{"id":2502,"date":"2012-09-15T14:50:17","date_gmt":"2012-09-15T21:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/?p=2502"},"modified":"2012-09-24T14:53:03","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T21:53:03","slug":"8-is-that-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/8-is-that-old\/","title":{"rendered":"!8 &#8211; is that OLD?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-2502 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/8-is-that-old\/kellycassportweb\/'><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/kellycassportweb-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/8-is-that-old\/bucephalus-2\/'><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Bucephalus-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theblackstallion.com\/shop\/\">Buchephalus on sale @ the Trading Post!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>So, do you want to go out to the barn? Is this work or a way of life? Just because it&#8217;s Saturday doesn&#8217;t mean you get to lay around in the hammock sipping some beverage of your choice. There&#8217;s always more work to do &#8211; that&#8217;s the critter way.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the next book chapter &#8230; when you get done with your chores put your feet up and enjoy what&#8217;s left of summer &#8211; ahhhh;<br \/>\n<em><strong>FAN MAIL<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>\u201cDear Alec Ramsay,\u201d the letter began, \u201cI\u2019ve wanted to write you a long time but was afraid you\u2019d be too busy even to read my letter. I finally decided I just had to take a chance and write anyway. I know there\u2019s no one else who would understand my love for a horse as much as you and I need your help very much.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Alec stopped reading and got off his seat on the tack trunk so the old man with him could rummage inside. \u201cWhat are you looking for, Henry?\u201d he asked.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cThe X-ray plates Doc Palmer took,\u201d the trainer said.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cThe latest batch?\u201d Alec asked.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cYeah, those.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cIn the right-hand corner.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Removing the stack of negatives, the old man held them up to the morning sunlight coming through the doorway of the small room. He stared at the X rays, shook his head, then climbed up on the tack trunk and held the negatives against the bare light bulb.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cYou won\u2019t find anything,\u201d Alec said. \u201cYou never do.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cThere just might be a speck we missed.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cThere\u2019s nothing,\u201d Alec insisted. \u201cThe Black\u2019s hoof healed long ago. We have the doc\u2019s word for it. We have clean pictures and we know he\u2019s acting right.\u201d Mounting impatience with the old man made him add, \u201cI don\u2019t see why you keep looking for trouble, Henry. He was wild to run this morning. I haven\u2019t seen him act so alive and well in months.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cYou let him get away from you,\u201d the old man said defensively. \u201cYou were supposed to take him for a sightseeing gallop and you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cI couldn\u2019t. As I say, he was wild. He felt good. He was bucking and playing all the way. You know yourself that he was still so fresh when we got back to the barn that it took the two of us to walk him.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cI know,\u201d the old man said, still studying the pictures.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Alec Ramsay turned back to the letter in his hand. \u201cYou want me to read this letter to you?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cWhy not? Don\u2019t you always read your fan mail to me?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cBut sometimes you don\u2019t listen.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cI\u2019ll listen. I can work at the same time.\u201d Henry Dailey held the X-ray negatives to the light bulb again and added, \u201cWhoever is writing needs your help. Like maybe ten others a week you hear from. He loves horses as much as you do. Or maybe it\u2019s from a girl this time?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Alec turned over the letter to read the signature. \u201cNo, it\u2019s from a fellow. Someone named Steve Duncan. But you\u2019re right so far \u2026 he loves horses as much as I do and he\u2019s asking for help.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cWant me to go on?\u201d the old man asked without taking his eyes from the negatives. \u201cI can tell you the rest of it, almost word for word.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cNo, let me read it to you. Maybe it\u2019ll be different this time.\u201d But different or not, Alec decided it was good knowing people were interested enough in him and the Black to write. If the day ever came when he and Henry became too busy to read such letters, it would be time to quit racing altogether.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cFrom the newspapers I know you have the Black at Hialeah Park this winter and may race him before long,\u201d Alec read aloud. \u201cI know exactly how you feel having such a wonderful horse and I wish \u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Henry stepped down from the tack trunk, replacing the X-ray negatives in a large manila envelope. \u201cThat fellow knows exactly how you feel having the Black, and he wants one exactly like him someday,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to be able to help him any more than you did the others, Alec. How come people don\u2019t understand that a truly great horse like the Black turns up just once in a lifetime, if at all?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Alec shrugged his shoulders as he met the old man\u2019s gaze. Henry\u2019s face had the texture of old parchment crisscrossed with a mass of wrinkles, but his eyes and voice still held the fire and gusto of youth.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cI\u2019d pity most of them if they ever did have a horse like the Black,\u201d the old man went on. \u201cThey don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like having a great horse on their hands. They don\u2019t know any of the problems.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cWho\u2019re you kidding? You wouldn\u2019t change it for the world, Henry,\u201d Alec said.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cOf course not. I waited all my life for him to come along. Maybe I worry about him too much like you say,\u201d he went on. \u201cSometimes I think he\u2019s going to worry me to death. Sometimes I can\u2019t eat or sleep, just knowing I got the big one in my stable. That\u2019s the way it is, but I wouldn\u2019t wish it on anyone else.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Turning back to the letter, Alec said, \u201cThis fellow seems to have something else in mind.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201c\u2026 and I wish,\u201d he continued reading, \u201cthat you and I could get together. I live in Miami now. My family moved here from the North last fall. It would be easy for me to get to Hialeah to see you. Would you mind if I came over soon? It\u2019s very important and I\u2019m sure you could help me.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cThat\u2019s great, just great,\u201d the old man said. \u201cAll we need around here is a horse-struck kid with a problem. Maybe he won\u2019t get past the barn gate.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> \u201cThat doesn\u2019t sound like you, Henry,\u201d Alec said. \u201cIt won\u2019t do any harm to see him if he does come. I don\u2019t see what\u2019s wrong with you these days. You\u2019re too cautious about everything.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong> Henry straightened his blocklike figure, making a gallant attempt to look unconcerned at Alec\u2019s criticism and regain his position of authority. He didn\u2019t like the way Alec was sizing him up. Alec was too composed while he was squirming inwardly. Maybe it was a sign of old age creeping up on him. Maybe it wasn\u2019t a case of being as old as one felt but as old as one was.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>the rest &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/18th-book-chapter.pdf\">18th book chapter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>See you soon &amp; enjoy the Ride! tim<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buchephalus on sale @ the Trading Post! So, do you want to go out to the barn? Is this work or a way of life? Just because it&#8217;s Saturday doesn&#8217;t mean you get to lay around in the hammock sipping some beverage of your choice. There&#8217;s always more work to do &#8211; that&#8217;s the critter &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,6],"tags":[297,208,353,232,354,41,125,355,50],"class_list":["post-2502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-stallion","category-books","tag-black-stallion-books","tag-contest","tag-fan-mail","tag-free","tag-groom","tag-racing","tag-stories","tag-track","tag-walter-farley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2502"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2524,"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions\/2524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblackstallion.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}