Royal - Danielle Steel Page 0,72
recommended her to him, and he trusted her judgment implicitly. And she had turned out to be a fine monarch.
He led Annie to the stall of the horse he was thinking of for her. He was a magnificent stallion, and her eyes lit up as soon as she saw him.
“I’m not sure he’ll ever win a race for us, but he’s an interesting ride. We’ve had him for about a month. I don’t know him well enough to tell. He doesn’t trust us yet. He has a slightly dodgy history, but fabulous bloodlines.” She could see it in the way he stood and moved, even in his stall. “You can take him out now if you like.” She finished her coffee, put the mug in a sink, and went to get a saddle. She walked into his stall with confidence, and led him out. His name was Flash, and she looked ridiculously small beside him, which didn’t occur to her at all. She had him saddled in a few minutes, led him to a mounting block, swung up easily, and let herself into one of the rings, as Lord Hatton watched. She had a light hand on the reins, and her legs were short but powerful. She was guiding him with her knees as much as her hands, and had a fluid grace that blended with the horse. She rode him around the ring to get a sense of him, changed directions several times, and then eased him into a gallop. The horse seemed to be enjoying it as much as she was. He balked at a sound nearby which didn’t faze her, and her confidence and poise calmed him, as Lord Hatton watched her, fascinated. She had all the instincts he looked for in a rider, and was unaware of them herself. She had the powerful horse in her full command, and he could tell that the stallion trusted her, which was half the battle.
“He’s a beautiful ride,” she said admiringly.
“Yes, he is. Inconsistent, though. He’s a moody guy. Everything has to line up just right for him. He threw one of our best riders the other day, and we couldn’t figure out why.” But he was as docile as a lamb with Annie astride him. She took him through his paces again and Lord Hatton left them and went to his office. He liked getting an early start, when everything was calm. Once he left, Annie rode Flash for an hour, and then dismounted and took him back to the barn. Both rider and mount were pleased with the time they’d spent together. After she’d removed his saddle, she put him back in his stall, and went to join the trainers she saw gathering outside the racing barn. They were handing out assignments for the week, and she was assigned to shadow one of the head trainers.
They were busy after that until lunchtime. There were a dozen assistant trainers, each with special skills that were suited to the functions they performed.
She didn’t see Anthony again until after lunch. He looked as though he had just gotten up, and had had a rough night. He’d been assigned to exercise one of the horses who had had a pulled tendon for several weeks, and was told to go easy on him. As soon as she saw him riding the horse around a ring, she saw that he had heavy hands. He had no instinct for the horse he was riding, just impeccable training, and an elegant style, but he wasn’t at one with the horse. She didn’t comment. She walked over to the rail, and he stopped to chat with her for a minute.
“I hear my father let you ride Flash this morning. Scary devil, isn’t he?”
“He was a gentleman with me,” she said noncommittally.
“Don’t count on his being like that again. He tried to kick me when I walked into his stall the other day, and bucked when I rode him.”
“A personality clash perhaps,” she suggested, smiling at him.
“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? There’s an amusing pub nearby. It’s pretty quiet here at night.” She didn’t mind that, but she could sense easily that he did. She didn’t want to be rude, but she would have preferred having dinner in her room.
“That would be nice,” she said politely, and she had the feeling that he was as insensitive with women as he was with horses. It was all about getting them to