Chapter Sixteen
I was in the paddock again just after dawn the following day with the dew still wet on the grass. Kate told me she was going to put me ‘on the bit’ and she produced a heavier bridle than the one she’d used the day before, sliding the metal bar into my mouth as she pulled it on. In trying to accommodate the bit I found myself chomping hard on the cold metal bar.
‘Basically this is the way I steer when I’m riding you,’ she explained. ‘As you see the reins are attached to the bridle and you feel my orders in your mouth, whether I want you to veer left or right. I shouldn’t have to give you any verbal commands. You will become sensitive to the slightest tug on the reins.’
She mounted me and began walking me round the paddock with loose reins so that I became accustomed to ha
