Arepas Racing Stables | Literate | Thread | OPEN

     "Felt nice being on the track again. Maybe you'd beat me if we did race again. You have gotten more training than me. I'm only going through all this training to get me back in racing. It's been a month or two, and I just recovered not that long ago. You'll be racing soon. I've been watching whenever I could, and you've improved a lot," Diva said. 

      Vinn raced along the filly pasture’s edge with the colts on the opposite side. They were quick, but lazy and sluggish when it came to longer distance. Vinn whinnied excitedly when she beat out a bunch of them, and raced a few more times. When the colts grew tired, Vinn trotted up to her friends. “Hello!” She said spunkily. “Guess what, I’m going to another race tomorrow!” Vinn carried on, oblivious to her friends previous conversation. When she was tired of rambling, she turned away to get Nia’s attention. Likely still rambling. 

     Diva looked up to watch Vinn beat the colts, "Ha and they think they're quicker and better than us." She'd never raced a colt yet. When Vinn trotted up to them, and said she was going to race again tomorrow, Diva was happy for her. She just wished she'd be back to racing again soon. Little did she know Diva was going to race again soon. The filly had almost improved so much in a few days to where she was almost where she was before the accident. "Congrats Vinn," that's all she could say.

     Snow cheered for Vinn. "Wow Vinn, that's awesome! And darn right you beat those colts, they should've seen it coming. Of course, they wouldn't see a prodigy if they bit them in the rear" She glanced at the colts in the other pasture, who were now goofing around and playing rough with each other, and shook her head hastily. "I hope that'll make two of us. According to the stable hands, I should be set for a race soon. The trainer said that all she has to do now is find an organized event for me."

     "That's good Snow. It's different in a real race then racing your stablemates. Hopefully I will too, but they might have me do a lot more training. Even though I don't need it. Sure I was slower, and my starts were terrible, but I've improved a lot. Almost to where I was before you know." Diva paused before continuing,"I don't really need this training. I'd like it if they'd just let me race. Who cares if I just recovered." 

     Snow looked at Diva and sighed. "Diva, I know you wanna get out there and race but you have to take it slow. They need to see if you've changed in how you run, they want to prepare you. Plus, they want to be sure that the old wound won't re-open. That would be very bad. Wouldn't it be worth it when you do get out there to race than being stuck in your stall for another month because you weren't being cautious?" She spoke in a calm voice. 

   Vinn
  Vinn nodded an enthusiastic congratulations as she paced away, and Nia came as beckoned. The duo were going to leave that night, because the race was so early in the morning. Vinn whipped around and wrung out a good-bye snort, and Nia led her to the trailer. Vinn peeked her head out of the trailer as they drove away, and enjoyed the scenery. Night fell, and hours after the sun had set the pair had finally arrived at the race. Nia quickly settled Vinn into her stall, and went to catch her own sleep. Vinn paced in her stall, unable to sleep most of the night. It was a bit different without her friends to keep her company, but that wasn't too much of a problem. Vinn was more worried about a boy who had delivered a water bucket in the early morning hours. The water tasted stale- salty. Vinn cringed at the taste of it, snorted, and washed it down with the fresh water Nia had given her hours before. Luckily, Vinn had only drank a little, so she drifted off to sleep for a few hours before Nia would arrive to start getting her ready.  
  Nia
Nia went to fetch Vinn, and thought nothing of the stray water bucket in Vinn's stall. As Nia went to grab some feed for Vinn, she picked up the water bucket. Might as well use this for a feed bucket- Vinn already has water. Nia carried it back to the trailer to fill it with feed, and noticed how milky the water looked. Nia, suspicous, tried some. Saltwater!? Nia hurrily gatherd Vinn's food and ran back to her stall. Vinn didn't appear to have a water belly, but- what the heck was a bucket of saltwater doing in her stall?

     The next morning, Snow had been set out at the track with a rider for a practice run. Her rider had told her that she was being evaluated by one of the trainers for a race which made Snow neigh happily. However, her joyous moment didn't last very long as she was walked over to the gate. She looked between the door in front of her and the walls keeping her in place nervously. This is always the worst part, she thought in agitation. She completely forgot about her annoyance as the gates swung open. Bolting forward, she noticed the trainer standing off to the side, taking some notes and muttering along while nodding in satisfaction. She hoped that meant she would be able to race against other horses soon. 

     "I'm fine Snow. It's been two months, and the wound had fully healed. The vet said so last time she came." Diva said. As the trailer started to drive away, Diva went and galloped along the fence. She kept pace with the trailer until the trailer drove away. Diva slowed to a stop, and watched as the trailer drove off. She sighed, and turned back around. The filly decided to trot around the pasture a bit. 
     The next morning, Diva was once again stuck in her stall. She watched Snow knowing what was going on. The filly hated to be stuck in her stall after what had happened a couple months back. So, Diva decided to make some noise, and try to get someone's attention. She did, but no one let her out of that cramped and boring stall of hers.

     

Nia
  Nia called over a vet, Vinn's race was in less than 2 hours- and if Vinn was cleared to race, the duo was still going to try. A vet ran over hurriedly, and checked Vinn over. "No bloating, no abnormal tendencies, mouth looks good..." The vet paused, "Who in their right mind would salt a horse...?" Nia shook her head, still debating what she should do about it. "Are there any cameras in this barn?" Nia asked. It was a long-shot but if Nia could at least see who went in and out of the barn last night, she might be able to find her culprit. "Yes dear, pointed right at the only entrance that was open last night. Want me to talk to the stable managers about this?" Nia, strung out and rushing, told the vet yes. One less major thing on her plate. 
  Once Vinn was cleared, she started prepping her for the race. Nia just couldn't get that mornings events out of her head- but if she wanted any chance at succeeding for Vinn, she would have to get over it. The rest of the morning went by uneventfully and it was finally time for Vinn's race. The pair mounted, and was led to the gates. Jeez Vinn, there sure are a lot of photographers here. 
Vinn
   Vinn went along with Nia for that morning, trying to stay calm for the race. She could tell Nia was uneasy, but Nia needed to be focused for the race. She helped ease the butterflies in Nia's stomach, and was eager to run. Vinn looked around one last time before being placed in the starting gate. Woah, there are a lot of people here. Vinn shook out all her thoughts, and focused on one thing. Passing that line before anyone else. 
When the gates clattered open, Vinn took off and launched herself down the track. People cheered and the crowd roared, but Vinn could only hear the thump of her own hooves. Suddenly, she was sucked back into reality, nose to nose with another horse. This won't do. Vinn creepily sped up, now leading the pack. As she continued to run, the distance between herself and 2nd place grew. Vinn finished, a whopping distance above the rest of the pack.

     Luckily, not long after Diva started making noise, Hernando, James, Charlotte, and Alaina came into the stable. Now what's going on here? Why's the whole gang here? Diva thought. They've never come in all at once, but Diva didn't think about it for far too long as Charlotte led the filly out of the stall. Finally! The groom gave the filly a quick brushing, and tacked her up. Once finished she let Alaina lead her to the track.
     "Do you think she's ready? I mean she just recovered, and she's only been ridden a few times after the accident," Charlotte said walking alongside Alaina.
     "Well for starters she has her attitude back if that tells you something. Last time the vet came, she said the wound was fully healed, and I think it's time." Alaina said with no doubt. Time for what? Diva thought to herself. None of this was making any sense to her. Diva was standing alongside the rail on the track. Snow was getting ready to see if she was ready to race. Diva hoped she was, that filly had been through a lot of training, and deserves it. Diva just stood by cheering her friend on.

     Snow heard Diva on the side-lines. She let her cheers encourage her, and so they did. She felt herself speed up on the track. She might not have been racing against anyone, true, but she acted as if she were. She pretended there was a horse right next to her, nose-to-nose, competing for the prize. Snow plowed through the racetrack as fast as she could. he tried to remember that in this case it wasn't about endurance, it was about speed. Finally, she did a full lap. She came to a sharp halt when her rider began tugging at her reins. She had Snow walk back to the trainer as they exchanged some words.

     Diva watched her friend. It seemed as though she had really improved a lot, but Diva still wondered why everyone brought her out to the track. It was weird, the whole gang never did this. Diva knew something was up, but didn't know what. Though she congratulated Snow on her run. About 10 minutes later Hernando mounted on top of Diva. The filly messed with her bit, and was antsy like any other Thoroughbred before a race. What's goin' on here? Why's everyone here, and why'd they bring me out here. Something's up I know that. She kept thinking to herself.

     Snow insisted they stop to watch whatever they were going to do with Diva, and after a lot of frustrated curses, her rider decided it wouldn't hurt. And so Snow's rider sat mounted on the mare as they stood by the fence, watching Diva and Hernando with curious eyes. 

     Hernando led Diva onto the track, and the two were placed in one of the gates. When they opened, Diva bolted out. Her start was better, and she kept going. Instead of going a shirt distance, the two went around the whole track. Diva's pace was a little different, but it didn't affect anything. So, at the end whatever that was all about it was decided. Though Diva didn't know exactly what was decided.