede chaps, riding helmets and absorbed in a diagram of jumps to set up. While they swirled us, Kayren and I absorbed the atmosphere. The aroma of horses, sweat and manure filled our nostrils. The small indoor arena tempted our stirrup-itchy feet. We were ready.
Or at least we thought. Judith, the manager had other Ideas. There was, she informed us, no class available to us. We were undaunted; we would take the horses ourselves. Judith grilled us about tacking, post trotting, and past riding history. She had a somewhat rude tone, but since the rides at Claremont are unescorted, it seemed a measure of safety. Kayren and I passed, but just barely. We were advised not to do more than walk.
After Judith paged Bella for me and Crunch for Kayren, we waited by the ramps to the upper and lower floors for our horses, watching the jumping class go through their paces. The jumps were low, but that did not lessen the power of the animals nor the deftness of the riders. They were strong and sure. They made us even more impatient to bein our ride.
As the class ended, Crunch was led up from the basement by a groom who took Kayren into the center of the arena to mount. As Bella made her tentative way down from the box stalls upstairs, I watched Kayren get up on the horse. It seemed a moment of promise. My deliverance from bipedal transport was imminent. I turned to find Bella at a dead halt on the wooden ramp. Should I go up and escort her down? Should I whistle for her? Call her? Should I stand there like a dope and wait for her to get the lead out? I made my way, indecisively, up to the mare and stroked her nose. "Hi Bella," I said.
