The Horse Ride

With every step the mare took, a fresh pain shot in my abdomen. I wanted to get down from the blessed horse but that would have meant walking down the rest of the lake to my hotel Carlton in Kodai which I was sure was at least 4 more kilometres away. With the pain which had almost numbed my senses I didn't know what seemed better, to continue in that excruciating trot or walk down rest of the way.

This happened when I was honeymooning in Kodai. I was on the threshold of a new life with my love-of-the-life as my life partner. Both of us had opted for a full round of the lake which was about six kilometres in all. The horsemen had warned in advance that if we were to turn back we had to do so within the first kilometre itself, or then carry all the way around the lake. The only means of transport in that particular path were horses and rented motorcycles (I could not ride a cycle forget about motor cycle).

We had decided to race each other and took off on a gallop. Within the first few minutes itself, my husband's stallion overtook us. Though my horse too showed her oomph in the beginning as if she knew of our challenge and galloped for all she was worth, but somewhere well before midway she resigned thinking it to be a lost race and broke into a trot. I cajoled, gave the customary kick with my legs, screamed, but everything fell on deaf ears. In fact she wouldn't even walk; she just fell into an agonizing trot. I rode up close to half a kilometre in that pace by when the pain had become unbearable.

My eyes began to water as much from the physical misery as the callousness and lack of care of my vowed-to-love-each-other-for-life hubby. Did it not occur to him that his newly-wed bride might be in some sort of a situation? And I am to spend the rest of my life with him tears kept streaming down as thoughts of doom took over.

It was just then that the horse came to a bend and standing on the side was my hero! I still remember his words, "I felt that something was not right and so decided to wait and check on you". We had been dating for seven years before we tied the knot, but I had not felt a deeper surge of love than what I experienced at that very moment. Seeing him that day wait around the bend was more pleasurable even than the first press of hands that the romantics swear by.

As for what happened that day, well, we took a ten-minute break till my stomach settled down, and then exchanged horses. I galloped all the way back, enjoying the feel of the wind on my face, the taut muscles of the horse responding to my commands and the joy of riding which I loved so much, while he trotted rest of the stretch and came in exactly thirty-five minutes later.

As he dismounted, I tried to search his eyes for some signs of the obvious discomfort that he must have gone through all I found was the smile which said 'I am so glad you enjoyed the ride'.