vivian 9

I woke up exhausted since I stayed up waiting to talk to Lane after he got off his plane in Georgia. He called when he got to his Grandmother’s house at nine and we proceeded to talk for an hour before he wished me goodnight and I fell asleep. I walked down the aisle of the barn towards Fleet’s stall when I saw a little girl standing there, probably around thirteen or fourteen. When she heard my footsteps she hurriedly walked away. I watched her walk out of the barn and shook my head. What was that all about?

 

            I was leading Fleet out of the barn when Ford spotted me and came over. He patted the short horses blonde shoulder. “Hey there fellow, ready for a workout?” he asked the horse and silver whinnied shrilly. Ford chuckled and turned to me, his stern face back on. “Ok little lady. Listen intently. We don’t want to work him too hard with a race coming. We have to pace ourselves. So just a brisk gallop with a two furlong breeze at the end.” He instructed. I nodded as we approached the track. Ford gave me a leg into fleet’s saddle and I smiled, happy to be riding my own horse. Fleet was a thoroughbred, but he looked like a palomino with his blonde coat and white mane. I call him shrimp because next to his mama he looks short. He is Ella’s foal. We’d been training him for a month or so and I already had him broke to a rider and used to galloping so we just had to get him on the track. And boy he was good at it. I strapped my helmet on and ford handed me the reins. Quickly I dug my heels into the horse’s sides and he walked unto the track, after a quick warm up trot I eased him into a canter and pointed him toward the outside rail to gallop. There were too many horse out to ride on the inside rail today. I settled the colt into a brisk gallop just like ford said to and held him there for a bit. When Ford nodded at me I kneaded my hands down the horses neck and gave him some rein, and he shot off like his mama would. I could feel his pace lagging a bit so I talked in his ear, encouraging him to give it more. He did just that, smoothing out his speed and eating up ground. The other jockey’s trotting watched us in amazement as we flew by. And he hadn’t even given it everything yet. I asked him for a little more and he gave it again, he wasn’t even working a sweat yet as Ford nodded and I pulled him up. I smiled as Fleet sidestepped frustrated that we stopped. He could have gone the whole mile. I rode him off the track praising him the whole way. As I rode through the gap Ford reached up and took the reins. “How’d he feel?” he asked. “Great! He’s getting better everyday ford.” I say excitedly, patting the horse. “This guy is a winning machine. I can feel it.” I say and smile. Ford frowns. “He’s looking real good now, but we won’t know for sure until we get him with another horse. He could be a player.” He says. I frown, doubting that but I keep my mouth shut. From behind someone shouts. “Wow that was amazing! How’d you get him to behave so well?” I turned to see the girl from this morning. She piped down when I looked at her. “Thanks a lot. It takes a lot of practice to hold a horse but this guy is pretty well behaved.” I said patting fleet, then taking the reins back from Ford after I dismount.

“What’s your name?” I asked. She smiled shyly. “Delanie. I’m the breeding managers daughter.” She answered. I smiled warmly. “I’m Vivian, the boss’s daughter. But don’t worry. I’m cool. This guy’s fleet. Fleet fire formally.” I said rubbing the horse’s ear, then reaching out my hand. She took my hand and shook it hard. When she released it I shook it in pain. Ouch I thought shaking my hand behind my back. “Strong gal.” I laugh and she smiles. “I barrel race. I’m mostly a western rider.” She says smiling. “My friend temp would love you. She’s one of the few westerners in Lexington.” I reply smiling. She nods. “I’d really like to get better at my English riding though.” She answers. “I could give you some pointers.” I say and smile as her face lights up. “Could you?” she exclaims excitedly. “That would be great if you could.” She adds in a softer tone. I laugh. “I have a feeling were going to be great friends.” I said smiling.

 

            After I finish my morning chores I find Delanie watching the track, the morning workouts are when it’s busiest but some people who board here work their horses later. I tapped her shoulder and she spun around. “Oh Vivian, you scared me. I thought you were my mother.” She says holding her chest. “Nope it’s just me.” I said smiling. “I was wondering if you wanted a tour of the barns. I’ll introduce you to some horses.” I say. Her face lights up again. It was obvious this girl needed a friend. “That sounds awesome, let’s go.” She says and heads toward the barn. “Wait up for your tour guide!” I yell after her.

           

            We had been through the yearling barn where Delanie had drooled over silver foot and Chanche, our newest addition, fresh from auction. Now we were in the breeding barn where we found our eldest horse Halle and her filly Calle. Delanie was quiet as we entered the stall and Calle stumbled over to me, she was only a few days old and she was still a little clumsy. “Isn’t she a beauty?” I ask Delanie who is still being quiet. “Yeah she is.” She says and pats the foal’s head. “Let’s go see your other horse.” She says, standing up. I shrug. “Alright.” I reply and head toward Ella’s stall, whom Delanie gave a more enthusiastic greeting too. That was weird.

 

            Halle whinnied and I let myself in the stall, poured the grain into her feed trough, and started to head back out. But then I heard something. I looked over to the foal and saw someone kneeling next to her. I recognized her as Delanie. “I miss our farm girl…I wish we still had it. But I’ve got horse friends here, and Vivian. Their all great but… it’s just not the same.” she says to the foal her voice shaking, not realizing I was there. I decided to let her talk to the foal for a little before I let myself known, It was the best way to find out Delanie’s backstory. She was too shy to tell me it herself. “Vivian’s awesome. Really. She befriended me, but she’s quite a bit older than me. A good ten years. But I like her. I have a feeling once her friend comes back though, she’ll forget all about little thirteen year old Delanie.” She said. My heart melted, I wouldn’t forget about her, she came just at the time I needed a friend too. She’s hard to forget. With her jet-black hair that falls just below her chin in a pixie cut and her pale skin. She’s nearly albino.  With some red lipstick and dark eye shadow she’d look like a vampire from some of those movies everyone was so crazy about. She continued and my attention snapped back to her. “And you’re so great too. The first horse I’ve loved in a while. There was Seattle Night, but she died a long time ago…” she was now in tears. It was too painful to watch anymore, so I cleared my throat. She looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “Vivian. How long have you been there?” she asked. I sat down next to her. “I heard enough. What’s this about a farm and Seattle night?” I asked. A tear slipped down her cheek. “I miss it Vivian. Seattle was a foal when she died. Her Dam died a few days later. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. They were spitting images of Halle and Calle. I loved them both so much.” She says and starts bawling. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. She collapsed against my chest, bawling. After a few minutes if violent sobs she subsided into sniffles and looked up at me. Se was gasping for air. “I know how it’s like to lose a horse you love. A few years ago I lost my first horse, Barbie.” She nodded. “What about two horses you loved?” she asked. I nodded back. ”That happened with her foal starlight and then Ella’s dam Ginger. It was a hard time, but luckily Temp was there to get me through it. And I’m here for you okay?” I asked. She smiled. “Okay, thanks Vivian.” She says hugging me. “Call me Vivi.” I said hugging her back. She smiles as she pulls away. “Call me Lanie.” She says. “Alright Lanie, there’s one more thing I have to tell you. I will never forget about you, even when Temp comes home. You’ll always be one of my friends,” I said. She looked up at me. “Really? You mean it?” she asked, I laughed. “Yes of course. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” I answered. “Thanks Vivia...Vivi.” she said and hugged me again. “No problem, want to come help me feed the mares?” I ask and she nods eagerly.