The cloud floated along the afternoon sky revealing the yellow sun that brightened the Himalaya Race. Standing on his position DJ sniffed the air and grit his teeth. He looked at Milo, the black Thoroughbred horse to his left. On his first day in the stable, he had seen Milo lean against a fence while three horses were surrounding him, like kids before their idol. Karthik, the stable owner, had displayed a chart outside the main gate. It included rates for riding the horse for an hour. DJ was third with 150 rupees per hour while Milo was 2000.
DJ heard a man’s voice through the mike. He turned his head and saw the man stand behind the boundary of the race course. The man raised a gun to the air, DJ bent his hind legs. The man pulled the trigger and within seconds a cloud of brown soil rose from the ground, the stampede sounded like drums that proceeded along the course’s circular circuit.
DJ’s left hind leg began to hurt. The wound that had occurred three weeks ago hadn’t completely healed. A college girl had swung a rod across his leg so her friends could take a photo of her commanding a horse. Each time his foot pressed the ground, it felt like a crack spreading on marble with increasing intensity. DJ cursed the girl and raced the Arabian horse to his left. He was inches away from Milo. He saw the finish line of first lap. He remembered the price difference. He took longer strides, felt the pressure of ground against his feet. He leaned his neck as far as it would allow. He wanted to stretch his front legs, like claws reaching for the chart.
Milo steered right, DJ’s head collided with Milo’s belly, throwing both off the boundary line into the audience seats. DJ tried to get up. Something felt sour in his mouth, he rolled his tongue then spat the distasteful blob away, creating a blood stain on the ground.
The stain was snapped in the newspaper. A cartoon of DJ’s photo was in the front page with two horns, a dark red cape and a burning trident in the right arm. Above it the headlines read, 'The horse who tried to kill Milo...' It was followed by an article from a vet who talked about the emotional scars horses receive due to ill treatment from pet owners, commercialization and threat from peers.
Milo was hospitalized for a week. When he returned, his charge on the stable's chart was increased to 4000. Beside it was written, ‘Only for see, Your Star Horse is unable to ride for a year.’
A couple with twin boys went to visit DJ. The boys looked at each other, nodded then threw a tomato on his face. Filled with guilt, DJ left the stable. That was the last of DJ's racing career...