The fun ride loomed upon them surprisingly quickly and Carla had more on her plate than ever. For a start, she was beginning to exercise ride out on Vow with the string in the morning. It was amazing but it did mean that, as ever, she was pressed tightly for time. Friday night before the fun ride was busy as ever. She was down at the stall of Edward Preston, a massive, bay two year old, watching him be backed for the first time. The two year old had broken a leg as a foal and only this week had the vet and James agreed that the horse was fit to be broken. He wasn't owned by the stud, in fact he was owned by the very same Mrs Mockingwood who had recommended the fun ride, but the horse was trained here. He was stood, tacked up in a bridle with a browband in his owner's colours and a lightweight exercise saddle, in the middle of his stall. He was watching Kat's every move very carefully. Carla was watching with the same intensity. Charlie and Terry were stood at the head of the massive horse, he was well over sixteen hands, whilst James and Kat made a fuss of him at his shoulder. Finally, Edward Preston dropped his head and began to snuffle up the food that Terry was offering him. Kat lightly pressed weight onto the colt's back. He threw up his head to look at her. Kat stopped and he went back to eating. Kat pressed weight on again and the colt turned to look again. Kat didn't stop this time, she kept pressing lightly down. Eventually the colt turned back to the food. Now Kat very gently grasped the withers and James legged her up so that she was leaning over the colt's back. Edward Preston through up his head to look around, dancing his quarters sideways. Kat stayed still, draped over his back. The colt eventually stood still, a little uneasy but sniffed at the food again and remained on all four hooves. Kat slipped off with a smile.
"This is an easy one." She told Carla, "Some horses will be up on their back legs at the first stage but he seems to be relatively on board with this idea."
"Why do you feed him?" Carla asked.
"It's a distraction technique." James told her, "Quite a lot of people don't do that but I always feel that it's better for the horse to have positive connotations with riding from the start. When she gets on his back, he gets fed. Means he doesn't get stressed at the sight of a saddle." James was not only an incredibly knowledgeable man, Carla had found, but also one capable of thinking exactly what a horse was thinking.
"So what do you do now?" Carla asked.
"I'll do that again and again until he settles then I'll sit astride." Kat was lifted neatly up to rest on the brown back again. This time the colt's reaction was less and the time after next he barely lifted his head.
"Now I sit astride. It's one of the most vulnerable times in a horse's career, that and running free for the first time." Kat lifted one leg and James gave her an easy leg up. Edward Preston lifted his head with unease to look around at the rider balanced with both legs hanging down his sides but other than this he did nothing.
"Very good." Kat looped her fingers through the mane and slid her feet into the stirrups; still the colt was unperturbed. She clicked her tongue lightly and Charlie led the colt round the stall in a circle twice. The colt was stiff beneath unfamiliar weight but seemed happy enough with the situation. He came to a halt and Kat slipped off, rubbing his neck as she loosened the girth of his saddle.
"We'll repeat that for two days and then I'll start doing it out in the yard and eventually in the arena on a lunge." She told Carla.
"What if you have a really dangerous yearling, where do you break them?" Carla asked.
"They're babies. If they're handled right they're very rarely dangerous, just scared and frisky." James told her, "When you have a big one or a difficult one you tend to break them in a lunge pen though, it makes life easier if they do go wild."
"How often do they go wild?"
"Every now and again." James replied non-committedly, "You know which ones they are by how they behave under saddle, Dove was one of them."
"And he'll never let me forget it." Kat sung as she rubbed down Edward Preston's back, "Although at least she was worth the hassle unlike Volcanic Equation."
"She'd have been a good filly if that colt hadn't got to her." James sighed grumpily.
"By that colt he means Mischief and the result was TC." Kat informed Carla, "We'd better go pack up the lorry, I assumed we can leave him to you" She grinned at Charlie who rolled his eyes.
"I think you probably can but I want your help on Sunday when I try and catch the yearlings, they haven't been in for two weeks."
"That sounds like fun." Kat sighed, "I'll help I promise."
Kat's lorry was amazing. It could carry six horses and had a comfortable amount of living space on board. The tack locker was filled with the tack for all the horses going, Violet had dropped off her tack today and all the rest was already at the yard. Carla and Kat did a mental checklist though, checking that everything was present and that the horse hold was clean and that all the hay nets were on board.
"I'd say that's ready to go." Kat smiled as she slipped her body protector into the wardrobe, "Wouldn't you?"
"I think so." Carla felt a frission of excitement, "What time are we meeting here?"
"Six o clock. I'm taking Dove out on the gallops and then I'll be down here and ready to go."
Carla came down at five thirty. She brought Fiesta out and carefully plaited the neat back mane into neat little plaits, making sure that the overall number was odd for luck. Fiesta suited the plaits even though they were more to keep the hair out of Carla's way than for looks.
"Pretty girl." Carla told her, slipping the leather headcollar on and removing the nylon one. She had bandaged all four legs in the bandages she'd been given. They were forest green and apparently any horse owned by the stud was expected to wear green bandages with a sky blue sweat rug with a yellow trim and yellow embroided writing. Fiesta did look smart.
"She looks good." Gina grinned as she led Reams of Summer past, "good plaits, don't s'pose you'd do Diamond for me? Summer slept in the straw all night and has nice stain on one side."
"Sure, I can do." Carla nodded, dropping a kiss on Fiesta's nose and heading over to Diamond. The black mare sniffed her with disinterest and began to pace around her stall when Carla entered. Her feed bucket was full on the floor and she kept kicking out with nerves.
"You know you're going somewhere, hey?" Carla murmured to the mare as she slid the halter on and led the mare out. Diamond impatiently swung her quarters as she was tied, making Carla's attempts to tie her mane fruitless.
"Stand still." She snapped at last and to her surprise it worked. Diamond stood still enough for her to do the first three plaits.
"Such a good girl." Carla praised and she began to do the fourth one.
"Fiesta looks good." Carla jumped in surprise at Kat's voice.
"Yeah, she does." Carla agreed, "Your mare won't stand still though."
"I'll do her legs," Kat replied, "Then she'll stand still." She took one of the bandages and settled down, beginning to carefully wrap the mare's legs. They were quiet for a few moments.
"How did Dove gallop?" Carla asked.
"Blew Starstruck out of the water. Dad doesn't think she should start until the Musidora though, he wants her at peak fitness."
"So no 1000 Guineas?" Carla asked, she knew that Kat had been vaguely hoping to take Dove there.
"No. She's got the speed but Dad wants her to go to the Oaks. I think he just wants Cobweb to have a clear shot at the Guineas. Given Dove and Cobweb's relationship it wouldn't be completely crazy for Dove to beat her up if I'm honest."
"That probably wouldn't go down well with the stewards." Carla grinned, "So you won't get to race against OnceinaBlueMoon until the Oaks then?"
"That's the thing. I think Dove could go in the Derby, I mean she is like a colt pretty much, but if I take her in the Derby then she won't get to beat that bully OnceinaBlueMoon. It's a little bit of a predicament.
"Hmm." Carla pulled a face, "Well, if Dove was to go in the Derby wouldn't she be up against TC?"
"Yes," Kat stood up to move around to the third leg, "But TC won't win the Derby, he's more of a ten furlong horse despite what my father thinks." Carla had begun to see a familiar pattern of disagreement emerge between Kat and James, mostly over the three year olds.
"There we go, plaited." Carla stepped back to admire her handiwork.
"Very good." Kat reached up and rubbed Diamond's neck, "Throw a sweat sheet on her and we'll load up."
Gina drove the lorry very slowly over the lanes with Kat and Carla sat in the front. A small screen besides the steering wheel showed them exactly how the horses were travelling, they were all fine. Gina clicked the indicator at the entrance to a farm called Three Pines. There were jumps up in the front field and currently a massive brown cow was sniffing at one of them.
"Showjumping cows, there's a novelty." Gina murmured as they pulled into a large yard area. Already outside was Violet, Laura and Melyssa; all looking cold.
"Good morning." Kat grinned as she and Carla went around to join Violet and the others who were pulling down the ramp.
"Morning, it's cold." Sighed Violet, "And you're late."
"I said seven thirtyish."
"It's seven forty."
"Hence the ish." Kat rolled her eyes, "Take Carla to get your mares, I'm sure she'd like to look around."
"Okay, this way Carla." Violet tipped her head in the direction of a barn next to the stable yard. As they walked up the yard one horse watched them carefully.
"That's Gem, he's Mattie's first son and he's a showjumper in the making." Violet told her and she brushed a hand over the colt's nose. The colt was gorgeous, he looked bay if you just saw his brown head and black mane but down his neck and back the coat paled due to tiny white hairs, making him a gorgeous roan.
"He's lovely." Carla told Violet and Violet nodded.
"He is, White Lightning is the palomino beside him, he's a half brother." Violet started walking before Carla could have a proper look though, heading for the barn. Inside there were two mares tied up. One was a bright chestnut and the other was a shining black, a familiarly shaped black mare.
"This is Matadora." Violet scratched Mattie's black withers, "She's the half sister to Black Diamond. Her sire threw horses just like him which is why they look so similar."
"She's gorgeous." Carla smiled, "That's Breeze then?" She added, glancing at the copper mare.
"Yes, she's a throwback to her grandam who is the mare kicking out in the stable down there." Violet nodded her head in the direction of the fierce percussion on the stable wall. Violet loosened the slip knot and handed Carla the lead rope. Carla took it and clicked her tongue to Mattie. The black mare was soft as butter, walking quietly beside Carla in a manner that directly opposed her sister's. Outside Kat and Lyssa had the ramp down and Mattie walked up quite happily and began munching on her haynet. Carla wriggled out to watch Breeze be led up. The copper coloured mare lifted her elegant head with a beautifully dished nose and sniffed the box wearily.
"Walk on Breeze." Violet told the mare. Breeze stood stock still and refused to move.
"Go one Breeze." Kat smacked the mare's rump and Breeze snorted in response but still dithered. Kat stepped forward and lifted one of the two forefeet onto the ramp then lifted the other. Breeze, reassured by the solid surface, only required another slap on the rump to get moving up.
"Good girl." Violet slipped the filly an apple as they closed the partition and began to lift the ramp, leaving Violet to wriggle out into the living space. With the horses firmly inside, they piled into the living space and began the journey to Larkrise Court.