The First Rider: 1. Idea

30,000 BC

Modern Day Mongolia

I stare out across the valley. The grass covered hills rolling and extending out in all directions, with the shadows of clouds and the breath of wind playing across the fields. There are few trees to block my sight, so the sky is large. Yet the valley feels safe and small, the distant snow-capped mountains holding it all in. I look at the hill on which I stand, perfectly placed to see the valley - a fitting place for the grave. This field is where it had all started.

***

I had been on this same hill. It was a cold crisp morning. The wind that shook the coarse grass brought a shiver, but the hint of longer days was carried on the smell of budding flowers and the feel of the sun against my skin. It would be my sixteenth summer soon, and I was looking forward to the warmth.

That day, like most, I was watching the horses that were so important to our tribe. Our primary source of meat and milk. The area around the village always had activity, but today there were more distractions as a group gathered around me. They were waiting for the hunt to start.

The leader of this boisterous crowd was Naran, a young man slightly older than me. Naran had one of those faces you both envied and hated the moment you saw it. He had always been bigger, stronger, and more useful than me, and he had never forgotten to remind me of that. He looked around at the crowd and shoved a smaller child.

“Tiny, go check when we are leaving.” He ordered. The kid nodded and quickly scurried off. My friend, Muuto, sat down next to me, his curly hair bouncing in front of his boyish face.

“Batu, I’ll give you my share of dinner if Naran doesn’t start boasting in about three seconds,” Muuto whispered with a smile.

“Don’t be so harsh. It’ll take him at least ten.” I replied.

But, I had spoken too soon because as soon as I closed my mouth, Naran cleared his throat.

Beginning a tale of his battle with a hog. I will not punish you with the details of his many well-rehearsed stories, mostly because I don’t remember them. I was accustomed to Naran regaling us with tales of his martial prowess, so I expertly let my mind wander.

I smiled as I focused my attention on Stormshine, a large grey speckled stallion, and one of the few named horses. He was running and playing among the other steeds with masterful ease. His well-used muscles tensing and flexing as he jumped about. Watching him fly through fields, grass and dirt spray up behind him, made me envy his freedom. He could go anywhere. I wished I could go with him, and get away from this place. Maybe, I can. I thought, my eyes flicking over to a nearby horse. Someone had started putting baskets on the older mares so they could carry them. This mare was being led through the crowd with two baskets of berries on her back.

“Why don’t we ever try sitting on the horses?” My mind was always a little too connected to my mouth, so as soon as I had the idea, I said it. Naran froze, mid-story, mouth half-open. He looked at me, eyes narrowed in confusion and anger as if I had just suggested we try lighting him on fire.

“What?” He asked incredulously.

I smiled and paused, “Remember when you were little, and your Pa would lift you on his shoulders and carry you around? What if we could do that on a horse?”

“Why would you?” He asked, his face screwed up in frustration.

“Think about it, you would be as fast as the wind itself. What could stop you?”

“But how would you get it to move?” He asked.

“A quick slap in the rump would probably do the trick.”

Naran looked at me, and then a smug smile curved up his face. “Well then do it.” My mouth seemed suddenly dry, as if I’d eaten sand. Those words somehow shattered the simple ease of the idea into something that was impossible and obviously doomed to fail. “Come on, if it’s such a genius idea, go ahead and jump on.” I tried to swallow, but nothing went down. Voices of doubt screamed in my head. How would I make him go where I wanted him to go? How do I tell him to stop so I could get off? What happens if he didn’t stay still enough to let me on?

“Okay,” I said as I jumped off the rock. I felt like I was watching someone else walk towards Stormshine. Watching myself being judged by the crowd as he approached the horse. I watched as the horse stopped and waited for this fool to approach. Good for him, I thought as the fool stopped next to the stallion.

The fool put his hands on either side of the horse’s back. I hope he doesn’t get hurt. The horse looked back confused. “It’s going to be okay buddy, we’re just about to look real cool.” The fool said.

It had not seemed to have occurred to the fool until that very moment that the horse didn’t have a nice ladder up to its back. This didn’t stop the fool though, he held himself there and then jumped, pushing himself onto his stomach on the horse’s back.

I was ripped back to myself as I found that I was on the ground and in gut wrenching pain.

There seemed to be no time between being on the horses and being on my back in the dirt. But there I was. I tried to pull air in with all of my might but found that it refused to enter my lungs. I felt like a fish floundering out of water. Even more so I began to roll back and forth in the hopes that would work the air in.

Distantly, I thought, Well, that didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Eventually, I struggled a breath in and sat up, feeling aching in my head from the impact on the ground. As my vision cleared and I started breathing normally, I noticed someone laughing loudly and Muuto at my side. “You good?” He asked, face devoid of color. I nodded, and I stood up quickly, wiping some dust off. The crowd was watching, faces filled with a mix of pity and amusement. Naran had the largest reaction, though, his head thrown back in raucous laughter.

It was at that very moment that I decided I was going to ride that horse, even if I broke my back trying.

***

The smell of smoke and food filled my hungry nostrils as I approached the fire. I grabbed some boiled tubers, unripe berries, and a big chunk of burnt meat. The kind of food you only enjoy if you’re hungry. Luckily, I was ravenous. Soon after Naran’s and my disagreement about the horse, the hunt had started, and I had gone. The chase had lasted all the way until sundown.

I plopped down next to Muuto and dove into the food. The area was filled with activity. The sound of the children laughing and screaming as they played, people talking, one of the elders playing his reed flute, the fire crackling, and the ever-present sound of animals. I spotted Naran walking through the crowd towards us, looking smug.

“You still hurting from that fall, big boy?” He asked, at a volume to attract the attention of bystanders. “You sat there looking so sure, and then BOOM! Up in the air and then on to the ground! That’s probably why people don’t sit on horses. You get thrown up into the sky!” He slapped me on the back and then laughed loudly. He turned to Muuto, “He really flew didn’t he? How much air do you think he got?”

Muuto smiled innocently in response. “He really was up there. I bet he nearly touched your ego.”

Naran’s face reddened. But he recovered quickly, carefully looking through my food and picking out the largest chunk of meat. “You know, at some point, we are going to have to eat that horse of yours.” He said, plopping down next to me.

“Stormshine?” I asked, watching him take a large and obviously enjoyed bite of my meat.

“You gave it a name?” He laughed, sending specks of meat and saliva flying.

“Yeah, Storm-Shine. Like the beams of light that shine through the clouds in a storm.”

“Well ‘Stormshine’ is gonna be down our throats one of these days. Bet it doesn’t taste bad.”

“We won’t eat him if we can find something more useful for him to do.”

“What are you going to do? Put some baskets on it?”

“I’m going to ride him,” I replied simply.

Naran froze in surprise and then broke a now meat-free bone. He loudly and slowly slurped out the marrow as if considering his next move.

Muuto leaned over to me, “You’re going to keep trying to ride it?”

Before I responded, I looked around. Naran had been successful. Quite a few people were listening. I noticed that Marina, one of my aunts, was watching from the crowd. She smiled, and I felt relieved to have an ally listening from the elders. I smiled back at her and then turned to Muuto, “I don’t see why not.”

Naran choked on the marrow of the bone and coughed, “Why not?” he laughed. “Well, I guess you learned why not this morning.”

I set my jaw. “What do you mean?” I said, my voice dangerously level.

“You were thrown into the sky by that ugly beast! That’s what I mean!” He laughed, “Did it kick you in the head too?”

“I don’t see that as a reason not to try.” I replied, ignoring his last comment.

A grin spread across Naran’s ruddy face. “Wait, you plan on getting on it again?”

I considered this. “Yeah, probably.” I said, nodding.

“You’re a fool”

“I know,” I said, popping in a berry.

“But Batu,” Aunt Marina spoke up, “You're a strong young man, we can’t have you getting hurt for some little game.”

I blinked. I felt like I had just been slapped in the face. Naran doubting me was one thing, Marina was another. I realized how childish this all seemed. I knew some other young men who did unwise things to look brave, and they always annoyed me. Was I like one of them? Just reaching for attention? I gritted my teeth, “Umm, you mean umm, horse riding?” I asked. I was just stalling, really.

“Yes! It’s just silly, Batu. The animal is an animal. It will never let it carry you. And if it did, what would you use that for? I don’t want to see you hurt because of your brave stubbornness.” I looked up and down between the women and the fire. Who was I to doubt the words of someone older and wiser than me? She had to be right. I could get hurt for nothing if I kept going.

I coughed, trying to clear the heaviness from my throat. The words fell out of me unceremoniously, but I found myself promising her that I would never try again. This is terrible. Half the tribe was watching me be made a child. I thought, “I’m sorry.” I muttered as I finished making my promise.

“Oh, there’s nothing to be sorry about. Sometimes being young and brave, you do irresponsible things, and it’s our job to help guide you back to safety.”

I nodded and stood up. I wanted to get out of there quickly. As I walked away, I saw a glint in Naran’s eyes. He didn’t dare say anything under Marina’s gaze, but once she was gone he would be a constant reminder of my slip up. As soon as I was outside of the light of the fire, I was suspended in pure darkness. The flames had night blinded me, so I did not notice Father until he caught me by the arm.

He had been standing in the shadows, just outside the light. Great, he knows I’m a fool too. As he took me by the arm I thought he might tell me off for messing with the horses. Instead, he silently led me away from the group, bringing us all the way to the field where the horses grazed near our home. I waited in confusion and horror until he spoke. Why had he led me so far away? Was he going to start yelling?

“Batu,” He said, calmly staring out at the horses. My eyes were now adjusting to the darkness, and I could see the horses in the moonlight, some munching on grass, most sleeping, tails flicking.

“Yes, Papa?” I croaked.

“You know that horse you call Stormshine? He’s part wild. His father was a very large wild stallion I captured when you were little.” Father said, picking a long strand of grass by the base.

“I know, pappa. That’s why he’s so big.” I said, confused why he was explaining this to me.

“Well, when I saw that Stormshine’s father was so large and fit, I thought capturing him and breeding him with our horses could do wonders for our herd. But you know Batu, people thought I was crazy, they said it wouldn’t work. That capturing a wild horse was impossible. Smart people I respected said I was misled. But I decided to still do it, and now we have a stronger herd because of it.” He explained, beginning to weave the grass absentmindedly.

I stared at Father, his face lined with age and work, covered by a large beard, and his sparkling eyes were cast down on the grass he was weaving. A man who had always commanded great respect in the village and even more in my life.

“I don’t like to talk about the people that called me unwise because people make mistakes all the time. But people did really tell me I was crazy. So, just because people are telling you something is crazy, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.”

I stood in shock as I processed that. Father didn’t think I should stop trying. I turned away from him and looked out at Stormshine, the large, strong stallion he was.

“But how? They’re right. It’s crazy. How would I convince a horse to let me ride it?”

Father paused, fiddling with the grass for so long that I thought he might have forgotten my question. But then he spoke up. “You know how we caught that animal today?” I thought back on the grueling hours of the chase and then nodded. “It wasn’t because we were faster, or stronger, or even smarter than it. We just kept chasing it until it got so tired it couldn’t run any longer, and then we killed it. It’s one of the best ways to hunt. You just chase the beast longer than it can run.” He paused, finishing out the weaving with the grass and looking up at me, “I would imagine you would take a similar approach in this situation.” He handed me the weaved piece of grass.

“Just something to think about.” He patted me on the back and then walked off.

I don’t know how long I stood there, but my mind was at work, and eventually, I smiled. I looked down at the simple and small gift my father had given me. I was an idiot, and I was going to be the first idiot to ride a horse. 

***

Part two to come soon