SUMMER... and a whole new life (Part 33a)

PROLOGUE: I’m going to try a explain, as simply as I can, what my almost daily life was like that Summer. This way, when I tell about the interesting (and topical) parts of my Summer it might make more sense.

I was working for my grandfather’s horse trainer, A.J. To start, I was to take care of two race horses. The title for the job was “groom”. In essence, I was a caretaker. My day was from 5:30 am to as late as 1:30am the next morning, depending on weather one of my horses raced in the last race of the night. A.J. had about 20 horses in his stable. The barns at the track had 24 stalls and four “tack” rooms which were used as sleeping quarters for the grooms. A.J. used “colored” help. (Remember, this was 1957) They ranged in age from 70+ down to 20 something and most had been with him for years. I decided right from the start that I was going to live right with them. A.J.’s long time employee, Ed, who was around 30 years old, took me under his wing. I lived in the same room with him, Pop (70+) and George (20 something). I don’t know why but it worked.

A daily routine was to start by feeding the horses around 5:30am Then I had to muck out my two stalls. If one of my horses was to be trained on that day I had to “jog” the other one about 3 miles slowly around the racetrack the “wrong way“, wash and clean him (or her) up. Then I’d prepare the other one for usually 4 trips at increasingly faster times around the track (the right way) at intervals of about 45 minutes apart. When that was done (around noon) I’d wash and ”cool out” the horse by giving him water and walking him slowly around the immediate barn area for about an hour. Then I had to curry his hair and massage and bandage his legs before feeding him his noon meal. Then I had to clean all the equipment up and put it away. It was usually around 2pm by the time I would finish. Next was to get lunch at the “cook house” and try to get a few minutes of sleep, especially if you had to go to the track with a horse that was racing that night. A horse in the first race meant you started getting ready around 4:30pm. If your horse was in the last race you would start around 7:30pm and be done around 1:30am only to start all over again 4 hours later.

If neither of your horses was racing you could be asked to go to the “paddock” (where the hoses are staged before they race) to help one of the other grooms. That was a good deal because the “helper” got paid and the other didn’t. I looked forward to being asked. But, after about 5 weeks or so I was “promoted” in that I was now helping to warm up the horses that were racing. That meant I would get to go the “right way” around the track for either one or two of the three times the horses would warm up (or “practice”, like some of the owners would call it). It was exciting but it meant about $30 a week less for me. I would go out onto the racetrack and in front of all the bettors, go a couple of slow miles (about 45 minutes apart). When I did that I was living a fantasy. When I was finishing up I would imagine that I was crossing the finish line of an actual race.

A.J. had used Ed to help him for years and now I was being trained for that job. Ed, surprisingly, had no problem whatsoever with that. That’s what made our friendship so special. One of those jobs was to actually fill out the entry blanks for the horses that A.J. wanted to race. I’d run up to the track office before the daily deadline. I was a “new face“ and everybody wanted to know who I was. One of the first people I met was someone I’d seen around the Administration office at college. Pete was a full time employee at the school but was also the publicity director at the track during the Summer. We struck up a friendship right away. Every day, around 10:30am, after going up to the office I’d stop and say ”Hi“ to Pete. He proved to be a valuable friend.

The owners liked to have pictures of their horses, especially those taken during a race. Ordering them was time consuming and A.J. hated to waste the time doing it even though it was a necessary evil. I was a willing puppet. The track photographer was a gruff Canadian with a definite French accent. He went by the name of ”Red“ as, at one time, he had a crop of bright red hair. Red and I did not kick it off on the right foot. I guess it was because I was new to the business and hadn’t ”paid my dues“. In any case, that was a part of my job I did not relish.

It would be pointless to try and write about this Summer using a ”time line“ like I have been doing. I was far to busy to be able to try and remember what came first, second, etc. So what I’m going to do is to list five females that played a role in making it a very memorable Summer for me. Of course, there was Elle and also Joanne who you’ve already met. But the three others were Patricia (Pat), Alida and Tricia. I’ll write it so that each will be ”featured“ in a separate part.

To be continued...