Chapter 14: Blackie’s Face
“Horse riding, at its simplest form, has three parts.”
Wang Jian said from atop his maroon horse, showing her the various rein positions and postures.
Although he may seem easily distracted, when it comes to serious matters, that clumsiness is quickly washed away.
“The first is attitude. Being humble with your horse is the path to familiarizing yourself with it. The second is control, such as forward, back, and turn. The third is urging the horse. It involves charging, leaping, and sprinting. If you can master these three techniques, horse riding will become an intuitive matter. Let’s practice the first one. Get on your horse.”
Gu Nan tightly clenched Blackie’s reins. She nervously eyed the strong hooves that could cripple her in an instant.
I know I should be gentle. But with this temperamental horse, I might very well spend the rest of my life on the hospital bed!
Seeing Gu Nan's hesitation, Bai Qi smiled slightly. “Nan’er, get on and try it. I, Ghost Valley, and Little Jian are all here. This horse can’t hurt you.”
Ugh. It seems I really have to get on now.
Gu Nan smiled at her terrible luck. Patting Blackie’s head, she whispered, “Blackie, think about that grass I gave you, I’m begging you to cooperate with me now.”
“Hahaha.” With his superb senses, Ghost Valley chuckled and shook his head. This is the first time he’s seen anyone try to bribe a horse.
He patted Bai Qi’s shoulders consolingly. “Bai Qi, you need to work on your disciple’s courage.”
Bai Qi returned with a glare. “Enough of your nonsense.”
Gu Nan took Blackie’s reins and stepped onto an elevated box. Biting her teeth, she closed her eyes and jumped on the horse in one motion.
To her amazement, balancing wasn’t as difficult as expected. It felt sturdy and unmoving. Blackie was standing deliberately still, the four legs anchored to the ground, without a slight twitch.
The three onlookers felt somewhat astounded.
…
Although she’s still a bit timid, she’s quickly acclimating herself.
“Hm, next is control.” Wang Jian sat on his horse and shook the reins, slowly moving a few steps forward.
“Do as I did.”
With Blackie’s cooperation, it allowed her to finally generate enough courage to press on.
Twisting the reins in her hands, she shook it.
No response.
Unbelievably, Blackie did not budge in the slightest.
Gu Nan's forehead turned black, and she leaned forward to the horse’s ear. "Blackie, I’ll send over a couple more bundles of the freshest grass. Just leave me a bit of face.”
Blackie rolled his eyes.
Gu Nan must be the first person to train a horse by talking to it. Even Bai Qi’s stern face unveiled a slight smile.
“It’s because your posture isn’t right and handling isn’t right. From how you’re doing it, the horse wouldn’t feel a thing.”
Gu Nan adjusted her posture and sat up with a new confidence.
Pulling the reins again, she gave it another shake. “Go.”
The technique was still wrong, and Bai Qi helplessly sighed.
Wang Jian pulled the reins, ready to demonstrate again.
As she trained the last couple days, he’s been keeping a close watch on her. From this, he witnessed her visible improvements in both warfare and swordsmanship.
He would listen to the lectures between her and Bai Qi. But, even though she’s only recently started on the study of strategy, she’s always able to give a profound, witty remark. It’s ridiculous to think that she learned the Art of War in three months.
He started to think she was talented in every aspect, but now it seems that even she has some weak areas as well.
“Miss Gu, please look, the reins should be like this.” He calmly prepared to explain again.
But the next moment, he saw that the dark horse under her actually move.
“This—” Wang Jian could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Even Ghost Valley and Bai Qi felt sluggish.
Gu Nan's technique is obviously very wrong, rather it’s more like flailing the reins. Her technique hasn’t improved, but she got the horse to move?
After some thought, they decided on an explanation for this phenomenon.
Without a doubt, the reason is not that Gu Nan possesses special talents.
It is because the horse is cooperating with her.
Since she’s naturally leaning left or right, her horse can feel which direction to go.
This horse…
Could it really understand human words?
“Bai Qi, did you pick this horse?” Ghost Valley inquired.
Bai Qi mumbled back, “If I really picked it, would I be so surprised?”
Gu Nan sat up and laughed. “Ha, when I brought this horse back, I told you it was special. Since I’ve treated it so well, it naturally knows.”
Can horses attain human intelligence?
No one knows. All of the people present are all familiar with horses, and each highly values their own. Every so often, they personally scrub and clean them, but they’ve never tried to speak to them.
But they all realized that although they’ve been with their horses for a long time, their relationships are much different from that of Gu Nan and Blackie.
There is a lack of understanding. Thereby, communication is impossible.
Wang Jian frowned. He looked at Gu Nan’s dark horse and then down at his own horse. He stretched out his hand and gently patted his horse’s neck.
The horse let out a column of air, as if responding to him.
Bai Qi stepped forward and pulled down the smug Gu Nan from atop her horse.
Everyone is smart enough to know that it’s all because of her horse that she’s doing so well. If she kept having such an easy time, she’ll probably never truly learn anything.
Bai Qi gave her a chop to the head and said, “Go take my horse and use it from now on.”
“Fine.” She rubbed her head and stepped back.
Bai Qi was left glancing back at that black horse and smiling to himself.
This girl has such good luck.