S1E2 - What goes up must come down

When she had been a jockey herself she had gotten the nickname of ‘Jet’, thanks to her ability to get a horse to truly fly, like it was powered by an jet engine. That wasn't true obviously, it was the horses own ability that made it fly. But she had spent hours working out, training on the ‘dummy horse’, looking at her own races, at other more experienced jockeys races. All she could to get that extra advantage over her competitors. That was still something she did to get some clue on what horses her own little string of runners would face. There was page after page of notes in her little black book. If her old teachers could have seen her now they wouldn't have shaken their head at her like they had done back then. At that time they said she was too unfocused, too energetic and too stubborn to take directions. She had a bad habit of talking back to the teacher if she thought their actions or conditions of a task was too unjust. Many times she didn't even speak for her own sake but for her classmates. Classmates that didn't return the favor and remain quiet to save their own grades when she got into trouble even if she knew they agreed with her.

If Jack Darwin thought he was all that, Jetta was quick to pull him down to earth again. She poked him in the gut, and followed up by calling him fat and lazy. Next she put him on a training regime from hell - according to himself. However, the fact that he didn't quit on her after the first few days did earn him a few  bonus points in her book. The small string of horses was his job to exercise, but the fact that he would also race them might help both him and the horses since they would know eachother. That seemed to have been Mr Darcy’s idea anyway Jetta guessed - or the fact it was cheaper that way. Why pay two full salaries when you could pay one person just a ‘half’ extra. Still, Jetta made sure Mr Darwin worked hard for that extra half that he got. As a warmup for example she had him jog one lap around the race course. That way he got to feel the track for himself before he got on the horse. He had protested like a chubby little kid on the first day of boot camp ut...he had done it, every day, even if he made sure to complain about it. How tired he got and how he was tired before even getting up in the saddle. Perhaps that was why it was so easy for ‘Orca’ to dump him on the ground, if possible bruising that ego a little bit.

“She looks like a freaking cow, man...” Jack muttered as he brushed himself off, glaring at the horse who had calmed down as soon as he had gotten off her. Jetta had raised an eyebrow at that. “Well, then...either you show her that you take no ‘bull’ from her, that she can't get rid of you...or you just resign yourself being the worst rodeo rider in history. I doubt that was more than four seconds you stayed on and you had hardly come out on the track yet.” The jockey slash exercise rider did look at her but didn't say anything. At this point a start felt far away, but the weather had been a bit brisk and that probably made the filly feel a bit frisky. Jetta made a mental note of that. The mare, registered as ‘Dark Force’ was by Saber out of a unraced mare by Silence. At this point Saber was a rather fresh sire and his first crop was just to show their feet on the track. As the weeks rolled by Jack got stronger and the complaining stopped.

Orca, while having temper was an intelligent horse. The reason behind her tantrums usually had a reason, a typical mare that couldn't be told what to do. You had to discuss it with her. ‘We go here because...’ Either she accepted it or she didn't, or she accepted it sort of but sulked about it for awhile when she didn't get it done her way. She seemed to be sensitive against the tack not being smooth and correct. She liked the routine. Doing things differently was not to her liking. After each training session she got one little pellet as a treat, nothing more nothing less and she never begged for more. The black and white mare was one Jetta personally had great hopes on.

The next horse was a bit different, temperament wise. While Orca gave a thought about what she thought about the task, Gazie just dove right into it without much thought. Jetta feared that if you would tell the filly to go off a cliff - this is the horse that would. Apparently her foalhood had been lined with various tiny little injuries, never anything big but...enough to make Jetta wonder if the filly would even last sound until she was ready for her first start. Another thing that they soon learned that she was quick to learn and pick up things they did.

Jetta did give both the groom and Jack a hard time not closing Gazies boxdoor properly. Both claimed their innocence but Jetta didn't really buy it. She had heard of ponies being masterminds breaking out of their confinement, but a thoroughbred that never in it's life had lacked a thing when it came to good food and ‘enjoyment’. When Orcas box door also started to get opened Jetta was getting very annoyed with her ‘slacking employees’ or rather her coworkers. She wasn't the one paying the bill or the others paychecks. Jack was sure of his claim that it was the bay and white filly and he sat up one of his little gadgets - a small camera - to catch the horse in the act. Jetta never gave him the pleasure of her saying he was right but she did ask for his thoughts on where to put the extra latch. While she wasn't keen on actually admitting she was wrong, she wasn't below asking for others opinions. What he used that little camera for wasn't something she asked about either.

It seemed like Mr Darcy had on purpose or if it was just fate, ended up with a even group when it came to dirt vs turf running horses. The mare they nicknamed ‘Hella’ was the daughter of Moirai, a mare who herself was bred out of dirt racing line but who had excelled on turf. Hella’s sire was a rather unproven stud as well, but had only raced on dirt. Still, Mr Darcy wanted her to be started on turf just because her dam had been a star on it. Turf wasn't something Jetta was so used to, and perhaps it was one of her achilles heels. It always gave her a tummy ache, especially when it was wet and soggy. It made things so slippery.

The forth filly of the group was a sulky grumpy thing who usually stood with her rump towards the door. Most of the time she had her ears slicked to her neck, but she wasn't really aggressive. She just wanted to be left alone. Not even in the turn out run she was one to at least socialize over the fence. Perhaps she was Mr Darcy in horse form, Jetta sometimes pondered. Mudpuddles were avoided and she was not one to be pushed into a starting gate. Just like Gazie she was a quick learning horse, just not as naughty. She acted like she was much nicer that everybody else and when fed she always looked at her ration with a bit of scepticism, ‘is this my food? It looks so...plain...’. However the moment usually went passed rather quick.

Despite the horses different personalities and her own favorite of the four. Perhaps it was her way to tease Jack as well. The man had given her his poker face when she asked for his favorite.

"You can make me run the track like one of the bloody horses, love...but you cant make me talk about what lady I favor..." He gave her a cheeky wink along with a smarmy grin "...but for a kiss on the cheek I might..." She never even answered that. One didnt answer stupid questions...even if it never had been a question to start with...