Unfeigned Fear

Last night,
I walked down to the barn at about 10:30 P.M.
The barn contained about thirty horses, three kittens, and me.
I reached for the light switch, and my hand returned with dusty cobwebs.
I tacked up my horse,
walked out to the indoor arena,
switched on the lights,
and mounted.
As we were serenely walking along, suddenly,
a bat starts flying above our heads!
My first thought was that it was going to turn into Edward Cullen....
Mmmhmm....
My second thought involved a bloody scene around my jugular.
The brown bat whirled and spiralled around us.
I tried to pretend that I was undisturbed.
My horse's walk soon turned into a prance. 
He could smell my fear.
I refocused on my horse's gate,
while periodically peering over at the revolving bat.
Eventually, the bat went back to it's cave...
wherever that might have been...
and I continued my ride.
(Not without trying to avoid that corner of the arena.)
There is always the possibility of running into another one of God's creations when I ride. 
It could be a coyote, a turtle, a cow, a turkey, a stray dog, a bunny, or a bat...
My horse especially is afraid of squirrels....  I know, right?
This facet of forest creature encounters is not present in all sports.
But one factor does exist in every sport:
Fear.
Last night it came in the form of a bat...
Or was it in the form of my thoughts?
Or in the absence of my courage?
Whatever the case might have been,
I am sort of really sad he didn't turn into Edward.