him. Oh, he’d whip their bottoms good with the best of them if they were naughty, but Ben had been known to nearly kill any man on his shift he found abusing any of his mares, and he’d put men in the hospital who had committed the unutterable sin of falling asleep on their shift; it was easy to do – no one was ever allowed to raise his voice – except in the case of an emergency – after lights out for the ladies, which was nine sharp every single night. The place was kept very quiet so that the mares could sleep. The stalls being as open as they were, sound traveled, and woe betide the man who awoke a filly in the middle of the night because he forgot himself and raised his voice. Ben recognized, as did every other good man there – every groom or trainer for certain – that these women depended on them for everything – for their very lives – and that this job, for all of its fringe benefits and they were certainly the best he’d ever had, was not all fucking and disciplining some very beautiful women.
Their complete and total care was an awesome responsibility, and any man on his watch or any other that didn’t treat it as exactly that wasn’t welcome in this organization – and he knew that Aaron backed him one hundred percent in that philosophy.
“Got some newbies in today, I heard,” Ben whispered as he came to stand next to Aaron, who was perched on one of the deliberately uncomfortable high stools that all the grooms/trainers used to watch over their girls when they stayed late or overnight – it helped them to stay awake when they weren’t usually. If the mare was truly sick, though, they’d usually be in the stall, holding her, or in the infirmary or at least calling for the vet, but this situation really didn’t call for such coddling. Aaron didn’t want Mandy thinking that she could expect that type of attention every night. Ben folded his arms along the top of the stall where there were pastel painted wooden rails for about three feet down from the ceiling to the solid wall of the stall before it became the doorway. “She’s a beautiful animal.”
“Absolutely,” Aaron whispered back fiercely.
“She give you any trouble?”
Aaron considered his response for a minute. “Nothing really. She’s just a feisty one who’s not going to take it lying down and she let us know, although she really did an excellent job on her short walk in here – man, when she’s all dressed out she’s gonna put every other pony in the ring to shame. Gave her three bullets, though, to settle her down to sleep. It’s on her chart.” Each mare had a chart outside her stall, just like the ones in a hospital that hung at the end of the beds, where every ounce of food they ate was recorded, how much water they drank, how long they were exercised, their weight daily, and any medications or vitamins they’d received. These things were extremely important to keep track of in regards to the breeding program, especially. Their cycles, too, would be charted and plotted carefully.
Ben heard the unmistakable pride in Aaron’s tone. “Gonna be your stablemate?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you gonna put her in the ring for a while?” he asked amiably. What Aaron did with his ponies was entirely up to him – Ben didn’t care one whit. But he did think that this one would probably throw some gorgeous foals.
“Long enough to get her championship titles in conformation at least – less than three months, I should think. She’s gonna cause such a sensation they’re just going to hand her the trophies, then I’m going to breed her and she’s gonna throw me some beauties.”
“Hell, yes, she will.”
They both sighed in contentment and agreement as they watched the woman they were already making big plans for while sleep peacefully with three big suppositories up her bottom to help her stay asleep.
Part II – Training
The next morning, Amanda was awakened in a very slow, gentle manner, starting at about five thirty, which was close to when she usually got up in the morning. The heavy scent of lilac was pumped into the air of her stall, along with sweet, soft classical music through recessed speakers in the roof. The water in her trough began to bubble just a slight bit louder now that it was morning and she was more likely to drink. Aaron, who had only done a short stint in the middle of the night because he wanted to be here first thing in the morning, relieved Ted, who had just set his stool aside and was rubbing his butt as if it hurt him.
“Been a while since you sat watch, Ted?” Aaron teased with a grin, watching Aaron come at him with a stiff gait, careful to keep his voice low as their filly awoke.
Ted gave him a sour look. “Yeah, right.” This was an accepted, routine part of Ted’s life, coddling the newbies on their first few nights. They both watched her begin to stir restlessly. “No problems at all last night – she slept like a baby.”
“Excellent. That’s just what I wanted to hear.”
“Them pills are wonders, aren’t they? I’m gonna go get some shut eye – I’ll be back mid morning or so.”
“Anytime, Ted – you get some sleep.” In the middle of the night, in a whispered conference conducted just outside her stall door, Aaron told Ted that he wanted the other man to take second place in caring for Mandy – that he wanted to do the majority of it himself. Every mare had a primary and secondary groom, for instances like today where the mares that Ted usually groomed and saw to in the mornings would be taken care of by their other groom, because Ted was home getting some much needed sleep. Although it was much preferred that the primary groom do everything for his mares all the time, that was not always possible, and attentions by the secondary groom had to be as accepted by each filly just as readily as by the primary groom. Aaron was certainly qualified – overly qualified, in fact – to act as a primary, and when a particular filly caught his eye, he liked to do take over the entire responsibility for her well-being. Ted was all for it. He enjoyed watching a master at work with a mare, and that was Aaron all over.
Aaron eased himself into the stall slowly, watching Mandy’s bright head come up. She knew there was someone in the stall with her – smart girl – but she probably couldn’t recognize who yet. Regardless, it wouldn’t make much difference to her this early in her training anyway. One man was as mean and rotten as the others, she was probably thinking.
He did not approach her immediately, but made sure her shallow stainless steel feed bin was full of breakfast, which consisted of a container with a mixture of a high-calorie, low sodium, high-fiber granola-like material called chaff; it was a mixture of oats and honey and a small amount of brown sugar and cinnamon to make it quite palatable, with raisins, dates, and nuts. The second section of the trough contained a blended yogurt – the first flavor she was offered would be apple-cinnamon. Any food preferences exhibited were carefully monitored. In the mornings, the mares could eat as much as they liked; Aaron was a firm believer that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and his girls needed all the calories they could get. Lunch would be naturally regulated by how many mares were in the paddock at one time, and dinner was quite limited although the food was somewhat different, leaning towards a type of dried beef jerky he’d come up with that contained minimal salt, as well as what might be considered crudites in another scenario – fresh washed chunks of baby carrots and celery and cucumbers and radishes – salad food – that were sprinkled with a spice that mimicked the flavor of a mild ranch dressing. The food here was simple but good and well prepared, and it was extremely important that the mares ate well, so as much as possible they were given flavors they liked. The granola, however, was given to everyone the same – except for those who were sensitive to nuts who got a no-nut variety. Aaron would not serve his animals anything he would not eat himself, and even his grooms snacked on the stuff and were required to eat it as readily as the mares. It was good food. The water trough ran across the tops of the other bins, within easy reach at all times, so she would be able to take a mouthful of food and a sip of water almost at the same time, if she liked.
Just as with larger canines, the troughs were head high so that the fillies did not have to bend down to the floor to eat – it was extremely bad for digestion for anyone to eat that way. Occasionally, as a treat, fresh fruits were offered, and again any preferences were duly recorded for future reference.
Once he’d made sure that all was in readiness for her, Aaron walked over and bent down in front of Mandy, saying softly, “Are we ready for a good hearty breakfast this morning?” He put his hand on her flank and he didn’t flinch, but he didn’t really count it as a good sign; she was probably still mostly asleep. “Close your eyes, Mandy- girl, I’m going to open your blinders and I don’t want you to be startled.”
For once, Mandy did something she was told a he flipped something up and the sun came streaming against her eyelids.
“Open slowly, baby.”
She did, but they watered terribly anyway. Aaron hunkered down in front of her, holding her chin in his hand to tilt her pretty face up to his so that he could dab away the tears until there were no more. He rose and unhooked the lead that was attached to her collar from the floor, then unbound her wrists and ankles. As soon as she was
