(OPEN) Bite Me

[Daniel Christian Jenner]

"Bite me, Shock, and I swear to God I'll tie you in the corner of a dark stall for the rest of your life." a somewhat burly man muttered to the tall gray thoroughbred that was eyeing him mischievously. Danny had been around horses long enough to know what that look meant, and he'd had "Starshocked" long enough to know that he wouldn't hesitate to bite if he was given the chance to. Of course, he would never even think of tying a horse in a dark stall, but he and Shock had a bit of a love-hate relationship. Despite his erratic pace, Shock was more consistently in the winner's circle than his other five horses. So far, in his 6 career starts, the four year old had placed in the top three every time. Granted, he wasn't running against any of the big names or in any of the big races, but that didn't mean he wasn't a good horse when it came to running. He hadn't been started in the racing until he was a three year old, and had run four times his first year, placing second in two and first in the other two. He'd run twice this year so far, and had been third once then first by a long distance the second time around.

He typically brought in a decent amount of money, and if it weren't for that, Danny would sell him in a heart beat. The young horse was almost constantly looking to dig his teeth into Danny no matter what the repercussion of doing so. This was why Danny was standing beside the horse, glaring at him, and the horse was returning the expression. Danny was a hard trainer making sure all of his horses were tough and always physically fit, but never to the point of being over the top. When it came to working for him, you had darn well better hope that you could figure out how to do things his way, fast. If someone wanted to ride his horse in a race they had better be at the barn ready to go by 5:00 in the morning for every workout. He didn't care if you were some bug boy who'd never won a race or Garret Gomez, the only way you were getting on his horse was if you were 100% committed to that horse.

In his opinion, it wasn't that much to ask, he did all the other work. He fed them, bathed them, groomed them, and even tacked them, all the jockey had to do was show up and ride. Being a military man, he ran a tight ship. Everything about his operation ran like clockwork. If the rider was late, they threw off his entire schedule and that was never a good thing for his mood. It wasn't that he tried to be that way, or even wanted to be that way, but he had gone to bootcamp at 17 years old, and now 9 years later, doing everything right on schedule was just his way of life. He couldn't not operate that way. He was up every morning by 2:00 to go running, then he was at the barn by 4:00, workouts started at 5:00 right on the dot, Desi, Tuff, Nobel, Toledo, Missy, then Shock, always in that order, and never more than one of his horses on the track at one time. Workouts were finished by 11:00, and then came all the paperwork and feeding and everything else that came hand in hand with running a horse racing stable. So far he didn't have any permanent riders for his horses, but he was hoping that within the next few days one or two just might put in their application.

All of the horses had already been worked today, and he was just finishing up with cleaning off Shock. The horse had gotten the best of him this morning and managed to bite his shoulder, and he wasn't about to let it happen again. He went back to hosing him off to rid him of the soap suds that remained, and the moment he looked away, Shock's head snaked out, teeth barred. Danny had been expecting it though, and took a step back, simultaneously turning the hose on him to spray the tall animal in the face. Shock stopped and pulled his head back, lifting it high and watching Danny out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't malicious or anything, he just seemed to think that biting was a great fun game, and it didn't matter if he got smacked, sprayed, had the stud chain yanked... nothing deterred him from trying. I ought't muzzle you. he said pointing at the horse who just curled his lip up as if in distaste at the thought. You're lucky I put up with you, anybody else might've turned you into glue by now. Yes, he was talking to his horse as if it understood, but he figured most people around here did the same thing, and he wasn't ashamed of it. Aside from his sister, the 6 horses in his care were the only family he had, as far as he was concerned, that made them worth talking to.

[willowryker]

Willow hurried to the barn, the little sports car she drove picking up speed as they rounded the corners. She had make-up on and a flowing dress that would not do for riding at all. She reached the barns, slowing immediately before she jumped out, reaching in the back for her garb and went into the barn, she noticed someone in the ties but didn't pay much attention, she was late and not in the best riding attire. She was in the barn bathroom, chucking her shoes to the wall as soon as the door was shut, then shoving her feet in the Jodhpurs and chaps before pulling the dress over her head and shoving her torso in the shirt. She then grabbed a little paper towel and started to scrub most of the way too theatric make-p off. She'd left so quick they hadn't had time to help her remove it. She only had black eyeliner left and sighed, what ever.

She grabbed her things immediately and walked out. She was in bare feet but what ever. Her phone rang, great, like she had a million hands in the world. She found it and went to flip it open but she slipped and it hung up. "Oh shit," she said, dashing to the car to shove the clothes in the back before she grabbed her boots, she began to put them on backwards and had to refrain from laughing at her idiocy. The phone rang again. "Hello?!" She said eagerly. "Yeah sorry I- oh.... oh... I see... well ... well of course. Yes sir. I'm sorry to hear that. Well I hope you do well," she said, stopping in her effort to shove her feet in the boots. When she hung up and felt lick screaming, but she ended up chucking the phone at the dirt ground. "Damn it! Fucking asshole," she said angrily. They always found an excuse to drop her appointments. She finished booting her feet anyways and then went and grabbed her phone brushing it off and sticking it in the back pocket.

"Well... I'll just ride Street Smart," she murmured on her way down the aisle to get the little thoroughbred stallion. "One day I'll win a Kentucky and they'll all be over me like syrup on pancakes," she said, trying not to let the disappointment show as she pulled Smarty out. "Hey Smarty Pants, me and you are gonna go out for a spin," she said.

Smart bellowed and tried to tip toe down the aisle with her, lifting his feet as a sort of trot in place. She smiled and pant his neck, "Bdrrdrr," she said quietly before she clipped him up next to the other horse. She began to curry him up. She flipped her phone open and text Ryker she was going to ride Smarty since his friend bailed and then went back to brushing away. Smarty leaned into it when she got close to his dock, his butt trying to squeeze her against the rail for a harder rub. "Hey," she said stiffly when he started to really pin her. She smacked him hard and he jumped a little, popping out of his little world and moving over so she could at least breath.

[Daniel Christian Jenner]

Since moving, Danny's life had gotten significantly easier for him. No one here knew him, or what his issues were, so no one was there to bother him about it. He didn't like it when people pitied him and made him feel like he was incapable of taking care of himself and his family. However, in doing so he had to start completely fresh with the business. He had eight total horses, four of which were currently racing, two of which were in training and would start racing, and two were retired but still working as training partners to the younger horses. Back home they'd all had regular riders and everyone had worked perfectly with Danny's schedule, getting into the groove and sticking with it. Now he had to find at least two new riders, preferably more like six, but he could work with two so long as they were each willing to work four horses every morning, and unfortunately this place wasn't nearly as into the horse racing field as Kentucky had been, so finding riders was a bit difficult. Not only that but it was hard to find jockeys that had small enough "ego's" to be willing to comply with Danny's every whim. When they were working for him, they had to be completely willing to work as if they were in a boot camp and he was their commander. Everything he said went, no matter what. Three strikes and you were out, there were no second chances. He could understand if things didn't go as planed if it was unforeseen complications while on the track, but if you deliberately did something that wasn't in his "orders" then you could bet he'd be pissed. His way of training had been working for quite some time now, and he was sticking to it.

He glanced up as a girl rushed by in a dress, then again heading in the other direction changed into riding clothes, but still without boots. He just shook his head and went back to hosing off the horse, keeping one eye on him at all times to make sure he didn't get bitten again. Just as he was starting to use the sweat scraper to remove the excess water from the horse's coat, the girl returned, this time with boots and a horse. She seemed irritated with more than just her horse crushing her against the wall. Rough day? he asked the girl, swatting Shock's head away again as the horse made yet another attempt at biting him. People who worked with Thoroughbred racehorses were almost always all too aware of how ornery they could be, and Danny was definitely aware of that. If he hadn't been in the war he might've had the opinion that they were too dangerous to work with, but seeing as he had risked his life on the battlefield, ornery horses were definitely not even close to dangerous in his opinion.

Finished with getting as much water off Shock as he could, he stepped away from the horse, out of his reach, and turned to face the girl and her horse. The other horse was quite a bit larger than Shock, which as far as Danny was concerned could cause some problems. Sure, his stride was probably longer and he could cover more ground, but when it came to a longer stride or a quick little horse that could fit in any gap, Danny would take the smaller horse. Most of his weren't that large, and Shock was the only one who reached 17 hands. The others were smaller, and they bred them that way. With how thin thoroughbreds legs were these days, it seemed a good idea to keep them smaller so they could hold their weight better. The other seven horses were all from their direct line, Shock was a buy in that wasn't related to any of their horses. If he wasn't so good at confusing the rest of the field then he would've never been brought in. Nevertheless, Danny figured he could probably breed him with one of his smaller mares once he was retired from racing and get a horse that was just about the perfect size.

[willowryker]

Willow disagreed on the fact that a horse that was tall or bigger couldn't fit threw gaps. If the horse was narrow enough but free enough in the shoulders she could fit them threw no matter what. It did depend, however, on the horse's willingness to go threw the gap. Some horses wouldn't or even couldn't do it. She could concentrate on their strides and when she was on the track she'd concentrate on what horse she'd have to slip between. She checked for any previous injuries to see what horses could be faulty and she'd stay away from those ones because you never know when they might break again. But when time called for desperate measures she'd squeeze them in.

She smiled, "Ya, I had to cut a shoot short for this trainer who wanted me to try his horses out. I guess someone told him that Willow Ryker was a woman. He said he didn't think it would work out. Wish he would have told me that yesterday," she said grumbling. "But hey, what can you do?" she said shrugging before she grabbed his saddle and suited him up. She made sure to slip on his boots before she grabbed her helmet, gloves, riding crop, and his bridle. She pulled on Smarty's bridle and righted her helmet before she pulled the gloves on.

"See you out there?" she asked.

[Daniel Christian Jenner]

He just shook his head slightly when she explained why today had been not the best day, muttering Tragic under his breath though not loud enough to be heard. He couldn't help that after coming home from the war he couldn't be very sympathetic towards people. He was never all that great at sympathizing, but now that he had spent seven years at war and came home on a stretcher on the brink of death. Yeah, he should have been more compassionate towards people who hadn't experienced the horrors he had, but he just couldn't seem to feel bad for them. He did try, but when you'd gone through things like he had then you weren't apt to think leaving a "shoot" early for what turned out to be nothing. That was one reason Danny liked his horses so much, they never had complaints. On a bad day they were more likely to kick you than complain about it. That was where he struggled with his sister, she would have some high school drama issue and he just didn't know how to be sympathetic towards her.

He shrugged when she finished with "what can you do?" but otherwise didn't respond. He had a feeling she didn't want him to give her advice on what to do when some trainer blew you off, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't do what he told her anyway, considering his advice would be to go over there and tell him he was a damn fool for passing up an opportunity like the one she was offering in her riding his horses... Danny was a bit more gruff than most people liked, and typically if anyone else said what he would, it wouldn't turn out so well. He was just the kind of guy who could get away with just about anything he wanted to when it came to interacting with people. For one thing nobody wanted to get on his bad side considering he was fully capable of doing some serious damage. For another thing he just had that commanding presence that made people not want to disagree with him.

Not likely. He responded honestly, it was already well past 11 and all of his workouts had already finished. He liked having the track mostly to himself so tended to come out earlier than most people did. Unless you've got something I should be seeing. Honesty was the best policy in danny's books. It didn't matter if people wouldn't like the truth, he was going to give it. To tell the truth, he liked a person who would tell him straight up. He liked a jockey who would fight for riding his horses, since fighting for the ride meant they would do whatever they could to keep it, that it really meant something to them, and it wasn't just another job. He didn't want a jockey with a big head, but he wanted one that was confident enough to tell him that they were the best ride for his horse and not beat around the bush about it.

[willowryker]

Willow was about to open her mouth to tell him to watch when a voice came from no where. "You'd be a fool not to watch."

"Ryker!" Willow said, swiveling on her feet.

"Just watching some fool screw up on Ekati," Ryker said as the man walked the horse in, shamefully.

"You'd have to be ignorant of everything to screw up on that horse, he pretty much runs his own race," Willow said, apparently ignorant of the extremely red faced Jockey untacking Ekati.

Ekati went to take a chunk out of the jockey when the bridle was off, the man went to raise his crop out of fury. Ryker's steely grip tightened around the mans fist. "Leave," Ryker said. Even in his big fancy business suit he was willing to deal with the slimy horse. Ryker pat Ekati's neck and watched the man make a hasty retreat.

"Like I'd want to ride that crazy animal, he nearly killed me!" the jockey said before turning to leave.

When he was gone Willow turned to Ryker. "You know that asshole of a trainer you tried to set up an appointment with? The one who kept changing the date to impossible times?" Willow said.

"Did he make a pass at you?" Ryker said, going rigid.

"Hell, he didn't even bother, he hung up before I could ask," Willow said angrily. "All these trainers you keep sending my way are egotistical men who think a woman can't ride a horse. I'm better than half the Jockeys in town, and they hear that I'm a woman and go fleeing into the night!"

"Maybe it's because they heard the last Trainer was tazerred," Ryker said with a half grin as he put the saddle away and started to hose his boy down.

"He was trying to assault me, not much I can do unless he doesn't want children," Willow said. Ryker had to laugh at that.

"Go ride, please, before you make me forget why I didn't kill the SOB in the first place," Ryker said.

"Yes sir, Mr. Army Man Sir," Willow said, standing salute.

"Marine, how many times do I have to tell you," Ryker said.

"I keep saying it because you hate it," Willow said as she walked Smarty down the aisle to the track.

Ryker shook his head as he slipped Ekati's cooler on. "Ya, did that mean man try to fight you? Next time just buck him off and run em over," Ryker whispered. The horse looked at him with intelligent eyes. "Ah, what ever your up to knock it off." Ryker didn't see the back foot settle back nicely on the ground as if the horse hadn't been about to clobber Ryker's legs.

[Daniel Christian Jenner]

Danny glanced up at a man's voice responded rather than that belonging to the girl he'd spoken to before. The guy looked like he was going to some business meeting or on a date with some rich girl and was dressed to impress. Personally, Danny would never put on a suit, especially when he was working with horses, but to each their own. It seemed the trainers who were a bigger deal liked to dress more nicely, probably in case of press or what have you. Danny, though, was far too down to earth to dress it up at all. He could have a horse running in the Kentucky Derby and he'd be wearing jeans and a T shirt standing on the rail rather than the fancy owner's seating area. Mostly, it was because suits were far too much like the Army "dress blues" he'd had to wear on a regular basis while he was in the army, and he always tried to avoid anything that would remind him at all of being at war.

He would have preferred to hear those words from the girl herself, since the opinions of other people meant very little to him. If a rider was confident they would tell the trainer that they were the best for his horse, if they weren't, they would offer references on how good they were but not state it outright. Nevertheless, he supposed if he was only going to watch this girl ride and not put her on one of his horses right now, there was no harm in taking the guy's word for it. Danny had very little interest in the conversation between the two of them and went about checking over Shock's legs with careful precision one last time. He was so careful with his horses it was almost obsessive. If he took it one step further he would have their legs xrayed after every time they worked. Their well-being was more important than his own.

When the girl started towards the track again and the guy, Ryker as she had called him, stood there talking to his horse, Danny shook his head slightly. If you've got a "killer" you might try a jockey by the name of Lovasz, he's got a way with the crazy ones, best there is really, but my horses are too sane for his taste. He nodded, unclipped Shock from the cross-ties, and headed out, bringing the horse with him. He liked to have his horses to spend a lot of time around the track when they weren't being worked so they would be controllable when they neared the track and knew that every time they went out there they weren't going to race. Level-headed horses were a must in his opinion, there were too many that were overly ornery and just unpleasant to be around.

Once out at the track he stopped and leaned on the rail watching the riders, and specifically looking for the girl from earlier, holding loosely onto Shock's lead rope, and ignoring all the dirty looks other people gave him for having a horse on the rail with him. As long as the horse was under control he saw nothing wrong with keeping him there, and everyone else could just deal with it. Since getting back from the war he'd come to care much less about what other people thought or felt. He'd risked his life for all of them, nearly died, too, and their lack of gratitude showed for what he did irked him. If they didn't care that he'd nearly died for their sake, then he didn't care if they were bothered by him bringing his hose with him to the rail.

[rydermccallum]

Ryker smiled at the man, "I'll see to that I contact him." And he would, because a couple of his horses were hard to handle, of course they usually meant well, but still hard to handle and independently minded. King liked the spirit and heart more than breedlines and how much you paid for them and their chances, though he did like breedlines, he liked Storm Cat, always produced a trifecta winner at least as well as quirky ornery attitudes that helped his witty banter.

Willow had already gotten herself up on Street Smart. She looked to Ryker as he walked Ekati out of the paddock, "If there's no one out there run the reverse, keep him happy and watch for others on the track, press it a little he can start doing a little more. Go for the 6 furlong breeze then trot him out. Same if there are others on the track," Ryker said.

"Yes sir," Willow said, walking Street Smart easily onto the track. She walked him RIGHT, not left, but right. Ryker's plan was to build muscle on both sides, which would make a better athlete over all. Smarty was their test tube baby for the moment. Seeing how much he improved in his usual races.

She looked around. Empty, though someone was finishing up on the track but other than that it was just her and Street Smart. A crowd gathered, all looking... confused. Willow flushed but she wouldn't let that bug her, she had a job to do.

The jockey on the other horse had slowed to a walk by the time he reached Willow. "You're going the wrong way!" the guy called.

No duh dip shit, she thought quietly but said nothing. As if the horse understood the confusion he gave Smarty a funny look. Smarty just swished his tail and moved into a trot. They had already started him out on right lead canters in a lunge pin, which he had hated immensely.

Smarty chomped on the bit nervously. Willow pat his withers and then gathered up her reins. "Ok buddy, just a breeze," She picked up the canter. He was off, he was doing counter canter. He kicked out when she asked for the right lead and then stopped and planted his feet before trying to rear in frustration. "Bddrrddrr... shh. come on, we can do it," she said. His head was up and his ears perked and he trotted with quick choppy motions.

Ryker walked over by Danny, following suit with Ekati. Ekati stood quickly, resting his chin on the back of Ryker's Armani suit. He lipped the fabric before deciding to rest his whole head on Ryker's shoulders, ear flicking lazily at a fly.

Ryker whistled and motioned for Willow to come over. She trotted over, everyone seeming to think he'd fix his jockey. "Ask for left lead, when he feels good and relaxed switch it on him, if he gets funny stop him and turn him around," Ryker said. The last thing he wanted was Smarty to get too frustrated and to start resisting the work.

Willow nodded and picked up the left canter lead, he seemed confused and started to switch on his own. Willow laughed, and he heard, stretching himself out a little more, eager to please. She slowed him though. His muscles weren't used to it yet and she would have to ice him after this anyways. He thundered quietly, with his effortless ease down the track. She was craned over his neck, knees together for her balance, her face hidden behind his neck and mane. He had the lead now and she wouldn't let him switch again. For a precaution she stayed away from the rail, just in case. When she reached the 6 furlong mark she slowed him into a trot and let him relax. She pat his withers and laughed. "Good boy!"

"What did you get lost on the track?" someone called out and laughed. Willow said nothing as she brought him to a walk, hopped off and quickly undid his saddled Ryker walked over, exchanging horses with her before he checked over Smarty's legs, checking his pulse to make sure he wasn't too over exerted. Then he pat him and started to follow after Willow.

People stared and Ryker dipped his head at them in greeting. "Nice talking to ya boys," Ryker said with a wave.

Willow smirked quietly as she place Ekati back in his stall and then went to grab their ice boots for Smarty and helping Ryker stick them on. Smarty started to lift his feet high with the icy boots. "He felt great, he switched on his own. I might have been confusing him in the beginning," she said as she took the hose and squirt him down quickly.

[Daniel Christian Jenner]

Danny's expression remained as unchanged as before, showing no sign of interest, or disinterest for that matter. Since coming home from the war he had started showing little to no emotion ever. It wasn't a conscious decision that he had made, it was just something that happened. He'd been to hell and back and there was now way he could leave unchanged. This was just one of many ways that he was different than he had been when he left. I suppose you could say that it was because he had gone through so much that the things that happened here didn't affect him as much as they would to other people and since he was affected less there was less to show as far as emotion went. I suppose it could be said that the way he always looked was as if he was constantly analyzing everything he saw, the same was he would analyze a battle field, constantly looking for a way in without being detected.

He wasn't sure he was very fond of this Ryker guy, he seemed too... well, high class for Danny. Then again, he wasn't really all that fond of anyone these days except for his sister, of course. He couldn't exactly pinpoint why he wasn't too keen on Ryker, he just didn't really strike him as the sort who he would get along with well. They seemed quite the opposite of one another. Danny was a down in the dirt sort of guy while Ryker seemed more the sort to think appearance played a big part in success. That wasn't so say that appearance wasn't important, it most certainly was, but Danny was more of the kind of trainer who you couldn't distinguish from the handlers and grooms. He wasn't any more important than they were, as far as he was concerned, and he wasn't going to get all dressed up to try to make it look like he was a big shot. Maybe he was just old fashioned. After all, once upon a time the trainers weren't even allowed in the owners seating area and had to take a spot on the inside rail if they wanted a view of their horse in the race.

The girl, on the other hand, seemed more like the sort he could get along with... though the photo shoot thing did concern him a bit. He expected absolute determination and dedication from the people who worked for him. That meant being there very early and spending long hours perfecting every little detail. If she wanted to model, or whatever it was she did, at the same time as working, they might have a problem. Of course, he wasn't sure she was even interested in riding for him, but if she was, everything else would have to take the back seat, no matter what it was. Family problems, financial problems, relationships problems... he didn't give a damn. He expected complete reverence of sorts. His "stable" would run like a well oiled machine with no room for error. If she were to ride for him, she would have to let everything else come after working for him, no ands, ifs, or buts about it.

Danny did sort of come off as a jackass quite often, but it did get better. The longer you worked for him and followed his "orders" to the best of your ability, the more relaxed the relationship between trainer and rider would become. He still expected the best of his riders, but he wouldn't be quite so hard on them, and a bit more forgiving, and at least try to be understanding of any situations that might come up. At first, though, he was a bit like a nazi, and that drove a lot of people away. In a sense he was thinning out the crowd. If someone was willing to stop riding the horse because the trainer was a nitpicky jerk, then they didn't really like his horse as much as they might let on, and he wanted riders that clicked perfectly with his horses so as to have the best bond and connection with them.

When the backwards workout was finished and the two horses and two people headed back towards the barn, Danny just shook his head and slowly followed suit, making sure to keep Shock out of his space and politely walking behind him. If there was one thing Danny wouldn't tolerate it was rude horses. His biggest pet peeve was when people let their horses bully them. They were animals, and if they were going to step out of line and be all pushy he was going to do whatever he could to fix that. From the very start all of his horses were taught good manners. Danny was the boss, and they knew better than to misbehave when he was handling them. If they were giving their riders a hard time on the ground, all he had to do was walk over and suddenly they would straighten up and behave again. They knew better than to try to push him around.

Once back in the barn he took Shock down to his stall and put him in, making sure to latch the door securely. The last thing he needed was Shock getting out and biting someone. Once Shock was secure he took the clipboard off the hook beside the stall to fill out every bit of information he could possibly fill out regarding the horse. How much he'd been fed, if he ate it all, the time it took him to complete the workout, what his heart rate was when he came off the track. Anything and everything went on that clipboard. If any of his horses had problems, you could bet he'd know before it got to be serious. He was quite interested in seeing how that girl would work with his horses, but he wasn't going to go out of his way to ask her. If she had interest in riding for him she would have to come to him.

[rydermccallum]

Ryker was quite the same way, but being a business man meant he had two sides, his fake side, and his real side. He had to attend business meetings, and honestly, Ryker wore the suits for the business, though he had shown up covered in mud and cow shit before, the board room had all made faces, but Ryker had silenced them easily with his tone. They all laughed about it know, but hey, what are you gonna do? Ryker was the kind of guy that would get in the dirt with his workers and would usually do twice the work than his employees, depending on the employee. If they didn't fit his bill they could get lost.

As for the horses... Ryker didn't have much time for the horses, which was a pitty. But Being the circumstance it was mostly Willow running his horse business at the moment, which was pretty shameful to Ryker and he knew he needed to pay more attention, especially with that kick he'd given, and then a few of his other horses had begun to run over people, figuratively at least.

Willow was strong, but the last thing she'd needed was to upset the horse even more and get bucked off. She had slowly learned that was a bad thing, just because you got bucked off and were ok with that, didn't mean the horse didn't learn it was a good habit.

Willow watched Danny and walked over, pulling off her helmet as she did. Ryker was running over Smarty's body, checking his hip position and his loins. He had one hand by the horse's sheath and the other by the loin. He pressed slightly on the loin and the horse's back legs wobbled a little and nearly buckled before he moved out and away from Ryker's hands. Ryker frowned. Smarty grit his teeth nervously, ears flicking back and eye staring accusingly at Ryker. Ryker pulled out his phone and started to text.

"Hey," Willow said, "So I was wondering, you wouldn't happen to be looking for a Jockey would you?" she asked. "I've got some excellent credentials, and I follow orders well," she said. She figured she'd keep the fighting out of it... she was known for a potty mouth as well, but she kept things pretty professional with trainers, depending on the trainer. As for Modeling, she could move that around, she was only still modeling to make a statement. Well kind of a statement, she did enjoy wearing pretty things, but she enjoyed horses more than the spotlight of fashion.

[THE JESSTER!?]

It wasn't long before Danny heard the sound of approaching foosteps, and knew exactly whose they were. Just after that he heard her inquiry, but didn't look up from what he was writing. I am. he said, finishing the last of what he was writing then looking up from the paper and to her, But I'll tell you right now that if you want even so much as a chance to ride for me, you have to prove you're capable as well as dedicated. Danny never sugar coated anything. He would never go into all the perks and other desirable details of what working for him entailed until whoever he was talking to knew just exactly how hard they would have to work to keep their position on one of his horses. Maybe it wasn't such a good tactic for someone who was in need of riders to bring up everything that might scare them away first, but that was just how Danny was. In some ways he treated his horses better than he treated people.

I work them at 5:00 every morning, not a second later, and I expect you to be here then if not sooner. Every time a saddle is put on the horse's back you will be the one on it, whether racing or working. I have a three strikes and you're out policy, unless you do something really stupid, and once you're out it's for good, no second chances. He paused again, his expression unchanged, just watching her for her reaction. I expect this job to more or less be your life. If you think you can handle it come by tomorrow morning and we'll see what you can do. Behind him, Shock was reaching out of the stall to make another attempt at biting Danny in his annoying little game of sneak attacking people, but once again Danny was just waiting to feel that hot horse breath on the back of his neck and whacked the horse on the nose with the pen he was holding, casting a scowl over his shoulder at the horse who seemed to return the expression.

Danny was the type of guy who knew his horses inside and out. You could blind fold him, stand him beside the track then gallop his horses by one at a time and he could tell you which was which just by listening to the sound of their hooves on the ground. He knew which nicker and whinny belonged to each horse, he knew what made each horse tick, he knew their personalities better than he knew the back of his own hand, and although Shock hadn't been "in the family" for all that long, Danny could practically count down to how long it would be from when he turned his back to when the horse would try to bite him again. He expected his riders to get to know the horse they rode exactly that well. He knew it took time, but if he could tell that they just weren't working well together, he wouldn't keep them on for long. In his opinion it was important to have a bond with the horse you were working with, and if a particular rider wasn't getting that with a particular horse, then he'd go out and find someone else who would. The most successful racehorses always had something special with their jockeys and he was just there to ensure he got the right person on the right horse.