Midnight and The Racehorse
3. Desert Winds Racehorse Farm
Annie guided Midnight through the gate. Massive posts held up a wood and iron carving of
swirls; “Desert Winds.” Flags of gold and black fluttered from the posts. Thick
green grass and flowering trees stood out against the dry, cactus covered
Arizona desert like an oasis. The professional horse barns loomed larger than
Annie remembered. But then she had never been allowed inside these fences before
this day. No horses ran in the paddocks yet, but she could hear whinnies coming
from the barns. Midnight whinnied a greeting in return.
“I don’t know about this, boy. Can we do this?” Annie tingled with anticipation but her tummy
rolled with concern.
Midnight tossed his head and pulled at his bit. Of course we can. The man invited us. I have met
these horses and they are good. And I am strong and fast, I will protect you. Midnight jogged down the long,
tree lined drive toward the barns and the house that was still under construction.
Annie thought about how angry Mr. Weston had been when he caught her walking through the newly
planted alfalfa field early that year. But he was kind to her when he learned
that she had a way with horses. She had been able to find and save Midnight,
lost in the tall alfalfa and dying of colic. And Mr. Weston had, indeed, asked
her to work for him. He asked her to bring the pony to work with his horses
because his old gentling pony had died. His pony had been a companion to the
race horses and accompanied them to races and even walked them out onto the
track. The entire stable of horses grieved, missing their old friend.
“Yes, Midnight, but he really just wanted you, I’m only along for the ride, remember that part?”
I help to calm his race horse, but I cannot go anyplace without you. We are a team. You will learn here,
just like you learn at the playdays.
“Yes, my beautiful Midnight, we are a team.” Annie urged the pony to a canter, encouraged
by his strong voice.
Mr. Weston stepped out of the main horse barn, the luxurious facility that looked more like
a castle at Disney Land than a barn on a back road in Arizona. Annie hopped off Midnight’s back.
“Hi, Mr. Weston,” She said.
“Perfect timing. I’m glad to see you. And I see that you left your saddle at home, too. Good.”
“Uh, well, the saddle isn’t mine, I just borrow it sometimes.” Annie grew nervous again. “Do I
need a saddle to maybe hold one of the race horses or something?”
“Heaven’s no, especially not today. We have to get these guys acquainted first. We’ll find
something else to keep you busy. Let’s start here in this barn.” He led the way
into the palatial barn, pulling off his baseball cap and releasing his thick red
hair. “Did you bring the pony’s health certificate from the vet?”
“Yes, sir, here in my pocket. He had his coggins test and all his shots after he healed up
from that case of colic he got from the fresh alfalfa.” She handed over the valuable paper.
“About that ‘sir’ thing; just call me Joe, since you will be working for me now.” A woman
met them at the wide, sliding barn door. “This is my wife, Lorraine, Lorrie to our friends.”
Annie reached her hand toward her. “I’m happy to meet you.”
“We are lucky to have you here. You’ll be part of the family in no time.” Lorrie had a happy
smile and her wavy hair seemed to bounce with every word. Annie thought she
might be a little younger than her mother, but she could see no sign of children
at the farm. “Okay, then, right this way, I’ll show you around.”
Annie liked Lorrie right away. Even though Joe could be loud and angry one minute and kind
and gentle the next minute, Annie felt that Lorrie was always smiling and bouncy.
Immediately, Annie realized why the barn looked so large on the outside, it was cavernous on
the inside. She saw rows of box stalls, not just along the walls, but in the
center of the barn as well. Offices, storage compartments and tack rooms created
one wall. Carts loaded with pelleted feeds, grains, and different types of baled
hay, and still more carts piled high with bright yellow straw lined the isles. A
staircase led to a loft packed with hay and doors to many more rooms. Horses
popped their heads out their stall windows and whinnied their greetings. Then
Annie saw the other reason for the massive size of the structure. An open
paddock filled half of the interior.
“Wow!” breathed Annie. “So big! And it’s cooler in here than it is outside.”
“Big fans.” Lorrie grinned pointing to the cupolas in the roof. “We live in here, too, at
least until the house is finished. Up there is a really nice apartment.” Lorrie
pointed out one of the doors at the top of the stairs. “We have another like it
in the stallion barn for our trainer.”
“Let me take care of this paperwork first.” Joe ducked through a door, which Annie noticed
was a sort of office. He made a copy of her vet report using a small printer then handed it back
to her. “Now we can get to work.”
“Am I going to work with any of these horses?” Annie asked. Her heart pounded with
anticipation.
“Not these. At least, not for a while. We’re going to start you out in the yard. Oakie here,
Oh, sorry, not Oakie, that was my old pony. Midnight, here is going to get to
know the young string first, then later we will go into the stallion barn.”
Annie was disappointed, Yard work again--raking--chopping weeds--trimming hedges--I
want to take care of horses! How can I help a spoiled horse if I can’t even get
close to it! But at least I’m here. Baby steps. Do a good job. She scolded
herself but felt Midnight giving her encouragement
Yes a good job, I could help you with the grass, I can also make the horses happy, the
mares are happy to see me. We will both do a good job. So, she followed along, smiling,
with her hand resting on Midnight’s neck. She sensed the pony’s excitement and recognition
of the mares and their newly born foals.
“Joe? I think he probably met them when he got out a while back.” Annie said.
“No doubt, but this is a bit different, you see, it’s one thing for horses to meet and greet
across a fence, but another thing completely when a new horse comes into the herd.”
“Don’t I know! It’s the same with kids at a new school.” Annie agreed. Midnight continued to
nicker to the mares as they walked by. He turned his head toward each stall and
even tried to reach out to a bright sorrel mare. But when the magnificent
silvery head of the mare in the last stall emerged, Midnight stopped and would
not move. His ears stood straight up, his neck arched. Annie heard his tail
swish as he held it high over his back. The mare reached her muzzle toward the
black pony and he responded by pulling toward her whickering gently. They
touched noses and breathed deeply of each other’s scent. The mare then stretched
her neck to reach the side of his head and nuzzled him lovingly.
“Well, that’s a good sign, if Pearl here loves him, the whole herd will love him too. This is
my foundation broodmare, Jumana. Her name means Silver Pearl,” Joe said.
“She looks like an Arabian, but she’s so tall.” Annie observed.
“You know your horses, don’t you. Most of my horses have some Arab blood, actually Akhal-Tek, a
rather rare bloodline. But they are Thoroughbred race horses. Pearl is desert
bred; imported Egyptian Thoroughbred. So is my stallion, White Thunder. The Arab
blood gives them stamina as well as speed. Not too difficult to look at either,
if you ask me.” Joe grinned and rubbed the face of his favorite mare.
Annie heard fast footsteps behind her and turned to see a shock of sand colored hair
flopping across the red face of a teen aged boy. He stopped short and tossed his
head, a bit like a horse, to throw his hair out of his eyes. He was barely
taller than she was, but his broad shoulders and muscle bulging arms made him
look like a miniature Dwayne Johnson, The Rock. Annie thought her heart might
stop when he jumped forward with his hand out.
“Hi! I’m Vic.”
Joe turned to him. “Vic, meet Annie. She’s the one who got the pony out of the field when he
had colic a while back. Annie, this is my exercise boy and general right hand in
the barn, Victor Simmons.”
Annie shyly took his hand. He pumped it up and down with both hands then wrapped an arm
around her shoulder. Her knees felt shaky.
“Wow, your pony could pass for Okie’s twin brother. What’s his name?
“Midnight,” Annie squeaked Vic patted Midnight on the shoulder, reaching around Annie almost
in a hug.
“So, how well does Miss Annie muck stalls?” Vic laughed.
“Not today. She’s got other business.” Joe gave him a mock scowl. “You get back to work and
leave my new hand alone.” Vic grabbed a cart full of hay and disappeared to the
other side of the barn. Annie leaned across Midnight’s back to steady her thumping heart.
Are you hurt? Are you frightened? Hold on to me, I will not let you fall.
She gained strength from the familiar encouragement of her pony.
Joe continued instructing Annie. “So, we’ll put Midnight in the pen with the two year old
fillies. They’re starting their training and one of them really needs the extra
help of a gentling pony. Midnight will stay in this part for safety just in case
the fillies decide they don’t like him. It’s actually a ‘creep-feeder’ for
weanling foals. The bar here prevents the larger horses from getting in and
stealing the feed, but it is set high enough for their foals to come and go.
We’ll set the bar so that Midnight can’t get out. In a little while we’ll lead
them with him and see how that goes.”
Annie was startled to see Vic dash up with a coil of lead ropes and halters for Joe. Vic
was gone again as fast as he had appeared.
“Do you want me to ride him when he leads them?” Annie asked hopefully, she removed
Midnight’s bridle and released him into the creep feeder.
“No, not yet, we will all be walking for a while.” Joe grinned and he fastened the bar of the
pen. “Out this side door is your job. Water hose, rake, pitchfork, hoe, wheel
barrow, compost pile, that line of trees out to the gate.” He grinned and
pointed out each item. It looked like a Herculean task. “Don’t put so much water
on each tree that it floods out of the depression. Dump at least one wheelbarrow
full of compost on each tree. Just use up what’s piled up here; it won’t be
enough for the entire line of trees. Until I get the automatic watering system
in, we have to do it the old fashioned way, but I want to take care of these
crepe-myrtle trees.”
As it turned out, the compost was very lightweight, made up of decomposed horse manure,
stable bedding and grass clippings. Annie found the task less daunting than she
had originally thought. The trees were pretty with the tiny deep green leaves
and flowers in shades of pink, red and white. And the shade under the trees was
refreshing. Annie felt gratified that she was helping the trees to prosper in
the desert heat. She made a plan to set up something like that compost pile at
her place for her mother’s flowers. Daddy will like it, too. Maybe even give me
a bonus allowance for fixing it up without any help.
Annie’s thoughts were disrupted when Vic dashed up.
“Do you even know how to walk like a regular person?” She shot at him.
“Gatorade. Lorrie sent me out with a gift,” He grinned.
“I have my water.” She tapped the water bottle dangling from her belt loop with a strap.
“Take it, good for ya’ out here.”
“What does an exercise boy do, anyway?” Annie said. She gulped down the Gatorade.
“Everything! I fix broken stuff, muck stalls, feed, brush, halter break the babies, and when a
horse needs to be ridden on the track, I get to do that.”
“Are you a jockey?” Annie wanted to look into his eyes again, but she still felt shy. Her
eyes were fastened to his bulging arms.
“No, not yet, anyway. I’m working on it, though.”
“So, you work here full time? You don’t look very old. How come you’re not in school?”
“Home school, Graduated early. I’m just getting in some work credits to go toward a degree in
animal husbandry – someday,” he winked, then added, “Heck, I just barely got my
driver’s license. Well, gotta run.” And just like that he was gone.
Annie felt an odd tingling and the hair seemed to stand up on her arms when she recalled how
Vic had placed his arm around her earlier. She watched him vanish into the barn.
Then she turned back to her work. “Daddy won’t let me go out with boys
anyway, so I may as well forget about him right now. Why can’t I be turning
sixteen instead of twelve? Oh crud, the water overflowed.” She grumbled under
her breath. She nearly had the job complete when she saw the fillies
trotting out into their grassy paddock.
Annie’s daydreams were again shattered. “Bummer, I wanted to see Midnight with them.”
“Hey, you just lost that promotion you were working on. That water is expensive.” Joe called to
her from the barn.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” Annie cringed.
Lorrie walked out with Joe to meet Annie. “Don’t worry about it this time, dear. And I
promise, you won’t be doing the gardening every time you come here, we have
laundry, too. The chores at a horse farm never end.”
Annie forced a smile that felt more like a grimace. “Sounds like fun.”
Lorrie turned to Joe. “Gotta make a few more phone calls, then I’m off to work the yearlings,
and maybe get in some jumping practice on Rainy,” she smiled and touched Annie
on the arm. “That’s my hunter/jumper-retired from racing mare, Amaya. Her name
means Night Rain. Maybe you’ll have time to watch, but Vic will be busy running
the video camera for me, so I can work on my technical skills. I’ll meet you two
in the main barn for lunch later,” she added, kissing Joe on the cheek before
she dashed back to the barn.
Annie called after her eagerly. “Do you need help with the yearlings?”
“We’re going to the other barn.” Joe said.
Annie felt her heart sink. Will I ever get to see a horse?
Annie gathered up the rake and other tools and laid them in the wheelbarrow. She picked up the
hose to rinse her hands and face. Then she followed Joe and Lorrie into the
barn. “So how did Midnight do with the fillies?”
“The little scamp kept crawling out from under the bar to play tag and visit with them. I
put up a second bar and he just went down on his knees so he could get out. He is a smart one.”
“Yea, Eddie used to call him Houdini.”
“We’re going over to introduce him to the stallions. I want you to lead him because I may
need to control one of the horses. But, I want you to be very careful and you
are to get him out of the barn fast if I tell you. He may not want to listen, so
you have to use your best horseman’s skills in there. Understand?”
Annie suppressed an urge to explain to Joe that she did not think Midnight would give
her any trouble. But, actually, she didn’t really know how he would react with
the stallions. And she understood too well what it meant, to listen and respond
without hesitation. It was one thing her father had taught her since she could
remember. There is a time for play, and a time to pay attention for your safety
and for the safety of others. He was a fire bomber pilot, flying the huge
airplanes that fought the raging forest fires across the country. His life often
depended on others responding like a team, instantly, when called upon. But, I
have to get close to them to help them. How can I get these people to trust me?
Joe led Midnight and Annie noticed that the pony now wore a black nylon halter and a
matching lead rope. She shot a questioning glance up at Joe. “Oh, your bridle is
by the main door, I thought the colt halter would be more comfortable for him
today.” They approached the stallion barn and Joe handed the lead rope to Annie.
"Hi, boy, are you enjoying your new job?” She draped her arm over Midnight’s neck lovingly,
but her mind was instantly filled with strange and confusing thoughts.
Fillies are happy to see me. Strong man, hard hands, pulls my head. I am
happy you came back. Where did you go?
Annie straightened up, trying to understand the message from the pony. Who,
Midnight? Who is the hard man? She sent the message to Midnight silently,
using only her thoughts. The only man she had seen here was Joe; he could not
possibly be hard handed with her pony. But what about Vic, muscular and always in
such a hurry? Would Joe allow him to be harsh with any horse?
“It’s ok, boy; we will figure it out together.” Annie said softly, “Let’s be ready to go in
when Joe signals us.” She rubbed Midnight’s neck under his thick mane and was
comforted by his thoughts. Annie could feel that he was now content and eager to
meet these stallions whose scent was heavy in the air.
4. Stallions
Annie and Midnight stepped through the wide door. The stallions’ home was a smaller
version of the main barn. However, the inside was much different from any barn
that Annie had ever seen. Half of it was as white and spotless as a hospital,
while the other half was simply a spectacular horse facility. Annie made note of
the apartment above the ‘clinic’ area and secretly envied its occupants. She
could count 8 enormous box stalls and a wide grooming stall. A small paddock
similar to the one in the main barn filled the far end of this barn.
A cacophony of squeals and whinnies greeted Annie as she led Midnight down the aisle behind
Joe. Midnight whinnied and grunted his response to their calls and danced
sideways, his head held high and his tail ‘flagged’ over his back. But he did
not pull on the lead rope, nor did he move his neck from the firm hand of the
girl guiding him. Annie felt a surge of excitement course through her.
“Ok, walk him up and down a couple of times so that the stallions are able to see him and
smell him,” Joe directed. Annie wanted to tell him that the horses were already
getting acquainted, carrying on a full conversation, but she nodded and
complied. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a young man in an empty box
stall spreading straw. The stall looked bigger than her living room at home.
Annie wondered if a new stallion was coming to the barn or if there was a resident out in a
paddock some place. And she instantly had a picture of a small, dark horse who
was no longer in the barn as Midnight relayed her question to the stallions and
returned the answer. She had to move quickly to the side to stay in contact with
Midnight as he jumped and kicked out his hind legs.
***********************************************************************
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Annie guided Midnight through the gate. Massive posts held up a wood and iron carving of
swirls; “Desert Winds.” Flags of gold and black fluttered from the posts. Thick
green grass and flowering trees stood out against the dry, cactus covered
Arizona desert like an oasis. The professional horse barns loomed larger than
Annie remembered. But then she had never been allowed inside these fences before
this day. No horses ran in the paddocks yet, but she could hear whinnies coming
from the barns. Midnight whinnied a greeting in return.
“I don’t know about this, boy. Can we do this?” Annie tingled with anticipation but her tummy
rolled with concern.
Midnight tossed his head and pulled at his bit. Of course we can. The man invited us. I have met
these horses and they are good. And I am strong and fast, I will protect you. Midnight jogged down the long,
tree lined drive toward the barns and the house that was still under construction.
Annie thought about how angry Mr. Weston had been when he caught her walking through the newly
planted alfalfa field early that year. But he was kind to her when he learned
that she had a way with horses. She had been able to find and save Midnight,
lost in the tall alfalfa and dying of colic. And Mr. Weston had, indeed, asked
her to work for him. He asked her to bring the pony to work with his horses
because his old gentling pony had died. His pony had been a companion to the
race horses and accompanied them to races and even walked them out onto the
track. The entire stable of horses grieved, missing their old friend.
“Yes, Midnight, but he really just wanted you, I’m only along for the ride, remember that part?”
I help to calm his race horse, but I cannot go anyplace without you. We are a team. You will learn here,
just like you learn at the playdays.
“Yes, my beautiful Midnight, we are a team.” Annie urged the pony to a canter, encouraged
by his strong voice.
Mr. Weston stepped out of the main horse barn, the luxurious facility that looked more like
a castle at Disney Land than a barn on a back road in Arizona. Annie hopped off Midnight’s back.
“Hi, Mr. Weston,” She said.
“Perfect timing. I’m glad to see you. And I see that you left your saddle at home, too. Good.”
“Uh, well, the saddle isn’t mine, I just borrow it sometimes.” Annie grew nervous again. “Do I
need a saddle to maybe hold one of the race horses or something?”
“Heaven’s no, especially not today. We have to get these guys acquainted first. We’ll find
something else to keep you busy. Let’s start here in this barn.” He led the way
into the palatial barn, pulling off his baseball cap and releasing his thick red
hair. “Did you bring the pony’s health certificate from the vet?”
“Yes, sir, here in my pocket. He had his coggins test and all his shots after he healed up
from that case of colic he got from the fresh alfalfa.” She handed over the valuable paper.
“About that ‘sir’ thing; just call me Joe, since you will be working for me now.” A woman
met them at the wide, sliding barn door. “This is my wife, Lorraine, Lorrie to our friends.”
Annie reached her hand toward her. “I’m happy to meet you.”
“We are lucky to have you here. You’ll be part of the family in no time.” Lorrie had a happy
smile and her wavy hair seemed to bounce with every word. Annie thought she
might be a little younger than her mother, but she could see no sign of children
at the farm. “Okay, then, right this way, I’ll show you around.”
Annie liked Lorrie right away. Even though Joe could be loud and angry one minute and kind
and gentle the next minute, Annie felt that Lorrie was always smiling and bouncy.
Immediately, Annie realized why the barn looked so large on the outside, it was cavernous on
the inside. She saw rows of box stalls, not just along the walls, but in the
center of the barn as well. Offices, storage compartments and tack rooms created
one wall. Carts loaded with pelleted feeds, grains, and different types of baled
hay, and still more carts piled high with bright yellow straw lined the isles. A
staircase led to a loft packed with hay and doors to many more rooms. Horses
popped their heads out their stall windows and whinnied their greetings. Then
Annie saw the other reason for the massive size of the structure. An open
paddock filled half of the interior.
“Wow!” breathed Annie. “So big! And it’s cooler in here than it is outside.”
“Big fans.” Lorrie grinned pointing to the cupolas in the roof. “We live in here, too, at
least until the house is finished. Up there is a really nice apartment.” Lorrie
pointed out one of the doors at the top of the stairs. “We have another like it
in the stallion barn for our trainer.”
“Let me take care of this paperwork first.” Joe ducked through a door, which Annie noticed
was a sort of office. He made a copy of her vet report using a small printer then handed it back
to her. “Now we can get to work.”
“Am I going to work with any of these horses?” Annie asked. Her heart pounded with
anticipation.
“Not these. At least, not for a while. We’re going to start you out in the yard. Oakie here,
Oh, sorry, not Oakie, that was my old pony. Midnight, here is going to get to
know the young string first, then later we will go into the stallion barn.”
Annie was disappointed, Yard work again--raking--chopping weeds--trimming hedges--I
want to take care of horses! How can I help a spoiled horse if I can’t even get
close to it! But at least I’m here. Baby steps. Do a good job. She scolded
herself but felt Midnight giving her encouragement
Yes a good job, I could help you with the grass, I can also make the horses happy, the
mares are happy to see me. We will both do a good job. So, she followed along, smiling,
with her hand resting on Midnight’s neck. She sensed the pony’s excitement and recognition
of the mares and their newly born foals.
“Joe? I think he probably met them when he got out a while back.” Annie said.
“No doubt, but this is a bit different, you see, it’s one thing for horses to meet and greet
across a fence, but another thing completely when a new horse comes into the herd.”
“Don’t I know! It’s the same with kids at a new school.” Annie agreed. Midnight continued to
nicker to the mares as they walked by. He turned his head toward each stall and
even tried to reach out to a bright sorrel mare. But when the magnificent
silvery head of the mare in the last stall emerged, Midnight stopped and would
not move. His ears stood straight up, his neck arched. Annie heard his tail
swish as he held it high over his back. The mare reached her muzzle toward the
black pony and he responded by pulling toward her whickering gently. They
touched noses and breathed deeply of each other’s scent. The mare then stretched
her neck to reach the side of his head and nuzzled him lovingly.
“Well, that’s a good sign, if Pearl here loves him, the whole herd will love him too. This is
my foundation broodmare, Jumana. Her name means Silver Pearl,” Joe said.
“She looks like an Arabian, but she’s so tall.” Annie observed.
“You know your horses, don’t you. Most of my horses have some Arab blood, actually Akhal-Tek, a
rather rare bloodline. But they are Thoroughbred race horses. Pearl is desert
bred; imported Egyptian Thoroughbred. So is my stallion, White Thunder. The Arab
blood gives them stamina as well as speed. Not too difficult to look at either,
if you ask me.” Joe grinned and rubbed the face of his favorite mare.
Annie heard fast footsteps behind her and turned to see a shock of sand colored hair
flopping across the red face of a teen aged boy. He stopped short and tossed his
head, a bit like a horse, to throw his hair out of his eyes. He was barely
taller than she was, but his broad shoulders and muscle bulging arms made him
look like a miniature Dwayne Johnson, The Rock. Annie thought her heart might
stop when he jumped forward with his hand out.
“Hi! I’m Vic.”
Joe turned to him. “Vic, meet Annie. She’s the one who got the pony out of the field when he
had colic a while back. Annie, this is my exercise boy and general right hand in
the barn, Victor Simmons.”
Annie shyly took his hand. He pumped it up and down with both hands then wrapped an arm
around her shoulder. Her knees felt shaky.
“Wow, your pony could pass for Okie’s twin brother. What’s his name?
“Midnight,” Annie squeaked Vic patted Midnight on the shoulder, reaching around Annie almost
in a hug.
“So, how well does Miss Annie muck stalls?” Vic laughed.
“Not today. She’s got other business.” Joe gave him a mock scowl. “You get back to work and
leave my new hand alone.” Vic grabbed a cart full of hay and disappeared to the
other side of the barn. Annie leaned across Midnight’s back to steady her thumping heart.
Are you hurt? Are you frightened? Hold on to me, I will not let you fall.
She gained strength from the familiar encouragement of her pony.
Joe continued instructing Annie. “So, we’ll put Midnight in the pen with the two year old
fillies. They’re starting their training and one of them really needs the extra
help of a gentling pony. Midnight will stay in this part for safety just in case
the fillies decide they don’t like him. It’s actually a ‘creep-feeder’ for
weanling foals. The bar here prevents the larger horses from getting in and
stealing the feed, but it is set high enough for their foals to come and go.
We’ll set the bar so that Midnight can’t get out. In a little while we’ll lead
them with him and see how that goes.”
Annie was startled to see Vic dash up with a coil of lead ropes and halters for Joe. Vic
was gone again as fast as he had appeared.
“Do you want me to ride him when he leads them?” Annie asked hopefully, she removed
Midnight’s bridle and released him into the creep feeder.
“No, not yet, we will all be walking for a while.” Joe grinned and he fastened the bar of the
pen. “Out this side door is your job. Water hose, rake, pitchfork, hoe, wheel
barrow, compost pile, that line of trees out to the gate.” He grinned and
pointed out each item. It looked like a Herculean task. “Don’t put so much water
on each tree that it floods out of the depression. Dump at least one wheelbarrow
full of compost on each tree. Just use up what’s piled up here; it won’t be
enough for the entire line of trees. Until I get the automatic watering system
in, we have to do it the old fashioned way, but I want to take care of these
crepe-myrtle trees.”
As it turned out, the compost was very lightweight, made up of decomposed horse manure,
stable bedding and grass clippings. Annie found the task less daunting than she
had originally thought. The trees were pretty with the tiny deep green leaves
and flowers in shades of pink, red and white. And the shade under the trees was
refreshing. Annie felt gratified that she was helping the trees to prosper in
the desert heat. She made a plan to set up something like that compost pile at
her place for her mother’s flowers. Daddy will like it, too. Maybe even give me
a bonus allowance for fixing it up without any help.
Annie’s thoughts were disrupted when Vic dashed up.
“Do you even know how to walk like a regular person?” She shot at him.
“Gatorade. Lorrie sent me out with a gift,” He grinned.
“I have my water.” She tapped the water bottle dangling from her belt loop with a strap.
“Take it, good for ya’ out here.”
“What does an exercise boy do, anyway?” Annie said. She gulped down the Gatorade.
“Everything! I fix broken stuff, muck stalls, feed, brush, halter break the babies, and when a
horse needs to be ridden on the track, I get to do that.”
“Are you a jockey?” Annie wanted to look into his eyes again, but she still felt shy. Her
eyes were fastened to his bulging arms.
“No, not yet, anyway. I’m working on it, though.”
“So, you work here full time? You don’t look very old. How come you’re not in school?”
“Home school, Graduated early. I’m just getting in some work credits to go toward a degree in
animal husbandry – someday,” he winked, then added, “Heck, I just barely got my
driver’s license. Well, gotta run.” And just like that he was gone.
Annie felt an odd tingling and the hair seemed to stand up on her arms when she recalled how
Vic had placed his arm around her earlier. She watched him vanish into the barn.
Then she turned back to her work. “Daddy won’t let me go out with boys
anyway, so I may as well forget about him right now. Why can’t I be turning
sixteen instead of twelve? Oh crud, the water overflowed.” She grumbled under
her breath. She nearly had the job complete when she saw the fillies
trotting out into their grassy paddock.
Annie’s daydreams were again shattered. “Bummer, I wanted to see Midnight with them.”
“Hey, you just lost that promotion you were working on. That water is expensive.” Joe called to
her from the barn.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” Annie cringed.
Lorrie walked out with Joe to meet Annie. “Don’t worry about it this time, dear. And I
promise, you won’t be doing the gardening every time you come here, we have
laundry, too. The chores at a horse farm never end.”
Annie forced a smile that felt more like a grimace. “Sounds like fun.”
Lorrie turned to Joe. “Gotta make a few more phone calls, then I’m off to work the yearlings,
and maybe get in some jumping practice on Rainy,” she smiled and touched Annie
on the arm. “That’s my hunter/jumper-retired from racing mare, Amaya. Her name
means Night Rain. Maybe you’ll have time to watch, but Vic will be busy running
the video camera for me, so I can work on my technical skills. I’ll meet you two
in the main barn for lunch later,” she added, kissing Joe on the cheek before
she dashed back to the barn.
Annie called after her eagerly. “Do you need help with the yearlings?”
“We’re going to the other barn.” Joe said.
Annie felt her heart sink. Will I ever get to see a horse?
Annie gathered up the rake and other tools and laid them in the wheelbarrow. She picked up the
hose to rinse her hands and face. Then she followed Joe and Lorrie into the
barn. “So how did Midnight do with the fillies?”
“The little scamp kept crawling out from under the bar to play tag and visit with them. I
put up a second bar and he just went down on his knees so he could get out. He is a smart one.”
“Yea, Eddie used to call him Houdini.”
“We’re going over to introduce him to the stallions. I want you to lead him because I may
need to control one of the horses. But, I want you to be very careful and you
are to get him out of the barn fast if I tell you. He may not want to listen, so
you have to use your best horseman’s skills in there. Understand?”
Annie suppressed an urge to explain to Joe that she did not think Midnight would give
her any trouble. But, actually, she didn’t really know how he would react with
the stallions. And she understood too well what it meant, to listen and respond
without hesitation. It was one thing her father had taught her since she could
remember. There is a time for play, and a time to pay attention for your safety
and for the safety of others. He was a fire bomber pilot, flying the huge
airplanes that fought the raging forest fires across the country. His life often
depended on others responding like a team, instantly, when called upon. But, I
have to get close to them to help them. How can I get these people to trust me?
Joe led Midnight and Annie noticed that the pony now wore a black nylon halter and a
matching lead rope. She shot a questioning glance up at Joe. “Oh, your bridle is
by the main door, I thought the colt halter would be more comfortable for him
today.” They approached the stallion barn and Joe handed the lead rope to Annie.
"Hi, boy, are you enjoying your new job?” She draped her arm over Midnight’s neck lovingly,
but her mind was instantly filled with strange and confusing thoughts.
Fillies are happy to see me. Strong man, hard hands, pulls my head. I am
happy you came back. Where did you go?
Annie straightened up, trying to understand the message from the pony. Who,
Midnight? Who is the hard man? She sent the message to Midnight silently,
using only her thoughts. The only man she had seen here was Joe; he could not
possibly be hard handed with her pony. But what about Vic, muscular and always in
such a hurry? Would Joe allow him to be harsh with any horse?
“It’s ok, boy; we will figure it out together.” Annie said softly, “Let’s be ready to go in
when Joe signals us.” She rubbed Midnight’s neck under his thick mane and was
comforted by his thoughts. Annie could feel that he was now content and eager to
meet these stallions whose scent was heavy in the air.
4. Stallions
Annie and Midnight stepped through the wide door. The stallions’ home was a smaller
version of the main barn. However, the inside was much different from any barn
that Annie had ever seen. Half of it was as white and spotless as a hospital,
while the other half was simply a spectacular horse facility. Annie made note of
the apartment above the ‘clinic’ area and secretly envied its occupants. She
could count 8 enormous box stalls and a wide grooming stall. A small paddock
similar to the one in the main barn filled the far end of this barn.
A cacophony of squeals and whinnies greeted Annie as she led Midnight down the aisle behind
Joe. Midnight whinnied and grunted his response to their calls and danced
sideways, his head held high and his tail ‘flagged’ over his back. But he did
not pull on the lead rope, nor did he move his neck from the firm hand of the
girl guiding him. Annie felt a surge of excitement course through her.
“Ok, walk him up and down a couple of times so that the stallions are able to see him and
smell him,” Joe directed. Annie wanted to tell him that the horses were already
getting acquainted, carrying on a full conversation, but she nodded and
complied. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a young man in an empty box
stall spreading straw. The stall looked bigger than her living room at home.
Annie wondered if a new stallion was coming to the barn or if there was a resident out in a
paddock some place. And she instantly had a picture of a small, dark horse who
was no longer in the barn as Midnight relayed her question to the stallions and
returned the answer. She had to move quickly to the side to stay in contact with
Midnight as he jumped and kicked out his hind legs.
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