Chapter 238 – Jack on Midnight's Run

After the twins took off on a short trail ride with their new mounts, Marco turned to Doug and Nathan.

"You will need to keep an eye on Bubbles." Marco said. "I will send a report to Jack, but please have a conversation with him."

"I will." Doug said. "Maddie will be fine."

"I know." Marco said. "But he is still young, I don't want him to start acting up again."

"We will watch them." Nathan said. "I understand you want everyone to be safe. I agree the horse is young and a bit high strung, but I think that Maddie will be fine. They came to an understanding and I doubt that there will be additional problems."

"Fine." Marco said. "I have never seen someone work that hard to get the horse to come around."

"I have." Trish said, coming over. "They never had another problem with the horse. But I appreciate your concern for my daughter, but I agree that she will be fine."

"Thank you." Marco said. "So what is the plan for the rest of the day?"

"We are going to get some flat work in." Doug said. "We will also get a workout in."

"How are things for the show?" Marco asked.

"Basically done." Lee said, coming over.

"Andy and I will have courses by Friday." Marco said. "You will need to get copies made."

"We can handle that." Elizabeth said.

"Good." Marco said. "I want the girls to spend at least an hour this afternoon with the horses. Brushing, a light ride, just sitting with him. Something to help build the bonds."

"Got it." Nathan said. "We will get them out here after lunch."

"Thank you." Marco said. "I will be around."

Marco walked away, got into his side by side and headed back to the other stable.

"We will head up now." Frank said.

"We will wait for the girls." Doug said. "Then we will be back. We can all work out together."

"That was cool." Elizabeth said. "Thank you for letting me know."

"You are welcome." Doug said.

Trish leaned over and gave Doug a kiss on the check.

"Please speak with Maddie." Trish said. "Remind her that we are proud of her and that she was great."

"I will." Doug said.

Frank, Trish, Lee and Elizabeth walked back toward the house. Once they were far enough away, Nathan turned to Doug.

"Let's get these other guys turned out." He said.

Doug nodded and they moved over to untack their mount and lead them over to be brushed out.

Father Mark positioned himself close to where the crash happened. He knew that if anything happened, it might be that spot. Father Mark said a quick prayer as he watched Jack and another jockey check the horse's legs and then give Jack a leg up. Jack got into position and pulled the goggles down from his helmet. He then got up in the irons as racing stirrups were called and clicked to Midnight who took off. He saw Jack move him close to the rail and fight to hold Midnight there, even with the blinker cups on. Jack kept using the riding crop to keep Midnight closer to the rail, he could tell that Midnight was fighting Jack, but Jack wasn't going to give in.

Father Mark and the other four outsiders kept a very close eye on both Jack and Midnight as they went around the track. James and Manny were standing along the outer rail to watch.

"I know why you are worried." Manny said. "Think it is easy for me to see Connie doing this?"

James sighed. Manny just patted him on his back.

"If I didn't know that Jack was an excellent horseman and can pretty much ride anything." Manny said. "Do you really think I wouldn't have raised more objections? He is not running him at full extension, we the outsiders and cameras. You also know that this isn't the first time he has breezed a thoroughbred."

"I still don't have to like it." James said.

"Liking it and accepting it are two very different things." Manny said.

"You are right." James sighed.

Jack came around the final turn and crossed where he started. He slowed Midnight to a stop and then hopped down with a big smile on his face. Father Mark rode over to where Jack was and slipped a loose halter through Midnight's bridle so he could hold him. Jack quickly checked Midnight's legs. He found nothing concerning, so seeing that Father Mark had the horse, he turned to a hand off to the side.

"Let's get the temporary railing out." Jack said.

As Father Mark led Midnight off to the side, a tractor came out and started dropping cones in the middle of the track. Several workers were quickly following on a smaller tractor stringing heavy cording along the cones to create a second railing in the middle of the track. Father Mark wasn't questioning Jack on what he was doing but he was wondering if it was the best course of action. He wondered if putting rails on both sides of Midnight was the best plan. Once the men were done, Jack came over to Midnight and removed his hood that held the blinker cups. He then had a hand give him a leg up. He moved Midnight to the inner lane between the rail and the temporary rail that had been created. Midnight was dancing around and it was taking everything to hold Midnight still.

Finally, Jack pulled his legs out of the irons and dropped them down the sides of Midnight. He then reached down and petted the horse's mane. He was trying to calm the horse, but it wasn't working. So Jack jumped down and walked in front of Midnight, still holding the reins.

"It is okay." Jack cooed to the horse. "I am right here and those railings can't hurt you."

As Jack cooed to the horse, he was rubbing his forehead in a circular manner. It was a way of calming horses called T-touch used to relax the horse. It can be used on other parts of the body, but most used on the forehead while calmly speaking to the horse. Jack had read about the technique when he was about ten years old and had been using it ever since. He had taught it to others as a way to calm their horses. Most all of the hands, grooms and trainers now used it to calm a horse. Jack had taught Father Mark, Doug and Lee when they were with horses. He had seen it work and swore by it. As Jack continued to coo to the horse and use the T-touch, Midnight started to calm down and wasn't dancing around as much. Once Midnight had calmed down, Jack motioned for a hand to come over and give him a hand up.

James and Manny had been watching Jack and both were impressed, even if James still thought this was a bad idea.

"He is amazing with horses." Manny said. "I am glad that you are leaving the business to him. I don't think that there would be anyone else that would care as much about the horses as he does. I am sorry, but your son Conrad is more interested in making money and not always what is best for the horses."

"I know." James said. "That is why I still have final say on what happens with each and every horse that is raised and trained here. I have given Jack more free rein with the horses that are in his name, because I know that he can handle it."

"And you would be right." Manny said. "You know I don't want to see Jack or anyone else get hurt, but I think he might be onto something. He is forcing the young horse to learn that the railing is something to be afraid of, but just something that is there. I think we need to do a better job overall of that. I know that we get them running and try to train them in how to act in the gate, but we might be forgetting some of the other things, like that the railing is fine and how to act in a tight crowd."

"You might be right there." James said. "Do what you need to and if you need more help, please let me know. I don't want to send horses out there that are going to panic in a crowd or that are going to balk at the railing."

"I will see what we can do." Manny said. "But the first thing is going to be convincing the track officials that what happened here was a horrible accident and that we are taking steps to correct it."

"You are right." James said. "As much as I don't like Jack doing it, but I think these runs will help and go a long way to showing that we are trying to correct it."

The men turned back to Jack as it looked like he was ready to run Midnight again. The more that they looked, they realized that Jack had taken the hood off Midnight and he was running without blinker cups at all. James moved to stop the whole thing when Manny put his hand on the older man's arm.

"Let's just see what happens." Manny said. "Jack has a connection with that horse. I think it will be alright."

"I hope so." James said. "Because if anything happens to him, I have a feeling that they are going to blame me."

"Jack is an adult." Manny said. "He is responsible for his own actions."

"I doubt that my wife or John will see it that way." James said.

They watched as Midnight took off. They could tell that Jack was holding him back even though the horse wanted to run. They also noticed how the horse wanted to be in the middle of the lane created, but Jack kept trying to push him closer to the inside rail. They saw the horse balk at the rail, but keep running and then balk at the outer rail only to stop and rear up. Jack was able to keep control of him and stay on, though no one knew how Jack hadn't gotten thrown. Once Midnight settled a bit, Jack jumped down and used T-touch to calm the horse again. Once the horse was calm enough, Jack led him over to the railing and let him see it up close. Midnight started to balk, but Jack cooed to him and kept a tight hold of the reins.

Finally, within inches of the rail, the horse dropped his head and stopped fighting Jack. Once Jack had shown the rail to Midnight and let him sniff it and see that it wasn't anything that was going to hurt him, the horse calmed down. Jack then led him back to the middle of the lane and without a hand, Jack managed to hoist himself back up on Midnight. He then continued to breeze him around the track, pushing him as close to the rail as possible without a problem. Once he was done, Jack turned Midnight over to a couple of hands to cool him off and turn him out. Jack then walked over to his grandfather and Manny. He was worried about what they would say, but he was ready to defend himself as he knew what he had done was right.

Once Nathan and Doug got the horses brushed and turned out, they hung around the stable for a few more minutes. They were hoping that the twins would have come back by then. They had brushed and turned all the other horses. They had even given Honey and Aphrodite treats for being tacked and not getting ridden. Just as they turned toward the house, they saw the twins coming from the trailhead at the back of the stables. It was the opposite direction that they had come from, but he was sure that they had just looped around. Doug indicated that he wanted to wait for his sisters.

"Okay." Nathan said. "We can wait. I want to see how the ride went as well, especially with Jack not back yet."

"Yeah." Doug said. "Wonder how that is going. I know that Father Mark was worried about Jack riding Midnight."

"Maybe he was able to talk some sense into him and he didn't." Nathan said.

"Not likely." Doug said. "But hold onto that hope."

Both the guys turned their attention to the girls as they cantered up to where they were standing.

"How were they on the trail?" Doug asked.

"Fine." Maddie said. "Now that they know we are in charge."

"Good." Doug said. "Let's get them brushed and turned out. We still need to get a workout in and I have a feeling that we will be busy this afternoon."

"Okay." Missy said. "Besides spending time with the horses, we have homework and I doubt that Mom is going to let horses or the holiday be an excuse as to why things didn't get finished this week."

"You are right." Doug said. "Homework has always come before horses."

Nathan and Doug each held a bridle for one of the girls as they hopped down and moved to untack their mounts. After removing the saddles, the girls took their reins and led the horses into the stable to brush them out.

"We got this." Maddie said, looking back at her brother.

"We will be up in a few minutes." Missy added.

"Okay." Doug said. "Let's head to the house, Nathan."

Doug and Nathan turned and headed to the house as the girls led their mounts into the stable to care for them.

Jack looked at his grandfather and saw the anger in his eyes.

"I am sorry." Jack said. "But I had everything under control. You know I wouldn't intentionally put myself in danger."

"I wonder sometimes." James said. "You could have easily been hurt when he reared up."

"I know." Jack said. "But I felt that he was going to do it and adjusted in the stirrups to account for it."

"Fine." James said. "But please be more careful. I doubt that your grandfather and/or fiancee will see things that way."

Jack nodded and then turned to Manny.

"I want someone to run Midnight like I did today." Jack said. "Only tomorrow, move the temporary railing a foot more into the permanent rail. We need to get that horse more used to the railing. I think the biggest problem was that he wasn't seeing it like he should have been. Once I got him up close, he saw that it was fine, he still pulled a little after that, but not as bad."

"Are you sure you don't want to do it yourself?" Manny asked.

"As much as I do." Jack said. "I have a feeling that I have pushed things with Grandpa as far as I can. I am not a licensed jockey yet and I can see if something does happen how it would look."

"Licensed or not." Manny said. "You are still one of the best riders we have. Connie is out for at least six weeks and Grayson at least another week. I can call over to the track and see who is around. I don't really trust any of the other exercise riders trying that."

Jack let out a sigh. By that time, Father Mark had come up to stand next to Jack, having given his horse to someone to deal with.

"I would be able to do it after my normal riding for the show this weekend." Jack said. "I will be over here late tomorrow morning and I can breeze him."

"Let's do that." Manny said. "Then we can switch horses and you can get a little gate school in. I know that you have done it, but I got permission from track officials that if I video it and sign off on it, they will allow it. They are busy and there are only two over at the track right now as most won't be here until next week when they start really gearing up for the season. I doubt that they will have time after the season starts and then you have to head back to school."

"So what do I need to do for gate training?" Jack asked.

"You have to show that you can load a horse in the irons." Manny said. "Hold him and come out on a start. Then you also need to show that you know what everyone's jobs are and articulate what to do if a horse rears up in the gate."

"I can do that." Jack said. "So I have to show that on a two or three year old."

"Yes." Manny said. "A horse that is ready to race. So any of the current ones in the active stable on this side."

"Got it." Jack said. "Might as well get it done. But in that case, I don't think I will be able to come over until after lunch."

"We can hold lunch for you." James said. "Or you and whoever is over here with you can eat after you are done. I think it would be better to do it in the morning and then it will be done and you can get ready for the holiday. I know that your grandmother is hoping that everyone will be able to relax a bit on Wednesday. Don't forget that Doug's father will be here for supper tomorrow."

"Fine." Jack said. "I will be over mid-morning after I get my riding in with Bandit."

"We will wait for you." Manny said. "I will have everything ready."

"Thank you." Jack said.

"I will be over as well." Father Mark said. "Grandpa, I am sure that you have other things that need to be done other than standing here watching over Jack."

"Thank you." James said. "I will let you worry about him for now. Just don't let him get hurt if you can help it."

"I will do what I can." Father Mark said.

James looked at his watch.

"I still have an hour before lunch." James said. "I am going to head back to the office."

"We are going to head back to the house." Jack said. "I will call you when I am heading this way tomorrow, Manny."

"Sounds good." Manny said.

With that, the four men turned and went in three different directions. James to his side by side to head back to his office, Manny to his office and Jack and Father Mark to their side by side to head to the house.