It was 6PM on the 210. Tony was standing up in the horse trailer next to his stablemate looking at the infinite 5 lane wide wall of red taillights going the other direction. Tony had never seen the like. "Wow", he muttered quietly to himself. The part that really blew his mind was that the track was almost 30 miles away from downtown.
It had been quite the trip getting to this point. First the tearful goodbyes to his mate. The hugs and well wishes from his stablemates and ranch staff. That part had been hard, but Tony knew this was his chance to shine.
Tony was loaded into a standard horse trailer with Amaranth, who nuzzled Tony affectionately. Tony was strapped to the trailer, but his arms were not restrained, and he was provided with a camp chair so he could sit down most of the ride. Max slipped him an Ipod with his favorite music. He also had a walkie in case of emergency so he could raise Jack, who was driving the pick-up. They left at 4 in the morning.
That first night they pulled into an equestrian center east of Phoenix for the night. Tony shared a stall with Amaranth. They slept standing up together. The companionship was reassuring to both of them.
Tony could sware he heard, "Wake up two leg" in his head just as Amaranth jostled him awake. Jack had just arrived and was ready to hit the road again, which they promptly did.
The miles across the desert flew by as there was not much to look at. Once in California the scenery got more interesting, the freeways wider, and the traffic a hell of a lot worse. Tony reflected that it really was like a human zoo. Once again he decided he was happy with his change of spiecies.
They pulled into the track about 7PM. Amaranth and Tony were disembarked from the trailer, and Jack said good-bye. "Don't forget, Liz will be here tomorrow to check on you. Rest well Tony."
"Bye Jack", Tony called as he was lead off by a stable hand. He was lead into a barn where he was given a cursory vetenary examination, with rectal thermometer. Tony would have objected, but didn't see a point. He was then put in Pony arm restraints. Tony did object to the ball gag, "I'm a volunteer, not a damn prison pony!"
"Doesn't matter, your owner signed a release", and with that Tony was silenced. He was lead to a small pony stall. Definitely standing room only. Once the stablehand left Tony got his first look at one of the competition. He was a paint pony in the stall directly opposite Tony. The stall door had a sign: "DANGER PRISON PONY Property of Texas". He glared at Tony with pure hatred in his eyes. Great, just great. Tony looked him over noting that he had scars on his hide, whip marks most likely. Tony felt pity and revulsion at the same time. There was little doubt in Tony's mind what this one would do if encountered on the track.
Tony ate some food, and looked up to find the paint pony still glaring at him. While his biceps were bound to his chest, his forearms were free. He bent his arm up at the elbow and flipped the prison pony off.
The pony responded by getting violent. He screamed through the gag and tried to break from the stall. An alarm sounded. Two uniformed guards responded and the pony was quickly tazzed. Quiet returned to the barn. Tony went to sleep.
---
Tony was awakened by a familiar voice. "What the hell is this?" Liz demanded of the barn manager. "Why is Tony Pony gagged?"
The bored barn manager was used to questions like this, especially from the occasional family farm running the family pet. "The owner signed a gag release. It's in the standard packet."
"I know exactly what Mr. Anderson signed and didn't sign. I watched him fill out the paperwork. Call your office. I want that gag off Tony Pony now!"
The manager did call the office and the paperwork was pulled. Mr. Anderson had not signed, instead he had written "NO" on the signature lines. The scanner had failed to catch it or the application would have been rejected. The barn manager was beyond annoyed. "Remove the gag" he commanded a stablehand. Lis did it before he could react.
"That's mighty cute missey. Rest assured you won't get by with a stunt like that again. You're supposed to be a professional. I'll have my eyes on you and that pony."
"If you don't mind I want to spend some time with my racer. I'm sure you have other duties to attend to...elsewhere."
The barn manager all but growled as he stalked off.