on the improve

The beautiful light bay thoroughbred sniffed curiously as I held out half an apple to her. Hey dark brown eyes brightened, and she lipped the apple out of my hand and crunched it between her teeth. As she chewed I drew a halter over her head and snapped on a lead rope. She stopped chewing, momentarily surprised. She had been out of action for months due to an injury to her leg, but May was her. Her leg was nearly completely healed. She was ready to make her first steps to recovery, and hopefully in time for a May Week Three race to prep her for the Belmont. The Belmont was where I wanted to take Fire. She had heart and courage, and not running would be unfair to her talent. Sure she hadn't had the most amazing career, but her bloodlines were amazing.

As daughter of Dancing In The Moonlight, she was half sister to On To The Spotlight - and Moondance, her same age sister who was her biggest rival. I also knew that the talent was buried deep within her. It just required more work to unveil, work I hadn't been giving her. It had taken her getting injured by Jessie James, Amber's brute, to truly make me realize how much I loved Fire. The mare's light bay pelt was gorgeous, and the fire blazing within her eyes unquenchable. Her fiery long strided gallop was love to my body, as I'd never actually seen it. It wasn't smooth but powerful. Most of all, my filly never backed down from a challenge. It made her a tough competitor that, even if defeated, always came back full of heart.

Come now girl I encouraged, opening up the stall door as I talked. Fire looked shocked, but cautiously stepped forward. I led her forward slowly, making sure she got through the door and then out straight into the barn aisle before stopping. I clipped one of the cross ties onto her halter and then stepped away still gripping the lead rope. Her hind leg looked as though it was normal. It wasn't swollen and was bright and clean. I grinned tightly, but knew that Fire had a long while before she was back on track. Luckily it was early May, and she was a fast healer. She had already started barn walks halfway through April, and now her legs were a bit stronger. She was just surprised today because she hadn't been let out all week.

I walked her forward and towards the barn exit. She moved with cool confidence now, her stiffness apparent but not as bad as before. I grinned. Today I would trot her a little bit, and the trotting would continue for the next week. We would be cantering for five days after - aka going under saddle - and then in one week I could expect to gallop her again. I grinned and led the filly forward, entering the warm sunshine of summer. In just a couple minutes I began to trot her again, and off we went. I grinned happily. She was on the improve, and her chances of successful runs this year were growing higher and higher.