Lost sight, not heart

[Anthony Lovasz]

Everyone has good days and bad days, there are no exceptions, it happens to the best of us, and especially to the worst of us. For the chestnut thoroughbred and jockey though, it seemed they were having a bad year, with a few good days here and there scattered sparingly throughout the 365 boxes on the calendar. Today was not such a day. No, today was certainly on the low end of the scale as far as being desirable. Some people called him impatient, but until they worked with a somewhat violent and mean blind horse, he didn't care what they said. No, he wasn't the most patient person in the world, or the most forgiving, but he and the horse got on relatively well despite that fact.

The big thoroughbred and rather short man walked down the aisles of the stable, heading back to the stall after a short work. The horse seemed to stare straight forward listlessly as if he'd been over worked for a good many years. The reason for this was his blindness. There was no evidence of his lost sight when you looked at him, but he certainly saw nothing. As they continued onward, the sound of another horse striking the wall of the stall caught the horse off guard, and he veered to the left, knocking his shoulder against the man before rearing up to an immense height and letting out a frightened whinny. Before the jockey had recovered himself enough to get the horse back to earth, one of the big hooves caught him just below the shoulder, cutting into the flesh and drawing a nice crimson line across his arm.

With a grimace, that was more to keep from saying something he'd regret than from pain, the jockey gave a firm jerk on the lead, forcing the horse's hooves to come in contact with the ground again. "Settle down there King." He muttered, putting his hand on the crest of the horse's neck to comfort him. He knew the horse couldn't see, he knew that noises were louder in his ears than in other horse's, and he also knew that the animal hadn't intended to harm him, but to fend off whatever was attacking them. "There's no on there but me and you ought know by now that I'd never hurt you."

The horse calmed enough to be lead to the stall, though still looked about, without seeing, nervously. When the horse was secured in his stall, Anthony leaned against the wall just outside the stall, and inspected the cut on his arm. "I swear you'll be the death a' me someday King." he mumbled, not concerned at all about the wound. He was currently sporting several old injuries that he'd never had seen to by a doctor that would cause him more grief than blood running down his arm.

[Alex Lovasz]

Alex rolled out of bed that day and rubbed her eyes she had been out late that night and was exhausted but she new she needed to work with Loco and her alarm was going off and her phone had vibrated a few times. She had ignored all her phone calls last night and now had about 27 missed calls including the ones from that morning. She got up took a quick shower dried her hair and threw on some Jeans with knee high riding boots over them and a nice catour fitted windbreaker jacket on over a somewhat new t shirt. She grabbed 2 apples from the kitchen and her purse from the front door hooks and walked out the front door into the over hang. She grabbed her keys from her Juicy purse and unlocked her lovely Posche.

She drove down the few blocks eating her apple and continueing to ignore her phone. She pulled into the Stable drive and parked her car out of the way from everyone else. Her phone rang again as she got out but she once again ignored it trying to forget work for at least 2 days wasn't gunna be easy. She put her phone and keys in her pocket and left her purse in the car. She walked down the hall but slowed her pace when she saw a guy with his horse. The horse was a beautiful specimen and she admired him for a second. Before slowly moving closer to them. Loco's stall was at the very end seprate from everyone else well because he was sort of mean. She put a smile on her face as she walked up to the guy and his horse not wanting to frighten him or the horse who seemed jittery. She figured it be smart to go up to them slowly instead of passing them and spooking the horse.

[Charlie Parker]

The sound of a car lumbered into the drive and slowed to a dull rumble before shutting off. No doubt the stables were about to being humming with activity at any minute now. That was how it worked every day. Anthony would come to the stables early, at a time most would call inhumane hours, and take the tall thoroughbred out either to the old track or just on the trails. Not many people had ever seen the horse in action since his retirement, and not many ever would. Blind horses were dangerous when others were out and about, and Anthony saw no reason to cause unneeded problems. So early morning it was.

At the sound of approaching feet, King's head shot up, and he looked in that direction wildly. His nostrils flared, ears pricked, and eyes, though unseeing, widened. As you can imagine, life as a blind horse was not devoid of fear...more controlled by fear really. It only made things worse when people couldn't tell that the horse was blind, a fact that had puzzled veterinarians for quite a while. Why he had gone blind at the pinnacle of his racing career was completely unknown...in fact, most anyone who had once known the great King's Last Stand, didn't even know that blindness was what had caused his failure on the track and his premature retirement.

Anthony turned towards the horse, and clipped the lead back on his halter, keeping a taught line between himself and the horse. He'd learned early on in his work with the ex-racehorse that his own confidence, when transfered through the lead rope, worked miracles on the horse, and so it did now. Almost instantly the horse calmed and stood quietly in the stall, though his blind eyes still followed the sound of the stranger's approach. Anthony returned the girl's smile as she approached, choosing to ignore the fact that he probably looked terrible at the moment. His sleeve was still dampened with blood, and he hadn't done anything to get himself cleaned up since the ride that morning. Oh well, most people looked like that, minus the blood, after riding, it was relatively a normal sight around here. "Morning" He said as she approached, his voice lilted with a slight Spanish accent. He'd lived most of his life in Mexico, and until his recent accident that forced him to leave the track for some time, he spent most of his days with other jockeys, most of whom spoke with strong Spanish accents, some who even spoke no English at all. Either way, he still had the accent, even though he spoke English just fine.

[Alex Lovasz]

Alex noticed the horses wide eyed expresion and calmed herself immidiately. She cave him a quick glance and almost instantly recognized him. She held herself back from exploding all over him. He was such a fine exapmle of a thoroughbred to bad about his eye sight though. She smiled and nodded her head. "Morning." She said her voice calm and at its regular tone. She looked him over and then heard Loco Kick the back of his stall irritated that it was taking her so long. She stifled a laugh and turned to the guy. "He is an amazing animal.' She said not hinting to her recognition of the great horse.

Her eyes shone with a gleaming glitter like they always did when she was looking at a good looking race-horse. She always did love the Thoroughbred breed. Hence why she had a crazy thoroughbred stallion whom needed a lot of work. She thought about how todays work would go then she rubbed her eyes from lack of sleep though you couldn't really tell. Because she was used to the early mornings but this time she had stayed up a little to late and slept in. Her bad but she was here now.

[Charlie Parker]

The girl looked like she hadn't slept much in the past 24 hours, though she seemed quite intrigued by King's presence. Whether or not she knew who the thoroughbred was, he didn't know, but it didn't really make a difference. Most people didn't know him since he'd only actually won three out of his six starts. Ah well, the ones he lost was only because his fool owners, trainer, handler, vet, and jockey were too dense to realize that the horse couldn't see and kept entering him in races instead of trying to take care of the problem.

"When he wants to be." Anthony replied, only half joking. There were a lot of days where the horse was quite simply as stubborn as a mule and seemed determined to do everything in his power to do exactly the opposite of what the jockey asked of him. As a result, Anthony had been thrown, bitten, kicked, and otherwise inflicted with injuries from the blind horse. And what could he do about it? It was very nearly impossible to tell if King had intentionally hurt him or if it had just been panic in a moment when he heard something that was a lot louder in his ears than in Anthony's. Whatever the reason, the jockey did his best to deal with the situations that came up.

"Name's Anthony." He said by way of introducing himself to her. As he extended his hand towards her, a brace was revealed on his lower arm, the result of only one out of many injuries he'd received in that accident not too long ago. Really it was sort of a miracle he'd walked away from that accident seeing as how he'd been crushed under 1,200 pounds of falling horse. He wasn't one to accept doctors' help though, and it would take more than that to get him into a hospital.

[Alex Lovasz]

Alex admired the animal before she realised she had completely spaced out. She turned to him and laughed a little. "I know how that is." She said thinking of Loco and his freak out moments she almost laughed again at the though of him throwing his last rider. She smiled and put her hand in his realising he had a brace on his arm and that he was bleeding. She looked at him and put 2 and 2 together when he spoke about his horse and then when she saw the injures. "I'm Alex, You should really tend to that cut." She looked at it pointing at it with her other hand. She didn't want to seem like a over potective blood freak but she knew how things like little cuts could come back to bit you in the butt if you didn't take care of them. She flashed him one of her genuine smiles. "His name is King right? Raced 6 times won 3?" She asked. Most people wouldn't have known about him but she took an intrest in the horse when she first saw him race. He had that same special little thing that Loco did hence why she had him. She felt her phone vibrate silently in her pocket which meant she had a txt so she picked it up and read it. Prince charming is on his way. We have been trying to reach you for several hours hope you get this. She sighed and put the phone away. Another problem horse her parents didn't have the time for. After putting th phone away she looked back up and smirked.

[Anthony Lovasz]

He smiled slightly at her comment, if that was her horse down the hall making all the ruckus, she probably knew exactly what it was like. Most horses had a little imp of a devil in them...others, like King, had a bit more of an imp. "I've had worse." He said...referring mostly to the far worse cut he'd taken to his leg, the two broken ribs, punctured lung, and broken arm, all of which still weren't entirely healed since he had outright refused any help from any doctor. He didn't trust them, and he had his own private reasons for feeling that way, though if anyone asked, he would simply say "I didn't like the guy." Which everyone knew not to be true, but also understood that they would get no more answer than that.

"The one and only." He then replied to her questions. He was slightly surprised at her knowledge of the horse, since most of the world had forgotten about him entirely soon after his retirement and sale to a thoroughbred rescue place. That was where Anthony had found him and taken him home. They had come a long way since then, but still had an even longer way to go before either of them could get back into the competition world.

[Alex Lovasz]

She nodded her head to his responce that he should get his arm check out. His choice its not like she would make him do anything about it. She smiled as Loco stuck his head out the half door and snorted his impatients she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Sometimes he could be such a -- pain in the but. She yawned and blinked a few times but then refocus but this time on the horse. "I watched on of his races he has definately got the stuff. She looked him over she had heard he went blind it was such a shame but could also give him more of an advantage in other ways.

She had remembered that special day when she got Loco. Pah what was she kidding it was far from special he practically tried to eat her alive but she still new he had it in him to be a great horse he just needed someone to take the time to make him into that great horse. She had only worked him a few times before they came here and she had a long way to go that was for sure but he was learning fast and they already had.... A unique bond? If thats what you wanna call it. As if to bring her back to reality he stamped his foot and slammed it up against the door. Snorting agian as he did so. She laughed a little. "That would be my impatient little devil" She smiled to herself at what a mess she had gotten herself into. Even though she tried to make herself look appealing and not like she had just been dragged out of a box she knew she still looked like crap. But hey they horses didn't care what you looked like.

[Anthony Lovasz]

King's finely tuned ears picked up the irritated snort, and responded with his own bellowing whinny. Most people would have cringed if they had been standing as close to the horse as Anthony was, but by this time he was so used to it that he didn't hardly even notice. "You been working with him long" he asked in reference to her horse. King bobbed his big head and pawed lightly at the ground in the stall. Although he had gone blind, he certainly still acted like a normal thoroughbred. He still had the spirit, and the competitive nature, and he would probably never lose it until he was so old and decrepit that he couldn't move. Even then he'd probably manage to bite a few hands before he died.

It was a pity the horse had gone blind and been forced out of the racing world. But the again, it was a pity Anthony had been injured and forced out of the racing world. They were sort of like two rejects stuck in a world that idolizes only the famous. But together, they could make something of themselves, and they were slowly working up to that point. No one that Anthony knew of had ever seen him riding King out on the old track, but if they had, they probably would have marveled at what the blind equine could do.

[Alex Lovasz]

Loco slammed the door again throwing his own little tempet tantrum at the fact that he was being ignored. Alex plan and simple blocked him out and even as King whinnied in their ears she gave him a you silly little boy look but shrudged it off. She shook her head "No only about a week. I got him right before i came here and haven't really found a time when i could work without getting disrupted with other people and their horses." She smirked and shrudged her shoulders It was rather hard to find a time away from others. She really would like to get to spend more than 15 minutes with him per day but sometimes that was best anyway.

Loco Screeched from is stall and reared bumping everything around. Her eyes widened a little in fear that he was gunna get stuck in the door but she heard him come down with a thud. She shook her head again. Sometimes he was just so frusterating. She smiled at Anthony. How is he doing recovering? asking in intrest she hadn't heard about him since his last race and was very disapointed in his owners and trainers it was sad to see such a fine animal cast out of the racing world because of someones lack of care.

[Anthony Lovasz]

"We're getting there." Anthony replied, also tuning out the temper tantrum going on down the hall a few stalls. King lifted his head and turned in the direction of the other horse as if he could see the animal. He wasn't fond of loud noises since he couldn't see what was causing them, and he really wasn't liking all the racket going on down the hall. Anthony relaxed the tension on the lead a bit to give King leave to move about the stall, though the horse seemed a little perplexed at the moment.

"He still has his issues, as you can see." He said in reference to the blood on his arm from the horse's flailing hooves, "but when he's on the track he seems relatively..." he was interrupted by king jerking back as if something had jumped out a bitten him, though it was probably just another one of his 'blind moments' as they liked to call them. "...normal" Anthony finished when King had settled once more. He glanced down at his hand, which was slightly rope burned from the sudden jerk, but looked back up soon after. That was the least of his worries at the time.

[Alex Lovasz]

She watched the blind thoroughbred carefully studying his movements. Pulling herself out of her daze she looked to Anthony. Oh I'm sure he looks amazing on the track. I wish i could see him run. He looks like he is in great shape i bet he moves nicely.... Paused for a moment thinking about his skittish side. When he isn't acting out or spooking She said trying to keep focused on him even though it was hard with Loco in the back ground. She was pretty sure the horse would kill himself if he didn't get taken out soon. But He was named very well for how he was acting, CRAZY.

He was a beautiful horse but a hand full for sure. The 2 times she had tried to work him he had gone crazy bucking and kicking and rearing just on the lead line when they were on their way to the round pins. But that was back home. She had let him get settled for the 2 days he had been here and now was going to get a real good start into his training though she did pick a horrible day as the hustle and bustle of the stable yard was just now staring to pick up and she missed her chance at a nice and quiet lesson.

[Anthony Lovasz]

Anthony nodded, he'd been working the horse hard, twice daily usually, he might have been blind, but his legs still worked just fine, so he wasn't going to let him get away with just standing around in a stall. When he could get the horse really focused on running, it didn't matter that he couldn't see, Anthony was his eyes then, all he had to do was run as he was born to do. Of course, he could probably never race again, unless by some miracle he could prove that the horse didn't need sight to race. It was a shame that a horse with such potential would never be able to show his true colors.

"He'll be out at the track again at 4:00 this evening if you've got your heart set on seeing him run." He said. Usually, he wouldn't tell people their schedule since it would basically be disastrous if something went wrong and there was a witness. But he figured since she had a pretty darn high strung horse herself she would understand. He would have also mentioned the time of their morning run, but he doubted if anyone was crazy enough, like him, to get up at 4:30 to watch a blind horse run on an old race track.

Her horse was really having a little moment down there, and if she thought she needed to go take care of him, he wasn't going to stop her. He understood perfectly well that horses needs came before conversations with people. However, if she was trying to get him to realize that fits weren't going to get him attention, he was more than willing to keep the conversation going.

[Alex Lovasz]

She thought about being under a powerful beast again but her previous encounter with riding a horse that fast became disasterous and she vowed to never in race form again. But that didn't stop her from training. She she would train up until a jockey was needed and then hire someone or send them back to the owner. She missed the fast and dangerous speeds but she wouldn't do it again. Or so she thought. Loco was her special one but she knew he held great talent she had a way of knowing when a horse was greater than most. And He and King were 2 of them. At least in her opinion they just needed the right people. And She felt she was the right one for Loco.

She got a little excited when he said she could come and watch him. But kept her cool yes i would love to come and see him tonight. She smiled and thought for a moment just to make sure she wasn't doing anything but she wasn't so she would definately come and watch. Because she knew she couldn't be out late because she needed to get here early the next morning to check Prince in and get him settled and then get Loco out and work him Prince most likely would be there around 5:00 in the morning so she could get here early and hang with Loco then check Prince in then work Loco around 5:30. That would be perfect.

She decided she could no longer ignore mister crazy over there so she took on more look at King before looking to Anthony. "Would you excuse me for just a second. I need to bring him out before he kills himself." She laughed a bit then went and clipped a lead rope to his leather halter. She unlatched his half door and walked in. She was about to open the door when he tried to lunge out the door she snapped the lead line just enough to grab his attention but she wasn't strong enough to hurt him any but she didn't want him to regret trusting her either once she pulled him back she lead him out nicely and he walked calmy beside her.

[Anthony Lovasz]

Anthony nodded in response as she went to take care of her horse. King once more followed her with his empty gaze as if he could see her just fine. They say that when one sense dies, the others are enhanced, and King, well he was living proof of that. His hearing was so well tuned, Anthony could swear some days that he heard even the ants that marched to and fro throughout the stables. He certainly was a unique horse, and even though he couldn't see anything, Anthony wouldn't trade him for anything.

Anthony stepped up to King and unclipped the lead, he knew that now that he'd been around Alex for some time he wouldn't panic next time she came by, so there was really no need for the lead. King also didn't have a problem with being around other horses. Sure, he could very easily hurt them if they came too close, but if they kept their respective distance, he was completely fine with it. Once the horse was released, Anthony turned back to watch Alex and her horse. The transformation was incredible. The formerly raging horse seemed perfectly calm, perfectly normal, as if nothing at all had been the matter. Some people just had their way with horses he guessed. It was sort of that way with him and King, not a single person besides Anthony could so much as think about touching him at this point in time, or else they would rick losing an arm or something along those lines.