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BLADE by Don Fraser I was born on a small horse ranch in California and I lived there until I became two years old. Those, I think, were the happiest days of my life, up until now. There were other colts to frolic and jump with; we used to dream of what great racehorses we were going to be. There were four other colts in the pasture, they were my friends, and they each had different mothers and fathers than I did. My mother and my father were great racehorses, but neither of them had ever produced a horse that made much in racing. They all seemed to run in cheap races, they won sometimes, but that was not enough. The other dams and stallions had offspring that won big races, stakes and sweepstakes, but my parents did not produce to their potential. However, I was going to show the world they could, I was going to win the Triple Crown, and make my parents proud of themselves, and me. As I was growing-up in that pasture and playing with my friends, I seemed to always be faster than them and I was growing faster and larger as the days went by. I grew larger than my friends did, and when we played like we were fighting, I would always win, and when we raced across the pasture the same thing would happen. When we became two-year-olds, all of my playmates were sold. They were at the racetrack now, learning to be racehorses and I was alone in that big pasture. I no longer had someone to play with and I was a big and powerful-looking colt. I stood sixteen hands tall and weighed about twelve hundred pounds. That was big for a two-year-old, it was great, though my legs might not hold out as I raced. One day, an old man came to the ranch, he was an old friend of the owner. The old man asked his friend if he had any colts left that he could buy. He brought the old man to the edge of the pasture and said, as he pointed at me, "How do you like this one, I have been saving him for you." After I saw the owner point at me, I let out a squeal and ran across the pasture as fast as I could. The old man bought me, and took me to the racetrack. When I arrived at the racetrack, the old man unloaded me from the trailer that scared me, and put me in a stall that was deep with straw. He hung a bucket of fresh water for me to drink, poured some grain in a tub in my stall. Just outside of the door was a net, full of hay for me to munch on. Now I felt like I was a racehorse! The next morning, a man came into my stall and put a bridle and a saddle on me; I had been ridden at the ranch, but I had never been on a racetrack. Soon a young lady came into my stall and the man helped her onto my back. Together we went out of the stall door and down the length of the barn. We crossed a paved street, through a big gate and we were on the racetrack, The young lady let me stand and look at the track, and at the horses galloping by, for a minute, and then I was ready to go. She had such gentle hands on the reigns; I could tell she had ridden many horses before she rode me. From then on I looked forward to that girl riding me on the track. She rode me about five times before she took me over to the starting gate. There she taught me how to get out of the gate quickly, when the bell sounded and the gate opened. The next day, as she was riding me to the track, she says to me, "Blade, today we are going to run full-speed, so we can show the people what you have." Now was my chance, I could prove I was a good racehorse, like my mother and father were. Later I heard the groom say, "Blade had the fastest time of the day." The old man entered me in a race, my chance to show them, in two days time, what a good racehorse I am. The day of the race was here, Judy took me over to the saddling paddock and held me in a stall. The old man put a tiny saddle on my back, and then Judy walked me round the path that was there. A lot of jockeys suddenly appeared in the paddock, one walked over to the old man, and stood there while the old man said something to him. Then I heard someone yell, "Riders up!" The jockey ran to my side, and Judy lifted him onto my back. Judy led me out to the track. There was another girl, on a saddle horse, who took my bridle and we fell in line. We all walked in single file infront of the grandstand and, after our return trip, we all continued around the racetrack at different speeds. When all of the horses were warmed up, we were put in the starting gate. I being number six was the sixth horse to be put in, there were twelve horses in the race, and it seemed like an eternity before the other six were put in: I was getting nervous waiting. I heard the sound of the bell, and the gate in front of me sprang open. The bell scared me so bad that I had to run and I was the first horse out of the gate. I stayed infront around the first turn, and on the backstretch, I maintained my position. I was still infront, when I only had an eighth of a mile to go. It was then that I poured it on. I had won my first race but I wasn't through yet. The jockey unsaddled me after we had our picture taken, in the winner's circle. He didn't know that we had beaten two of my playmates from that pasture long ago and that I would show him that I had greater things to come. Judy led me to a stall, where they took a sample of my urine, they wanted to make sure I wasn't drugged. She would only let me take sips of water at first; I don't think I have ever been so thirsty. Finally Judy let me drink all I wanted, but my thirst was almost quenched by then, so I just took one small gulp and I didn't want any more. I can only hope that Mom and Pop were looking down from above, to see me win my first race. Judy walked me to my stall, there was fresh straw on the floor, piled high. She poured some grain into my tub, and hung the net, full of hay, outside of my door, close enough for me to reach it. I slept well that night! During my two-year-old year, I won eight races and made the old man a lot of money, but that wasn't good enough, he got greedy. He would enter me in a race everytime he could. I ran 28 times that year; that's too many for a two-year-old. I was placed second twelve times, and third five. My legs were so sore that I could hardly walk, but I had to go on for Mom and Pop. The third year of my life, the old man kept having me run; he was still running me too often, but I kept running. I won nine races that year, ran second three times and third five times. I was starting to slow down because of my legs. The old man was getting rich, but most of all, I was making my parents proud of me. In Jauary of the following year, I became four years old, I was really going downhill; too many races again and they were catching up to me., I ran fourteen races that year, but I only won three, I ran second twice and third twice. I wanted to quit so badly, but the old man kept entering me. Then came the year that I was five, the old man entered me in some races, but I could just not run anymore, I would always finish last. Oh sure, I would lead the race at first, but my legs hurt me so badly that I had to nearly stop. One day, the officials did me a favor; they would not let the old man enter me again and told him that I was too tired, and sore, to run. The old man had no use for me anymore but, as luck would have it, a young man came looking for a stud to breed his mares to. The old man was happy to get rid of me; he wouldn't have to feed me, and care for me, anymore. The old man sold me cheap to the young stranger. The young man looked up my race record and was very impressed at what he saw, he was so happy that he had bought me. He had a modest little ranch and a great family, he took excellent care of the mares I was going to breed with, and charged a modest price to breed outside mares. The young man is not so young any longer; his hair has turned grey and his children went away to college, and never returned home. He still has the little ranch, and me, but he retired me from breeding. I just lull around in the green pastures, and eat all of the grass that I want. I have produced twenty-four stakes-winners, and one of the colts that I sired ran second in the Kentucky Derby. I owe`it all to Mom and Pop and, from the bottom of my heart, I thank both of them.
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