Dream On

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Dream On 

Passion Heart and Andrew Martin


 

Sing with me, sing it for the year 

Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear 

Sing with me, if it's just for today 

Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away 

Dream on, dream on, dream on, 

Dream until your dream come true 

Dream on, dream on, dream on, 

And dream until your dream come true 
~ Dream On - Aerosmith

Ally jerked her head vehemently away from Sam as he started putting her bridle on. Her ears where flattened against her skull and it looked a lot like she didn’t have any ears from a distance. Sam uttered a couple harsh words to the back mare and she reluctantly allowed him to slip the bridle over her head and after he was finished she attempted to flatten him against the side of the stall that she stood in.
Sam quickly dodged her attempt to squish him and was out of her stall in a matter of seconds, putting the ropes back up to keep her from advancing on him. Just in time, Andrew came walking down the stall isle and Sam scowled at Ally. “She’s in one of those moods today,” he said, putting emphasis on the word those.
“Aww come on Sam,” Andrew said, “she’s a bit bipolar but we all know that you love her.”
“Right...” Sam muttered and walked off to another stall to start getting some of the yearlings prepped for their workouts.
Andrew turned away and brought his attention back to Ally, she was looking right at him with her ears in the perfect position for her to flatten them at any given moment if she wished. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat amused, she must have not gotten her food at exactly five thirty this morning. He took a few steps closer to her and held out his hand, and she sniffed it, although she really had no reason to. Ally had become very well acquainted with Andrew over the past couple of months and she could pick him out in a crowd of several people.
Andrew laid his hand on her muzzle, and she sucked in as he did so. Her warm breath tickled his hand. A smile tugged at his mouth and he undid the ropes that were attached on one side of her stall and he brought her out. He still was amazed at how much muscle she’d gained in the last month, proof that she was only getting stronger with every race and every work she ran in. It was like the more she ran the better she got. She was one of those horses that was slowed down by breaking but seemed like they would never stop improving even with a heavy race schedule. Work did her good, and it wasn’t unnoticed by anyone. This was the exact reason why she was running three times in the month of December, unlike all of her fellow Breeders’ Cup participants.
Andrew gripped some of her mane and her reins in his hand and he quickly jumped on her back and she didn’t bother to stand still for him as he did. He gathered her reins up and she was on autopilot, she knew where to go. Although not many would notice it, Ally quite liked getting out of the barn and onto the track, of course usually she threw a fit when someone tried to force her into the gate. However today would likely not be that great of a day as soon as they hit the track.
Ally took a step out onto the turf and Andrew started her warm up, she seemed to be doing fine until she brought her rear end up and pinned her hears. However, Andrew knew to expect it and was able to stay on, much to Ally’s displeasure. Once he’d finished warming her up he brought her over to the gate, which she instantly sunk down on her heels and refused to move. Andrew wondered if it was even worth it to try and school her out of the gate as this was an ongoing problem that they couldn’t seem to fix no matter how hard they tried. He angled her differently and she still refused to go in and after five assistant starters assisted them, Ally finally got in the gate for no more than two seconds before they opened and she surged out of them with huge powerful strides.
Ally swallowed up the turf, and just as all of her previous workouts had been, she was moving even quicker. Andrew got her to settle in and he sat on her, holding her back just enough so that he still had some sense of control over her. He looked between her ears and then back at the track around them. She was powerhousing her way past other horses and Andrew knew this was going to be another bullet work for her as they headed up the back stretch. Once they were running straight she tugged on the reins, wanting him to let her run quicker and Andrew pondered whether to let her or wait until the home stretch. He thought better of it and decided to wait.
Ally continued on her swift run over the turf, Andrew couldn’t help but think how unstoppable she was when she was giving it her all. He’d never asked her for every ounce of strength and energy she had, but that was because he never really had to. She would have to tango with Devil’s Blessing and Desert Amber in her upcoming race and it looked like it was going to be a pace meltdown, but they’d have to catch her first before they could win and Ally had the guts to sprint an entire eleven furlongs, it wasn’t like she hadn’t done it before. Beautiful Liar was set up almost perfectly for this race.
The real truth of the matter was in the Y14 Christmas Cup the winner was going to come down to the horse who had the most guts. Andrew was more than confident that it was Ally who had the most guts, you almost had to have a lot of guts to be a front runner.
Ally bended nicely into the final turn and Andrew let out a couple centimeters of rein, feeling Ally accelerate under him as he did so. When the homestretch opened up ahead of them Andrew shook the reins and Ally exploded into another whole gear. She dug her heels into the turf and sprinted down the stretch and Andrew knew that wasn’t everything she had yet. He settled into rhythm with her and asked her for just a little more and she gave it and he knew there was still more but he let her be as they crossed the wire. He patted her neck, he knew the dream was still alive and that Ally could do it, she could pull off another win and another after that. He knew she could win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare turf and that it wasn’t just a dream that seemed far from their grasp, he truly believed he had the mont of a lifetime under him and he was going to make the rest of the year as memorable as he possibly could for Ally and her fans.