Chapter 253 – Fourth of July part 1
The morning of the Fourth dawned overcast, but looked like it would clear off throughout the day. By six am the ranch was buzzing with activity. It had dried off overnight and the exercise riders had horses to work. Hands were dealing with other horses – feeding, turning them out and mucking out stalls. Most people wanted to get done with work so that they could have the rest of the day off. The rule had been if you are scheduled to work a holiday, you can come early, do your work and when it was done, you were free to punch out and enjoy the holiday. Normally, you would have been asked to do other routine tasks, but not on holidays. So people would come in early so they could enjoy a nice afternoon with family and friends, even if it was coming back to the party that was being held down in the area.
Jack, Doug, Nathan, the twins were out of the house no long after six as well. The plan was for them to deal with their horses, spend fifteen to twenty minutes on flat work and for the girls, going over low jumps for the first time on their horses as they had only done flat work the day before because of the thunder and rain. Jack was planning on dealing with the horses and then heading over to the track to see about Midnight's Run. He was hoping to run him again. He had a great bond with Bandit and wasn't worried about a little flat work, since bonding was a major point of flat work. They had a great bond and Bandit knew his job when it came to jumping.
Frank and Father Mark were up not long after the other guys. They had planned to make breakfast for everyone when they learned that no one ate and Jack had just grabbed some coffee and a protein bar. Part of Father Mark wanted to head over to the track and spot Jack while he ran, but wasn't sure how Jack would feel about that. Father Mark ended up texting Manny who said they had plenty of outriders and would personally watch over Jack. He also let Father Mark know that Midnight was much calmer and they had had no problem with him the day before letting him run on the carousel. Father Mark felt better after texting Manny and decided to stay at the house and just talk to Jack later about how it went.
Lee and Elizabeth wandered upstairs about the time the group came up from the stables. They had fed, watered and turned the horses out, so they were going to have breakfast then go ride. James, Trish and John came down about that time as well.
"If someone can set the table." Frank said. "We have breakfast almost ready."
"It smells great." Chief said.
"What did you all make?" Trish asked.
"We made scrambled eggs, Irish bacon, toast, and hash browns." Frank said. "I also whipped up some sausage gravy and biscuits to use up the last of the Italian sausage that was cooked up."
As the table was set and platters of food placed, Gran came back out of her room.
"Morning." Gran said. "Thank you to whoever cooked. I was up with James at a little before five and then laid back down."
"You are welcome, Gran." Father Mark said. "Have a seat. We are just plating up everything."
Gran took her spot at the head of the table as Father Mark and Frank brought over the last of the food. Everyone found a spot and Frank led them in prayer.
"Heavenly Father." Frank prayed. "Thank you for this day and the time we will be able to spend with family and friends. Keep all those safe as who are traveling. A special prayer for all the members of the armed forces, especially those who are celebrating this day away from family. Bless this food to our bodies and all the hands who helped prepare it. Amen."
"Amen." Gran said, followed by everyone else.
They started passing food around and talking about the plan for the day. Those that were riding were going to head out to be done by mid-morning. Lee and Frank agreed to set up the games and Elizabeth said she would make sure that there were towels up by the pool. Trish and James said they would make sure instruments were brought down and ready. Gran reminded everyone that the Averys would be there some time mid-morning and the Thompsons by lunch time.
Overall, everyone had a nice breakfast. As soon as Jack was done, he asked to be excused so he could finish his work. Doug, Nathan and the twins weren't that far behind. They all wanted to finish their work with the horses so that they might also get to enjoy the day ahead. Everyone cleared their places as they had left. Elizabeth and Lee ended up finishing up the breakfast dishes. Gran and Trish planned out what they needed to do and when. They knew that they wanted to eat lunch around one and then there would be snacks out most of the afternoon. It was going to be an informal type of day as people came and went. There would be horses available to ride if people wanted. People could play in the pool as it looked like it was going to be a very nice afternoon. Gran was hoping to have music and visit later in the afternoon when it would be nice to sit in the shade of the stone porch. James, John and the Chief made sure that the tables and chairs were all brought up and set up outside.
It was just after ten when the Averys and Caitlin arrived. The tables and chairs had been set up outside, stuff for the pool was ready and some of the food had been made ready. Those that were working with horses, minus Jack, had come back to the house and were getting a quick workout in before showering and getting ready for the day. Everyone else was enjoying the down time. Water and soda had been pre-chilled and were placed in coolers of ice under the shade of the porch. There were also pitchers of lemonade and kool-aid made up and chilling in the fridge for lunch.
Becky and the twins were excited about the different games that had been set up on the back patio and in the grassy area. They were given permission to enjoy and start playing if they wanted. The three of them decided to try the giant Jenga first and were having a blast. Their giggles could be heard through the open windows. Caitlin and Elizabeth were watching the girls and also keeping an eye on Cody who was content to play with his herd of horses in the shade. They were talking about the wedding among other things. Elizabeth had many other questions for Caitlin, especially after the previous afternoon.
Jack had finally come back to the house, dusty and frustrated. Elizabeth was the first to spot him. She was on her feet and met him coming up the back steps.
"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked.
"I will be fine after a shower." Jack said.
"Did Midnight throw you?" Father Mark asked coming over.
"Not Midnight." Jack said. "He was fine this morning. I tried riding Irish Charm, it was the first time since the collision. I can say that whatever happened that day, Irish Charm started it. I have never seen a horse act like that."
"What happened?" Father Mark asked, leading Jack to a seat nearby.
"I checked him over and he was fine." Jack said. "Manny said he had been fine on the carousel the last few days and he had been fine to be hand walked. Manny suggested I try him from the start gate so I could get some work in on gate school."
"Has Irish Charm been raced before?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes." Jack said. "That is what I don't understand. Manny had said he was great and there were no reports of problems while racing him down in Florida. He had been brought up here to race in Saratoga. He had been scheduled for a few races at Belmont, but had been scratched for various reasons, so they just brought him up here to get ready."
"So what happened?" Father Mark asked.
"First he balked at the gate." Jack said. "Finally we get him loaded with another horse and he rears up and I am forced to bail. When he came down, he broke through the front and took off down the track. The moment anyone came near him, he was snorting and stomping. We corralled him into a paddock to cool off. Finally, I was able to bribe him with mints to get close enough. I couldn't find anything wrong with him, then when I turned to walk away from him, he rushed me and knocked me down. He was standing over me pawing the ground, snorting. It took several hands to get him away from me so I could get up. I have never seen a horse turn like that."
"Are you sure there was nothing wrong with him?" Father Mark asked.
"Nothing that I saw." Jack said. "Originally he had a little heat in his leg the day of collision, but it has been there in the last forty-eight hours. From what everyone was saying, he was fine with people until I tried to ride him this morning. We don't know if he associates me with the pain he was in that day and that is why he was aggressive toward me or if there is something else going on."
"What are you going to do?" Elizabeth asked.
"At this moment." Jack said. "Nothing. Manny said he would let him calm down outside in the pasture for now and they would try to stall him later. They are going to keep him isolated for now until they can figure out what is wrong. Manny also has a call in to Dr Matthews to come check out the horse tomorrow."
"And there is no history of aggression with him?" Father Mark asked. "Why was he scratched at Belmont?"
"No history of aggression." Jack said. "He was one of the foals born in Florida and kept down there until this year. Of the two races at Belmont, the first he was scratched because it was supposed to be on the turf, but due to rain was moved to the main track. They had been trying to keep him mostly a turf horse with an occasional run on the dirt."
"Could it be the dirt on the track?" Father Mark said.
"I don't know." Jack said. "Manny told me not to worry about it, he would work to figure it out."
"What was the second scratch?" Elizabeth asked.
"According to the notes." Jack said. "The jockey just felt that something was off with the horse. He was stomping his hoof, clacking his teeth and generally not behaving in the paddock. When the jockey tried to mount him to head to the track, Irish Charm nipped at the jockey and that had never happened before. He was scratched for safety reasons."
"Sounds like something has been brewing for a while." Father Mark said.
"What is going to happen if they can't figure out the problem?" Elizabeth asked.
"Worse case scenario." Jack said. "We might have to put him down, that will only happen if he continues to be aggressive toward other horses. If he can tolerate being around other horses, we might just turn him out to pasture and let him be a horse."
"Is he already gelded?" Father Mark asked.
"Yes." Jack said. "Not coming from the good bloodlines, they gelded him early since they knew he wouldn't be used as a stud. He was from a mare we picked up in a claiming race in California. The mare was moving to Florida and somehow one of the young stallions got close enough to her while she was in heat. This wasn't a planned foal. They kept him and figured if we could get a few races out of him, we would be ahead."
"Well." Elizabeth said. "Let's hope for the best."
"I am going to shower." Jack said. "Then I want to forget about this morning."
"Good plan." Father Mark said. "Leave Irish Charm to Manny and his people. They will figure out what is going on or see if they can find someone who can."
Jack got up and headed into the house and immediately went downstairs to shower and take some time to himself. Elizabeth sat there for a moment, then looked at Father Mark.
"Is he alright?" Elizabeth asked.
"Mostly." Father Mark said. "He just gets angry with himself when he can't help a horse. Despite what he said, putting a two year old horse down will be a loss of money. Even turning it out to pasture is money never recouped. A horse can live well into their twenties. So caring for a horse for another twenty years with no return on investment is a lot, especially if the horse can't be ridden. At least a trail horse earns a few dollars toward the ranch with riding fees."
"Oh." Elizabeth said. "I guess I didn't even think about that. So what can I do?"
"Be there for him." Father Mark said. "There is not much that can be done until Manny tries to figure out why the horse is acting out. Hopefully they figure it out, because no matter how much he says otherwise, Jack never wants to put a horse down. It is an absolute last resort. He understands some horses can't be helped, especially when it comes to obvious injuries. It is cases like this, where it is nothing obvious and he has exhausted what he physically can handle."
"Oh." Elizabeth said.
"The thing is." Father Mark said. "No one wants to make the decision to put a two year old down. Even thinking about putting down a twelve year old horse in constant pain from an injury is a hard decision. Now that Jack is ultimately the owner, it is his decision. He has to make the final decision and he is just realizing the weight of that. Don't push him to talk about it, but let him know you are there for him. There are going to be times when it is hard to be the boss, and he is just learning that. The last time there was a discussion of putting a horse down, it was Grandpa's call and he struggled after all these years. This is the part that sucks about being in charge."
"I can see that." Elizabeth said.
"Try not to let this ruin the day." Father Mark said. "Jack sure won't. He will take some time in the shower and set the emotions aside for now and enjoy the day. It is a learned skill and he is really good at it normally."
"Thank you for all your help." Elizabeth said. "I guess I have more to learn then I thought. I never thought about having to make the decision to put a horse down."
"Give yourself a break." Father Mark said. "Jack has been learning about this business since he was a small child. You have been here a month."
"I guess." Elizabeth said. "I just feel so under prepared to help Jack. It is like you all had a completely different education than I had."
"In many ways we did." Father Mark said. "Those of us that rode and worked with the horses from an early age learned about what it took to care for our horses. We also learned about competition and working hard. We learned very early that no matter how hard you work, not everything is in your control and sometimes you lose even when you do your best. We learned that if we want things that it takes hard work, time and dedication. Granted not all of the cousins learned that, but other than Tommy, none of us have really ever had much handed to us.
Did Grandpa offer to pay for any of us to go to college if we needed help? Yes, but he also expected us to work hard and get good grades. He also expected us to help around the ranch or at least at home. Tommy is the first of the grandkids that didn't at least ride for some period of time. Many of them still ride when they come home. Two of them other than Jack are making horses their life's work. We learned to be physically tough because we knew that our parents weren't going to care if we fell off a horse. It happens when you ride. I mean serious injuries were different, but day to day bumps and bruises because you were trying to push around a thousand pound animal, no they didn't care. We were told it came with riding."
"I guess I didn't think about it that way." Elizabeth said. "I mean I learned that we had to work in dance, but even that was different."
"With the exception of Tommy, we also learned that we had advantages that other kids didn't." Father Mark said. "Not many kids get the opportunity to spend part of the year in Europe to attend jumping events or travel at the drop of a hat because your parents can arrange to take a personal tutor along. Jack would never brag about it, but he knows how privileged his life has been. He also gives a lot to give other kids some of the opportunities that he had."
"We went to Canada, it was only the second time I ever had to use my passport." Elizabeth said. "I saw Jack's was full of stamps."
"I am sure and I know that his current one wasn't his first either." Father Mark said. "Maybe when you are alone with Jack, ask him about his charitable giving. He has been earning money for four years and already gives a very generous amount to charity every year. He personally sponsors two kids at St Clement's so their parents don't have to worry about finding money for tuition."
"So because of Jack." Elizabeth said. "There are two full scholarships to Catholic School?"
"Yes." Father Mark said. "I also think he has a scholarship set up for the school that he attended in the city. At eighteen years old, Jack gives more to charity than most adults who make six figure salaries. I am sure that Jack has maxed out his charitable giving every year for at least the last three. Given his income, that is a lot of money. He would rather let others have opportunities than just let it sit there and grow. Granted, he never has to worry about money because of his grandfather, but that wasn't the point. Jack doesn't care about the money. He would rather see the smile on a kid's face when they get a combination jump or win the spelling bee because they had the tutor to help them learn."
"I guess in some aspects Jack and I are not that different." Elizabeth said. "I have never had a lot of money, but I have always been more than willing to share what I had."
"That is because you have a good heart, like Jack." Father Mark said. "I believe good attracts good and it was your good heart that drew Jack to you."
Elizabeth blushed.
"I meant it." Father Mark said. "You are a good person. Just because you put your foot down and refuse to allow others to walk all over you, doesn't mean you are not a good person. It means you care enough to not let people use you. Setting boundaries, whether it is with siblings, parents or even a husband is a good thing. It shows that you are not willing to allow people to use you or walk all over you because they are older or are in a position of power. It is those people who change the world."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said.