A Horse Named Aslen

Racing around the corner

Luke and i walked out to the track where partners and their horses were gathered. A man started to speak over an intercom ,"Welcome ladies and gentleman,to the Horse Derby. Today is a special day for racing because the racers are now in groups of two. Competitors include:Kalie and Miami With the pink uniforms. Luke and Rowin with the blue uniforms. Doug and Russel with the red uniforms. And last but not least , Sarah and K.C with the yellow uniforms. They will be doing four laps and if you don't mind, cheer as loud as you can. Now without further ado, let the race begin."

A man came out on the track and loaded the horses and their owners in the starting gate. The announcer spoke ,"Are you ready? 3 2.." I got in the racing position. "...1." A high pitched bell rang out and the gates opened. All the horses burst out of the gates with speed. Aslen came up from behind Kalie in the pink. We were in about 4th place out of 8. One thing Luke taught me was to start out slow. That way Aslen didn't lose his energy as fast. Luke was right behind me and he was speeding up.

Before i knew it we were on the second lap. I was now behind Doug ,with the yellow, who was in 2nd place. I was gaining speed and about to pass him when Miami passed by me. Her horse's white fur ,a flash of white as they passed. Suddenly ,without noticing, a cloud of dust surrounded me. I squinted through it and made out a figure laying out on the side of the track. Oh no! I looked further ahead and saw Miami's horse trotting aimlessly around the track with no one on its back. She fell! I remembered Luke mentioning that this happened a lot and not to get distracted. I focused back on the race. I fell back to 5th place and Luke was two people ahead of me. We were about to be on our 3rd lap.

I leaned forward and Aslen took off faster than I had expected. I passed Russel and soon after, passed Luke. I was in 2nd now. Sarah had taken 1st place and she was a little ways away from me. I was determined i could possibly make 1st place. Aslen raced around the corner and past the finish line. Aslen and I were on our 4th lap now and catching up to Sarah quickly. Her horse took big strides ,but then started to slow down a little bit. You wasted too much energy at the start. I thought. I was now at the rear of Sarah's horse and we were half-way through the 4th lap. I leaned forward and Aslenleaped forward. I was side bye side with Sarah. She looked over at me and kicked her horse's side. The horse sped up ,but Aslen was still beside them. I looked behind me a saw Luke closing in on Doug who was 3rd place.

All I had to do was pass Sarah and round the corner that led to the finish line. Sarah and I were still beside each other. We soon started to race around the corner. Sarah gained more speed and was now 3 feet in front of me and we were drawing closer to the finish. "Aslen, you can do this," I whispered into his ear. As if he understood me, he raced faster after Sarah. Faster than I could realize, Aslen carried me past Sarah with a burst of speed. 6 feet to the finish. 5. 4. 3. 2.

Aslen ran past the finish and confetti was soon flying through the air. Sarah came in 2nd and Luke came in 3rd. "We won! WE WON!" I patted Aslen's neck and he winnied with happiness. The man that had loaded us into the starting gates ran up to me,"Great job..." "Rowin. My name is Rowin. And this young sir ,is Aslen," I pointed to Aslen. "Well great job Rowin. And as for you ,young sir, you get a new saddle,bridle, and 5,000 bucks to buy you some new things. Rowin, you get a trophy and 5,000 bucks as well," He helped me down from the saddle and patted my back. I waved and led Aslen over to where Sarah and her horse were.

"Hey. You're Sarah right?" I asked her. She gave me a dirty look and said, "Ummm...yea that would be me." "Okay. I was just going to say nice race. You did well," I held out my hand for a shake. "Yeaaa... You only won because I let you," She said without taking my hand then she walked off. Head high. I ignored her and turned to Luke who was running torwards me with a big smile one his face, "You won you won!" He embraced me with a tight hug. "I know! I can't believe it!" I hugged him back ,then let go and scanned the crowd for my parents. I saw two figures racing towards me. It was my parents with their arms out wide.

I embraced my dad first and said ,"I'm so glad to see you!" He gave me a bear hug and then let me off to my mom. "Honey i'm so proud of you. You did it!" she said. I laughed. "I know! I know! But it wasn't me. It was all Aslen," I said. I turned back to Aslen and hugged his neck. "I'm so proud of you," I said. He whinnied again. If he could talk i know he would be saying ,"I know! It's great!" something around those lines. The man that congratulated me rushed me to a circle where a group had gathered and confetti flew like birds. Aslen and I were the center of attention...literally.

We were in the center of the mob and everyone's attention was on us. The man approached Aslen and put a ribbon on his mane and put a blue necklace around his neck. It said: 1st place winner of the 2011 Horse Derby. Partner Race. His ribbon was blue and had gold shiny letters that read:Congratulations champ. The man came to me with two $5,000 checks and said that a brand new saddle and bridle would be delivered to Luke's horse trailer. We did it! WE DID IT! I couldn't stop thinking about our victory. I turned to Aslen and whispered in his ear ,"That's MY boy."