Willow King (15 page)

“Now pick up his head and walk him in a small circle until you feel you're in control. That's it,” he encouraged her. “When you feel comfortable with that, make the circle bigger and ask him for a trot.”

Katie did as she was told. She could feel King relaxing under her. The colt hadn't dumped her out of meanness; she had given him confusing cues. She felt more confident in her abilities and picked up the pace a little.

“Whenever you're ready, collect him so he isn't so strung out, then ask him for a canter.”

She did as Jason suggested and smiled triumphantly when King broke into an awkward but rhythmic lope. She rode him in a few circles, then eased him back to a walk, coming to a halt before Jason. “That was fantastic!” she said as she slipped from the colt's back and patted him on the neck. “What a rush!”

“Well, I don't think you two are ready for the Kentucky Derby, but I guess it's a start,” Jason said. “Let's call it a day. Another couple of training sessions and we can turn him out for the winter. Next spring is when the real training starts.”

Homework and high school activities kept Katie busy for the remainder of the winter. Willow King was scheduled to be delivered to Willow Run Farm in early May to begin his training for the fall races.

In late March when the weather warmed, Jason suggested they start doing some trail riding with King to get him legged up and give him a little experience before he went to the racetrack.

Jason rode King several times in the ring to reinforce the lessons he had been taught in the fall. Then the horse was turned over to Katie.

“You want me to ride him on the trails?” She felt excitement coursing through her veins but also some apprehension. She hadn't forgotten her spill in the fall. “Do you think I'm good enough to be able to handle him?”

“Of course you are. You've got really good hands, Katie, and you've got a good feel for the horse. That's important. Plus, you're a lot lighter than I am. These Thoroughbreds are a thousand pounds of horseflesh sitting on top of little toothpick legs. That's why jockeys are so small; a big rider will break them down quicker.”

There were a lot of good trails around the farms. They started out with King snubbed to the pony horse. Then when Katie was sure of herself and King, Jason undid the rope and they rode untethered beside his big Paint.

King was a joy to ride, but Katie had to continually be on her guard. Once while she was talking to Jason, she let her attention wander and a rabbit popped out from the bushes, startling King. The big colt jumped from the trail and ran a short distance before she was able to get him under control. Her heart hammered in her throat, and her hands were unsteady for quite a while, but she thought back to the lesson she had learned while swimming King in Mr. Simon's pool. She never went to sleep on the colt again.

The last week before King was to be sent to Willow Run, Katie and Jason were returning from their ride when she suggested they gallop across a big field. She had cantered King on the trail, but it hadn't been for very long, and she wanted to feel the pounding of his hooves and the wind in her hair one last time before she gave him over to John and another rider.

“I don't know if that's such a good idea, Katie,” Jason said warily. “He's never had a big space like this to gallop in. We've kept him sandwiched in behind my horse all the time. He's starting to get fit, and he's feeling good.”

“Come on, Jason,” she begged. “Don't be a stick-in-the-mud. I won't let him go very fast.”

She picked up a trot, then broke the colt into a slow canter. He had such a wonderfully long stride that he seemed to be eating the ground up beneath him.

Jason pulled along beside her. “Slow him down, Katie. You're going a little too fast.”

She pulled back and King tossed his head, fighting for more rein. He was enjoying his run.

“Pull up!” Jason yelled to her over the pounding of hooves.

Katie stood in the stirrups for more leverage as she had seen the exercise riders do, but her stirrup irons were just too long. King took the bit in his teeth and bounded ahead of Jason's horse. His ears were pinned back against his head and his neck was stretched out before him. The trees and bushes passed by in a blur and the cool spring wind stung her eyes, causing them to water.

She could hear Jason hollering in the background, but she was powerless to do anything but hang on and pray for a safe ride. If they hit a squirrel hole, King would probably break a leg. She didn't even want to think about that.

They had traveled about a half mile when she saw the fence looming ahead of them. She had to do something quickly, or they would crash right through it. Gathering her courage, she pulled at the bit in an easy, give-and-take motion. A solid tug had done no good. She remembered Jason telling her that racehorses were taught to run against the bit. “Easy, easy. Whoa, boy,” she crooned over and over in a soothing voice, though her heart was racing as wildly as King's strides.

She saw the colt's ears flicker at the sound of her voice, and he began to respond to the pressure on his bit. The brain-numbing speed with which he had started his mad dash began to abate, and she felt she was regaining control. With only a hundred yards to go, King slowed to a manageable canter. Katie pulled him into a circle to the right, avoiding the four-board fence and bringing him to a halt.

Jason reached her a moment later. “Are you nuts?” he screamed as he jumped from his horse and ran to her. “You could have been killed!”

Katie slid from King's back. Her legs were so weak that they failed to support her, and she crumpled to the ground. Jason reached down to help her stand, supporting her with his arm about her waist. “Did you see how fast we went?” she said excitedly.

“How could I miss it? You left us in the dust.”

Katie could tell Jason was irritated with her, but it didn't dampen her spirits. “We were racing the wind and we won!” Her voice was still shaking and her heart pounded so loudly she could hear it reverberating in her ears. She was shaken—never had she been on an animal that had moved so swiftly—but she was also ecstatic. “He can do it, Jason. King can win the big race.”

Jason shook his head. “You're crazy, girl. You've just had a near brush with death, and all you can think about is a stupid horse race.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that it wasn't a stupid horse race. A lot depended on King winning the Futurity. She was tired of seeing her mother work herself to exhaustion. But she clamped her mouth shut and looked at Jason—really looked at him. He was red in the face, and his hands were shaking as badly as hers. “You were worried about me,” she said with wonder.

“Of course I was worried about you. Don't you know you could have been killed?”

Jason Roberts cared about her! What a day this had turned out to be. One moment she thought she was doomed, and the next minute she had a horse that was going to win the Futurity race and a guy who cared about her. Life was great. She gathered her soaring senses and calmed Jason down. Then they remounted their horses and walked back to the barn.

King was cooled out by the time they reached the stable. She drew a bucket of warm water and wiped the dried sweat from his coat, then walked him a bit more before turning him loose to graze. She would have to tell John about her wild ride. She hoped he wouldn't be angry with her. Most of all, she was worried that the run had hurt King's legs. If her unplanned sprint had hurt the colt, she would never forgive herself.

But King showed no sign of injury, so he was delivered to Willow Run as scheduled. John immediately set up a program. King's training would begin the following morning. Katie was up an extra hour early so she could help with the horses before going to school.

“Good morning, missy,” John said cheerfully as he pulled the tack off the rail and entered King's stall. “You're here just in time.”

“Do you need some help?” Katie entered the stall behind him and picked the saddle cloth and pad from the floor, brushing off the clinging straw. She put the cloth high up on King's withers, then slid it into place on his back, making sure all the hairs were smoothed in the right direction. Next came the pad, then the saddle.

“I've got a job for you if you think you can handle it,” John said with a twinkle in his eye.

“What's that?” Katie was curious now. The old trainer looked as if he were up to something.

“Seems we've got an exercise rider who's out sick for a couple of days. Since you've been riding this colt, I thought you might like to start him on the track.”

Katie's heart skipped a beat. “You mean like a
real
gallop boy?”

“That's right. I'll be ponying King for the first week,'til he gets used to things. You're nearly old enough to get a license at the track. You might as well be learning along with this here colt. You're about the right size for the job. Go get a hard hat out of the tack room, and let's get to it.”

Katie wanted to shout for joy. Never in her life had she imagined she would be able to ride on the big track. She had hinted to Mr. Ellis on several occasions, but he had always mumbled something about her not being strong enough. She knew it was just his polite way of saying he thought her handicap would prevent her from doing a good job. This was her chance to prove him wrong.

Katie ran to the carpeted tack room that housed all the riding equipment. There were several helmets hanging on the wall. She chose the one with red and blue stripes and fit it onto her head, hooking the chin strap into its catch. When she returned, John had King out in the shed row and was ready to go.

“First, we want to take these irons up a little higher than you've been used to. I'm going to teach you how to stand up in the irons and gallop racetrack style, but we don't want them too high yet, ‘cause this colt isn't exactly one hundred percent broke.”

Katie bent her leg and waited for John to give her a boost into the saddle. Since the stirrups were always so high, jockeys and exercise riders were given a leg up when mounting a horse.

It took her a few tries to get it right. She had to bounce a few times on her right leg, then use the pressure of the hand John had on her left leg to vault herself into the saddle. If she didn't have enough spring in her bounce, she couldn't get high enough in the air to get her leg over the saddle, but if she bounced too much, she could be thrown over the horse and land on the other side.

After a few tries, she finally got it right, and they headed out to the three-quarter-mile training track. The reins of the race bridle were different from any she had ever seen. There was rubber covering the ends the rider held. John said it was to keep the reins from slipping through her hands when she was working the horse.

When they reached the track, they entered the gate and rode clockwise at a walk on the outside rail.

“Always enter the gate clockwise, and backtrack at a walk or trot for a hundred yards or so,” John instructed. “This keeps your horse calm and teaches him that he isn't going to jump right into the running as soon as he hits the track. That could cause an accident.”

Several horses passed by at a gallop. King pranced and tossed his head, eager to be off. “Easy, boy.” Katie settled him down.

“When it's time to turn around, always turn him toward the inner rail and make him stop for a second before you start. Take the time to walk him first, then break him into a trot, then a gallop. And always remember, the inside is for the faster-working horses. If you're just going to gallop like we're doing today, stay toward the center of the track.”

They turned and stopped, then started King down the track.

Katie learned how to set the reins for maximum control, so the horse was working more against himself than her arms, and how to stand in the stirrups with her body weight forward over the withers, the way the jockeys did. It was such an awkward position for her at first that her legs were exhausted by the time she finished the one-mile workout.

“Be here at the same time for the next couple of days, and we'll get you some more practice. Okay, Katie girl?”

“You bet! Oh, and, John, thanks for the chance.” She turned to head back to her house. She had a half hour to get ready before the school bus came.

Twelve

For the next several days, Katie and King learned the workings of racetrack etiquette. Even after the other gallop boy came back to work, John continued to use her to exercise the colt.

“You're doing just fine,” he assured her. “This colt is working real good for you, but we may have to put a stronger rider up when he starts getting racey. We can't have him running away with you.” He looked up at Katie and winked. “Guess you already know what that's all about.”

She knew John was right, but she was still a little disappointed. Even though it had scared her, she had thrilled to every moment of their mad dash across the pasture. How much more fun it would be to pound around the smooth surface of the track with a clock to gauge their speed.

John noticed the frustrated look on her face and tried to soothe her injured feelings.

“Don't look so downcast, girl. I didn't say you'd never get to take him for a run. I just want to make sure that he doesn't start getting away from you when we want him to go slow. We don't need him hurting himself. It's hard enough to keep these horses together as it is.”

As the days passed, Katie grew stronger and more sure of her capabilities. The other riders helped her as much as they could, and she was grateful to have such experienced people to work with.

Trouble struck on the first day of summer vacation. Cindy, who rarely made it out to the track so early in the morning, was standing at the rail when Katie pulled King up and walked him back to the exit gate.

“What are
you
doing out on the track?” Cindy gave her an accusing look. “Does my father know you're doing this?”