Dexter By A Nose

By Rebecca Weinstein

Ever since Dexter was born, he has been picked on because he is a half-breed and dreams of becoming a great race horse. Everyone knows that only thoroughbreds can race, but against all odds, a kind trainer sees something in Dexter that he does not see in the other colts and trains him to race. Dexter has the speed, but can he come to terms with who he is and believe in himself enough to win?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebecca Weinstein
• Release date: Jun 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465995445

Rebecca Weinstein

R. Weinstein lives in central New Jersey with her husband, daughter and two pesky rabbits, Cream and Double Stuf. When she isn't writing, she can be found painting, cooking, or at her day job: teacher, moderator, and coach.Visit the Nashoga Fan Page on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Nashoga-Book-1-of-the-Redstone-Series/147811008613786Books on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0050WSCQWePublishing Consortium:http://epublishingconsortium.com/modules/profile/userinfo.php?uid=152

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Dexter By A Nose

by R.Weinstein

Published by

Summertime Publishing Company

on Smashwords

Copyright © R. Weinstein, 2009, 2011

All rights reserved.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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1.

Dexter was born on a late spring morning in the last stable down Sycamore Lane. The early morning sunshine poured through the stable window and warmed the shivering black colt as his mother nuzzled him. He struggled to get to his feet but fell back down.

You can do it, his mother Morning Glory encouraged him. She nudged his rump with her dark brown nose as he tried again. Dexter rose unsteadily to his feet and took a step. He took one more before his legs gave out and he fell again. After a few more tries Dexter was able to stand and walk on his own.

Later that afternoon Dexter and his mother were able to go out in the pasture. Dexter saw other colts romping in the pasture. They were laughing and playing. He heard one of them shout with glee and ran very fast.

I’m going to be just like Deft Gordon!

Dexter decided to join them and approached the three colts playing tag. They were a lot older and bigger than he was. He turned to the brown colt.

I’m Dexter.

The colts stopped playing and looked at Dexter.

I’m Flash, the best of the best, the brown colt said.

Can I play with you?

We’re not going to play with YOU, half-breed! the colt snorted. All three colts turned and ran away laughing.

Dexter was confused. He didn’t know why they didn’t want to play with him. Determined, Dexter decided to join a different group of colts who were running between their mothers’ legs. When they saw him coming, they too ran away laughing, calling him a half-breed. Dexter started to cry. He didn’t know what a half-breed was or why they wouldn’t play with one. Tears rolling down his soft black cheeks, Dexter ambled to the side of the pond. He lay down and peered in at his reflection. Dexter didn’t think he looked any different from the other colts, but he couldn’t tell for sure. His coal black coat was short and soft, just like theirs. His tail was short and fluffy, his dark eyes were bright although hidden behind his tears, he had two socks on his hind legs, and a white star on his forehead. As far as Dexter could tell, he looked no different than the other colts.

Don’t listen to them, he heard a gentle voice behind him say. Dexter jerked his head around to face the voice's owner. She was a beautiful chestnut foal, with long slender legs and a white blaze down her nose. She was older than Dexter, but not as old as the other colts.

They don’t know what they are talking about, she said as she came closer. Dexter got to his feet. He looked her up and down, and then looked again at his refection. She was slimmer than he was and her face was narrower.

What’s a half-breed? he asked her timidly.

Nothing, don’t let them get to you. I’m Claire. Want to play?

Dexter and Claire played tag long into the afternoon, until the sun dipped low on the horizon and its golden rays turned orange. Claire’s mother whinnied for her to go to their stable, and Dexter’s mother whinnied too.

Claire looked in the direction of her stable. I have to go, Dexter. I had a lot of fun.

I did too. See you tomorrow?

Sure, Claire called back over her shoulder as she trotted off.

Dexter joined his mother back at their stable. There was already a bucket of oats and barley waiting in the trough for his mother. Dexter looked up at his mother and lay down quietly.

What’s the matter Dexter? Aren't you hungry? she asked between bites.

Dexter thought for a moment, turning his head this way and that. Then he narrowed his eyes, thinking. What’s a half-breed?

Who taught you those words? Morning Glory looked at him sternly.

The other colts called me a half-breed and said they wouldn’t play with me. Dexter began to cry again. Claire said to ignore them, but how can I? What is a half-breed, Mama?

Sweetheart, it’s nothing bad. All of the other colts have mothers and fathers who are both thoroughbreds, Morning Glory said.

What are you? he asked her. He had stopped crying now.

I’m a thoroughbred too, she said.

That makes me one too! Dexter whinnied with joy as he leaped to his feet.

No, Dexter. Your father wasn’t a thoroughbred. The owners had wanted your father to be Front Runner, the most magnificent racing horse in the state.

What happened?

I didn’t think he was so magnificent. His mother chuckled. No, I was in love with someone else. Your father was Sayed, the finest show jumper in the neighboring stable. He would often hang his head over the fence and watch me as I ran in the pasture. I fell in love with him, and he fell in love with me.

Where is he? Does that make me, a half-breed? Dexter asked.

So many questions, Dexter! His mother sighed. He broke through the fence one day and came to see me after I had rejected Front Runner. The owners of our stable and his stable found out, and they sent him away. I haven’t seen him again. Dexter’s mother looked sad, so Dexter nuzzled her nose with his own nose. That makes you half thoroughbred and half Arabian, and completely handsome. You look very much like your father.

Dexter smiled. It had been a long first day, and he was tired and hungry. Yawning, he lay down in the soft hay. His mother lay down beside him to let him nurse before his heavy eyelids drooped to a close.

* * * *

The summer came and went, and Dexter grew and grew. He weaned from his mother’s milk and began to eat oats and barley along with his mother. Dexter grew strong and lean, but still wasn’t the same as the other colts. He ran and played tag in the pasture with Claire, his only friend. The colts still would not play with him. Instead, the other colts ran and played tag, and trained for the day that they would be picked to become racers.

Autumn came and the leaves fell from the trees. The winds started to turn colder. Soon the snows came. Dexter’s coat had become thick and coarse and protected him from the winter wind. His short fluffy stub of a tail had filled