Chapter 442.<h4><b>Chapter 442. A Father and Some Stupid Horses: Horses are Jerks. (2/4)</b></h4>


    <span style="font-weight:400">I cautiously approached Be from the side, but she turned away and shunned me despite Dawn trying to rein her in. How pathetic is this? Rejected not once, not twice, but three times in one day by horses. I wasn’t confessing undying feelings of love or anything, but it still got me down. Am I cursed to be hated by all animals?


    <span style="font-weight:400">My shoulders slumped down dejectedly as my gaze lowered to the ground.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Haha, it seems I really am hated, huh?” I grumbled quietly to myself in low spirits.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Watch out!” Dawn called out in a panic.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A defending horse’s roar immediately followed Dawn’s warning.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I looked up, startled, my eyes opened wide and my heart leaped through my chest. I fell backward and just narrowly avoided two horse hooves kicking me directly in the face. Be’s head was lowered down to the ground as she bucked and kicked out with her hind legs toward my face. My heart beat out of control as I sat t on my ass and stared wide-eyed, aghast, in horror at my would-be murderer had it not been for Dawn’s warning just now.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Be’s hoof had only been a hair’s breadth away. I broke out into an uncontroble sweat as chills ran down my back and the image of my caved-in skull shed through my mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That was… too close forfort. Who’s really the devil here? Aren’t horses the true devilish fiends? They’re clearly vicious creatures.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As I looked up at the horse towering over me, I couldn’t help but feel small and powerless. Animals were really scary after all. If this was a domesticated one, just how formidable was a wild one?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Ran! Are you okay!” When I turned my head to the side Rosa was there. She had a worried look in her eyes as she stared at me and felt my forehead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m… okay.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Are you sure? It looked like you were hit directly in the head.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I got really lucky and it just barely missed me.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Haaaah. Thank god. I thought I was about to be a widow.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You don’t really need to worry about that, we’re not exactly married yet.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“We’re just about as good as that.” We own each other’s souls, was what the look in her eyes conveyed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sorry for worrying you. I was careless just now. I should’ve been more attentive.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It’s not your fault Ran, I don’t know what’s wrong with them today,” Dawn suddenly spoke up. She red at Be and clenched her fist tight before she continued, “Why are they acting up like this?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’ve always been bad with animals. It’s not their fault, animals just don’t like me.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“That can’t be right.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“We should just forget about horse riding today, we can do something else,” Rosa suggested.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Haaaah, yeah. It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to ride them together at this rate.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“What if I try to ride with one of you?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It’s too dangerous with how they’re acting today.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hey, don’t you have one more horse?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“We do… have one more horse. Why?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Is that one also a mare?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“No… but I wouldn’t rmend trying that one.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Why not?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“He’s a lot more aggressive and even I can’t ride him. He only lets dad ride him. He’s stubborn and the problem child of the four horses we have.“


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Can you at least let me try?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I mean… I can bring him out, but are yuh sure?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It’s honestly frustrating getting the cold shoulder by a bunch of horses.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Aren’t yuh afraid?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Of course I’m afraid.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Then why try riding an even scarier horse?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">I shrugged and responded, “So I won’t be afraid of the less scary ones. If I see a truly scary one, then I figure I won’t be afraid of these horses. I don’t like being scared of things. Right now, I’m mostly only scared because I don’t understand horses at all. If I understood them better, I’d definitely be less afraid of them. All I see when I look at a horse is something bigger than me that could easily kill me if it wanted to.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I really don’t think it’s a good idea though…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I can sign a waiver if that’s what you’re worried about.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m not worried about being sued if yuh get hurt, I’m worried that yuh will get hurt or even worse die if there’s an ident.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“If I die, then oh well, so be it. Nature got the best of me in that case and I’ll have no one to me but myself for being stubborn.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Rosa, talk some sense into him. Your boyfriend’s gone crazy from being rejected by too many horses.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hehehe, I don’t see the problem. Just let him try. If he’s got a death wish then that’s on him.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">I really don’t want to lose to horses. It was one thing to act like snobs, but to go so far as to almost kill me too? Screw you! So what if you’re bigger and stronger than me?


    <span style="font-weight:400">Being looked down upon by horses, the more I thought about it, the more ticked off I felt.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I rose to my feet more determined than ever to sessfully ride one of these horses. First I’d face an even scarier one so I could try one of these again. Try throwing me off again after I take a journey through hell and back, I dare you to try.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Devils were creatures who lived in hell. What sort of hell had these horses been through to look down on me and think of themselves as if they were superior? If I was bitten I’d bite back twice as hard.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Alright… then… I’ll go get Moonlight.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Moonlight is his name? What the hell, that doesn’t sound scary at all.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Dawn returned with Moonlight, I immediately regretted that thought. The bulging muscles on this all-ck horse were no joke. This guy oozed of testosterone. I could practically smell it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I took a deep breath in, pulled out one of my earbuds, stuck it in my left ear, and pressed the center button on the volume control to y whatever song was on my phone. I nearly burst out intoughter when I heard what yed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Counterattack Mankind. It was a soundtrack from Attack on Titan.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I didn’t shrink back when in Moonlight’s presence. If he knew I was scared of him, things would only end the same way they had with the mares.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Moonlight noticed I was staring him down, he snorted disdainfully.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You’re really sure you want to do this?” Dawn asked nervously while holding Moonlight’s reins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m sure. Either I ride him, or I die trying.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Are yuh an idiot? If it really looks dangerous, I’m dragging you away by force if I have to. I don’t want to carry the responsibility of digging a grave for you.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Haha, then I’ll be relying on you if I’m about to die.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m not gonna let it reach that point.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">I squared off with Moonlight and looked him dead in his dark brown eyes which bordered on pitch ck. They resembled my own. He had a long thick ck mane and tail. They flowed freely through the air whenever a gust of wind blew by.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I’d carefully observed the way Dawn interacted with and handled the horses every time they acted up. She always approached them calmly and confidently. She treated them as an equal. She didn’t fear them. She respected them and they respected her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Respect was earned, not given. Dawn had earned their respect. I obviously hadn’t. Though she said she was unable to ride Moonlight, it was clear Moonlight at least listened to and respected her to a certain degree.


    <span style="font-weight:400">In sync with the soundtrack sting in one ear, I took my first step forward, and I didn’t hesitate to take the second. Horses could easily see through and detect any hesitation and unease in your stride. I’d learned that lesson from my previous three failed experiences. The lowestmon denominator in each of those experiences was my internal hesitation and unease. That was conveyed to them and they rejected me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Who’d ever want to be close to someone who feels that way when they’re around you? Clearly, no one would.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Horses were intelligent, they weren’t idiots. They had their own way tomunicate.


    <span style="font-weight:400">I’d learned that by listening to them closely. The different sounds they made meant different things and I’d heard quite a few things in this short period of time. From nickering to neighing, snorting, squealing, and roaring.


    <span style="font-weight:400">They even had their own types of bodynguage. Rearing, bucking, nudging, nuzzling, resting their head on you, etc. There were a lot of subtle little things, many of which I naturally couldn’t understand with my limited knowledge of horses, but it was very easy to see their actions had intent.


    <span style="font-weight:400">When I was a few feet away, Moonlight reared, stood on its hind legs, and roared out loudly. It was far louder than the mares.