[open] Used to the Pain

[Anthony Lovasz]

Thunder. It rolled with such tremendous power that the earth shook as if it were going to open up and swallow all life. But the sun was shining brightly, not a could in site... and that meant it could only possibly be one thing making such a surge of electricity in the air. Horses. Down they came, 'round the turn and into the home stretch, straining with the effort to drive to the front. Chestnuts mixed with blacks, grays, and bays, all of them creating a picturesque abstract image of the very essence of a racehorse. Astride each was a jockey dressed in brightly colored silks, perched perilously atop the charging beasts. They were said to be the bravest sort of men, balancing so carefully on inch wide metal strips, restraining the bursting power of the animal beneath them as they catapulted down the track at 45 mph, almost certain death awaiting them should they fall.

The horses stretched themselves out into full gallops, fighting with everything they had to take the lead. Two ran neck and neck for a few strides before the smaller gray head bobbed out in front, followed by the neck, then shoulders. The finish line flashed by, but before anyone could react to the dramatic come behind and one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Santa Anita, a horrible screech blasted out from the second place horse and he leached sideways into the winning stallion, sending the other pair crashing through the rail. The jockey heard the crack of breaking bone before he felt the pain that seared up through his arm, followed shortly by pain from everywhere else as the 1,200 pound animal rolled over top of him. As the horse's body crushed the jockey's chest, he felt like all the oxygen was just sucked out of the universe and he was lying there suffocating. Luckily, he had managed to get his feet out of the stirrups before going down, and as the horse jumped back up onto his feet, he left his rider lying there in pain.

He felt like everything was just starting to fade out, going out of focus. The voices were getting quieter, the pain was beginning to dull, and quite suddenly, the choppy ground where he lay felt much more comfortable than it had before. He closed his eyes for a moment, and let the unconsciousness have him. Somehow though, everything was still registering in his subconsciousness, and after only a few moments had passed all the voices and sirens and panic burst into his mind, and his mind screamed at him to come back and stop all the doctors from doing whatever it was they were doing to him. His eyes opened again with a jolt as all the pain came rushing back and his lungs filled with air once again, and instinctively, he reached out and stopped the EMT's hand from coming any nearer. He knew in that hand there was a syringe filled with whatever sort of drug they felt was needed, and that was the last thing he wanted them doing.

They had managed, already, to get a brace on his left arm, and had surveyed the damage enough to know that he had broken his arm just above his wrist, had a good sized gash on his left lower leg, had at least two broken ribs, probably a concussion, and a lot of bruising. Don't The jockey nearly growled, a tone that was uncharacteristically serious for the 19 year old. He pushed the doctor away, and sat up slowly, ignoring all of the gasps and pleas of the EMT's. He shifted, and slowly pushed himself up onto his feet, knowing much better than to stand quickly. His vision still hadn't returned to it's normal state, but he could see well enough. When he pushed through the crowd of track officials, media, and medical teams and grabbed the horse's reins from the frantic handler trying to control the panicking horse, a cheer went up from the crowd, but he didn't hear it. He was in a lot of pain, and knew he probably should have let the doctors take care of him... but that wasn't his style.

As soon as they were back down to the stable area a groom, and the horse's regular handler came rushing out to take the horse off Anthony's hands, and someone else... he was guessing the trainer... hurried over to help Anthony to somewhere to sit before he passed out. I'm fine he muttered before anyone had the chance to ask, though he clearly wasn't. He was currently going through a bit of shock from the accident, and the pain was making it worse. He looked pretty good all things considered, it could have been a lot worse. There was a bit of a comotion outside the stable, and he could see security guards reinforcing the blockade to keep the press out. Neither horse nor jockey needed those people around asking questions and taking pictures. They'd been hurt, it was a normal part of being in the horse racing world... people and horses got in accidents, and life went on.

The tell-tale feeling of bone grinding against bone followed by a rather unpleasant pop and pain. It was a feeling Anthony Lovasz was all too used to. Even as many times as he'd been thrown, landing even just slightly on that shoulder always ended in a dislocation. He took a moment to catch his breath, then sat up slowly, and snapped his shoulder back into it's proper position. Yeah, it hurt like hell... but he'd done it so many times, he hardly flinched anymore. Like any jockey, he was a mess of fractured bones, torn ligaments, stretched tendons, and any number of other problems caused by the perilous life he had submitted him to when he was only 13 years old. Once he had gotten his arm back in it's appropriate place, he headed across the track and over to the gate where the little gray horse was standing just outside the gate as if nothing had happened.

I'm not as young as I used to be Doubt. he said as he grabbed the horse's reins with his left, still braced arm. Even now, 3 years later, he still wore the brace to cut back on the pain. He knew it hadn't healed properly back when he was 19 and he and Doubt went through the rail, but it was mostly just an inconvenience now, the same as his shoulder being so easily torn from its socket. Normally Anthony was a huge proponent of getting back up on the horse after falling, but when the horse was Doubt and you'd just injured yourself somehow, it was probably wiser to stay on the ground than get back up on the horse. For being so small he could certainly give his rider a hell of a time trying to ride him. He was the problem horse of the family. King was the teddy bear of the family, Ozzy was the baby of the family, and Loco was the devil of the family. They were complete.

When they arrived back at the stable, Anthony clipped the horse in the cross ties and set about removing the tack from the sweaty animal. He had managed to get a decent workout in before the horse exploded. They were making progress, but Anthony still expected to be thrown at least once during the workout. It wasn't that he was a bad rider... certainly not, he was a superb rider, and everyone who knew him knew it was true... but with your stirrups up so high like they always were for jockeys, and a horse that could move like a rodeo bronc... even the best rider in the world would hit the dirt when Doubt decided to have a temper tantrum. He was just so small and agile, and incredibly unpredictable. He could appear perfectly fine, running on a nice open gallop, changing leads and listening to his rider like a fine gentleman, and the next moment you'd find yourself without a horse as you hit the ground and the horse took off.

For a moment, Anthony completely forgot that he'd dislocated his shoulder, and without even thinking about it reached up to pull the saddle off of the horse using his right arm. The pain was quick to remind him though, and he winced painfully, and moved his arm back down to it's normal position. Alex was going to kill him when she found out he'd done it again... and rest assured she would find out... she always did. Somehow she managed to always see right through him as if she could read his mind and know just exactly what he was thinking. He was fairly sure he hadn't ever gotten away with getting hurt and Alex not finding out about it. That was why he'd married her... she was always looking out for him, and he loved her for it. Doubt turned his head and looked over at Anthony as if trying to figure out what he was doing just standing there instead of getting on with it. Anthony just smiled and patted the horse's neck with his left hand. This is your fault you know. he said to the horse, even King hasn't thrown me in the past six months, you need to get in on the deal. Doubt just shifted his weight lazily, his appearance suggesting an old retired trail horse rather than a training racehorse. He was the wolf in lamb's clothing, that was for sure.

[marie smithson]

Marie trotted into the barn happily. Visiting her boy happily at the stall door. He grabbed a chunk of his hay and turned around in the stall, swinging his head out of the V opening of the door and nickering loudly, sending vibrations down the halls and Marie's hands to her ears. "Buddy, not so loud! Shh, you're gonna make everyone run for the hills when they hear I'm pulling you out!" the horse pinned his ears and started to nod his head vigorously. As if saying 'let them run, they can't stand my beauty'. "Haha I swear you could talk boy. Stop making me look stupid, talking to a horse as evil as you." He twitched an ear at another annoying fly and swished his tail.

"Ok," she said as she grabbed his halter. "I'll get you out." She was bringing him down the hall when he started to prance sideways, snorting and pawing and then piaffing. She gave him a funny look and stopped. He crapped righmt in the hallway. "What's the matter buddy?" He let out another whiny, this one excited and pepped up. She then realized the jockey saddle and all the gettup. He was getting pumped up, like he'd been taught on the track.

She jerked on the lead. "Ah ah, we are NOT going to have one of 'THOSE' days," she said. He snorted, as if to 'beg to differ'. She pinned his ears and she could tell he was going to start getting nasty.

She was in a bad spot, with horses sticking their necks out as far as they could reach, trying to grab a chunk of Donte. She hurried up and stuck him in the cross ties. He craned his neck over to look at the horse next to him, which was ridiculous because technically that was the one spot he really couldn't see, straight in front of him. He started to move all around in the cross ties, moving his short coupled back around to the front and almost started to squeeze his butt from the side a horse was supposed to stand on, to the side a horse wasn't.

"Whoa! Whoa buddy, we're not going running. And even if we could I wouldn't. Your bones won't let you, now chill out and behave," she said with a tap of her whip. He snorted, pinning his ears as he moved his butt back in. He was about to do the 'pull back and lunge' thing he loved to do, but it took him so much time to maneuver his butt back in it seemed almost pointless to lunge at her. "Ya that's what I thought," she whispered. She eyed the dusty looking guy. He looked like she had the time she'd fallen off a Donte, and that had been the only time before and after.

She started to groom Donte, who slowly seemed to calm down when he realized they were still on the same schedule and not of that of a Jockey's Groom. "Sorry about him," she told the man. "He gets funny sometimes," she whispered nervously. 'If only talking to people was easier. It's not even my fault! Why am I always so awkward?!' She made a face, but more to herself and the awkwardness than to him or anything else. She was hiding half way behind Donte, who took the time to lift his head and stand as far out of the cross ties as he could possibly manage, while giving both parties a dominant look. "Get that smug look off your face," she whispered. He went to bare his teeth and she smacked him with the whip. He backed up and went to lunge, ah she'd played into his little game again dang it. She tapped him on the nose, he looked pissed but settled down where he was.

"Handful, always a handful." She seemed to realize she was still in the presence of someone else and flushed. "Stop talking to yourself," she whispered under her breath. Why could she carry on a conversation with herself and her horse and not anyone else. It couldn't possibly be because she was afraid to be judged. For one, Donte judged her A LOT, and for two, she was harder on herself than anyone besides Donte. So it definitely wasn't that one.

[Anthony Lovasz]

Most people who saw Anthony never expected a Spanish accent when he spoke. He was relatively fair skinned, though tanned from all the time spent in the sun, his hair was a medium brown, and his eyes blue. Nothing about him suggested that his home country was the impoverished part of Mexico. No one ever expected that he would have lived the kind of life that he did before moving to the States either. It was a rare occasion to find him without a broad grin and an almost impish look in his eye, neither of which suggested a life of abusive drug addicts/alcoholics for parents. Most people who knew much of anything about horse racing knew the name Anthony Lovasz, but hadn't heard it in years. Once upon a time he was the jockey to beat, until that fateful accident ended his illustrious career... for the time-being.

There was something about Anthony that just downright wasn't natural. He spent the earliest years of his life with nothing. His parents were drug addicts and alcoholics who seemed to only procreate so they could have weaker humans around to take out all their frustrations on. He mostly raised himself, and his younger siblings along side his older sister and brother who did their best to take care of them, though in the failing economy of their world, there were many days when they all went without food on the table. He had four younger siblings, all of whom depended on him and his two older siblings, add to that his older sister's three children and his brother's one, and it was all they could do to survive without starving to death.

At the young age of 10 Anthony took it upon himself to change that... a huge role for a 10 year old to play, but that was just who he was. He always wanted to help in any way he could. He found that at the race track, doing whatever jobs a child could do. He fed the horses in the morning, brushed them before workouts, cleaned the tack every day, and did whatever else he could to earn a little money, all of which was sent directly to the family. At 12 he started riding, and by 13 he was jockeying in races. Yes, he was too young, yes he got hurt a lot, but it paid exceptionally well all things considered... and even though he started out doing it for money, he had quickly found that he loved it too.

No one would even guess he lead a life like that before his fame started. He never spoke about how things started or his life before he was "discovered" by a rather famous trainer from the States. The way he saw it, that was in the past, and this was his new life. Of course, things had changed a lot since then. He had made the two most unlikely friends possible, and the three of them stayed quite close, he went through two horrible accidents on the track and many, many others, he met a girl and fell in love with her, asked her to be his wife, married her, and now had a son with her. Of course, Alex was normally out here to help take care of the horses, as was his younger brother, Andrew... but Andrew was currently preoccupied with a very pregnant girlfriend who was taking up most of his time, and Anthony had stood his ground and downright refused to let Alex anywhere near the barn for at least a week after getting out of the hospital. He'd nearly lost her when she gave birth and he wasn't about to let anything happen to her... like being killed by her insane horse.

His attention was suddenly taken from his horse and his thoughts when a horse started making a big to-do about something, and seemed to be eying him and doubt. He was a thoroughbred, from the looks of him, and Anthony had a feeling he was a former racehorse. Sometimes he wondered if Doubt shouldn't join the ranks of the retired racers, but it wasn't like him to give up on something once he'd started it... and even though he was still thrown from the horse on a regular basis, he'd made a lot of progress and was intent on returning his little gray devil to his former ability to race.

Don't worry about it, He said with a crooked grin in that obvious Spanish accent of his, I've had more than a few like that. From Doubt to Loco to King, Anthony had experienced every sort of horse there was. Doubt was the sweetest horse in the barn, but on the track was about as dangerous as they came. Loco was just dangerous all the time... though was slightly better lately. King used to be horribly dangerous due to blindness and fear, but since regaining some sight in one eye and two weeks with Alex when Anthony was confined to the hospital with a broken leg and punctured lung, had become a gigantic teddy bear of a horse who loved nothing more than to be petted and "cuddled with" so long as he wasn't approached for his blind side. Anthony knew horses, and there probably wasn't one sort of horse he hadn't worked with before.

He reached up and resumed pulling the saddle off the sweaty horse a little awkwardly with his left arm since he was right handed, and did the same with the bridle, balancing the two items on the saddle rack beside the ties where the horse was located. Off the track, I take it? he asked as he returned his attention to the girl and her apparently ornery horse. Doubt was completely ignoring the other animal's antics, resting one back leg, eyes closed half way, and bottom lip drooping lazily. If anyone had to guess they would undoubtedly pick her horse as the racer and not Doubt. Funny how that worked. Anthony wasn't too sure how he was going to go about King's workout now that he'd managed to injure his shoulder... again. He really should start wearing a brace to cut back on the number of times he dislocated it... but he already had one on his lower left arm, and occasionally on his right leg when the pain got bad... he didn't need to add a third into the mix... he was just too stubborn for his own good sometimes.

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[marie smithson]

She watched quietly, like a little sponge, absorbing everything. She might be 21 but everyone assumed she was younger about 18 or so. She nodded, "Ya, he's a Storm Cat baby. Everyone tells me he would have been a winner." She smiled, "He won one race and placed twice. He was the Amermans horse." She smiled. Donte lifted his head high again, as if he knew he was being talked about. "Don't get conceited I still have to ride you and I don't need to eat dirt again," she said.

When people looked at her they thought 'oh, a girl who hasn't come into herself yet', but that wasn't true, not really. Marie had balked at the early age, after being sold by her mother at the age of 12. Before that she had been taking care of her mother, even when people looked down at her for her clothes and her looks and her mother. But she took pride in her mother when she was sober, she always promised she'd sober up and never do drugs or drink again.

That was a lie. Marie never told anyone what the men at the warehouse had done to her. The doctor had laughed, saying she'd wanted it, had gotten herself into the trouble. She had been in shorts and a cut shirt, her original long sleeved dress had been taken from her when she'd reached the warehouse, but how was she supposed to tell people that without them asking more questions?

She had shut up and after being stuck in the foster system she'd been lost. She had been taunted in school, and after a nice rich couple had adopted her she'd slowly learned to trust people again, but not like a normal person would. Everyone thought she was just shy.

As for Donte.... No one could ride the horse, except her. Maybe before when she'd got him people could ride him, but now... he was just crazy when it was someone else, unless, which was a big unless, she had ridden him first and the person didn't ask for more than a trot, and even then he could get... weird. He was best when she had him on the lunge line when the person was riding.

"I've never met another jockey before, besides my stepbrother William. He's ridden that one horse, "Make a statement" but it's all crammed together like my boy's name. She has an upside down exclamation point on her face for a blaze, ohp- I'm babbling again," she said, flushing and looking at her feet.

"Oh, I'm Marie Smithson by the way," she said, offering her hand, then taking it away quickly and holding her shoulder with her opposite hand awkwardly. She wasn't big on touching, she had down it out of reflex, not personal greeting. She had always been expected to shake hands, or worse, hug. The only person she ever hugged was he mother, her step mother. Anna. Anna Masters. "He worked for some lady at a thoroughbred farm or something when he was a kid. I don't know much about racing all I know is that he was bucked off a lot, and he couldn't ride Donte," she said with a giggle. "But then again... Donte sent him to the hospital after he fell down... don't ask. It's a long story," she said. Donte nodded his head, as if to agree.

She was wrapping his legs with the bright neon orange wraps she'd been given, it had been a joke at the barn when she'd first got there. Everyone had laughed at her behind her back. She hadn't realized until she'd been cleaning stalls one day when the regular lady had gotten in a car crash and had called in. Marie had immediately taken the job on, she loved everything about horses, even cleaning their stalls, it might have been 'smelly' but it smelled good to her, like something she had been denied and was suddenly learning she could enjoy her hard labor.

The riders were talking just two stalls down, saying how stupid and ignorant she was. Marie had walked out of the stall when they were finished talking, tears in her eyes but she held them in, like she always had. Then the day had come when she'd gotten Donte and had been bucked off. It had been horrible. Everyone had come rushing. He had given her two rodeo bucks one after the other and the third one finished her off. Everyone hadn't said a word when Marie dragged herself to the ground and started shaking, but she had laughed, hysterically, then went running after Donte, who almost tried to run her over but she had yelled, "DONTE! Knock it off, NOW!" the horse had stopped, turned and took two trotting steps away then stopped. Marie had walked over, grabbed the reins and swung herself back up onto the horse. She had been shaking vigorously and someone said she had a concussion. She didn't but they took her to the ER anyways. She had a sprained her wrist though, she hadn't noticed with all the adrenaline, plus she had been so used to pain it wasn't funny. People would have cried had they known what had truly happened to her.

She had gotten right back on two weeks later(when the doctor had allowed it). She hadn't wanted to to go to the hospital, afraid someone would laugh at her. But then, one of the girls who'd made fun of her had been 'bucked' of her horse, not NEARLY as bad as what Donte had given Marie, and had hit the ground crying. Marie hopped on the horse and the horse had given her two bucks and then calmed down and went to work. The girl sold the horse a month later to a five year old boy and his parents. She was sued a year and a half later(it was technically the day after the sale but it took that long to go to court).

Marie had been riding 'Wild' horses ever since, none half as bad as Donte. But she was smart about who she got on. Some horses she would say "put that horse to pasture or put him down" cause they were so crazy. She had seen five of those, and most the time, the people put the horse down. One horse had been so crazy he'd be standing fine, working fine then all the sudden he'd flip out of no where and rear and land on his back, crushing the person.

So here she was, sticking the 'traffic cone' wraps on her horse. She didn't mind them at all, in fact, she loved the wraps. It reminded her that while everyone was watching someone else, when they were entered the ring, everyone turned to look at her. Selfish, but effective.

[Anthony Lovasz]

Accident prone didn't even begin to explain Anthony. He was constantly injured in some way, and people would assume something was wrong it he went a week without getting hurt... but he had been to the hospital for his own injuries only twice over the course of his life, and only one of those he had consented to. The thing with Anthony was that he had been born with a genetic drug dependence. He was perfectly fine most of the time, but if he took something even so as "light" as far as painkillers went as aspirin it would have horribly adverse affects on him. He had discovered that the first time he went to a hospital in Mexico for a shoulder surgery, the one that had gone all wrong and ruined the tendons and ligaments in his shoulder which was why he was so susceptible to dislocation on that side.

He had been fine through the surgery, but when they took him off the morphine, the "withdrawals" had nearly killed him and he had been out for months before he was capable of functioning without some sort of seizure. The second major accident he had nearly been taken to the hospital but regained consciousness before they had done anything to him. He said nothing as to why he wouldn't go, since he obviously had broken ribs and his arm was broken as well. He didn't want people to know of this addiction, because he was trying to leave his past behind him and he didn't want anyone to know and keep reminding him.

The third accident... well... he brought it on himself, even he would admit that. He was riding on Pinewood's very (at the time) rundown and abandoned racetrack on a blind horse who was unpredictable and dangerous. He spooked at a bird and crashed through the rail, rolling over top of Anthony and putting him out cold. When he came to he had already been through the surgery to repair his broken leg, broken ribs, re-set his shoulder, and had been on a steady flow of morphine for about 12 hours... not to mention all the anesthetic they'd used during surgery... as soon as he'd noticed the morphine he knew he'd be in for hell. If it wasn't for Alex, he never would have made it through all the withdrawals.

After it was all over with, he asked Alex to marry him, and a few months later Alex Chasse became Alex Lovasz, and about a year after that they had their first child. He was trying to be more careful now that he had a wife and a son... but he couldn't help that his horses were crazy... at least now King was much more manageable and little Ozzy had yet to harm so much as a fly, so he had that to look forward to.

All that goes to say... people considered Anthony to not be completely sane, and it was probably true that he wasn't. He'd had the cast removed from his leg after only four weeks when it clearly wasn't completely healed and the very day he got it off he was out riding again... not hard, he couldn't handle hard riding at that point because of the pain and withdrawals, but it was much more than any doctor would have recommended, and the pain was almost unbearable. He almost always got back on and rode much sooner than he should have. Someday he was going to get himself killed on the track... but he wouldn't want to die any other way. Horse racing (along with Alex and Jake) was his life.

He was just about to reach out his hand to meet hers when she pulled it back hastily, and he thought better of the offer. There was something fearful about her, and he didn't want to push his luck. People were a lot like horses in a lot of ways, and Anthony had learned all too well that the worst thing you could possibly do was to force a horse or a person into a situation that they were uncomfortable with before they were ready for it. Despite having been "the biggest name in horse racing" for so many years, it had never gone to his head. Anthony was the kind of guy who was always down to earth and just normal like everyone else. He even had quite the fan club here at Pinewood... that consisted of a large group of little girls who would follow him around the barn regularly. Why, he couldn't say, but they did.

He was currently trying to figure out how to respond to everything she had said previously. It wasn't really an easy task to respond to her horse's past, her brother being a jockey, the horse he rode, her name, and her brother being thrown off her horse without it coming out sounding like a terribly jumbled mass of sentences that had nothing to do with one another. He'd found that to be the case with the way most people up here spoke. Down in Mexico it had always been one subject at a time, but here it seemed like people wanted to get as much information out of one breath as they possibly could, which always left him in a bind because even after six years of being here, he still wasn't accustomed to it.

That was another thing about Anthony. He was very stuck in his ways, and there was no possible way to change him. Most people would have long since lost their accent after living with only English speaking people for so long... but not Anthony. Having been raised a catholic... and a very strict one at that... he was a very very strong believer in abstinence until marriage... and although he'd been tempted so many times before marrying Alex to throw that out the window, he hadn't. Everything about Anthony was never changing... and to some people, having one guy around who you could count on to always be the same was like a breath of fresh air.

He finally came to the conclusion that he should just pass off the rest and tell her his name and respond to what she had said last. Anthony Lovasz, he said with that crooked smile of his and a nod. It's a dangerous life to be sure. I've had my fair share of falls and then some. He really needed to ice his shoulder, but like any good horseman, the horse came first. When Doubt was cooled and hosed down and put away, then he would go find some ice... but until then he'd just deal with the pain. He was starting to think he might just see if Andrew would take King out for him, since riding a half blind horse with a dislocated shoulder was probably not a wise idea. Of the life of a busted up jockey... there was no end to the aches and pains.

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[marie smithson]

She smiled, "Just like Will. For a while there he was getting on horses that should have been put down they were so nasty, but know he has One-Man horses who fallow him all around the ranch by free will." She was starting to calm down more. She pat Donte, her hand feeling the soft lulling beat of his heart, his blood pumping in his veins, the air whoofing out of his nostrils. He nickered softly and sent a little glance her way. She smiled softly and pat his neck before moving to check over his legs, just in case.

He was fine, his left front had no change from the previous year's Suspensory Injury from track life. She was always watching it, just in case. Then his right front for his previous splint. She sent glances his way, mostly just curious. Her cell phone rang and she answered, "Marie Smithson, hello? Willy! I was just talking about you," she flushed. "Thank you but no. How's Aladdin doing? He did?! He went over water?! Awe and he didn't try to kill you? Haha, I know, and Chase made it in the Eventing at Belmeau? First and two seconds, awe. Ya I'm getting ready to get on my boy. Haha you want to say hi?" She put the cell to Donte's ear first, she heard Will say hello to Donte and he pinned his ears and bellowed deeply.

Marie Giggled and told Will what he did. "Ya, Ok, I love you too, tell Mom and Dad I said hey and that T.C. is doing great. And I think that Whit has a foal on the way." There was a long pause, "You should! You could bunk down at my place, no you are NOT sleeping in your horse trailer, I won't- haha, ok. Well, I think you'd like it up here. I know Aladdin will, he's going to hop every fence and tare down the barn. Haha, ya I know, I'm just joking. Ok. Well I guess I'll see you later then, good bye," she said.

She closed her phone and went back to Donte, who was falling asleep quietly already. She smiled and quickly pulled out her boots and saddle before quickly putting them on him. She made sure she stayed out of the other man's way. Donte woke up when she unclipped the cross tie and his head fell to the right. She unclipped the other side and he stood up straight and put his bridle on him. He snorted and started to nibble lightly on her hair. She giggled and pushed him away before pulling the bridle over his ears. She smiled at the other horse, he looked like quite a winner. "So what did you place?" she asked as she started to cinch up his bridle.

[Anthony Lovasz]

Anthony couldn't count, or even remember, all the people who had told him he should just put King down. The horse was blind, he was a menace and a terror, and he had no business being at a barn where there were children and he could hurt any number of people and horses. Obviously, he hadn't listened to a single one of them. Yes, he was blind, yes he was a bit of a terror, and yes, he could hurt a lot of people, Anthony included... but like the famous Tom Smith said "you don't throw a whole life away just because it's banged up a little." Where most people just saw a worthless suffering piece of horseflesh, Anthony saw a great racer that only needed someone to understand him and take the time to earn his trust and he could easily rise to the top again... it would just take a lot of time and effort.

Of course, most people thought Anthony was just crazy and had been kicked in the head a few too many times... and maybe it was true... maybe he was crazy, but crazy or not, he was making amazing progress with the blind horse as well as the little devil called Doubt. All his life Anthony was the guy who did things his way and nobody could change him. He'd lost a lot of mounts in his early racing years because he wouldn't do things the way the trainer wanted them done... but all the while he was losing mounts, he was gaining more because people saw someone who had so much talent when it came to racing horses that with him on board it was almost guaranteed that you would be somewhere in the top five if not the top three, and that was a talent that a lot of jockeys didn't have.

When her phone rang, he just continued on taking care of his horse, removing the dirty wraps from his legs and replacing them with the softer ones the racers were always stalled with... a task that was much easier said than done with only one good arm... but he'd gotten good at dealing with every sort of injury imaginable and still getting on just fine. They called him "cucaracha" at the track for a pretty darn good reason. Translation? thingyroach. He just plain old wouldn't die. It was ridiculous the number of times he'd fallen off a horse, been run over by a horse, been crushed by a falling horse, been thrown into the rail by a crazy horse, been stepped on, kicked, bitten, and otherwise injured by the high strung racers he worked with, but he still popped right back up like a jack-in-a-box every single time as if nothing had happened. Injured or not, it rarely took him longer than five minutes to regain his feet and jump right back up on the horse he came off of.

He was just about ready to go put Doubt back in his stall when he suddenly realized that Marie was talking to him again and was no longer on the phone with whomever she'd been talking to. Call him old fashioned again, but he didn't have a cell phone, and probably never would. He told everyone it was simply because he was annoyed by them and how they inhibited him from avoiding talking to people he didn't want to talk to, but in truth it was because when he'd had one years previously, the last call he got one it was the one from the hospital telling him that there had been an accident and the girl he'd been in love with at the time was dead. Ever since then he'd refused to use one... but no one knew the true reason behind it... not even his wife.

"Last time we raced we won the Santa Anita..." he said casually as if it was no bigger deal than a claiming race, "but that was two years ago. Neither of us have run on a real track since then." The old run down track up in the woods was the closest thing to the real dirt of a race track they'd run on since being railed two strides after winning that race. He hoped that within a year or two they would make their return... but until then, they were just going to keep running here and slowly work on rebuilding the track they were on so that it was more usable than it already was. "If you're talking in regards to how my fight with him turned out, I'd say he definitely had me beat... but he always does." That little horse sure had a mean buck, and probably no one could ride him better than Anthony did and he still got thrown on a regular basis. He'd get over it one of these days, but until then, Anthony would be coming out in second place every time.

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[marie smithson]

Marie laughed, her face lighting up and she had let her guard down enough to show how she would be- should be. "They always do," she looked at Donte, "Right boy?" Donte shook his head up and down, more because he noticed she was looking at him expectantly than understanding, but sometimes... she felt he could really understand her, and vice versa. "I don't understand much about racing so bare with me. All I know is that it's one of the major races, and also a race track, that's where Donte raced during his career."

She smiled quietly, reverting back to her usual self. "I'll let you put your horse away now, and quit blabbering," she said nervously.

Marie was also a little old fashioned. She could barely talk on a phone, she got really nervous. She was only ok when it came to family. She only kept a phone because people needed to get in touch with her, clients, but she always shut down when she answered, she couldn't find any words and she froze up, it was like stage fright, silly right?

She pulled Donte's bridle on and walked out, he walked behind her quietly. She stepped up onto the mounting block and he stepped into place, obediently. She grabbed the reins, his mane and the back of the saddle before slinging a leg over. He bellowed and huffed a sigh. She put her toes in the stirrups and then walked him to the arena. There were all sorts of spooky sounds, like a horse kicking the side of their stall, someone starting a tractor in the distance, even a bird in the trees above, the last one even made Marie jump a little. But not Donte, nope, he just kept walking, despite his nervous wreck of a rider.

Marie was always prepared, dealing with a few of the low key trouble horses made you prepared for everything. But Donte was something more special, and he always made her nervous. It wasn't because of his power, and trust me THERE WAS POWER, there was no lacking at all in the power. Nor was it his attitude, she actually found that a more reassuring property. She had a feeling it was because it was a horse who matched her in almost every way and it unsettled her sometimes.

Donte planted his feet the second he saw the arena and went to turn around. She grabbed the other rein and kicked him hard. He grunted and started backing up, avoiding the contact from the reins. She pulled both her legs off and jabbed him in the sides. He leaped forward, grunting and then walked perfectly fine into the arena. "There, good boy." Donte flicked his tail and pinned his ears for a second, as if to say, 'Ya, sure kid.' She giggled, "Shut up you dork." The other rider in the arena raised an eyebrow at her and she flushed. "Oops, got to keep the talking to a low volume." Unfortunately, other riders made her nervous and made her start talking out loud more often and she started to nit-pick with Donte, which started fights and led to... well, Marie meet dirt, dirt meet Marie. Have fun you two!

Donte snorted and when the rider did a leg yield and started to come closer to them Marie had to say something. "Um, could you not get your horse too close, he likes to tail-gate." The rider gave her a snotty look and continued to come closer. Donte snorted and started to almost piaffe. Marie moved him into a faster trot. When the horse got too close Donte went to swing his butt in and marie nailed him in the side, the other horse snorted and leaped sideways, the rider lost her stirrup and started sliding off. Donte took Marie by surprise. He took off at a galloping buck. Marie grabbed the reins quickly, and slowed him. He reared, and almost like you see a spring coiled up, you could see the tension in the horse's hindquarters coil. They quivered and then he leaped in the ground, Marie sitting back and holding on, she was unseated and she stood up in her stirrup. "Whoaaa...! Shh.. calm down," she said to Donte as he started to take off again. Marie turned him in and then slowed and stopped. Marie looked at the other rider, who was in tears.

"Why did you do that?!" the girl screamed at Marie. Marie sat up taller, the girl seemed to register that she was the one that would have to do the shrinking.

"Excuse me? I told you to not get too close to my horse, I would have turned had I known Donte could make it before you horse collided with me," Marie said. She wasn't yelling, but she had a sort of authority in her voice.

The younger girl grew angry, "I almost came off my horse!" Was the only thing she could say.

Marie gave her a look of disbelief. "You almost FELL off your horse who handled that situation exceedingly well, and stood nicely even WHEN my horse took off bucking. I should be the one raging at you. Watch where your going, and I'll stay out of your way if you stay out of mine," Marie said. Donte reached out to bite the other horse, more a warning since he was too far away to actually touch the horse and rider. Marie pulled his head away quickly.

Marie was going to regret her little outburst when she finished her ride. The girl picked up the trot again and Marie did the same. She kept to the circle at one end before she took him across the diagonal at an extended trot. She watched out for the other rider still, who was grudgingly staying out of her way. Donte got pissy at the one end, rearing and then taking off at a gallop. Today was odd, he never reared, he was more of the flight, and nothing more. How odd, she hoped this wouldn't be a habit. He came back down after three strides, three strides too long really. He moved into a little trot and she made him move out, then she slowed him down and moved him out.