The day before I'm going to ride a horse for the very first time I write “I am going horseback riding” as my Facebook status.

Anders from Detektivbyrån sends me a message asking me if I'm going riding around Bergsjön. He and his child go to an animal park there and horseback ride every Sunday. In the same message Anders introduces me to his lovely blog. But I digress. This isn't what this story is about. This has been a small detour.

I have always been afraid of horses. New thought. I have always gotten butterflies in my stomach around horses. New thought. I have always had a little too much respect for horses. So when Else tells me she's arranged for us to go horseback riding just outside Gothenburg I get vertigo. When I google horseback riding I get more vertigo. The sight of the socks she's lending me to wear chocks me. But that isn't what the story is about. That's more of a caption.

The horses weren't big like real horses. They were Icelandic horses. They're a bit like a french balcony. A little smaller, and a little less dangerous. The horse I'm about to ride is called Golan. She was like an unsocial person you meet for the first time and try to talk to. You end up sitting next to them on a train, at a boring party or in an elevator that stops. You have to be persistent and try to find a way to connect with that persons’ world. And when you're in, you're in. And fearing to be echoing Tomas Ledins brain; together we rode out into the pouring rain, galloping ahead of the other horses without any fear.

Else was screaming at me as I rode past her:
−    It's okay Navid, don't be afraid!
I wasn't afraid. I gave up the control and Golan was now in charge. We were rocking in unison, moving as one. It was almost like dancing. And I know how all this must sound. But the sun was shining through the pouring rain and I was sitting with my back straight in a saddle enjoy the moment like nobody's business.

The next day the muscle ache kept me lying down until lunch. I wrote Anders and told him of my experience. I changed my Facebook status to: I have galloped for the very first time