exit wounds. [night goddess]

night goddess jockeyed by monica stevenson. *pov
the inncocent skier jockeyed by roger Anderson.

~*~

We'll just go for a little breeze, okay?

Roger smiled at me and the dark filly. Goddess was in a mood today and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. She pranced slightly to the side, tugging on my hands and I patted her neck lightly, hoping it might convince her to calm down a little. One look at the gates and Roger shook his head lightly. Ian walked calmly down the track, his age proving him to be superior here. For a moment, I wished I was on the stallion and then Roger must've yelled something because he shot off into a hand gallop. I hardly felt the change from the prancing to the hand gallop as Goddess quickly took up residence beside Ian.

The wind whipped my face as we began our conditioning ride. I glanced over at Roger now, concentration on his face. Ian was running smoothly and despite Goddess' height disadvantage, she had gone into her own head and was moving in a fluid motion. I smiled lightly. I couldn't help but like the filly, even when she scared the crap out of me. We moved effortlessly across the track now, Goddess and Ian a single unit, until something happened. The filly had edged forward, just a nose ahead from Ian. Not because of a competitive nature but because she was just running for her own sake.

I was about to pull her back into a slower gallop until I saw Ian coming up. I rolled my eyes. Oh, Roger, you turd! I urged the filly forward now as we galloped down the backstretch. The pace had quickened slightly and I felt that Goddess had more in her, incredible for a two year old. Roger glanced over at me now, eyebrow raised.

This was supposed to be a breeze!

His expression seemed to be saying. Monica laughed outwardly, unable to help herself. As they galloped around the turn, Goddess dug her heels into the turf with Monica's encouragement and the filly shot ahead. Ian galloped strongly now, slowly making up the difference. He was not in his closing kick yet so he wasn't really sure why Roger was encouraging him forward. But he didn't fight it. I let Night Goddess gallop at this click for a while now, happy to stay at this speed for a while before I tapped into her reserve of speed that I was still a little uneasy about. But hey, this is the time to practice!

As we rounded the final turn, Goddess' auds pricked forward, she knew what was coming. I could feel that she was tiring slightly but without hesitation, the filly pushed onward. She was only three, compared to the six year old just behind us. I admired the filly's fighting spirit. The full grown stallion compared to the filly was bigger in height as well as width and Goddess was in no way giving up the fight. The two closers battled it out, Goddess pouring on the speed now. She steadily moved away from Ian and he would match her. The final pole came too quickly for my taste. Roger let out a long breath as Ian took the lead but just by a nose. He slowly pulled up the freight train of a thoroughbred and smiled.

You didn't think we'd give up without a fight, did you?

I teased lightly, smiling back. I wasn't often sassy like that but somehow, being around Roger put me at ease and riding Goddess gave me confidence. I patted the sweaty, blowing filly's neck and grinned from ear to ear.