Chapter 1

"Hey girl!" Cindy called to the mare Ashleigh's Wonder as she opened the stall door. She'd been away at the track with Honor Bright preparing for their latest victory when the birth of Wonder's new foal had happened. So today was her first chance to get a look at the new arrival.

Long, slender legs and a fuzzy, copper colored coat was the first thing that Cindy saw. Wonder whickered a greeting and daintily accepted the carrot that Cindy offered the chestnut mare. "He's just beautiful, Wonder."

The little colt crowded close to Wonder's side, and then began to nurse. Cindy looked at Ashleigh who was standing nearby. "What are you going to call him?"

"I don't know yet. Things have been really busy around here with foaling season in full swing not to mention Honor's racing career going so well."

Cindy nodded, Honor was one of the horses to beat on the Derby trail at Santa Anita. In a week Cindy would be riding her against the colts in the Santa Anita Derby. Cindy couldn't wait to get back there to see Honor again, but it was great to be back at the farm too. Spring was so exciting with all the new babies and the young horses the farm was bringing along too start their careers too.

"Hey Cindy! How was your flight?" Samantha called, leading Shining into the barn from the paddock where she and her foal had been playing.

Cindy hurried over to give her a hug. "Fine! It's so great to see you! And Shining- your baby is gorgeous! What are we going to do with all of these perfect thoroughbreds?"

Shining's colt was prancing along behind her; his head held high and his little eyes were full of mischief. He was a bay foal with a small star in the center of his broad, intelligent forehead. He pawed at the barn aisle as if he wanted to get back outside to play again.

"Has Princess foaled yet?" Cindy asked hopefully.

Ashleigh shook her head. "Nope, poor thing's ready to pop and she hardly moves, but I'm sure her baby will be worth the wait too."

Cindy giggled looking around the barn. "Hey what about that new mare- you know, the one who was bred to Glory last fall. How is she doing?"

"Golden Thread? She's down at the end, but she still hasn't quite warmed up to anyone yet." Sammy told her. "She's another mare that is definitely ready to foal, but I wouldn't go in with her. She just doesn't seem happy here yet."

Cindy nodded, not wanting to upset the lovely mare. So she made no move to enter the stall and the brightly copper coated mare stayed in the shadows at the rear of the stall, watching her silently. She was still a fine looking mare, like Wonder she had beautiful conformation but her eyes were distrustful. Cindy wondered if the mare simply didn't want to be pregnant. "Do you think she might be having trouble adjusting here just because she's pregnant?"

"Well," Ashleigh said "I sometimes wonder that myself. But remember the people we claimed her from told us that she never took to any of their stable hands either. They also warned us that she's kind of a vicious biter. I haven't noticed her biting anyone since we've had her, but the way she hides in the back of her stall plainly says that she doesn't trust anyone. I know everyone has tried befriending her but she just isn't interested in people. You saw her when we got her Cindy, her condition on the track was impeccable, but she just wasn't happy or friendly then either."

Cindy nodded; she remembered how excited she'd been last summer when they'd brought the pretty mare home. She remembered feeling confused though because the mare was cold and distrustful of everyone. But Cindy hadn't let it dampen her spirits because Whitebrook had claimed that mare off of the racetrack. They'd done it just for her impeccable bloodlines so that they would have another mare to breed to her horse March to Glory. Golden Thread hadn't done much on the track, but she had such amazing bloodlines that Mike and Ashleigh were sure she would cross well with Glory.

Cindy smiled proudly thinking of her grey stallion, he would have a crop of 6 foals this year between Whitebrook and Townsend Acres, and Cindy was sure that was only the beginning. Glory was going to be very much in demand for breeding. Some of his new foals would be sent to auction this year at Keenland but there was also Glory's Joy.

Cindy was sure of Glory's future success as a stallion because his first foal, Glory's Joy was finally two this year and was now in heavy training. Joy was a thrilling horse to ride because of her great speed. Like Glory, the grey filly loved to run and Cindy would soon be riding her in her first race. Joy liked to come from behind though rather than being up front.

Cindy had been especially hoping to see Glory's foal from Golden Thread. Because Glory's other foals were all born with his beautiful conformation and strength, she was dying to see what kind of foals he would sire with a higher quality mare. Cindy had spent weeks now wondering if the baby would be chestnut like its dam or a glorious grey like its sire. Either way, she was sure the foal would be beautiful and it would have incredible conformation.

"So, tell us all about Honor!" Samantha smiled.

Cindy nodded and told them about Honor's trip in the San Filipe stakes and that the filly had come out of it well. All they had to do now was keep waiting for the Santa Anita Derby. Honor was very sharp and ready to race, they just had to keep her that way.

"Well," Ashleigh smiled as they finished feeding the broodmares. "I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted. I'm going to go up to the house and look in on Christina before we have to check on our mares again."

Cindy nodded. "Sure, you go ahead. I want to stay in here for a while. I haven't said hi to Fleet Goddess or Heavenly Choir yet."

Samantha nodded, "I'll go in too. I want to see if Beth needs any help with supper. It could be a long night out here, but I'm glad you're home, sis."

Cindy beamed with pride as Samantha hugged her and then left the barn. It was still hard for her to believe she'd found such a loving, wonderful home.

Fleet Goddess was eating in the back of her stall, her sides were huge, but Cindy knew that the tall dark bay mare wasn't due for several weeks yet. Cindy giggled watching the mare tear large strands of hay from her hay net. She was really enjoying it.

Across the aisle from her, Heavenly Choir was on the very end so she'd been fed first. The dam of Glory's Joy was already dozing with her head peaking out of the stall. "Hey girl," Cindy petted the mare's broad forehead. She was in foal to Glory again this year and Cindy had a feeling that this time it would be a colt. Her new foal was due a few weeks after Fleet Goddess and she looked content.

As she turned to go up to the house she shared with Sammy and her family, Cindy heard a horse start pawing at the clay floor of its stall. It was getting dark outside and Cindy knew that most mares give birth at night. Most of the mares were eating. And the foals that had been born so far were either nursing or dozing in the straw with their dams.

Again she heard pawing and as she approached Golden Thread's stall she saw that the mare wasn't eating. The horse gave a long, low grunt of pain and Cindy's heart ached for her. The mare that already didn't like people was in pain.

"It'll be okay girl. The pain just means your baby is going to be born soon."

The mare turned at the sound of her voice and tossed her head as she looked at her distrustfully.

"I know, girl." Cindy said holding out a carrot which the mare ignored. "It hurts, doesn't it? You don't understand why, do you?"

Cindy watched the mare for a while and noted that her flanks were trembling. She was relieved when Len came in to the barn too. The old man nodded to her as he looked in on each of the other mares.

"What are we looking at in here?" He asked finally, coming to a stop beside Cindy.

She didn't have to say a word. The old man took one look at the mare and sighed. "She's got to be close. You want to stay here for a few minutes; I'm going to call Ash down here."

"Do you think she's in any trouble?"

"Well, this mare's never had a foal before so she's bound to be restless and probably scared. In this business, it is usually better to be ready just in case something unusual does happen. Just stay with her and stay calm."

Cindy nodded. She was calm; she had seen enough foals born to know that this was normal so far. She just wished that she could help the mare. Even though her career as a jockey was going well so far, she still wanted to be a vet, because she hated to see any animal in distress.

A few moments later, Golden Thread started pacing in the straw and she even turned and turned her head to nip at her left flank a few times. By the time Ashleigh and Mike arrived the mare's copper coat was dark with sweat.

Ashleigh smiled when she saw her. "Hey, you're still here, Cindy? Maybe you should go up to the house for a while; I'll call right away when something happens in there."

It had been a long flight and she was pretty tired, plus she was hungry too. She knew that it often took hours of labor for a mare to foal and she trusted Ashleigh to keep her word. She nodded and wandered out into the cool night air. It was getting cold outside so she was glad that all the mares and foals had been brought in for the night since it was still only the middle of February.

When she got to the house she was greeted first by the scent of Beth's cooking. It smelled like homemade bread and hot soup- heavenly. Kevin, her younger adoptive brother toddled up to her. He wanted to show off a blue race car he was holding. She smiled and picked him up, carrying him into the kitchen. "It really smells great in here!"

"Cindy!" Beth smiled and hugged both her and Kevin. "I'm so glad you're home! How was your trip?"

"Great! Dad says nothing to worry about in California. Honor is as ready as we can get her so it's on to the next race."

"That's great sweetie." Beth said. "I'll be glad when Ian gets home, but for now I'm just glad everything went okay for you getting back here. Sammy said that a few of the mares are going to need watched around the clock tonight so it will be a long night for her and Ashleigh. I had her go take a shower to relax for a while before supper. Maybe you should too? You look like you're anxious about the horses too."

"A little," Cindy grinned as she put Kevin down; the toddler giggled and went back to the living room and his pile of race cars. "But, I can wait until after supper. I'm starving."

Beth nodded and handed her enough plates and bowls to set the table. Cindy set the table and as she poured everyone a glass of ice water, Sammy came down the stairs in an old sweatshirt and jeans.

"Did I miss anything?" Sammy asked.

Cindy nodded, "Len thinks that Golden Thread is in labor but Ashleigh promised to call if anything happens."

Sammy frowned, "I thought for sure it would be Townsend Princess first." Then she grinned as she dipped a piece of Beth's homemade bread into her soup. "The poor girl waddles like a penguin."

Cindy giggled as everyone settled down to eat. Townsend Princess was indeed ready to foal at any moment, but that was a serious exudation. The pretty copper colored mare was as lovely and elegant as ever, she was just wider than usual.

The phone rang as Cindy and Samantha cleared the kitchen table. Beth answered it since everyone else had their hands full. Beth smiled as she hung up the phone. "You girls head on out to the barn, I'll finish up in here."

Samantha gave Beth a kiss on the cheek and headed out right away. Cindy grinned, "Okay, if you're sure."

"Yep, I'll be fine but Ashleigh needs you."

"Is anything wrong?" Cindy asked.

"It sounds like two mares are foaling at the same time, so you better hurry." Cindy nodded and rushed out to the broodmare barn.

When she got there, Sammy was already in the stall with Princess and Ashleigh. The pretty mare was lying on her side, grunting in pain.

Meanwhile, Golden Thread was pacing nervously in her stall. Her coat was still dark with sweat and she looked like she was getting more wound up by the moment. "You poor girl," Cindy sighed, looking at the restless animal.

Len joined her at the stall's door. "She's alright; she just isn't sure what's going on yet. I've seen mares wander all night like this and then you go to the tack room for some coffee for five minutes and bam, when you come back there's a foal in the stall."

Cindy grinned. She had heard such stories before from Max's mom, but mares weren't always that lucky. So she was glad to be here to keep the two mares company. Unfortunately, she had school tomorrow so she wouldn't be allowed to stick around all night.

Suddenly, Golden Thread stopped pacing and lay down in the thick straw bedding. But Cindy noticed that the mare had tried to get as far from them as she could. She was in the back corner, near her hay net and feeding tub. Len sighed as he opened the stall door. "Come on, pretty lady," the old groom said in his soft, kind voice. "Let's get you comfy somewhere else."

The mare scrambled to her feet as soon as he stepped into her stall. Her whole body shuddered with pain as her flanks continued to heave, Cindy was sure she'd never seen anything so pitiful as the way the mare dropped her head and went back to pacing the stall. "Its okay girl, Len was only trying to help. There's not enough room in the corner of your stall to have your baby."

The mare's ears flicked back, she was listening, but she still seemed nervous. Cindy noticed a cut, bleeding on the mare's right hind leg. "She cut herself."

Len nodded. "That's not surprising. She keeps trying to lie down in the corners. At this point I'm ready to let her put her head anywhere she wants to just as long as her tail is near the middle of her stall.

Cindy nodded; it was hard to watch the tired mare continue to pace knowing that she was trying to avoid them. Len walked back out of the stall to join her. Immediately the mare lay down again, this time she was near the middle of the stall.

"So far, so good," Len said. "Now let's just hope she stays there. She's been up and down a number of times tonight."

"That's it Princess." Cindy heard Ashleigh call out softly. "Keep pushing, girl. You can do it!"

Curious, Cindy walked over to the other stall and found a very tired Princess had just given birth to a pretty black filly. The new arrival was good sized and had the same star as Wonder and Princess. Samantha and Ashleigh dried the baby with a set of old towels and then they stepped out of the stall to let Princess bond with her new foal. Princess sat up and nuzzled her right away, licking the baby's small head. Then the mare stood up tiredly so that she could reach the rest of the foal's body. With the encouragement from Princess, the black filly managed to stand up on her own, and began to nurse. Princess was young, but she was a very good mother, Cindy knew. Her other foals had been cared for like this too.

Seeing how Princess tenderly cared for her foal made Cindy even more anxious for the birth of the farm's other new foal. Even the most nervous of mares were usually very attentive mothers. After all, Golden Thread wasn't really mean; she just hadn't decided this was home yet.

She went back to the stall door and was relieved that the mare was still lying down. She was glad when Ashleigh joined her there. "How's it going over here? Well at least this time she's in the middle of the stall."

Cindy agreed. "Yeah, that's a relief. But, shouldn't someone go in and check on her? She's been there for a while now."

Ashleigh sighed, "As much as I want to, this mare doesn't have the bond with any of us that Princess does. Until we know something is wrong, we need to wait out here so that she will stay calm."

Cindy nodded but felt frustrated because the mare's back was to them. Right now no one could see what was going on in the large stall.

The mare tried to get back on her feet again and Ashleigh looked worried when the mare suddenly gave up. The mare gave another grunt of pain and then twisted her head around to bite nervously at her left flank again.

Cindy looked curiously at Ashleigh. "She keeps biting at her left flank like that. Could it mean that something is wrong?"

Ashleigh looked at both Len and Sammy. "What do you think? Should we check on her?"

"I agree with Cindy," Len said quietly. "I've seen her snapping at her left side like that repeatedly tonight and it worries me."

Samantha nodded too, "I'd say check on her too."

Ashleigh let herself into the stall and this time the mare didn't move, but she eyed her warily. Ashleigh checked under the mare's tail and winced. "I'm going to need some gloves."

Samantha got the gloves and stepped only as far into the stall as she needed to. The mare gave a couple of nervous snorts, but it wasn't until Ashleigh reached inside her that the mare tried to get up.

Exhausted and frightened, the mare's eyes rolled nervously, but Ashleigh coaxed her into lying down again. This time they could see Ashleigh was reaching for the foal's left foreleg. It was bent and time was running out for the foal. If Ashleigh couldn't find it and straighten it out, the baby would die before it was born.

"That's right girl," Ashleigh said as she finally straightened out the foal's tiny leg, and with it came the foal's honey colored head and a broad white blaze. Cindy was shocked when she saw that the foal had a white forelock, mane and tail though, "You're doing great. Just push a little bit more. You're almost done, girl. I promise."

The mare looked exhausted by her ordeal, but for Cindy it was magical to see the newborn palomino foal lying in the straw. She knew that palomino thoroughbreds existed, but she'd never seen one in person before. The colt was perfect, as Ashleigh dried him off with a towel and then stepped out of the stall. Golden Thread sat up to look at the foal and nuzzled him immediately.

With a little more encouragement from the mare, the newborn colt looked at them with wide, dark eyes for a moment before he untangled his long legs and stood up to nurse.

"Wow," Cindy said, breathlessly. "I just can't believe it; he's so beautiful."

"Cool," Samantha nodded, looking over their shoulders. "What do you think, Ash? Will he stay that color?"

"I don't know, but honestly, I hope so. This just goes to show you that no matter what you think you know about horses, they can still throw a curveball every now and then."

"Yeah," Cindy giggled, "But isn't that part of the fun of breeding them?"

Ashleigh grinned back. "Yep, I guess it is."

"It's getting late, Cindy," Samantha yawned. "I hope you don't have any homework."

"I took it with me, remember? I got the rest of it all done on the plane so I could spend extra time with the horses tonight."

Samantha grinned at her proudly. "That's great, so what do you think we should call this colt?"

Cindy smiled back. "Well, I've got tons of ideas, but I want to think about it for a while and pick the best one."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ashleigh said, as they watched the mare nuzzle the colt. "He's big for a first foal. I'd say he's about 150 pounds- maybe more."

Cindy nodded, "Yeah, but that's okay right, I mean Golden Thread is way bigger than Wonder at 16.2 hands."

"You're right, for her size the foal isn't that big," Ashleigh said. "It's just that most first time mares have a smaller first foal. I hope he doesn't get so big that he gets in his own way."

Samantha laughed. "I wouldn't worry about that, He's standing straight as an arrow and he hasn't fallen down once. He's strong after having a difficult birth. He'll be a good one."

"I think he'll be the flashiest horse on the racetrack." Cindy said quietly. "Look at his blaze and the way that all four of his stockings are so tall. The way that they are mismatched so that two of them go clear over his right knee and his left hock is really pretty."

Ashleigh nodded. "Yep, a lot of people will be interested in buying him."

"I would be too," Cindy said. "I mean, if I had that much money!"

"She means the color buyers, Cindy. Horses with rare colors like this are usually sold privately to people looking for sport horses."

Cindy felt like her heart dropped straight through her stomach. "What? You're not even thinking about racing him?"

Ashleigh smiled reassuringly. "I said a lot of people will want him. I never said we'd sell him. With his Glory as his sire and his mother's family tree, I really think this colt deserves a shot at racing. But in the mean time, I better go call the vet and tell her that she has two new babies to come and look at."

Cindy nodded, and yawned. "Yeah, and there's a small cut on Golden thread's left hind leg. I'm wiped out. I better get to bed or I won't want to get up and do chores in the morning. Are you going to stay here for a while Sammy?"

Samantha nodded. "Yep, I'll stay till the new babies get their vet check up and then turn in too. It's nice when they foal early in the night like this."

Cindy checked her watch and giggled. "Early? It's 1:30 in the morning!"

"Yep and with how restless Golden Thread was acting, I was expecting to be at this until almost dawn… He really is a pretty baby; that is for sure. I think he'll end up being the barn favorite of this year's crop."

Cindy nodded, "Yep, probably. Do you really think he'll change color?"

"I hope not, but it happens sometimes. A lot of thoroughbreds are born one color and then shed out as weanlings into a different color. But his coloration is so special I hope that he keeps it too. I'm going to say hi to Princess and her filly, but I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, goodnight!" Cindy called and headed back into the house. It was really exciting to have a foal of such an unusual color on the farm but she was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.