Shake it Off

[creativecause]

Shake it Off 

Passion Heart and Andrew Martin 

I never miss a beat 

I'm lightning on my feet 

And that's what they don't see, mmm-mmm 

That's what they don't see, mmm-mmm 

I'm dancing on my own  

I make the moves up as I go  

And that's what they don't know, mmm-mmm 

That's what they don't know, mmm-mmm 

But I keep cruising 

Can't stop, won't stop grooving 

It's like I got this music 

In my mind 

Saying, "It's gonna be alright." 

'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play 

And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate 

Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake 

I shake it off, I shake it off 

Heart-breakers gonna break, break, break, break, break 

And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake 

Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake 

I shake it off, I shake it of
- Taylor Swift - Shake it Off 

Ally slicked her ears back and snapped at Sam and Steve as they were finishing putting her tack on. Luckily the two quickly dodged the furious coal black mare and they quickly finished putting the wraps on her legs before she was able to kick one of them, which she in fact did try. Her hoof scraped against the cement floor of her stall and she flared her nostrils at them, and it seemed like Steve and Sam couldn’t get out of her stall quick enough. She charged after them and whinned angrily in their faces when her chest hit the stall door.
Andrew stood back at a distance giggling to himself. Ally hadn’t been in the best of moods recently and today was no exception. Her last race she’d lost by the hair on her nostril to Beautiful Liar and least to say she wasn’t too pleased when she wasn’t being lead to the winners circle. She’d thrown an absolute fit and it seemed to quite tick the mare off to the point in which she’d thrown herself so hard into her works that she’d come off the track covered in a sheen of white sweat. In all his years of riding Andrew had never seen a single horse more pissed that they didn’t win.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that she knew something shifted, the dream was over, Ally wasn’t going to be grade one by the end of the season but regardless she still had one heck of a run all season. It was a huge let down to all her fans but if anyone thought she was slowing down they had another thing coming. Grayson Meadows’ dream of getting her to grade one by the end of the season may have been over, but their dream of her taking the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf most definitely wasn’t over. However the competition would be very stiff and many may have questioned if she could handle it but her gutsy win against The Devil’s Hourglass was no fluke.
Andrew then thought he was for sure going to get launched from the mare as soon as he got on her as she tried right then and there to ram him into the barn wall. For fear of Andrew’s well being, Steve refused to let him go out on the track without a pony. So Ally was ponied, which normally she didn’t have an issue with, but today was no normal day. The mare tried to kick, bite and ram the pony and Andrew eventually just waved them off figuring it wasn’t worth the trouble.
However the mare seemed to transform as they stepped out onto the turf. Her head tucked in and she started to behave, but Andrew knew better than to trust her, because it didn’t take long before she threw her rear-end into the air and he quickly scolded and pulled her back down to the earth.
“Come on Ally, focus...” he grumbled and she flicked an ear back and they continued their warm-up. She attempted to test Andrew, and did simple things like pick up the wrong lead on purpose but it wasn’t anything horrible. Of course she was fine until she saw the gates and that was when she reared up. Andrew nearly slid from the mares back and he yanked her head sharply to the left and she quickly went back down on all four of her legs.
He shook his head and decided it was probably best to skip the gate today as the mare would likely injure herself or someone else. They’d have to school her in the gate another day.
So he gently squeezed her sides and kissed to her and Ally broke off at a nice, jog, angling her head sideways for the first furlong before he pushed her into a gallop and she straightened out nicely. Her black coat stood out against the green turf and it was nearly impossible to miss her yanking on the reins, practically begging Andrew to let her run faster. He considered it for a moment, he was a bit curious to see how she would fair but he kept her back. Steve decided since this race was likely to be pace-heavy as her last was Ally was going to need that extra ounce of energy to thrust her nose ahead of her opponents.
Her next race was the December Turf Stakes over ten furlongs. Devil’s Blessing was in it again, which essentially messed with Ally’s ability to set the pace right away. Andrew knew she could rate, she’d done it before and he was confident that if Devil’s Blessing set an insane pace she was prepared to step back and let him have it at the end. However, where this race was pace heavy, it was also closer heavy. Filled with them as a matter of fact, and Ally needed to be able to hold them off. Princetta would likely be the bane of her existence in the stretch but she could hold her off. Ally had guts and it was no secret.
They approached the final turn and Ally continued to tug at the reins and Andrew let out the smallest amount and Ally wasted no time in taking advantage of it. She thrived on it and lengthened her stride, she wanted to run so badly and he could feel her preparing for the stretch. He could feel her body hum with the excitement of being able to full out sprint the stretch and it made him excited as well, he told everyone that Ally was the horse of a lifetime and he really did mean it. He did truly love her and would miss her something terrible when she retired, but he was excited to possibly ride her foals.
Her legs continued to devour the turf, her loss last week something of the past. She may have carried all of her losses on her conscience but she certainly didn’t seem to care about them much when she ran. She was truly a free spirit when she ran, like all of her problems couldn’t catch her and they truly couldn’t.
The stretch opened ahead of them and Andrew let out some rein and shook them, and she erupted. Her stride was instantly at nearly its full capacity and with every stride she took she flew further and further as her legs left the ground for that very small millisecond. And throughout all of this Andrew just sat on her, not moving a muscle to push her any quicker, this was all Ally which made it that much more impressive. Her determination burned like fire in her eyes. She was quite the sight to behold, as she flew down to the wire, nothing but a black blur of speed, determination, passion and heart, just as her name entailed.