Don't Stop Me Now

[Deleted]

Dark Charmer & Jacob Donovan
Moondancer & Alexia Harshing

Sadly, not all days can be perfect. We might hope and wish, but sometimes the weather is just against us. On those days we can just sit around and stare blankly out of the window or we can grab the oppurtunity and do something different. Most of us will choose the prior. Very rarely will we see the silver lining to the clouds which hang over us. The thing is, maybe we should. Maybe we should learn to accept what comes our way and develop from all the things which occur.

As autumn pulled in the rain came with it. Some days were bright, sunny, but others were dull and dreary. When you looked out of the window in the morning you would want to roll over and return to the land of bliss from which we have come in our dreams. Most people, however, cannot do that. Work and responsibility weigh us down and we just have to get on with life. Most of us are not children anymore, we can't juststay inside because the weather is a little bad.

The weather affected the moods of all on the yard. The grooms weren't happy and smiling but instead plodded through the yard like they had no energy. Their hair lay flat to their heads, dripping wet from the rain which fell down unrelentlessly. The lucky few managed to stay clean, most however were caked in dirt by mid morning. Did it make for happy staff? Not really, they just longed for their break where they could go into the warmth and guzzle a hot drink in the vain hope it will return feeling to their extremities. But still, they were there and they were working as hard as ever.

It was on that wet, dreary day, that Jacob Donovan and Alexia Harshing hatched a plan. They would provide a challenge for one of the younger horses on the farm - Dark Charmer - by pitting him against an older and more experienced horse -new acquisition Moondancer. After all, the pair had similar preferences and sometimes it did thorses good to have fresh competition. For Dark it would provide a chance to prove himself against a much more experienced horse and, for Mona, it would give her a chance to show her fighting spirit and just why she was a Grade 3 horse.

The eight furlong workout was set for midday. As the two pairs walked down to the track there was playful banter passing between the jockeys and a sparring of wills between the equines. Dark seemed certain he could ignore the mare until she went crazy, Mona sure that if she showed off enough he would just have to give her attention. If he didn't he would pay the price later. But now there was a competition to be had and so minds were set to the task.

Dark boxed easily, walking calmly into the gate to await his match, whereas Mona started to kick off. Not because she disliked the box or any other such thing but because she got a laughout of causing trouble. She reared and stamped her hooves, backed off and tossed her head until two handlers were able to gate her. Now the game really was on, and it was time for the fun to begin. Both for the horses and for their jockeys, who would all be trying their best to outshine the others.

The gates flew open and Mona dashed out. Dark was slower to start, settling in a way behind the mare who had set a medium to fast pace. For Mona, the fun of this was half gone. With the colt not being a front runner she couldn't torment him throughout the race. However, for dark, it could not be more perfect. He could watch her, work her out. Each strode firmly, dirt splashed behind them with each powerful beat and as the race progressed Mona increased the gap between her and the colt. Rounding the corner, Mona pushed all her will into another speed as the colt also began to make his move.

Dark was faster, but he had a lot of distance to make up whereas Mona could keep pushing to the line. As they thundered down the straight Dark started to make up ground but Mona, greatly outranking the colt both in grade and experienced, passed the post first without much difficulty.