The Colt That Could

The First Meeting

The jockeys left without another word after giving West the location of the meeting. They were bound to talk about her behind her back, but she was used to that by now. She was more than used to it. She'd had people talking behind her back since she started saving slaughter horses. People used to say she was stupid to think she could save them or make them into anything. They'd say she was crazy to spend money on treatment for broken horses. But she kicked them all down when she proved them wrong and made amazing horses out of the once broken and beaten ones. She made amazing horses. She made dressage stars. Cross country stars. In hand show stars. She'd even sold horses onto professional riders for competitions and such. It was all part of West's huge list of achievements in her life. She had a fair amount of trophies, rosettes, things like that.

With a sigh, West hugged Mischief's neck. Feeling tears in her eyes. The nerves were hitting hard now, along with the words of the jockeys. "I can't go to that meeting, Mischief" she mumbled, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks. Mischief, in response, neighed softly, wrapping his head over her shoulder, and moving his leg around her as much as he could. His way of hugging her. He made her smile at least. She remained in the hug with him, just relaxing against him as he comforted her. He protected her, he cared for her, and he loved her. It was clear to see how close they were and that there was definitely a bond between them.

The bond between them was unique. It was a bond like no other and it was as unbreakable as ever. Nothing would separate them, and nothing would come between them. When a horse trusts his owner like Mischief does, you know there's a strong bond there.

Mischief had trusted West to bring him home from the slaughter house. He'd then trusted her to be close to him, and to train him as he got older. The trust was there. And everyone knew it was.

No one dared to try and speak ill of West and Mischief because they'd get shot down rather quickly.

Once she'd calmed down, West left Mischief to eat his lunch, before she headed off to the meeting. She entered the room, taking the seat that was offered to her by the yard manager. As she sat down, she kept her eyes directed downwards. Nervous and a little uneasy. She just wanted to sit with Mischief all day and night until she knew he was completely settled.

The yard manager looked to the group now. The group itself consisted of 8 jockeys, 4 trainers, 5 owners and then West who filled all 3 roles herself. "Right. Good morning. Hope everyone is doing well today. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce you all to West. West is the owner, trainer and jockey of Mischief Managed. They arrived this morning, and will be racing this weekend. And yes, West fills all three of the roles herself with Mischief Managed. They have quite the story to tell. But I think I'll let this video sent in by her father tell you the story"

A video started, showing West and Mischief when he was just a foal. Showing how West cared for him, how she played with him and how she encouraged him to be confident. It showed how she stayed awake at night when he was sick. Then a voice-over began. It was Craig and her father.

"West always had a passion to save horses that were headed to slaughter. She wanted to save them all, and she damn well tried to. Overall, she owns 23 horses. All of which are rescues from the slaughter house. Some of them are dressage horses. And some are cross country. Some are even in hand showing horses. Mischief Managed isn't her first racer, but he's the first one that she saved as a colt. The day we got him home, she stayed with him all night and day just making sure he was okay and that he was healthy. She was sick herself, but her horses always came first. When Mischief was old enough and she started work with him. He showed potential that West saw instantly. She taught him join up, and he never leaves her side now. She'll walk around with him by her side without the aid of the leadropes. You can see the bond there. I've worked with the family for a while, and I've seen West work with her horses. She treats them with such respect, love and care and I trust her completely to provide everything for her horses. She has her qualifications in horse care, as well as several other qualifications in horse management. She knows her stuff, and she definitely knows what she's doing. Mischief is an amazing horse, and we have no doubts that he'll be amazing on the track"

The voice-over stopped and showed the clip of Mischief on the gallops. A few quiet murmurs were heard from beside West, but she ignored them. Smiling at the video of her and Mischief.

"As you can see, West and Mischief have an amazing bond. Fluid movement. Horse and rider linked as one. She doesn't have much movement in the saddle. Nor does she need much. Also notice how she doesn't have a whip. Mischief doesn't need whips. He is responsive to leg and hand. Nothing more. It's all he needs"

The video ended on a picture of West and Mischief smiling.

"Why no whip? What's up with that?" asked one of the trainers, looking to West. Annoyed at having to explain, West stood at the front of the group to speak. "Mischief was saved from slaughter. The whip was used to abuse. I won't be punishing my horse because he doesn't run fast enough, or he doesn't do what I say. For Mischief, a whip would break him. It would spook him. We fired my exercise rider for using a whip on Mischief. I worked for a few weeks to break Mischief away from the whip again. I will not be putting that on my horse again. No matter what anyone says. I trained Mischief myself. I know how he runs, how he behaves, and how he acts in certain situations. I know what he can take, and what he can't. We can race. You just saw Mischief's second time out on the gallops, and you saw the power he has. He did that without a whip. Why would I use a whip if my horse is already capable of giving it his all without one?" said West, daring them to comment.

Everyone fell silent again. It was clear by how West spoke that she hated whips and wouldn't be using them. "Fair enough, West. We can't force you to use a whip on your horse under the circumstances of where he came from. It would be cruel of us to make you use one. And the way Mischief ran on the gallops. He looks amazing. How did you work him up to be like that?" asked the trainer who had spoken earlier.

"I just focused on what I always do. We started off in an arena, working on trotting and cantering. I only put Mischief to the gallops when he started showing that he wanted to go faster. I let him progress in his own time, and he was amazing when he did. He showed me when he wanted to learn more. If you let a horse show you when he's ready. He'll give you the world and share his world on a higher level with you. Mischief greets me every morning, and greets me at night. He knows when I'm upset and he comforts me. I know the same for him. I know when he's feeling down or nervous, and I do what I can to comfort him in return. He's my boy and he'll always mean the world to me. I gave him the world when I saved him. If I hadn't have saved him... He just means the world to me. He is my world. Racing is what he wants to do. He showed that on the gallops. He showed me what he could really do and he loved every second of it. I want to give him the world. I want to show him the world. We have plans to race all over the world, and we have high hopes. We're going to show the world that slaughter horse s can become something with the right people around them"

She really had some high hopes for Mischief, but she wouldn't be pushing him too hard into this. She wouldn't ever push Mischief. She'd let him do his own thing, and when the time came, she'd just give him a little nudge. But he knew what he was doing and knew what he had to do. He knew what was expected of him, but he knew that he had his own time to do it in. He knew the whip wasn't being used on him, and he knew that West would do everything she could to protect him and make sure he was safe during everything they did. He'd never hurt her. Like she'd never hurt him. Together they could take the racing world by storm. And that is exactly what they wanted to do. They wanted to prove something. They wanted to be something. And they'd do it all together.

"What do you have in mind for racing around the world, West?" asked the yard manager, intrigued by the 19 year olds ideas.