Another early morning at Firestone greeted Carter with a giant cup of coffee and a bagel waiting for him on his desk. Pleasantly surprised, the tall man smiled to himself and picked up his gift, heading out to the shed-row where two striking chestnut fillies waited rather impatiently for their day to begin. They looked oddly alike, both standing at a massive 17hh at three years old and moved with attitude and dignity. Both were acquired from Valkyrie Stables as the farm transitioned into something new.

Roses Rampant never really enjoyed striking bonds with humans according to Valkyrie. She stood in the aisle, ears perked high with a bright shine in her eye. Beside her, Blue Moon looked around with a somewhat startled look on her face, the new farm unknown to her. Talia and Johnny were standing beside their mounts respectively, each getting to know their new partners stroke by stroke. Carter walked up to the four, nodding his head at the two jocks.

“Hey girls,” he said. “And jocks.” Moony tossed her head and danced; she knew what was coming and couldn’t bring herself to stand still. ”Alright, we’ll trot around a few times to warm up, and then start a good breeze for these two,” Carter instructed. Both jockeys nodded and were given a leg up onto their horses. Both looked extra petite on top of the large bodied fillies. The fillies picked up a trot with ease, neither of them wanting to be near in the front so they settled in a nice working pace beside each other, their golden bodies blended together.

After trotting around a few times on the freshly harrowed track, the riders asked their horses for a nice gallop. Both fillies shone copper with sweat that started to seep into their coat. Moony’s hooves were nearly silent on the dirt, and her nostrils flared pink from the exercise. She sounded like a fire breathing dragon, something Carter thought was a possible entrapped epiglottis but they had her scoped and she was all clear. Pan galloped confidently beside her, though Johnny let her drop back slightly because he had been watching her when she was under Valkyrie’s care.

The two horses began to approach the turn and Moony began to grow excited and tug on the reins but Talia held her back, knowing she could be a threat to Pan from any spot. Seeing Moony speed up, Pan began to pick up the pace, hoping to blow past her stablemate easily. Johnny let her go as the turn began to evolve into the straightway. Pan took the chance and bolted down the dirt, her heart thundering in effort. Moony followed not far behind, her dragon’s breath in sync with her strides. Talia let her reins slide just half an inch and Moony snatched the bit, bolting after Pan. She was neck and neck with the slender chestnut filly in seconds. Pan saw her before she came and was able to pick up the pace, their long dainty legs in a blur. The two fillies battled it out as the finish line approached, heads bobbing back in forth as their jockeys allowed the horses to move out from underneath them. Pan was able to gain a bit of ground in front of Moony as the finish line whipped past them. Carter watched trackside with a huge grin on his face. He was excited to see how the lease would work out with the two tall chestnut fillies, and what he just saw proved his theory right.