[AusRace] Blue, a blue and The Bluey

[Tony Moffat]

The subject is a little glib, but plausible

When I was very young, 4, I went to the races with Dad. It was during
the week and Mum didn't go because of the other kids at school.

The race track was dusty, well dusty out the back, over the far side
from where I was, on the seat in the grandstand but I remember the
last bit, the end of the race was on grass, thick long grass. There
were quite a few races and some of the runners went racing in 2 or
more races. I think it was a Picnic meeting, meaning a social
gathering as well as racing, people and horses, people and beer more
like it.

I had food, I had a sandwich and some fruit in my school bag, although
I was not at school yet but I was prepared. I had shorts and buckle up
shoes on. Dad put me in the stands and I was sort of under the power
of a woman there, with a short dress and a big hat and I kept telling
her my name and no matter she kept calling me handsome.

She said she had children but they weren't there this day, in fact, it
was pretty much childless. There were a few, some friendly girls who
made a cubby house out of straw bales and a few boys, who looked like
their Dads, a hat, a rodeo shirt, a tie, riding pants, riding boots,
and strange looks. I thought they were cowboys, the enemy of Indians
you know, and I was wondering where their holsters were.

There was a fight, a blue they called it later, well whatever it was,
two, then three, then eight, then a lot of men were fighting,
shouting, throwing punches, and a man or two or more were on the
ground, sleeping still it looked to me. Anyway, during this, or
shortly after Dad came up to the grandstand and found me and took me
over the other side, down the stairs and we looked at the horses. The
fight seemed to go on because of the noise I heard and Dad said look
at the horses. Anyway, after a bit some people left, drove like really
fast out of the place in their big cars and the racing went on.

Those horses looked disinterested, most of them seemed to be saddled
up and Dad was waiting for Blue to run, I think it was a horse owned
by a friend, the farmer he ploughed for, he was saddled up and liked
been tickled on the face. Blue didn't run, the fight, whatever it was,
had caused a problem and they skipped a race maybe. It seems the
people who had driven off had come back too, there was more of them,
and there was an argument but no punches, which made it a blue I was
told. Did they go and get guns, that was the talk I heard, what were
they going to shoot and I was staying in the stands high up to watch
that I can tell you. No shots were heard though, no guns were seen,
perhaps they had revolvers, hidden in their pockets or something, Dad
was with me and the racing went on.

Blue did run and he won, yellow and black shirt, and he won by a lot.
He was flavoured Dad said, yeah flavoured then he told a man he was
favourite, what a conversation, a favourite flavoured, I could have
asked for an explanation, I often did when I heard words I did not
associate with the vision, but not this time. I told my sister that
Blue was flavoured when he won and she said go away, see I learnt a
word today.

The fighters, the ones that had left and come back, may have let down
some tyres, they looked like they had been knifed really. I guess a
tyre doesn't punch back.

Any way we came home in Blue truck, with two others his owner had
bought, drinking beer from big bottles, brown ones, it's very thirsty
work, racing.

I had so much food, a sandwich half when I got there, an egg one which
I like, then a meat patty, then a banana, the other half of my
sandwich while watching the fighting and hoping for some shooting, and
at least a half of Dads pie on the way home, I started and finished it
and he had the middle piece. Then they said, the men in the truck,
there were 5 in the cab, and me, they said that pies are made from
horses, slow horses, well they taste nice was my only comment, and
they must have eaten onions too. Everybody but Dad had money, and look
I think he did too he just didn't skite that much. What he did have
was all the money, he counted everything as the day went on, wrapped
the coins, straightened the notes and folded them in bundles of ten,
counted with a man who looked like a cowboy that I told you about,
checked and agreed on the total amount then put that in a bag, locked
it and had a drink, beer, because he was thirsty I guess.

I kept finding half pennies, pennies and three pence, and I could see
some more in the cracks of the floor, underneath us, a house of gold.

We got to the Bank at home and Dad met the man there and they went in
and came straight back, they left the money bag in the strongroom he
said, then we went and unloaded the horses, walked Blue down the ramp
and gave him, or her or it a drink and some more oats, but it or him
or her was full like me and ate nothing and went to sleep as soon as
he got into his stall, as did I as soon as I got into my bed.

Shame there was no shooting, that would have been a good day and
something to write about. I told my sisters about the fight and it was
about football, some teams against the players of another team, the
players and their supporters which may have been their Dads. They lost
as I saw it.

The Police began to ask questions, and they spoke to Dad. They didn't
speak to me and I had the best seat of anybody. Mum and Dad and me
talked about it, the races, at breakfast while the kids listened in.
It was quite a topic for a few days, a man had been hurt, and I could
say that Dad was there with me all the time, looking on, down and out,
at the melee. I have seen worse at the football, either at the bar or
on the field before half time. Mum accepted that, the fight at the
races scenario, it wasn't the most dangerous place in the world after
all, really, if it was only football players fighting, well, you get a
bit of that, right, makes you laugh.

The first ride I had on a horse was Blue, his or her or its stable
name, I was led around while sitting on, it (or him or her) was
enormous, wide and long with a long neck and two ears and a grey mane.
Later, when everybody had had a few drinks, I was able to ride Blue by
myself, with reins and a saddle, and the stirrups let down a little.
We walked a fair way, that big gentle horse and me, during the late
afternoon and early evening. I was a long way from the house when I
realised it was darkening, I was aware of the lights on in the house
but it was off in the distance. I recall my big sister coming across
the grassy paddock, skipping kind of, her plaits swinging and coming
up to me, saying found ya and staying a respectable radius away from
Blue. We talked like we always do, important stuff as I was a full
quid on horse riding and she wanted me to do something for her
tomorrow, go for a ride on our bikes to a boys house or some such.
Blue walked straight to his stall and I used the rail there to climb
down. I didn't tie him up, I didn't know to tie him up, and I went and
got the man and he came straight down and unsaddled and took the
bridle off then showed me what to feed him, three cups of this, 5 cups
of  that, some pollard some wheat, mix it with your hands, and he gave
Blue a hug and a love, he liked that big horse, I think he liked all
his animals, the cows and the bulls and the thousands of sheep maybe.
I think he would like them all, he seemed to be that kind of man. I
asked if they had names, then laughed at myself for saying it. That
was probably it, horseridingwise, for me. I did have an episode with a
sulky that I will tell you about sometime. I stayed talking to Blue
for a while, patting it, its head and neck and chest and side. It
shivered like horses do, the skin and muscles move locally when you
touch them. If you stopped patting, it turned its head down as an
indication of don't stop so you didn't. Blue was often in the house
paddock when Dad and I went to talk to its owner, to drink beer
principally, and I walked out into the paddock and looked then spotted
him, and his friends, often in the distance but they saw me and he
walked up expecting a pat always, the last couple of hundred yards he
trotted or cantered, I don't know which, to close the gap to me, well
there might be a treat perhaps. I was asked, told, not to feed him
anything, he was a racehorse in training, and in that he would get
stirred up, be aggressive somebody said, but he didn't appear that way
with me, I had no special powers or anything, I think Blue was just a
tame horse, the same with everybody, who needed a playful kid to
administer a few pats, three times daily.

I've never had a pet, just as well, because I would love it to death
perhaps. I have looked after them, pets, as a favour and I refused
payment, money for the privilege. Hannas went off to have his palate
fixed and he asked, and his stand in Mum asked my Mum, if I would look
after his pets, the birds, and his dogs. I said yes, but I think the
first morning the dog, a Lab, had pups, surprise, little blind
whimpering pups and the mother turned into a raging maniac, growling
and nipping at me. I persevered and she came good in a week or less,
and the pups became mobile and rather than one pile of poop there were
8. It was quite a few weeks, nearly three months, morning and
afternoon and evening, although Hannas sisters took over at the end,
they had been in Greece after Christmas. I cleaned everything up in
the afternoon, then lay on the clean floor and paper and rug, and got
swamped by a puppy stampede, wriggling, licking, loving blanket of pup
who all wanted some love applied. The mother looked on as I got
licked. The other dogs, two of them, were kept away, Dad said the
Bluey would eat the Pups, being half wild dog and all. The Bluey just
wanted a pat and some interaction, some food, a pat, a walk a pat a
drink a pat a last love and he was ok. Not a cannibal at all. The
other dog, the third one was similar, a Jack Russell, an old one, he
lived for food and comfort and company. It was a month of fun, of hair
adhering to everything, of cooking meat and vegies, of puppy food
which is more expensive than popcorn, and that is expensive but good
fun, amongst the other busy schedule of work and friends.

There was a break in at the house one day, between my visits, I could
see the louvres missing from the rear veranda room, which did allow
you access to the house, and his bike and some tools were in there. We
told the Police and the Bluey went mental when the policeman came to
look and make a report.  Later, when I was cleaning up, and near the
back fence I found a piece of material, it was a shirt sleeve, part of
the back and the sleeve of a shirt. It had tear marks in it, it was
torn. I wondered if Bluey had been doing his job, protecting and saw
off the burglar. I told the Police and they told the hospital, and the
Doctor and the Mission nurse and from that they caught the man
concerned when he came in with dog bites on himself. They knew who it
might be, and the festering dog bites made it easier.  All good. The
puppies grew exponentially, they sort of doubled their dimension
weekly and Hannas could not come home soon enough.  He did though,
fixed, and I was offered my pick of the litter. I said no. I would get
too attached to it and would love it to death, I couldn't let them
part the litter yet anyway, I would have liked the Bluey to tell you
the truth. He was great, in a remote sort of way, it was as if you
smelt bad or something, he took all the attention, the walk, the pat,
then stayed just long enough for that to finish then he went and lay
under the hedge, near the found clothing and watched, and watched, and
waited.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 

 



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