Personal Narrative Essay: The Louisiana Champions Day Derby

“A horse can do anything you train it to do”, my dad used to say; indeed, it’s true. I had been training racing horses for a while now, but this horse and this race was something different. My horse suffered from a small ankle injury and was due to race in 3 weeks. To prepare him for this race, I took him to the vet to get checked, I fed and trained him every day and finally the day of the race, I put all my trust in him and waited for the outcome.

Shatto Stoli, a five-thousand-dollar horse claim whom no one thought was capable of ever winning the Louisiana Champions Day Derby. For the most part, it was just me and my brother who had faith in this horse. There was an issue though, he had previously injured his right ankle in his last race. “Maybe that’s why my dad doesn’t believe in him”, I thought to myself. On a cold Monday morning I took Shatto to the veterinarian to get examined to find out what was going on with his ankle. The vet looked at me and said in a deep tone, “Well it seems like his ankle is a bit swollen, I say just ice it a bit and be gentle with it.” Making a shocked facial expression, I told him thanks and shook his hand. Thankfully, it wasn’t a major injury, but I

questioned myself “How in the world am I going to be gentle if the race is almost here?” As I put all my thoughts together I came up with a plan.
The Louisiana Champions Day Derby was getting closer by the minute.

Although, Shatto Stoli’s ankle wasn’t as swollen anymore, I had to train him in a more tender way. Every day starting at 6 in the morning and at 6 in the evening I fed him and made sure he was well hydrated. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I trained him. Usually, I would take him to the back of the ranch and ride him myself, but since he was slightly injured I went slow on him and put him in the walker instead. For two weeks, I kept him in the walker. Surprisingly, Shatto Stoli’s ankle was looking way better so I decided to take him for a ride to the back. As I rode him, I said thought to myself “Oh man! Oh man! This horse is ready!” He was riding so smooth and clean I was certain he had a shot at winning first

place.
Finally, the Louisiana Champions Day Derby got here. We got everything settled and brought Shatto Stoli to his horse stable. When the clock hit 1 P.M, it was go time. “20 minutes till post time” the announcer hollered. Everyone was nervous, including me. As I put the final touch on Shatto Stoli; the blinkers, I whispered to him “No more training wheels big boy this is all you!” They took the horse and the jockey hopped on. They then made their way to the gates. As they got closer to the gates my nerves were eating me inside. They reached the gates and the announcer yelled, “They are in the gates”. Took one blink and they were off! Shatto Stoli was running like lighting. I kept screaming “Come on boy! Come on boy!” The announcer then shouted “Shatto Stoli! Shatto Stoli! Shatto Stoli has won the race!”
We jumped up and down, it was so unreal. For the first time ever, we had won a Derby! I was so proud to know all my training had pay off. Through the doubts and frustration, I managed to resolve the issue and could not be any more ecstatic. That day I got to bring home a first-place trophy and one heck of a horse!