The door of the saddlery was heavy to push open. It seemed to indicate from the outset that the sort of people who needed to enter were stout, (in the sense of “A stout pair of walking shoes”) and outdoorsy, the kind who were kitted out with the very best in both biceps and triceps. These were people who could carry a bale of hay under each arm whilst whistling, it seemed to announce.
Neville shoved again and found that he was up to the task of entering the shop. He was immediately enveloped in the rich aroma of leather, dubbin, saddle soap, and fly repellent with a side order of salt licks and a whiff of rubber. It was a heady combination, and it was enhanced by the unexpected arrival of a little gust of florals, in the shape of Davina. Davina’s shape was indeed divine, especially wrapped as it was in a pair of jodhpurs (staff were expected to look the part) which are well known for their ability to display the goods. Neville was prompted to make a purchase there and then, but, taking a moment to gather himself (which he hoped was not too noticeable) he said “Hello”
It was a winning opening line, but Davina was up to the challenge and responded with “Can I help you?” The answer was most definitely yes, he thought, noting that Davina’s top was equal first with the jodhpurs in terms of clinging to the underlying form. Or indeed forms.
“Yes” he affirmed again. “My friends have dared me to have some riding lessons, so I thought I’d better find out what it’s all about”
“Have you ever ridden before?” Davina asked, and Neville felt that the question brushed his very soul. “Not on a horse” he replied, confusingly. Davina made a beguiling, wrinkled-nose puzzled look and said “Well to begin with you will only need the basics” and then, liking the cut of his jib (to mix sports metaphors) she added “But I can take you through a lot of the stuff we have here if you are interested in knowing more”
Neville was, and as Davina turned to lead the way towards the back of the shop his enthusiasm for getting astride began to grow.
Davina prioritised: top and tail. The man needed a hat first of all. She spent some time assessing his head for size and finding a suitable one and then they moved on to boots. She offered him some rubber ones to start with but Neville was a leather type of chap. Here Davina showed her expertise: Neville greatly enjoyed the time spent sat in a chair with Davina crouched in front of him, her hands expertly gripping his calves (he should have left them in the field, he later thought. They were a distraction and left a mess) and sliding the leather goods on and off. Davina reckoned that the best fit was a pair with zips all the way up the back. The zips were a little stiff, and they were not alone.
“You’ll need to give a good tug at first” Davina advised. “Shall I help you?”
“Yes please” said Neville, his voice coming out as a slight squeak. Davina bent down alongside him and gave him a good tugging. After a moment she paused and looked up at him, her cheeks pink with effort; “I’ll just work it for a little while until it goes soft” she said
“That’s not going to happen any time soon” thought Neville as he considered her cheeks, which he imagined as pink.
“I can rub a little oil on to lubricate it” Davina offered. It was a most helpful suggestion and soon her hand was working it up and down with ease. “There you are. All done” She said. Neville managed a smile: he was not quite done yet.
Finally she stood up, flicking back her lustrucious mass of hair, the colour of chocolate. She fixed him with a winsome smile and asked “What about a whip?
What could Neville do? He followed Davina to the whip display and watched as she picked one out
“Normally” she assured him “it is just used to encourage, to hint, very gently” She demonstrated, tickling his leg with a delicate little flicking action. “You need to be careful though. If you are too powerful with it –“ she flashed it through the air and it made a zipping noise (which momentarily alarmed Neville, who looked down at himself to check) “you could cause real pain”
She leaned close to him and said quietly “NEVER do that to a horse. They can’t talk to you and tell you how it feels”
Then she offered him the whip, to practice with. Neville flicked it gently, and whizzed it through the air, and generally tried all sorts of moves with it. Davina seemed impressed. “Are you sure you haven’t used one of these before?” she asked, stroking one elegant finger along the length of it. When Neville assured her he hadn’t, she pinged the end of the whip with her finger and smiled one of those smiles which could be used to sell anything from toothpaste to lawnmowers.
“I need to make sure you know the difference between a tickle and a painful smack” she said, “and a horse can’t tell you”. Neville’s mouth started to feel dry, in that way which confirms that all the body’s efforts are busy elsewhere, and none can be spared right now for such peripheral duties as tongue-moistening. He looked around them a little anxiously. The shop seemed empty apart from them. Davina winked at him. A thing which had never happened to Neville before in his entire life, and made him feel that until this moment, his life had been but a pale shadow.
“We have some…changing rooms at the back” she said, walking ahead of him, her callipygous buttoculars circulating around each other mesmerizingly as she walked. She did not look back, as she knew he would be following.
As they walked into the….changing room, she flicked a sign on the door to “occupied”. Neville noticed that there was also a bolt on the inside – which Davina thrust home with some vigour.
The ….changing room was not like any he had been in before. It was larger, for a start, and whilst it was well fitted out with mirrorage, it was definitely low on hanging rails, and seemed to have a greater expanse of comfy cushionage than he had expected. There was also some shelving containing items which, although Neville would have been the first to admit his knowledge was limited, did not look awfully equestrian.
Davina stood before him, a whip in her hand (which she flexed most interestingly) and a teasing smile playing across her lips. Neville felt duly teased.
“This is where you can test out your whip hand” said Davina. The teasing smile was now sticking its tongue and pulling faces at Neville, who replied with a mere squeak and a slight nod. Davina turned, aligning her curvulaceous buttocks towards him and said “have a go. I’ll let you know how you get on”
Nervously, Neville tickled her with the end of the whip. She giggled, and said “any harder?”
Neville nodded. There was a pause.
“I mean can you do it any harder”
“Oh. Sorry” Neville flicked her a little more briskly. Davina started, and Neville began to say sorry, but she giggled again and said “No that’s fine. We’ll make a whipper-in of you yet”
And amazingly, she did. Davina taught him the best wrist action for optimum control, and how to get the precise angle on the curve of the flesh. Neville was a quick learner, and though he had never ridden a horse before, was soon feeling confident about being in the saddle. Being astride with an experienced mount is wonderful ; it gives confidence and allows the rider to really relax and enjoy. With her to guide him, Neville felt able to undertake some really quite daring manoeuvres of which, heretofor he would not have imagined himself capable.
Davina, for her part, having freed up Neville’s zip action, was able to indulge her passion for a good jump