This was no classy show of an equine's ability to preform. It wasn't a horse showing off because he knew he was good. It was by no means intentional... at all. This was a fiery display of the high strung, temperamental, strong willed, and irritable character of a thoroughbred racehorse. The tall chestnut snorted angrily, his hooves barely touching the earth before lifting off again. It was a familiar dance to those who were regulars at horse races. There was hardly a racehorse in existence who hadn't done it several times, and Media Puzzle was no exception. At four years old, he was as wild and high spirited as any thoroughbred, and the last thing he wanted to do was listen to the rider on his back. Were the reins not held so tightly that he was prevented from lowering his head, he would have unseated his rider a long time ago with a sharp and unforgiving buck.
As it were, he was forced to keep down at a walk, though it was a very high strung walk. Finally the horse had reached his wit's end, and his front hooves lifted off the ground and a fierce whinny blasted from his mouth. Ever calm, and expectant, his rider gave a quick pull to the left, unsettling the horse's balance and forcing him to go back down on all fours or risk falling over onto his side. The animal was far less than pleased with the situation, but before he could try anything else, he was being turned in a tight circle, preventing him from attempting another stunt like the one he had just pulled. With an irritated snort he yielded and came to a stop, though he was clearly quite unhappy with this. He could have kept running around that track all day were it not for this blasted human on his back.
Satisfied that he had regained control of his mount, Tristan Morgan kicked his feet out of the stirrups and jumped lightly down from the horse's back, and looked over at his trainer standing at the rail. Unfortunately, Anthony didn't look impressed. A few curse words in several different languages ran through Tristan's mind...what did it take to impress this guy? At the rate he was going he was going to be an apprentice for the rest of his life and never see the dirt of a real track beneath his horse's feet. With a heavy sigh, he walked back over to the rail, leading the temperamental horse with him. Well? He asked Anthony who honestly looked bored out of his mind, and probably was. Anthony was always bored unless he was the one out riding or when he was with his wife... or fixing the issues between Charlie and Sebastian.
Anthony just looked up at him, leaning casually on the rail. Not great, but good... could be better.
[/s] That was about the last thing Tristan wanted to hear. He wasn't all that great at handling criticism, and it seemed like that was all he got from Anthony.
and what do you suggest? Tristan asked, trying to keep himself in check. If there was one thing he knew, it was that jockeys had to be level headed at all times, and since Anthony was his trainer, he had to listen to what he said and do his best to take his advice. Unfortunately for Tristan, Anthony nodded towards a small gray horse tacked to be ridden on the track.
Ride him.[/s] was all he said, a tiny hint of amusement playing across his face. Tristan's eyes widened slightly, and a long string of curse words ensued, not one in the same language as another.
Are you crazy? He asked in disbelief when he had finally run out of curses,
You can hardly ride that horse, and you expect me to?Tristan was completely out of luck today. Anthony's expression remained serious with that hint of amusement.
That's what I said isn't it?[/s] Anthony responded with a shrug as if it was no big deal.
Besides, what are you worried about? That horse isn't nearly as big as Puzzle, and he's so sedate just standing over there.[/s] Tristan's look of disbelief transformed into a scowl. Everyone who had heard of "Shadow of a Doubt" knew that horse was an angel off the track but hell to handle on the dirt. The little gray was not so fondly referred to as "the wolf in lamb's clothing" in the horse racing world. Tristan knew better than to argue. He passed Puzzle's reins into Anthony's hands and walked towards the small gray horse which was currently half asleep. He took hold of the animal's reins and swung up onto his back, knowing he was going to get himself killed doing this. Doubt hardly tolerated Anthony riding him on the track, other riders were just a no go at all.
He hesitated a brief moment before taking the animal out on to the track. He made it about out to the middle of the track before the wolf part came out. With an enraged squeal Doubt lurched to the left before bolting forward. He was checked quickly by Tristan who barely managed to keep his seat, but the fight was nowhere near over. The moment he was checked from running forwards, his front hooves left the earth and he jerked back to the right while at the same time moving back several steps. Anthony knew quite well that Tristan wouldn't last long on Doubt... hell only on the best days could he himself last more than a half hour astride the animal. It was like trying to ride a champion bucking horse. No one knew why Doubt seemed so angry on the track. He hadn't ever been mistreated, but that was just the way it was.
The fight lasted about five minutes, the horse winning the entire time, before Tristan was thrown. He landed heavily on his right shoulder, wincing painfully, and staying put as the wind was knocked out of him. The moment Tristan had been unseated, Doubt took off like a shot down the track. Tristan sat up and groaned, how was he supposed to catch that horse now. Puzzle was too high strung to act as a ponying horse... that thought was suddenly interrupted as out of the corner of his eye he saw Anthony spring up nimbly onto Puzzle's back and set the horse out at a light gallop. Puzzle fought him for about thirty seconds before leveling out nicely, at which point Anthony gave him more rein as Doubt came charging up along side them. As if he had planned this whole thing, Anthony eased Puzzle out towards the outside, forcing Doubt to the outside until he was running right on the outside rail. He reached down, caught the furious gray's reins, turned Puzzle towards the gate on the track, and brought both horses off the track. The moment Doubt had left the track he calmed, and stood placidly as if nothing had happened.
Tristan shot a glare at Anthony and got up, brushing the dirt off.
Alright you proved your point. He muttered as Anthony jumped down off of Puzzle.
No I didn't.[/s] Anthony said, that amusement playing across his face again as he handed Doubt's reins to Tristan.
Ride him.[/s] He repeated much to Tristan's dismay. The nineteen year old knew he was going to hardly be able to move come the end of this workout. Still, he did as he was instructed. They repeated this process about ten times before Anthony finally informed Tristan that they were finished for today and started back towards the stable with Doubt following behind him at his own free will. Tristan glared at Anthony's turned back, then looked at Puzzle who was fairly worn out by now.
Look what trouble you've gone and gotten us in Puzzle... you made me look like an idiot back there.Of course the horse didn't respond, and Tristan just took the lead and headed for the stable. Once he had cooled the horse, gotten him fairly cleaned up, and fed, he went to the tack room and retrieved the first-aid kit. He could see the blood seeping through his shirt on his left side where Doubt's hooves had clipped him as he took off after throwing him. That horse really was the devil. He carefully peeled his shirt off, setting it beside him, and looking down at a fairly decent sized gash. Certainly not the worst injury he'd received on the track, but it still hurt like hell. He winced slightly and sighed heavily.
Just my luck He muttered under his breath, setting himself down on a tack trunk and leaning back against the wall. He was starting to get tired of patching himself up... but he knew he'd have to do it at least a million times more in this profession and he might as well get used to it.
Once he had patched himself up, he traded out his blood stained shirt for a clean on, which he always had on hand, and headed for the office. He wasn't sure if Chey was there or not, but he needed to see if Puzzle's papers and records had arrived yet. The British Horse Racing Authority was absolutely horrible when it came to transferring papers, and Puzzle couldn't be raced here until the National Thoroughbred Racing Association had received the papers, and they couldn't get the papers until they had been sent to Tristan and he had sent them to the NTRA. It was a complicated process, and one that was being drawn out excessively.
Of course... it took him about an hour to get from the tack room to the office at the other end of the stable because of his severe ADHD, which some suggested was caused him to have temporary short term memory loss. He could be walking down the hall, something would catch his eye, and he would completely forget what he was doing and go off on a detour he didn't realize he was taking. After a while, something would remind him of what he was doing, and he would get back on track again, but since it happened so many times, it took him forever to actually accomplish what he was going to accomplish.
When he finally reached the office, with absolutely no notion of how much time had passed since he set out to get here. When he stepped in, of course the first thing he noticed was a girl he hadn't met yet... then again, he hadn't really met anyone yet since he was always so busy riding and working on getting his U.S citizenship since he wasn't planning on going back to England.
Hello there he said cheerily with his thick British drawl,
You new here? he asked, already forgetting again why he was in the office without realizing it. The world was so much more fascinating in Tristan's mind than it was to most people... Everything had some sort of ability to catch his eye and capture his attention... there was nothing that wasn't captivating to some extent in the young jockey's mind, and everything intrigued him.
It was almost like he hadn't ever seen the real world... like he'd been locked up in a white walled room all his life and was seeing all of this for the first time... but no, the same things that he saw every day still managed to fascinate him. He was definitely a unique case, and one that doctors would surely love to get their hands on to figure him out... but Tristan was impossible. They'd tried to get him to take medication to help him focus better... but he was so ADD he would forget to take it, and it was too much of a hassle to find ways to make him remember, so they gave up. He was hopeless, but that was just what made him who he was.[/center][/size]
