A Dream Can Come True It’s a hot Sunday afternoon and I’m in a dusty arena sitting on a horse lined up with all the other riders in my competition class. The announcers voice echoes through the loud speakers, “Number 196, Yvonne Smith, sixed place”. I just won my first green ribbon in a riding competition after being away from horses for over 30 years. It only seems like yesterday, when I was a harness race apprentice in Germany and won my first race. I was 12 years old when I started to ride horses. I was trying to get away from home. My mom was a single parent and we did not always get along. I felt misunderstood and lonely. I had to compete against my older brother for any affection and recognition. My mom never listened to me but when I was with horses, I had the feeling that they understood me, and that they listened to me. I was able to tell them everything, and now I had something that I enjoyed. I ran away multiple times and landed each time at locations where horses were present. One time I spent a few nights in a hayloft where horses were kept in pastures for a vacation away from the track. Another time I slept directly inside a stall with a horse in it. I was young, inexperienced, and very naïve but I had the right touch for horses. I was considered a prodigy, with the horse touch. When I was with horses, I talked to them and to me it appeared that they understood me. They healed me and my inner turmoil while I was a teenager. A Few years later I became a harness race apprentice. It was the perfect job for me. To combine work with the love of horses and being with them was perfect. As an apprentice, you learn how to care for horses, how to train them and in the end how to race them. My first race was on a Sunday. It was early in the morning and the fog was still on the ground. You could hear the nickering of horses here and there, all waiting to be fed. The smell of horse manure is heavy in the cold, early morning air and I always got a feeling of peace when smelling it. You can see the steam rising from the manure piles next to each stable. I’m walking on the path to my stable, while passing the other stables to the left and right of me. I see each stable is bustling with early morning activities to get ready for the morning training sessions. Some horses are already on the racing track, either for conditioning or heat training. You can see the hot breath coming from their noses with each breath they blow out. The movement of their muscles, under their coats, is mesmerizing. You can see the power they have for raising and lowering their hooves. The sulkies are being pulled right behind their back hooves, with the hair of the tail right in front of your face. You brace yourself against the power of your horse with your legs pushing into the foot holders and lean back with your arms outstretched, while holding the reins tight in your hands. The power you can control is amazing. The track is made out of sand and sloped slightly down to the inside. The outer ring is for the racing and the inner ring for the conditioning. You see sometimes two or three horses with the training wagons next to each other and the drivers talking while conditioning the horse. Today is race day, today is my first race. Finally I arrived at my stable. I still had plenty of time before I had to get ready for my race. I went to the break room and made sure that my boots were shiny, and that my new uniform was still where I had left it the night before. My jacked was green with a white stripe and my pants were white with a green stripe down the outside seam of the leg. I heard foot steps in the isle and checked to see who was walking into the stable. Hanz Froeming was a German harness racer who had won over 5000 races in his lifetime and is considered the most known celebrity in the Harness race circle. He was highly respected and he was my idol. He was a small skinny elderly man. His nose was very noticeable and recognizable, it was big like a hawk’s beak. He walked into the barn and I did not recognize him. He was my idol and I did not recognize him?! He walked over to me and extended his hand to me. He had a very nice strong handshake. He was so small that I had to look down at him to make eye contact. He only said a few words. “ Ich habe von Dir gehoert und wuensche Dir viel Glueck.” (trans. I heard about you and wanted to wish you good luck). Then he turned around and walked out of the barn. I had no idea what just happened. A few minutes later trainers and other apprentices were rushing into my stable and were asking me what he said. I asked, “Who”? I received the stares of disbelief for not knowing who I had just talked to, and then I was informed that it had been Hanz Froemming. I could not believe it. It was believed that if you shook hands with Hanz Froemming, you received the highest honor and that you would be very successful in your racing career, because he only did it to apprentices that he believed to be worthy. It was a great honor! Finally it was time to get ready and to prep the horse and myself for the race. I was told to get dressed and to leave the preparation of the horse to the stable hands. So I went back to the break room and started to get dressed. I’m not a vain person but after I had my jacket and pants on, I looked into the mirror and stared at myself. Was this really me? Is this really my first race that I would be entering today? I tried to stay calm and went to my boss to get my last instructions from him before the race. Then I went to my horse, whispered into his ears before I took the reins into my hands and moved my horse out of the stable. I entered and sat from the left side onto the small seat of the sulky and swung my legs over. I let them dangle down while I guided my horse to the entrance gate of the race track. I could hear the clicking sound of my numbers on both sides. I wish they would have been tighter, but there was nothing I could do about it anymore. I needed to focus on the race and not on the noise. Finally, I entered the race track. Many of the other apprentices were already warming up their horses. My heart was starting to race. I’m looking over to the audience stands, and I can see that many people were going to see this race. I looked over to the number board and saw that people had placed bets on me. I’m getting nervous. This time this race is for real. I had been practicing for this for months and now this was an actual race. I started to put my feet in the holders and got my horse to trot. He responded very eagerly. He wanted to go. He was a 2 year old, dark brown, Standardbred and his name was Zen Duke. We had the starter number 5 and it was attached to the left and right side of the harness. I still heard the clicking. I started to move Zen around the track to warm up and tried to pay attention to all the other drivers. The starter car was already in position, so I knew that I only had a few minutes left before my first race. My hands became sweaty, and I was trying to remember if I held the whip correctly? Was I pulling too much on my horse’s mouth? Am I going too fast with him for the warm up? So many things went through my mind all at the same time. I was scared but I was excited at the same time. I noticed that many started to gather near the starter car, so I guided my horse in that direction. The starter car opened its wings and we lined up right behind our assigned number. Number five is right in the middle of the car and I was surrounded by all the other drivers. We wished each other good luck for our first race and then focused on the starter car. It started to move forward and we followed right behind. It moved faster and faster and so did we. All of a sudden it sped off and closed its wings and we knew that the race had started. The wind was blowing into my face and all I could see was the movement of my horse. Left and right was a blur to me and all I could hear was the rhythmic sound of my horse’s hooves. I did not notice if any other horse was in front of me, but I had to move my horse slowly to the inside. I looked over my shoulder and saw that I had room. We approached the first curve and I was leading. To my far left in the smaller ring was the announcer’s car following us and letting the audience know the progress of the race. We came into the last curve and this is where many drivers would make their move. I was in great shape by being in the inside of the track, others had to pull their horses further out. I just gave my horse freedom of the reins and let him run his race. Just a little bit more and we will cross the finish line. I still did not notice if any of the other horses were in front or next to me, and I did not care. I just finished my first race. I was so happy and excited. I slowed my horse down to move him off the track, and through the gate to get him back to the stable. People were blocking my way and yelling and motioning that I needed to go back. I did not understand right away why. I was still under the influence of the adrenalin, until I heard, “you won, turn around”. I won?! No way, but they were screaming at me telling me that I won. I turned my horse around and started to move in the direction of the bleaches and to the clapping audience. Every winner has to pass by the audience for their victory. The announcers voice through the speakers blared,” Number 5, Zen Duke, driven by Yvonne Seifert from Stable Strasslach in a time of 1:19min.” This first race was amazing. It made me feel good and it had given me the feeling of accomplishing something. It proved that I was good with horses and that with love you can accomplish anything. I believed that my dream with horses was on a good start, but sadly after this race, my life changed and I had to give up horses for over thirty years. In the next thirty years I had no contact with horses. Just thinking about it brings me to tears. I missed it! It was the best time of my life. I had a small grain of regret because I never thought I would ever again ride horses, and never in my dreams would own a horse. I have this saying, “If it’s meant to be, it will come true”. Back then it was not meant to be for me to become a harness racer, but that did not mean to give up on my dream. I’m retired now and after my second open heart surgery, I was brought to a local stable for recovery treatment. Here my dream, after thirty years, became a reality. I now own five horses and I started to compete again. I will never know how good I could have become, but I do know that I’m very happy with my horses.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 02:10:01 +0000
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