The Black and Sugar

CH3: Laying Low

Alec rose slowly with the ringing of his alarm clock. It read 5:30, the same time he woke up every morning to feed and turnout horses. When they weren't running at the track, he and Henry were the only ones who handled most of the horses. They worked horses all day and did chores all morning and night.

Alec always made the stallion barn his first stop, visiting the stall of his Black first everyday. When he stepped in the barn, the stallion at the end nickered welcomely. Alec went and started stroking the stallion's long forelock, when he noticed the straw in the stall was fresh, and the water full. Going to the other occupied stalls in the barn, he found the same thing in each. It had to have been Henry, he was the only one who could get near the Black and his stall.

Not thinking anything of it, Alec went down to the main barn, where the many colts lived. These stalls were still uninterrupted, but one was empty. It took him a long moment to realize the stall belonged to one of Hope's horses that had come in yesterday. He stepped outside to find it, and found himself looking at the track.

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and Hope was astride the black gelding Bear. They were loping along the track, so he decided to make his way over to them. She was loping the horse, and just by watching it, Alec could see a noticeable difference between this horse and the ones he raced. His head set was low, his movements fluid and long, but not forward. She rode quietly, one hand on the rein resting on the gelding's neck as he loped casually. Hope's head hung low, she looked as if she could be sleeping on the back of the horse.

She turned her head momentarily and Alec caught her eye. She didn't have to do more than pick her hand up off Bear's neck, and put her feet forward to make the gelding drop his hindquarters right into the sandy ground. Alec was impressed, he hadn't gotten to see much of the western world, but he was impressed with the horse's quick, agile stop. It made him think if that's what Sugar had looked like when Alec got dumped off him.

With a leg motion, she turned the gelding on a smooth pivot towards Alec. By now he was at the fence, resting his elbows along the white pole. The gelding had a sleek layer of sweat on his hide, and was breathing hard. "Looks like you've done quite the workout already, and the sun isn't even up yet," Alec joked, stroking the gelding's soft nose.

She shook her head, smiling. "I couldn't sleep, too much to think about. We've just gotten started," she said, reaching down and patting the horse's neck. "You were saying yesterday you've never been on a horse that had a western handle. Want to try it?" She slid off the right side of the saddle and held the reins forward. They were much shorter than what he was used to. The saddle wasn't as big as Henry's stock saddle, but not near as small as an English or racing saddle.

Alec jumped over the pole, accepting her offer. He was wearing work boots and jeans, which was something he usually never would have ridden in, but it seemed fitting for this kind of riding. He hopped easily into the saddle and found his stirrups, surprised that the length was fitting to him. Hope smiled as he got comfortable in the saddle.

"Okay," she said, sitting down on the pole behind her. "Neck rein across and put your left foot into him." Alex followed the directions, and found his vacant hand quickly moving to the horn as the horse began spinning in place. As soon as he took his foot away, though, the horse stopped as fast as he had started. He found a smile coming onto his face. "Inside rein and inside leg, he'll sidepass. Click at him he'll break into an easy lope." Alec tried the sidepass, both ways, feeling the horse cross over easy, then clicked him forward. The horse worked right into a smooth lope, skipping a trot. His racehorses were not near as smooth as this horse.

"Whenever you want, just pick the reins up a little, he'll stop. Drop your heels and put your feet forward so you don't get thrown over the front, you know what that's like," she said, provoking him. He shook his head, repeating the instructions, and felt the horse stop on a dime, dragging his hind legs below his heavy body. He wheeled him back to Hope, patting the horse's neck.

"He's easy, did you make him too?" Alec asked, stepped off the left side of the horse. She nodded her head, stroking the horse in front of her.

"I bought him off a reiner when he was two. Reiner didn't like his eyes. Now he has the best handle in the state of New York. I think he's going to be one of the best. He gets to get opened up on the barrels next year in competition." Alec nodded, agreeing. He just hopped on this horse to find how easy it was to make it do exquisite movements.

They were standing quietly admiring the black gelding when Alec heard a car pulling into the yard through, gravel crackling under tires. Alec turned his attention to the gate, and realization hit him. He forgot the talk he'd had with Henry the previous night that their friend Jim Neville was coming by. Neville was a reporter, doing an inside piece on Hopeful farm. "Make sure that Sugar isn't around when he gets here, I don't want him seeing that horse until he hits the track. Keep it laying low. Turn him out in the back pasture before Jim gets here," Henry had instructed. He cussed under his breath, and Hope turned to him quizzically.

"Everything alright?" She asked. Alec shrugged.

"Yeah, that's a reporter. He's coming to do a piece on the farm, but Henry doesn't want him seeing your horse, not yet. I need to go take him to the back pasture without Jim knowing. Mind stalling him for a minute for me?" She nodded quickly, leading Bear through the gap in the fence towards the car. Alec sprinted away to the stallion barn to pull out Sugar. Had it been the Black they were trying to hide, there would be no way. Trying to lead the hot stud quickly and quietly was impossible. But Alec had a feeling Sugar was going to be easy to hide.

He went into the barn and opened the stall door, Sugar nickering friendly. He grabbed his leather halter and clucked, the stud trotting behind him elegantly. He slid the back door open quietly and continued running with the horse trotting smoothly behind. The pasture wasn't far away, and most of it remained in the woods, where he could run and play and bound without being seen. Quickly, Alec unshackled the gate and ushered the stud through. Just as played, he took off towards the woods, and in seconds could no longer be seen.

Alec walked back to the track, breathing heavy. He looked over his shoulder every few seconds to see if the stud was in sight, but he never could see him. Finally, he reached the track and found Hope and Jim talking and laughing together.

"Oh, Alec! Got the stalls in the stud barn all cleaned up?" He nodded, putting two and two together, she'd done it herself, and used it as an excuse.

"Yep, Hope, all done. Shall we, Jim?"