The Roar of the Falls: My Journey with Kaya

I’m on the verge of refusing to race until I see Kaya’s eyes. Her courage sweeps over me. She’d led me on some pretty exciting adventures so far, so I trust her to lead me through this one, too. I tell her we should race. Kaya grabs my hand as we go to the starting line. She eyes the line of dancing horses held back from the riders of the previous race. We need a mount. A boy with a black-and-white horse spots us and says his horse is ready to race again.

Kaya accepts the reins of the horse and I gaze up. The horse seems to have grown several feet in the last three seconds. But then, Kaya bends down and laces her fingers together, motioning me to put my foot in her hands. I step up and she tells me to jump and grab the mane. I belly over the colt and heave myself up onto his warm back. There’s no saddle, so there’s nothing to hang on to. Kaya scrambles up in front of me and I clutch her waist.

The ground seems twenty feet away. My stomach is a fluttering mass of butterflies. Kaya instructs me to sit up tall and use my thighs to grip his back. Lean forward and back when she does, which will help us speed up and slow down when we need to. I want to practice, but there’s no time. I can see the starter raise his arm. My muscles tense and I grip Kaya’s waist as tightly as I can.

Suddenly, the starter lowers his arm, and the horses leap ahead. Hooves pound, dust swirls, and my braids whip back from my face. Kaya urges the horse onward. I can’t speak. All my focus is going to not falling off as I cling to Kaya and press my legs firmly against the horse for dear life. I’ve never been so exhilarated and terrified at the same time.

A blur of brown edges up beside us. Our colt spots him and surges forward. Kaya yells encouragement. Kaya and I lie flat over our colt’s shoulders and neck as his nose stretches forward.

Suddenly, Kaya shouts that we did it. She sits up as the horse drops to a fast trot. I ask Kaya why we stopped, and she laughs and says it’s the end. We crossed the finish line. We came in second place. When she asks if I had fun, I exclaim “Yes!” I never thought I’d be so enthusiastic about riding a horse at full gallop before.

Kaya says her friend is waving to her. She asks if I can cool the colt down by walking him in a circle. Full of newborn confidence, I agree. I scoot closer to the colt’s neck and take the reins. The horse paces around and around.