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Daybreak In New Jersey - Part 4
Original article written by The Steward posted 15 years 3 weeks agoEmily Shields and her pony stood about 100 yards past the wire on the turf course, somewhere before the clubhouse turn. She slumped slightly in the saddle, wearing a sad, far away look.
The gorgeous, undefeated bay Acappella thundered by, followed by the spunky three-year-old Fish for Lynn Dvorak. A break of about 30 seconds yielded Thomas Jefferson and Gently Weeps working in company.
Only a certain amount of horses are allowed on the turf course at once, so as soon as the first set completed their training, there were a few quiet moments before the second set started to gallop. On the other side of the track Emily could see them circling and waiting patiently: Gold Nugget for Norman Architecture, Aboriginal for Tammy Fox, and the elegant Entangled for Susie Raisher. A leggy chestnut, Entangled had always been one of Emily’s favorite horses; just watching her run was magical. An aggressive black filly (Emily had to lift her binoculars to tell who it was), Snarky, reared and struck the air in an uncommon display of angst. Isabella Penzance coaxed the filly back to the ground and waited for their turn patiently.
“Why the long face?” Meagan D’amoure asked, leaning over the rail from the dirt track and gazing up at Emily with a sympathetic expression.
Emily scrunched up her face in an effort not to cry. “Life isn’t going very well right now,” she admitted. “Times are tough. Things aren’t going really well. I’m sad all the time.”
Meagan nodded and looked back at the track where Karie McBrians lovely bay filly Magnificent was galloping towards them, ears up and stride flowing over the grass. They were silent for a moment, watching Magnificent’s hindquarters fade around the clubhouse turn, when Meagan said simply, “Isn’t it nice that you have somewhere you can go to get away from it all?”
Emily nodded without answering. Then she clucked her tongue and urged the pony forward to collect Benjamin Franklin, who was tossing his head and refusing to stop.