Post by trevor on Jun 3, 2011 20:04:43 GMT -5
It was early morning, the sun hadn't even risen yet, but that didn't stop Trevor from being up already. He was downright determined to make this job work and he wasn't about to let early morning workouts stop him from doing so. This was the chance of a lifetime for him and he wasn't going to throw it away. So here he was, 4:30 in the morning, already up, coffee brewed and in hand, dressed and ready to go. He headed out of the apartment with as chipper an attitude as he could muster at this hour, and got into the truck, followed closely by the little dog that was his constant companion and headed out for the barn. Working for Anthony was hard. The guy had a work ethic like no one else he'd ever met and wanted things done in a very particular way. His jockeys didn't get to just ride his horses, they also had to do their fair share of work. He said it was character building... and although Trevor sometimes had a hard time seeing that, he didn't complain...after all, he'd had an easy life growing up, Anthony had it rough, so he must know what he was talking about.
When he pulled up to the barn no one else was there yet, as was always the case. All the lights were off and most horses were still sleeping. When he flicked on the lights though, he was greeted by a good number of whinnies of eager horses. First things first... get the three he was in charge of turned out for a nice gallop around the fields while he cleaned stalls. King and Doubt were easy. The tall, half blind chestnut hardly even needed a lead and would just follow along right behind with his nose pressed against the shoulder of whoever was leading him. Doubt could care less what was done with him and just lumbered along lazily beside Trevor. Temp, though, was a different story entirely. The young bay danced and pranced at the end of the lead, crowding Trevor's personal space, occasionally rearing up, yanking on the lead and doing whatever else he could to make the young jockey's life difficult.
The moment the younger horse was turned out with the two older carefree horses it was like a bomb went off. He took off galloping like the devil was on his tail, and of course Doubt just had to chase after him as was his training to stalk the leader until the final furlongs, and King was so attached to the little gray that he went off after them as well. The three of them would probably do a couple laps around the pasture until the older two got tired of the game and went back to grazing, and after another lap or two Temp would get bored with not being chased and would settle down too. It was like a ritual for the three of them, and Trevor wasn't concerned by their apparent craziness. It took about an hour to get the stalls cleaned, the hay in the mangers, and the grain measured out to exact proportions with the supplements all added in. Once that was done, the three horses were brought in to finish their breakfast, giving him about an hour of time to do nothing if he so chose.
But he had big shoes to fill, so instead of just kicking back and relaxing it was to the tack room to clean every piece of tack that had been used in the past few days. Saddles, bits, bridles, reins, the whole shebang. Once all that was done it was time to start the long and possibly painful process of getting Temp tacked up. The horse had a bit of a mean streak and he'd drawn blood on more than one occasion. At first Trevor had been intimidated by the horse, and when he got on him and the horse promptly flipped over backwards, the matter wasn't helped any... but he had long since gotten over his fear of the horse and knew better than to let the animal get in his head. He was a bully, nothing more.
It took some time, and Trevor was careful to tack him up slowly so as to not tighten the girth too much at once and get the young horse all agitated, and managed to get the job done with nothing worse than a gash in the arm from Temp biting him when he tightened the girth and wasn't fast enough to get away from the sharp teeth. The morning work-outs were unsupervised, though instructions were given at the evening work out the day before on what was to be done, and varying from those instructions would be like signing your death warrant. Not that Anthony was mean in any way, it was just foolish to not do what the trainer told you to do, and Anthony had hurt himself riding enough times he always knew what was best for the horse and for the rider and would never lead them astray.
It was near 8:00 by the time the horse, jockey, and dog arrived at the track and it was still good and cool, which was always a good thing when riding a horse like Temp. The moment they got onto the track Temp's excitement rose and he started getting more and more difficult to handle. Knowing better than to waste time and wait until he got to the point of rearing and being impossible to get on, Trevor grabbed a chunk of mane and hoisted himself up onto the horse with apparent ease. The thoroughbred, of course, barely gave him time to get his feet in the stirrups before giving out a half rear and attempting to launch forward into a full fledged gallop. A strong pull on the reins got him back down to a manageable pace, but it wouldn't last for long. There would be no walking... there never was.
The horse trotted sideways, fighting the tight hold on the reins, forcing Trevor to put everything he had into holding the horse back before letting him into a light canter, which was more of running sideways than cantering. After a short while, he let him into an easy gallop about halfway around the track before letting him go. As soon as he felt the slack in the reins, the bay jumped forward into an extended gallop as if he really was in a race. Three furlongs flew past, and Trevor gave him his head. Like a bullet shot out of a gun he was off at a tremendous pace. After eight furlongs Trevor regathered his reins and started making an attempt at slowing the horse down which was much easier said than done. It took another several furlongs before Temp finally gave into the tightening reins and slowed his pace, a nice sweat built up on his coat, and white flecks of foam splattered down his neck and chest.
The animal seemed satisfied with having been allowed to take a nice full gallop around the track and was much more calm now that his energy had been expended. Trevor maneuvered him out to the outside rail and gave him a loose rein for the walk. Once glance at his left arm told him the strain put into slowing the horse had re-opened the gash on his arm, but he wasn't too concerned about it. After all, he'd had far worse injuries on the track before. Good boy Temp he said to the animal, leaning forward to pat the sweaty neck, and kicking his feet out of the stirrups, You're one hell of a horse. With the horse now walking calmly and quietly, the puppy raced out to walk along beside his owner and the horse. He always sat quietly by the gate until the horses were no longer galloping then would resume his place beside Trevor. The two of them were practically inseparable. This was the life Trevor had always hoped for. It was perfect. Sometimes, wishes really do come true.
[/size]When he pulled up to the barn no one else was there yet, as was always the case. All the lights were off and most horses were still sleeping. When he flicked on the lights though, he was greeted by a good number of whinnies of eager horses. First things first... get the three he was in charge of turned out for a nice gallop around the fields while he cleaned stalls. King and Doubt were easy. The tall, half blind chestnut hardly even needed a lead and would just follow along right behind with his nose pressed against the shoulder of whoever was leading him. Doubt could care less what was done with him and just lumbered along lazily beside Trevor. Temp, though, was a different story entirely. The young bay danced and pranced at the end of the lead, crowding Trevor's personal space, occasionally rearing up, yanking on the lead and doing whatever else he could to make the young jockey's life difficult.
The moment the younger horse was turned out with the two older carefree horses it was like a bomb went off. He took off galloping like the devil was on his tail, and of course Doubt just had to chase after him as was his training to stalk the leader until the final furlongs, and King was so attached to the little gray that he went off after them as well. The three of them would probably do a couple laps around the pasture until the older two got tired of the game and went back to grazing, and after another lap or two Temp would get bored with not being chased and would settle down too. It was like a ritual for the three of them, and Trevor wasn't concerned by their apparent craziness. It took about an hour to get the stalls cleaned, the hay in the mangers, and the grain measured out to exact proportions with the supplements all added in. Once that was done, the three horses were brought in to finish their breakfast, giving him about an hour of time to do nothing if he so chose.
But he had big shoes to fill, so instead of just kicking back and relaxing it was to the tack room to clean every piece of tack that had been used in the past few days. Saddles, bits, bridles, reins, the whole shebang. Once all that was done it was time to start the long and possibly painful process of getting Temp tacked up. The horse had a bit of a mean streak and he'd drawn blood on more than one occasion. At first Trevor had been intimidated by the horse, and when he got on him and the horse promptly flipped over backwards, the matter wasn't helped any... but he had long since gotten over his fear of the horse and knew better than to let the animal get in his head. He was a bully, nothing more.
It took some time, and Trevor was careful to tack him up slowly so as to not tighten the girth too much at once and get the young horse all agitated, and managed to get the job done with nothing worse than a gash in the arm from Temp biting him when he tightened the girth and wasn't fast enough to get away from the sharp teeth. The morning work-outs were unsupervised, though instructions were given at the evening work out the day before on what was to be done, and varying from those instructions would be like signing your death warrant. Not that Anthony was mean in any way, it was just foolish to not do what the trainer told you to do, and Anthony had hurt himself riding enough times he always knew what was best for the horse and for the rider and would never lead them astray.
It was near 8:00 by the time the horse, jockey, and dog arrived at the track and it was still good and cool, which was always a good thing when riding a horse like Temp. The moment they got onto the track Temp's excitement rose and he started getting more and more difficult to handle. Knowing better than to waste time and wait until he got to the point of rearing and being impossible to get on, Trevor grabbed a chunk of mane and hoisted himself up onto the horse with apparent ease. The thoroughbred, of course, barely gave him time to get his feet in the stirrups before giving out a half rear and attempting to launch forward into a full fledged gallop. A strong pull on the reins got him back down to a manageable pace, but it wouldn't last for long. There would be no walking... there never was.
The horse trotted sideways, fighting the tight hold on the reins, forcing Trevor to put everything he had into holding the horse back before letting him into a light canter, which was more of running sideways than cantering. After a short while, he let him into an easy gallop about halfway around the track before letting him go. As soon as he felt the slack in the reins, the bay jumped forward into an extended gallop as if he really was in a race. Three furlongs flew past, and Trevor gave him his head. Like a bullet shot out of a gun he was off at a tremendous pace. After eight furlongs Trevor regathered his reins and started making an attempt at slowing the horse down which was much easier said than done. It took another several furlongs before Temp finally gave into the tightening reins and slowed his pace, a nice sweat built up on his coat, and white flecks of foam splattered down his neck and chest.
The animal seemed satisfied with having been allowed to take a nice full gallop around the track and was much more calm now that his energy had been expended. Trevor maneuvered him out to the outside rail and gave him a loose rein for the walk. Once glance at his left arm told him the strain put into slowing the horse had re-opened the gash on his arm, but he wasn't too concerned about it. After all, he'd had far worse injuries on the track before. Good boy Temp he said to the animal, leaning forward to pat the sweaty neck, and kicking his feet out of the stirrups, You're one hell of a horse. With the horse now walking calmly and quietly, the puppy raced out to walk along beside his owner and the horse. He always sat quietly by the gate until the horses were no longer galloping then would resume his place beside Trevor. The two of them were practically inseparable. This was the life Trevor had always hoped for. It was perfect. Sometimes, wishes really do come true.