Brewskies for the Horses by Anna M. Varsi
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY: Smashwords
Brewskies for the Horses Copyright 2011 by Anna M. Varsi
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(Dedicated to the queen of racing)
Zenyatta
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E-Book ISBN 978-1-4581-1156-2
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Chapter 1
“Daddy, hurry come see, I can jump the fence”, called April to her father just as he was mounting the front steps. April’s father owns a gentleman’s farm, a small private horse farm, located in beautiful Wellington, Florida. The Edwards farm is one of the best kept estates in the area. Mr. Edwards has a lucrative, position with a well established mortgage broker in Boca Raton. Country clubs and shopping fill most of Mrs. Edwards’s day. School and riding fill most of Aprils’ day. April has the best of everything, horses, trainers and saddles.
April has a difficult time keeping her attention focused in class. Her thoughts always wonder off to the barn. Her daddy bought her the most wonderful thoroughbred she’d ever seen. He was shipped down from Kentucky, blue grass country. His jet black mane and striking charcoal color make April the envy of all the girls on the jump circuit. April named him Silver Rein.
“Honey, have you seen April”, Mrs. Edwards asked her husband. It was 11:00 P.M. Friday night. “I’ll go to the barn and convince her to come in”, he replied. Mr. Edward was careful not to make noise as he entered the barn. It’s one of the few things that bring him true joy, watching April with her horse.
“Silver you‘re so handsome. Do you know you were born that beautiful?” April said to him, as he rubs his big strong head on her shoulder. “Baby, it’s getting late and mom wants you to come in. “She always ruins my fun” April said laughing. “Don’t worry I’ll make it up to you. We can go to the tack shop in the morning and get those new boots you’ve wanted”, her father said with the tone of an accomplice.
When April got home after school on Monday, her dad’s Black Bentley is in the driveway. Strange for daddy to be home this early, thought April. She made her way down to the barn, stopped and said hi to Juan, who cleaned Silver Rein’s stall and kept up with the farm chores. She was brushing off Silver when Henry, Juan’s brother, came in and asked “How was school little girl?” “Glad it’s the last year, I don’t think I can take anymore of this”, April said. “Well, I think your folks want you to go to the University” Henry said.” Well that’s not going to happen”, she snapped. “I’m going to Kentucky for the World Equestrian Games in 2010”, she said with confidence. Henry just shook his head politely and headed out to see his brother. Henry would make excuses to stop by and see Juan just about the time April was getting Silver Rein ready for his daily exercise. He just loved to watch that girl ride.
When April first got Silver he was just a young two year old. He didn’t quite understand that he needed to have this big leather thing on his back. April was gentle and kind, but that didn’t stop Silver Rein from bucking and kicking. He would throw her off his back no less than fifteen times that first month. April’s body hurt in places she didn’t even know she had. She never gave up or lost her patience. Something about that girl, she was tough. April had heart.
As the year went by, things started to change at the Edwards farm. Mr. Edwards was home a lot, Mrs. Edwards was in her bedroom most of the day, and the farm didn’t sparkle quite like it had in the past years.
April was in her last month of her last year in high school. She was soon to be free of the same math and English classes that seemed to be the same every year, with just a different cover on the books. Finally she has all the time in the world to ride. She could spend all day and night at the barn with Silver Rein. April also loved to listen to Juan’s stories about his younger years in Columbia. He grew up in a family of horsemen, racing thoroughbreds and living on the track. He was the oldest of his brothers and sisters and was the leading rider five years in a row. When the race track closed for business in Columbia, Juan’s family needed money to survive; they had enough to send Juan to the states.
Juan was old but still strong. He gave April lessons on jockey style riding. They did this just for fun. Henry was the youngest brother of the family and came over when he was sixteen. He had a job at one of the big commercial thoroughbred farms. He mucked out stalls, moved horses in and out of paddocks, and anything else that the owner wanted. They had other riders, grooms, and people to cool the horses off.
After graduation, April’s mother planned for her to visit some of Mrs. Edwards’s family in Italy. She didn’t stay long even though she was having a wonderful time. The food was so different than the Italian food they had in the States. Buildings are older and the kids her age seemed so rough. She just missed her horse. She couldn’t wait to get back and see Silver Rein and her old friend Juan.
“Hi baby girl”, Mr. Edwards warmly greeting April as she came out the terminal. “Hi Daddy, how is Silver Rein?” were the first words out of her mouth. “He’s just fine honey, but Mom isn’t feeling so great”, he said. “We had to put her in the hospital for a couple of weeks, but she’s home now.” Mr. Edwards reassuringly told her. Mrs. Edwards had what you would call a nervous breakdown. The economy was crashing. The media called it a bubble burst. Mr. Edwards had been laid off his job, and those kinds of jobs didn’t come around every day.
April jumped out of the car as soon as they where in front of the barn. The grass is so long, she thought to herself. She ran into the barn, slung open the stall door, and wrapped her arms around the big gray horse. Silver curled his head around her waist and grabs her belt between his teeth. He pulled just a little, not enough to even move her. That’s one of the ways he showed her love. After giving him the required affection he demanded, after she had abandoned him for all those weeks, he pushed her away and started to throw his head around. “Ok, I’m sorry, I won’t leave you that long again,” she whispered to him.
It was so hot and humid this time of year in south Florida. April got out of bed before sunrise. She went down to the barn and got all the heavy work done before it’s too hot for both of them. “Looks like you lost a shoe while I was gone”, she said with a reprimanding tone in her voice.
“Welcome home little girl”, was Juan’s greeting. “I’m not such a little girl anymore”, she snapped. Juan wanted to hear about all the places she’d seen. He seemed most interested in the churches. April only went to see the Vatican and wasn’t that interested in that either. They spent the next couple of hours catching up on Wellington gossip and barn chores. “How’s Henry doing these days”, she curiously inquired? “He’s not at the farm anymore. He got a good job down in Miami at Calder Race Course. He’s assistant trainer for a guy named Tuturosa” Juan explained. He’s extremely proud of his little brother.
April has to be very quite when she’s in the house, Mrs. Edwards has been prescribed a menu of medication and the situation can get explosive. At times she’s like a zombie, in another moment she’ll grow hostile, she isn’t shopping or going to the country club anymore either. Mr. Edwards is doing all the domestic errands and cooking, April didn’t even know her dad could cook! She’s been in charge of the house and hadn’t realized how big it was, until she had to clean it. The maids used to do all that, but things are different now.
In mid October a tow truck showed up at the farm. Mrs. Edwards was in her room, April was riding Silver, and Mr. Edwards was talking to the driver. She could see from where she was that the driver was lifting the car up onto the truck. The Bentley must need service she thought.
Sometime latter that week, after they’d finished dinner, Mr. Edwards sat April down for one of their heart to heart talks. An uneasy feeling crept up on April as her father told her, “It’s time for you to learn how to drive.” He spoke of her academic future, going off to college and her need to be self sufficient. “April, your mom and I have put some money away for your education, it’s a different world than you’ve known”. All April could think about was the horror of not being with Silver Rein; she hated school and couldn’t bear the thought of being away. “As you know we’ve come upon some financial problems and we have to let the farm go, I know this is going to hurt, but we have to talk about Silver,” he went on.
Chapter 2
She ran as fast as she could to the barn, tears were running down her face and she could hardly breathe. She sat in the stall with her horse, crying, she must have been there an hour before Juan showed up. He could hear her sobs and asked softly, “easy little girl, what’s going on?” She told him everything, Juan understood the love for the horses, and he knew once you had it in your blood there wasn’t much you could do about it. “Well I have an idea”, that farm my brother Henry used to work for, they could use a pony person, the owner used to do it himself, but his pony is getting old. He needs a new pony and rider, I’ll talk to him.” All racing horses could use another horse to escort them to the track. That’s the job of pony horse.
Juan saw the old man from the road, standing in the little booth next to the track and drove up slowly so he wouldn’t scare the horses; the riders had the horses in a full gallop running around the mile track. After he’d told old man, Frank, the story of the girl and her family, Frank said, “well I guess I could use someone during breaking season, I can’t pay her much, she can stay in the girl’s dorms and I’ll feed the animal. Tell her to see my wife in the office.”
Juan got to the Edwards place just as the sun was coming up. April already had Silver brushed off and ready for his morning exercise. “Morning little lady, I have some good news for you, I spoke with the owner of Sesna Farm,” Juan chirped. He gave her the terms of the job with a warning, “it’s not going to be easy. And you need to go to the front office too talk to Liz, Frank’s wife”
The thoroughbred farm was different from what April was used to. They move fast, you get horses out in sets and not many of them would be tame. If you couldn’t keep up, where late, or missed a day you’re out of a job. Most of the horses are young stud colts and high strung.
The first couple of months were the toughest on April. She got calluses, broke nails and lost ten pounds. It didn’t start off like she imagined it. She was up at 5:00 a.m. dumping and scrubbing buckets. Then she‘d have to walk crazy thoroughbred around the outside of the barn for the next three hours, most of them tried to kill her in the process. After that part of the morning was finished, all the help would group together and move herds of even younger more crazy horses to different parts of the farm. In the afternoon they all came back after a short lunch break, would clean stalls, and feed the horses.
April was tired most of the time but she was happy. She decided that this was what she wanted. She went to see her dad and explained to him that the only way she would be happy was working with horses. He should use the money he saved for her education to get a small house or condo for him and her mom. Mr. Edwards didn’t realize how strong willed he had raised her. After a bit of back and forth her dad gave in. He was sure it wasn’t in her best interest, but he loved her enough to let her be happy.
After the Edwards bought a condo in Delray there was enough money left for an old model Mercedes they picked up from a former colleague at the brokerage firm. Mrs. Edwards seemed to get better after they moved out of the farm. She would drive out to see April at Sesna Farms, clean the house, and even managed to get a little job at one of her favorite boutiques.
As much as April liked it at the farm she still wanted to ride. She was so tired at the end of the day. The job didn’t leave her with enough energy to get Silver Rein groomed, saddled, or even ridden. She would see the riders and horses going around the track in the morning while she was cooling off the horses that had just gotten back from there morning exercise. I didn’t look that hard she thought. All they did was going around the oval once to the right and once to the left. “I can do that, I can do that” she would sing, as she walked the horses.
I’d been almost a year since her life changed. September was time for a new batch of young horse to come up from the fields, to get ready for there careers as racehorses. They would be prepped for the two year old in training sales or go straight to the racetrack.
Old man Frank could always see the twinkle in the eye of a young person that wanted to be a professional rider; he had it when he was a kid himself. “You need to start riding that donkey of yours in your off time, if you don’t want to kill him.” “Three or four weeks from know I need you start riding out in the sets with Silver Rein.” “The young horses need company the first couple of weeks, they need to know it’s all right, and there’s nothing to be afraid of,” mumbled the old man. That’s the most April heard him speak since she’d been at Sesna’s. She was so excited she almost wet her pants.
Henry showed up one morning after the horses had finished training. He’d dropped a horse off for his boss from the track; he spotted April in the paddock putting a saddle on Silver Rein. “April, how’s it going?” “I’ve missed you.” “You look so grown up!” Henry couldn’t stop talking. Finally April got a chance to speak. She told him about her parents, Sesna’s farm, and what Frank has planned for herself and Silver Rein. Henry told her all about the racetrack. The thing that got her attention was the jockey’s. “You should come down with Frank one day.” “He usually shows up when he has a horse in a race.” “If you can, try and go on a day he’s going to the backside.” Henry went on.
The first day on the mile oval had lots of downs. One of the colts tried to mount her and Silver Rein, another horse dropped his rider, and Frank threw his cap on the ground. I didn’t look good for her. She got up the next morning ready for the firing squad. The horses seem better behaved than the day before. Frank looked like his normal self, maybe she wouldn’t get fired after all.
The next year went past mostly like the one before, horses and help came and went, long days where the norm for her. She would visit with her parents, go to the races, and hang out with friends. The most fun she had was at the races with the old man. He seemed even happy at times, mostly when he was in the winners circle. This is when she decided she was going to be a jockey. She’d never been on a race horse but she knew she could do it.
“Frank, do you think I could start exercising the racehorses someday?” “I’m not afraid, and I’m light enough.” she asked the old man. They’d just won two races and he seems to be in a good mood. “Well I was waiting for this.” “Ask me around September” that’s all he said. It was enough to give her hope and that’s all she needed.
That summer was the longest in history, September finally came.” Grab that bridle and come with me.” “She’s yours to break, don’t mess her up.” Break is another way of saying teaches a horse to be ridden. She had watched the other riders for years. They started slow and eventually they’d get the saddle on them. Each day the riders would add a new piece of equipment, until they had everything the horses need to be ridden. When the first stage was complete, they would mount the horse with there stomach resting on the saddle, the riders would add more and more steps as each day past. When the day came that all the horses where used to being ridden, and getting along with the others, it was time to go to the training track, that big mile oval.
April got tossed off many horses in the next year. At times she wasn’t even sure if she could ride Silver Rein. This was part of the game; you gain and lose confidence on a daily basis. She wants badly to sit on top of a horse in the winners circle, it kept her moving forward.
Robert was a heavy rider from Kentucky, Frank kept him around for the big stud colts, He would teach her how to talk to horses, spot an injury, and how to handle the sleaziest men on the backside. The things he said to her could make a Vegas call girl blush, Robert knew what she wanted to be. She’d have to be able to handle the people as well as the horses. They would ride and talk for hours, it seems like he never ran out of stories. There was this Derby, that famous horse, this big owner, that leading jockey. She thought that he knew everything and everybody in the racing game.
It was February and breaking season was in full swing. People came to the farm everyday, the help was under a microscope that time of year. Perspective buyer showed up all the time. Frank was always a little edgy in February and March. “I could get better help from the grocery store than what you people are”, he would snap. The horses seemed to feel this. They would start to act up, strike out, and sometimes get someone hurt.
It doesn’t matter how good you are, how many years you’ve been in the game, or how many great horses you’ve been around. It’s dangerous and anyone can get hurt. This principle was no different for Robert.
It was the forth set of horses to go out on that Monday morning. The bay stud colt that Robert was on came into Sesna’s with a warning. He was a notorious bad actor his entire life. Frank had giving him some tranquilizer for the first week he had been there. This Monday he was due to get his dose cut in half. Five strides onto the track and he stood strait up in the air and fell backwards. The horse landed on Robert and thrashed around on him for what seemed like forever. When the stud finally got his head up and regained his balance, Robert wasn’t moving.
The Sesna crew headed out to the hospital after all the work was finished. Robert had been in surgery for eight hours. April was shaken up bad over all this. The doctors said it would be at least a year before he could walk again. He would live all right with just one kidney, but they where unsure of how much damage his brain had sustained.
It was different at the farm without Robert. April thought it might be time to move on, she called her old friend Juan, gave him the run down of the accident. “I might be able to get you on at the track with Henry, this time of year the inexperienced horses would start coming in, and the older riders didn’t like getting on them.” “Anyway your still green yourself.” he joked. Green is a common termed used in the horse world to describe an unseasoned person.
Juan gave Henry a call, it would be up to the trainer if she could have the job or not. April got the next Sunday off and headed down to Calder Race Course. Tuturosa was a loud, fat, bolding man with an ego the size of his girth. She would have to exercise a fit racehorse in front of the outrider in order to get her license. If all went well, the horse wouldn’t go to fast and she would keep a leg on both sides of it.
Chapter 3
Henry had been with Tuturosa for sometime. He knew the man and his horses. Henry can tell you what each horse had to eat that day, their likes, and dislikes. There are some that are nice and others that will bite you. He chose a filly with a kind disposition, for his favorite rider’s maiden voyage. April thought there must be a hundred horses out on the track when she took her first step onto it. She turned her to the left, trotted back about an eighth of a mile to the finish pole, stood her out to face the infield of the track, and then turned her to the right. The filly grabbed the bit stronger than she’d ever felt before. “Ok easy girl”. “Easy, easy, not to fast” puffing out the words. They made it around a mile and a half and the filly just let go of the bit like it was no big deal. April was relieved that the filly knew how far to go before it was time to stop.
April didn’t know if this was a good workout or not. She couldn’t figure out if she went to fast. The outrider nodded at her as she rode past him on the way back to the barn. He wasn’t yelling that’s a good thing she thought. When she finally got back to the barn and jumped off it felt like her legs would give out. She righted herself, pulled off the bridle and headed down the shed row. Henry simultaneously walking and asking,” Did it go well? “Must’ve not been too bad, you’re more worn out than the filly!” he prodded her. She was too flushed to remark. He sent her down to the office to talk to Tuturosa.
“Ok girly this is the deal.” “You gallop six horses, clean the tack, hose the horse wash rack off, and come back in the afternoon to help feed.” “You still want the job?” Tuturosa asked, never looking up from his desk. April told him that would be great. She walked out of the office and headed straight for Henry, holding her hand up for a high five He said he‘d put her on the badge list so she could get her license. Every trainer on the track has to have a list of all their employees He told her to do that today.
As April situated herself in the car, her phone started to vibrate. She kept it on vibrate all the time since the day it rang and she almost got killed on a green horse at Sesna’s farm. It was Liz, Frank’s wife. “Good morning Liz” April answered the phone. “Good morning April.” “What happened, why’d you leave?” Liz and Frank had been in Louisiana at the time of Roberts’ accident. She loved April just like she was her own child. They’d spent many hours in the office together; Liz and April could enjoy comfortable silence. “I just think I need to move on. I love you guys, but I can’t stay at the farm forever” April replied. They said their goodbyes warmly, with April promising to keep in touch.
April found a small apartment for herself; it was at the end of a barn in west Broward County. She could keep Silver Rein there and work off some rent, doing things around the farm. She drove up to see her parents that weekend; the Edwards look good these days. When she told her father she wanted to be a jockey, he turned white. “It’s one of the most dangerous occupations there is,” he exclaimed “pick a career that doesn’t require an ambulance to follow you around!” April had wanted this for so many years. She knows he’s right but she just wanted to feel what it was like in the winners circle, sitting on top of a majestic thoroughbred.
The moon was full and the humidity was thick. April drove up to the stable entrance gates and was stopped by security. “Your new around here, what’s your badge number?” asked the security. She gave him the number that was on the license she was provided, from the state office and security flagged her through the gate. She drove to the barn ready for work, Henry and the grooms where already in full swing, no time to stop and talk, just get your equipment and go.
It was the last set of horses gong to the track that day; April thought the horse was having trouble with her breathing. She told Henry what she thought; he watched her walk around the shed barn a few times He finally exclaimed, “Brewskies for the horses!” What the heck was he talking about? Henry went on to explain about how a horse’s system can shut down and stop sweating, if you give them beer it can help restart the system. “Tuturosa always buys the best for the horses, I always grab one for myself” he said excited.
April soon found out that there was no such thing as a bucket of steam, saddle stretcher, or a key to the quarter pole. The people that work at the track could always tell if you’re new. They’ll send you on these missions for things that don’t exist, all the while laughing at the eager young person that’s the center of the joke. It’s part of your initiation so to speak, after the first year you could feel safe they ran out of pranks to play on you.
The scale posted 109 pounds when April stepped on to it. How can that be, she thought. I’ve never been over 103 pounds. She’d have to watch what she eats. Apprentice jockeys couldn’t weigh over 105 pounds or they risked not getting enough horses to race. She’d been breezing horses out of the gate. Breezing is when the horse is timed at a pace almost as fast as a race. The young horses had to learn to stand still in the gate, and then jump out as fast as they could. The young riders had to learn how to stay on there back when they lunged forward.
Verardo was an old retired jockey. People on the track will usually referrer to professionals by there last name. He still exercises horses for a living, and was the best breeze rider Tuturosa has. April could never beat him in a workout. Verardo is a nice guy, always giving her tips on racing style, how to get riders to go a little wide on the turn or making them think you’d shut their horse off if they try to pass you on the rail. He always seems to spend too much time riding behind her on the way around the track. He must not be that old April thought.
April was getting better out of the gate as the year rolled past. It had been months since anyone beat her out of there. Her weight was stable at 106 pounds and she finally beat Verardo in a morning breeze. It was time to ask Tuturosa for a shot in the afternoon.
She walks into his office, sits down, and waits. “What can I do for you” he asks slyly. She lets out a sigh, and asks him for a shot to ride one of his horses in a race. Tuturosa has a daughter in law who’s one of the most famous female jockeys of all time. His daughter in law was the first female rider to win a prestigious Grade 1 race; she’s also the first woman to earn $1 million in a year. April thought she had as good of a shot with him as any trainer, if not better. “Are you working out?” “You don’t even have a gate card.” “Your not ready yet, give it a couple of years,” Tuturosa went on to say April was broken up inside, she thought; give it a couple of years! Time always goes so slow at that age. If she waited any longer she’d be on social security, she thought, if social security is around at that time.
People on the backside of the track call them gypsies, they aren’t really gypsies, they’re trainers with just a couple of horses, they don’t have large farms or big money owners backing up there operation. Most of the time horses in these kinds of outfits got lots of love and attention, but not much help from the veterinarians. Their bills can get extremely high. It seems there’s always a gypsy outfit at the end of larger stables, Tuturosa’s barn isn’t any different.
“You look awfully sad today, April.” Sam remarked as she was leaving the barn, “what’s going on?” Sam and his wife have two horses at the end of Tuturosa’s stable. Neither has won a race yet. They keep trying, but things just don’t seem to work out in their favor. One of horses is a beautiful liver chestnut colt, the other one is a little gray filly. The filly looks like someone was in a hurry when they glued her legs on. April told Sam and his wife about what happened in Tuturosa’s office. “You look good in the saddle, but you do need to get the ok from the gate crew to start riding races,” Sam told her. She still doesn’t feel any better.
The next morning when April finished cleaning the horse’s wash rack and all the tack had been conditioned, she headed for her car. “Slow down April,” Sam stopping her “I want to talk to you about something.” “Sorry Sam,” April said “I need to muck out Silver Reins stall, the place flooded last night and his stall got the worst of it.” Sam went on tell her that his wife had come up with an idea, if she could gallop the colt, she could ride him in a race. The colt was notoriously tough to hold back in the morning, she was exited about the prospect, but she’d heard the stories about the colt. He was named Steel Toe Jaw.
Tuturosa’s crew was fast and finished the morning work no later than 9:00 a.m... The track stayed open until 10:00 a.m., and gave April enough time to take Sam’s horse out. She had talked to Henry about the colt and he gave her a special bit to use on him. From the first day April took Steel Toe Jaw to the track, anyone could tell they where in love.
April went and spoke to the main guy in charge of the gate crew. His official title is the Starter. He’d seen her evolve over the last year and was impressed with her progress she still needed to bring one more horse up to the gate to get the official ok. Steel Toe Jaw hadn’t run in over a year, so it worked out good. A horse had to breeze from the gate if it hadn’t race in over a year. Everything was going along as planned. April got Steel Toe Jaw’s and her gate card in the same day.
Sam went to the racing secretary’s office and entered Steel Toe Jaw, with April Edwards listed as the apprentice jockey. The horse was four years old and would normally carry 122#. Because April was an apprentice the horse was listed with 112#, giving the horse a 10# allowance for her inexperience. After the overnight was printed and distributed with April’s name listed she was eligible to change her license from exercise rider too apprentice jockey. An overnight is the preliminary program listing all sorts of things, names of horses, jockeys, trainers, medication, and weight and starting order. First she had to speak to the stewards, three of them in all. The stewards are the law in racing, judge, jury and prosecutor. They talk to you a bit, and have the final word. If they think you’re not ready, then you have to wait.
April was nervous going into see the three stewards, it made her fell like she’d done something wrong, she sat down in front of the three desks that are lined up in a row. “So you think you can handle yourself out there?” asked the man in middle. April’s reply was meek, “I’ve ridden my entire life.” After the finished grilling her they gave their consent.
April purchased some used racing equipment from a retired jockey who worked as a valet in the Jocks Room. The saddle isn’t any larger than a frying pan and has two girths instead of one. She had two pairs of boots in the bag, one set was patent leather and the other was more of a dear skin. She had goggles, crops, and saddles. It felt like Christmas in September.
The official program listed Steel Toe Jaw at odds of 20-1, he carried 112#, and the rider carries no crop. The stewards don’t allow a rider to carry a crop in the first two races, they need both hand free for the reins being inexperienced. April was greeted by a chubby middle aged man as she entered the Jocks Room, “I’m your valet, if you need anything just pick up the phone on the wall” he instructs her, “I get 10% of your earnings, supply you toiletries, and I make sure your saddle stays on” He ask to see her equipment and proceeds to inspect it. “I’ll have to borrow another set of girths these have dry rot,” he tells her.
April is alone most of the time except for when Germander comes in to check on her. Germander was the leading apprentice the year before and felt motherly towards all the new girl jockeys. She looked April up and down, when she was finished getting dresses, made a few adjustments to her cloths and proclaims that the young rider is as ready as she’ll ever be.
As she enters the saddling ring she spots Henry walking Steel Toe Jaw around the enclosure, she finds her assigned spot where Sam is standing waiting for her. Henry always helps Sam on race day, if Tuturosa doesn’t have a horse racing that day, he pays him $50.00 for his time and Henry likes the extra money.
The horses followed the Outrider onto the track, walked past the finish line and directed the riders to the starting gate. April and Steel Toe Jaw are the first to be loaded in, after a minute all the horses are finished loading and lined up straight, looking through the bars in front of them. She feels like time is standing still waiting for the doors to open
The bell rings and the horses explode out of the gate; she can see two horses in front of her as they near the first turn. Hooves are pounding all around them. Steel Toe grabs at the bit pulling them into the lead, as they come out of the final turn she can hear the sound of hooves approaching on the right side of her, April starts screaming to Steel Toe Jaw to run faster, the rider on the four horse is coming up on her fast and vigorously using the crop on his horse. April has no crop, she’s screaming even louder, the four horse sticks his nose in front of her, and back and forth they run side by side taking the lead from each other with every step. At the finish line only the photograph taken from the automated camera can tell everyone what horse finished first.
April can see the Outrider up ahead; he’s trying to pick her and Steel Toe Jaw up, by riding along side of her and reaching for the bridle. The Outrider brings them back to the finish line where all the horses come to get the saddle removed, except April and the rider of the four horse are instructed to stay mounted on the horses. The Stewards are taking a long time to examine the photo finish; the tote bard in the middle of the track is blinking PHOTO FINISH along with April and the other rider’s number. The board stops flashing and Aprils number stays on top. She’s waved into the winners circle for the picture to be taken, and hears her old friend Robert shouting, “you won you won” There must be twenty people in the winners circle and the crowd in the grandstand is going wild. Holding back her tears, it’s a feeling like none she’s ever experienced, or could’ve imagined.
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I hope you have enjoyed this Book. You can find my at http://brewskiesforthehorses.blogspot.com/
About the Author:
As an avid horsewoman I've spent much of my life in the stables. In Philadelphia growing up on a small farm in the city, I was able to gain an extremely different view of farm life. My husband and I spend as much time, as life will allow, with these wonderful creatures. We have three wonderful children and lots of extended family.
Cover art provided by: Enrique Corredor