When Life Races You By

Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy my new book. I'll try and update as often as possible. Thanks to oXDawnAngelXo for editing this book!

Extra Note: I just added and edited this chapter. If there are any mistakes or anything I can still improve on, please do let me know. Thanks!

Waking up at three in the morning might not seem like an average morning for most, but for me it happens at least six days a week. Being a horse trainer is not easy, but I love it. It is my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world - including sleeping in.

~

Racing runs in my blood. My dad, Graham Farwell, has been a trainer all his life, as well as his father and his grandfather. My mum, Mary Farwell, has also been into horses. She was a famous eventer before retiring when she had me. Now she just looks after me, my older brother and the farm. My older brother, Adam, is a jockey. And then there is me, Claire Farwell. After finishing high school it was clear that I would follow in my father's footsteps. Now, twenty years old, I have just started training my first horse on my own.

From a young age I spent my Saturdays at the track. My dad would sit me on an unturned bucket, as he got the horses ready to race and prepped the jockeys on what to do. He was always very gentle with the horses, always talking to them as he groomed them and scratched their favourite spot. When it came to the race, dad would sit me on the fence and we would cheer the horses home. It didn't matter if they won or lost as long as something was learnt so dad could improve on for next time.

Mum wouldn't come to the races unless it was a major race. She stayed home to look after the farm. For the races she would dressed me in a pretty dress and shoes, telling me not to get them dirty, but always laughing when I returned home with horse sweat and mud. Her green eyes, like mine were always gleaming. I looked a lot like my mum, we shared the same light brown hair that was slightly wavy. My dad and brother on the other hand, had sharp blue eyes and dark brown hair.

As Adam and I got older, we still attended the races. While Adam preferred to hang out with his friends, I still helped dad with the horses. As dad won more races, more people wanted him to train them, so he was always happy for me to help and I'm now learning to train horses with dad's help.

~

The good thing about living where the horses are, is that it doesn't take long to get to them. I jumped on the quad motorbike to head down to the stable where Ben Hopefield, our jockey, and my dad would be tacking the horses up for their morning ride.

The ride down to the stables was peaceful and there was a slight bite in the air. It was a bumpy ride, as the grounds were still wet from the winter rain, and my light brown hair was blowing in my face, as if it had a mind of its own. I could hear the horses in the paddock, over the roar of the engine, getting a fight from the bright headlights on the quad.

In the distance I could see the flood lights, lighting up the stable. They guided me where to go, even though I had travelled this very path a thousand times. The trees overhead, swayed with the morning breeze, as if waving me hello. They lined the path, with the white post and rail fence, just behind. It was just like the pictures you would see on the post cards.

I parked the quad next to Ben's Ute, under the biggest tree, that provided the best shade, even though the sun was not up yet. My boots made a crunching noise on the gravel, as I headed around to the horses. Beyond the gravel were the concert slab with the holding ties, where the horses would be tacked up. Before anyone at noticed I had arrived, my own horse that I am training myself, Manny greeted me with a neigh.