Moscow. Autumn 1993.
The beginning of autumn pleased with the warmth and nice weather, there was a heartbreaking sense in the air that the summer was over, and the warmth ahead would be replaced by cold days and dank winds. Why do we feel autumn? We feel the completion of one and the beginning of another. It hangs in the air and fills us with a strange sadness about the past summer, the warmth, the sun and the forthcoming wilting of nature. When it first pleases us with all the riot of colors from dazzling gold to fiery red, and then it all turns into withered gray-brown leaves under our feet...
***
The horse slowly walked around the circle of the parade ground. His horsewoman uncertainly kept in the saddle, swaying from side to side, and giving anxious looks at the coach. Raisa Petrovna, a plump short woman of about forty, stood in the center of the parade ground and with an indifferent tired face contemplated the change of riders on horseback one after another. Today it has already been the second hour in a row when she was standing there and seemed to be responsible for the training process of those who had come to her to comprehend the basics of riding. The day was sunny and warm; the beginning of autumn pleased with the lack of rain and such clear weather when you wanted to be outside so much.
“That's why the horse rental is on a streak,” she thought wearily to herself, knowing that as soon as it got colder and started pouring rain, the number of people willing to learn to ride would drop sharply.
Under the unsure horsewoman, there was a horse named Vasily, or rather his name was tricky - Vernissage, but this used to be when he was in sports, and when he was written off from there for hire, the name Vasily for his wisdom and calm temper stuck to him. But he was calm only without a rider, but under the rider, he really showed his wisdom with life. Vasily knew exactly how to help down a novice rider to scare him and discourage any desire to climb on a horse again, and then he calmly went to his stall, chewed hay there instead of riding a person for an hour in a circle.
The wise Vasily did such things only with inexperienced horsemen. He didn’t do anything illegal under those who confidently held him, but on the contrary, he was attentive and sensitive to any commands of the rider. Because, thanks to his great life experience, he knew that a proficient rider could punch for bad behavior. Although, of course, Vasily did not feel blows with a whip on his fat, fatted pope, the rider could make him move actively for an hour, and even perform all sorts of elements. And then Vasily knew that three pounds of tension sweat would come off him until the moment when his legal hour of work was over. Therefore, he immediately, as soon as the person approached him and sat in the saddle, estimated the rider and knew exactly what he would do - fulfill all the requirements of the person, if he was experienced in riding, or try to throw him to the ground. And now Basil knew that the rider on him was very weak. This he felt like he was sitting in the saddle, by the way, he was swinging at his every step. He also felt a person’s fear, and this was the surest sign that a man was afraid of him. Basil, on the second round of the parade, understood everything and developed a plan of action for himself.
Reaching the corner of the parade ground, he portrayed fear, he always did it very well. He stopped abruptly, crouched on his hind legs, backed away, enjoying the moment that the little girl on him frantically grabbed his mane, not knowing what to do. And then abruptly turned around and rushed from the corner of the parade ground, as if there were monsters that were still chasing him. At the same time, he did not just run quickly, but very quickly and with his hind legs, he also fought back from pursuing him like monsters. Vasily actively bucked and accelerated his run, hearing the squeak of a girl who had long since lost stirrups from the horror of what was happening, and the cause was hanging in her hands with useless ropes. It was clear that Vasily had already lost his rider on the second kick. The girl just flew to the side and hit hard on the sand.
For credibility, Basil made five laps on the parade-ground at a rather high speed to assure everyone that he was really being pursued by these invisible to anyone monsters. Moreover, his spectacular rescue was supported by three more horses, who decided, just in case, to run after him, who knows what might happen. Their riders fell on the sand in the course of this race, too. Chaos reigned, and only the sonorous voice of Raisa Petrovna stopped this entire orgy.
Vasily immediately stopped and took the appearance of an innocent lamb, who did not understand at all what had happened and why his rider was not on him, but, sobbing, she went to parents running to her. They had been standing behind the fence all this time and watching with horror.
Raisa Petrovna deftly caught one of the horses running past her; the others surrendered themselves to the girls who came running to the aid of the coach from the stable. The horsemen who fell down decided to return to the saddle, except for the girl sitting on Vasily. The coach had already understood everything and decided not to insist, seeing that the little girl was wiping away tears and was shaking from fright. Obviously, her passion for equestrian sports was over.
"Where is Alexey?" Raisa Petrovna asked one of the girls from the stable who helped the fallen rider back into the saddle.
Without replying, she turned around and screamed at the full power of her lungs.
" Lyokha! Go here! Raisa Petrovna is calling you!"
“Hush, you’ll scare off all the horses,” Raisa Petrovna shushed at her and saw Alexey, who quickly crawled under the fence of the parade ground and had already known why the coach called him.
"Take Vasya and work it out so he does not make a fool anymore. In the evening he still has a rental.
Lyosha nodded knowingly. He went to Vasily who was quietly standing in the corner of the parade ground, right in the same corner where those monsters were supposedly hiding, but now, without a rider from above, the monsters were no longer relevant, and therefore Vasily calmly contemplated the autumn nature in this place. He saw Lyosha going to him, and he understood his fate. Although, he was glad that he had been given up for his upbringing to Alexey. It was better than those girls, who smoked, cursed, and could ride fast if the coach did not see. But Lesha never smoked, did not curse and did not raise his voice to him, and never forced him to go beyond the fact that he was not allowed by his health, which was already shaky after sport.
“Vasya, why are you naughty,” Alyosha said quietly, taking him for reins and taking him off the parade ground, “scared the girl, but she could fall and break herself for something. Why did you do this to her? ”
Vasily just sighed and obediently followed Alexey, realizing that the words were right, but knowing that he could do nothing with himself and would do the same with the next person willing to ride him again. And now, with a view of the obedient donkey, he walked after Lyokha, who, taking him off the parade-ground, quickly jumped into the saddle and directed him to the race circle. Vasily knew that now they, going into this circle, would make a good gallop on it, so to speak, make him “let off steam”. And only then the horse would not play pranks under weak riders.
Lesha felt the views the girls sitting on horses, and that tear-stained girl, because in their eyes he was a hero, after he boldly sat down on such an obstinate horse, in their opinion. He was pleased to feel these views on himself. To see how the girls were gazing admiringly at him and then hid their eyes in embarrassment when he looked at them from the saddle of the quiet Basil. Well, he confusedly cast his eyes down by himself. In general, he always looked at the girls timidly, and as soon as they felt his eyes on him, he immediately turned away, embarrassed and not knowing how to proceed further. At sixteen, he suddenly realized that he began to perceive girls somehow differently. Previously, he did not pay attention to them, and what normal guy would keep company with the girl? Another thing was his friend Genka and their company, as his grandmother said - blockheads. It was interesting to them. And he could not even imagine that someday he would like to have a kind of girl’s attention. Although he had never understood what for. But he was pleased when they admired him so much.
Riding along the asphalt to the race circle and listening to the clatter of the horse's hoofs under him, he distracted himself from the thoughts about the girls and the strange feeling inside himself that arose from these thoughts and turned his attention to Vasily.
"Vasya, maybe something hurts you?" Lesha gently put his hand on his neck. “Tell me, if that is so ... then I will not drive, I will talk to Raisa ... she will put you to rest for a couple of days, you will be relieved of your work.”
Vasily again sighed, realizing that he had nothing to answer, but when he saw the flat space of the racing circle ahead, he wanted to feel the freedom of flight and began nervously dancing on his feet. By this, he gave a hint to his rider that he didn’t hurt anything at all, he just really wanted to run forward, inhaling this fresh autumn air into his lungs.
“Oh, Vasily,” Lyosha felt a horse’s impatience under him, “well, you asked for it yourself ...”
Alexey got up on the stirrups, putting emphasis on the knee, and released rein just enough for the horse to feel what was possible ... and Vasily, realizing this, pulled from the spot. They flew, and only the sand flew out from under the hooves, and the sun blinded eyes with its glare. And there was the air of intoxicating freedom. They breathed it together, the rider and the horse, and they were happy, flying above the ground, gaining wings...
Then, already walking, Vasily tried to recover his breath after such a jump and listened to what Lyosha said to him. He knew that Alyosha loved to talk with him, and he always listened attentively to him, he was interested in everything that he told. Basil wiggled his ears and occasionally snorted as if saying Lyokha to continue as he was listening to him.
"You know, Vasya, I'm going to the competition tomorrow. I will jump on Tokha. At first, there will be a meter route and then meter twenty. Petrovich gave the go-ahead, and I will go two routes, the main thing is not to screw it up." Alexey thoughtfully stroked his horse's neck.
Vasily sighed, understanding his anxiety. He himself used to jump and not only the meter, but he also jumped a hundred and sixty, that time he was trouble free, and those who sat on him wanted to win, and he brought them medals, and then his legs began to swell and ache ... And then the doctors came to the conclusion that an excessive load on the joints led to irreversible consequences and he was written off for hire. Well, it was good that not for the sausage... he knew the fate of those who couldn’t be in the sport anymore ... He was lucky, and now he is riding beginners on his back and sometimes plays tricks, remembering his past and that he used to be a champion, and they all admired, but now he is just a hired nag, as Petrovich said about him. Probably, only Lyokha with his bright soul treated him so kindly. That's why he loved him, and he never allowed himself to bump under him or to behave badly with him. After all, he knew that Lyoshka came to the stable despite the fact that he needed to run home to do homework, the boy would deal with him. He would unsaddle him, take him to the sink, wash away the dirt from him, then rub his sore feet with various odorous ointments and bandage on soft padded jackets with bandages. And only then he would put him in the stall and would also check if there was hay there, and the boy would treat him with carrots by pulling it out of the fodder.
***
After such an active day, spent first at school, and then at the stable, Lyoshka was dozing on the suburban electric train, which was travelling towards his home station Workers' Settlement. From Begovaya to his house, he had to travel for about twenty minutes. He usually spent this time doing homework, but now he was sleepy. There were few people in the train, only those unfortunate poor fellows who were late, and now, sleepy, were sitting on shabby benches, between which there were litter and bottles. The next noisy company went through their carriage, looking for people to find fault in order to get cigarettes or just have fun with the squabbles, feeling their strength in the pack, since there were eight of them.
Passing the sleeping Alexey, they glanced at him but nevertheless passed by. They often saw this strange boy, always sitting with textbooks, and had already got used to him. And the sight of this puny poorly dressed boy suggested that he had nothing to take away, except for a pair of notebooks, in which he always wrote something, but now he was asleep, and the copybook, so touching and defenselessly opened, lay on his lap.
Aleksey almost overslept his station and at the last moment jumped onto the platform, at that time it was deserted, and only the breeze chased the garbage, which fell out of the overturned trash bin, across the asphalt. His house was near the railway station.
On the street, at this time there were no passersby. In their troubled area, citizens tried to get into their homes earlier and not to leave the house late, in order to avoid various unpleasant situations. But Lesha was thinking about tomorrow's competitions, and therefore did not see anything. He walked along a dark, dimly lit street, thinking of Tokha and the route of the competition, which he would take, overcoming obstacles. And the way he would turn his horse on the next barrier and, having let him down the center, squeeze him with twisters, giving him a hint that it was time to jump ... and Tokha, feeling Alyosha’s legs clutching his sides, would take off the ground and jump over the obstacle...
Alyosha opened the creaky door of his porch, a sharp smell of cat urine and the stuffiness of the room immediately hit his nose. The house was old, a typical four-story building, and it smelled of oldness and cats, but it was the smell of his house, which he remembered from childhood and which became native. So, the house, in which he lived, smelled. Passing almost by touch to his third floor, as the light bulb on all floors was only one, and even that was dim, and the rest were always smashed or the drinking neighbors from the second floor unscrewed them and sold, thus adding to their budget. Finally, when he reached his door, he groped the apartment key in his jacket pocket and was delighted that he had got into the lock on the first try, despite the fact that nothing was visible. Quietly, he turned the key and tried to open the door just as quietly, but it treacherously creaked...
He came home already in the first hour of the night. Grandmother, as always, did not sleep, waiting for his return.
"Lyosha, well, why are you so late?" Varvara Petrovna, sternly glancing at him, went to the kitchen to warm up his borsch and the second course — all these are your horses ... because of them, you are hanging around at this stable.
"Grandma, do not swear. I'm going to the competition tomorrow! Tokha ... Badminton was given to me. Imagine, I'll jump on it! " Alyosha hastily washed his hands, inhaling the smell of heated borscht with his nostrils. For the whole day, he only ate a scanty school breakfast at school, and at the stable, thick Mashka shared cooked pasta with him, and since he arrived late, the pasta was left literally at the bottom of the pan.
"Be careful with these
horses... I worry about you..."
"Don't worry." Lyosha hugged his grandmother, knowing that even though she said all in a stern voice, she was really worried about him. Indeed, after his mother left abroad with her Finn, they were left alone. Alone ...
"Eat slowly and chew!" Varvara Petrovna grumbled, seeing how her grandson attacked to the food. " And when will you have your long disheveled locks of hair cut?"
Varvara Petrovna watched Leshka greedily swallowing hot borsch and putting away hindering straight light-blond hair strands from his face, which he constantly put behind his ears. And now, after he took off his hat, they lay in chaos on his head. After three months of summer, he hadn’t cut them.
"Granny, but I drag them into the tail with a rubber band and hide it under my cap, whom they disturb?"
“It's at your stable, you may go like that, but what about school? Do the teachers say nothing?"
"They say ... " Alexei remembered another reprimand from the class teacher for his, as she put it, indecent look. "It’s more convenient for me; I don’t want to cut it, otherwise every time I have to spend money on a hairdresser..."
Swallowing another spoonful of borscht and feeling it burning, but such an unearthly taste, Lyosha answered, again removing a strand of hair that fell out from behind the ear.
"Yes, your mother completely forgot about us with her Finn ... oh Lizka, dissolute ... she left such a son ... and I only have a pension and a part-time job ... and that is not very moneyed. If only she had sent the money..."
"Grandma, do not swear at her. She said that her husband was strict, he counted every penny. That's why she can't help us." Lyosha knew that there, in a far abroad, his mother lived poorly, and he understood why she could not help them with money ... and it was not necessary. Did not they have enough? So what if all his clothes were small for him long ago, since over the past year he had grown, and he didn’t want to cut his hair, not because of some fashion trends, but simply because it cost money. Yes, and it was more convenient for him to pull them off with a rubber band and put a cap on top, pushing this tail into the cap slot at the back. But on the run the cap, thanks to it, kept like a glove and did not fly from him.
"After all, tomorrow at the competitions you need to look like an athlete," Varvara Petrovna set a plate with a chop and potatoes in front of him."You don’t even have a form ..."
"Don't worry about it. Nastya gives me white breeches for starts, Sonya - a jacket, though it is too big, but it isn't anything, I’ve asked Masha for the boots, and the helmet is communal in the stable. Well, I have my own white shirt under a jacket ... a school one...." Alexey timidly glanced at his grandmother, realizing that he had let out that he planned not to put his only white dress shirt on to his school. But his grandmother enthusiastically picked something up in an empty refrigerator, and, probably, did not focus on this. Lyosha quickly continued. "So, I will look like a real athlete ... it's a pity that you will not be able to see how I will jump..."
"I have work tomorrow ... I'm going to Isabella, I need to clean her apartment ... Here people buy an apartment of five rooms, but to clean by themselves they are too lazy. Now she is cool, she calls herself Isabella, and before she was a Zinka from a greengrocer's until she met her thug, this enforcer ... Oh, she began to live wrong ... they have bad money now ... oh bad." Grandmother finally closed the refrigerator which grunted loudly and shook, showing that his age was nearing the end, but he would still hold out for, but how long... "I will pray for you ... for your bright soul." Varvara Petrovna brushed away a tear and kissed Lyoshka on the top of his head.
He frowned, but continued to eat, realizing how hard everything was in their lives ... This year was very hard for them. Alyosha understood everything, but he could not leave the horses, they were his life, the salt of life. Otherwise, what for them to live... he did not know. And now he knew that he had to study at school that year in order to finish it, and then ... although he did not know what to do next. No, he did. He knew that he had to go to the army, he knew that it was his duty, and he would go there. Only he did not want to be sent to a flashpoint. One of the boys from his yard was sent to serve in Abkhazia, and after three months he was buried ... Lyosha also went to the funeral, and he was surprised to see a strange coffin that was closed. He did not know why ... When he had been at the other funeral of their neighbor drunk Fyodor, he had been lying in a coffin, and everyone had looked at him, and Lyosha had looked, although he had been scared. And now in front of him there was a tightly closed coffin.
Then, for the first time, he probably felt that life ... was not eternal, and it could finish like that ... He immediately thought of his grandmother, how she would be alone without him because the mother would not return from abroad. Because of these thoughts he became even sadder. But still he wanted to get into the army, like all the guys from their yard. Although he understood that he would have to forget about horses because of this. Well, the army lasted only two years, and then he would return from there and start working, and would again come to the stable. Only he would have money that he would earn, and then he would be able to buy a horse and ride it in competitions and even abroad to prove to the whole world that we were strong in equestrian sports and we could crush them, foreigners, by taking medals for ourselves...
"Alyoshenka, wake up. My darling, you fell asleep at the table..."
Lyosha realized that having gone into his thoughts and dreams about the gold of the Olympiad, he fell asleep at the table. He raised his head and looked at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall, which methodically counted the time, quietly clicking inside by its old mechanism to the passing minutes.
There were four hours left to sleep, no more, at five he had already to be on the platform, so as not to miss the train. The horse-drawn carriage for the horses would arrive at six-thirty, and before that time it was necessary to have time to collect things, clean the horses, wind their legs with thick bandages, preparing them for transportation.
Contemplating everything what he had to do, Alexey reached the bed and, quickly undressed, crawled under the covers. The room was cool, the batteries had not turned on yet. Feeling the coldness of the sheets, Alyosha curled up and tucked the blanket closer under himself. He fell into a dream instantly, without even hearing how Varvara Petrovna came into his room to check his grandson. She carefully covered him with a second blanket and, crossing him, quietly left the room.
Lyosha was sleeping and saw in a dream how he was performing on a beautiful big black horse, and it was obviously abroad, there were flags around, stands and spectators who were applauding him. As he was beautifully overcoming the barrier behind the barrier, without knocking down any obstacles on his horse.
Lyoshka was smiling in his sleep, clenching the fists, as if he was holding a rein in them for driving the horse...
***
It was raining in the morning. Alexey always knew that he was unlucky ... even in such a trifle like that. He waited so much for these starts, and it was on this day that the sky was dragged by grey autumn clouds, and it began to drizzle first, and then the slow rain turned into the pouring rain. So far, the starts were not canceled, but the ground on the competitive field had already been loosened. The grass got wet and turned into a slippery mess in many places because of the hoofs of horses. Lyosha saw this, by the way, other horsemen, leaping on their horses, slip on it and dangerously “lie down” in a turn, making sharp turns, going to the next obstacle.
"Lyokha, listen to me carefully" Petrovich turned his gaze from the current jumping horseman to Alexei. "Do not jeopardy! Do you understand? Yes, you can see yourself ... what is there, and you have a shod horse, if only we’ve got spikes, then there would be no problems ... but just where these horseshoes with spikes can we get now... So remember, if you sharply twist your horse, you will lie down with him! I don’t feel a bit sorry for you.... feel sorry for the horse. Understood me?!"
Lyosha swallowed nervously and nodded his head. He understood that the formidable Petrovich was actually more worried about him, but he just didn’t show his mind.
"Do not worry, I will not flaunt."
"What do you mean you won’t?! You are in the rerun of the participants... it’s possible to say that you got victory in your bag... now every second counts ... But still be careful..."
Petrovich turned away from Alexey again, realizing that with these words he betrayed himself, how glad he was that his pupil, his Lyokha, this strange teenager whom he hadn’t paid attention to before, turned out to be so talented. And now, winning the route meter and jumping twenty meters, he, his Lyoshka, would leap in a repeat performance. This meant that the winner would be determined among five riders who got into the rerun, and it was necessary to jump the shortened route in the shortest time and not to knock down a single barrier. Well, how to do it, when the rest of the horses were forged on thorns, but his had ordinary horseshoes, and this rain wasn’t going to calm down...
Petrovich looked again at the boy standing in front of him.
"Go, it’s time... be careful there ..."
"Ok…"
Lyoshka waved and ran to the horse, which was walked by fat Makha while he was talking to the trainer.
It was necessary to saddle Tokha anew. The only white numnah was under the saddle of another horse. Alexey quickly, squishing through the mud and puddles, reached the Fast, low gray Arabian steed that had already jumped off his route, and took the numnah, which was already removed from the Fast and hung inside the horse-carrier to dry out a bit. Although it was useless, it was wet and dank on the street, and the numnah soaked with horse sweat, of course, could not dry so quickly. Lyosha grabbed it and ran to his horse. Everything had to be done quickly, in five minutes he should have gone to the battlefield.
"Do not rush, you have time," calmly said thick Masha, looking at Alexey, who was out of breath, and began to help him to saddle Badminton anew.
The horse, feeling the excitement of the competition, was not standing still. He was spinning, thus showing that he was ready for battle. It only hindered, but Lyosha did not swear at him. He just tried quickly to remove the saddle from the back of the horse and put on his back a non-white numnah, put the saddle on it again and pull it with girths, otherwise, it could fall into a puddle because of another Tokha's dancing.
"Hold still!" Makha angrily shouted at the horse and added a couple of witty remarks, which she had a great many in her vocabulary, hitting naive Lyoshka with the wealth of the Russian language. "I heard this from my guy," seeing the surprise on Alexey’s face, Masha continued, "only I have broken up with him ... well, after he started calling me in such a way. In short, love has passed. And now I am free again."
Mashka winked at Alexey with one eye, which was covered with mascara running from the rain, and smiled with her crooked teeth. In general, it was fat Makha’s signature style to flirt with everyone, although she didn’t perceive Lyoshka as a male at all for his young age and naivety in everything. But it did not prevent her from constantly teasing him with harmless jokes and vulgar hints.
Lyosha smiled in response. Finally, he tightened his girths and famously jumped into the saddle. Masha immediately released the rein, and Tokha, feeling freedom, rose the front legs up, thereby showing how he wanted to rush into battle.
***
The battlefield, to which Aleksey rode on Badminton, now was a wet grass with deep puddles of water. There were barriers on it, through which he had to jump, without knocking down any, and in a minimum time, less than the other riders, and then he would win.
Lyosha touched the side of the horse, who was already dancing beneath him, feeling the excitement. Although Badminton was also retired from the sport, he was still full of strength and energy, despite his injury, which also made itself felt. His leg, damaged in one of the competitions, was often ill, and therefore the horse was limping. Then he was removed from work, treated and walked. But Badminton did not like it, he loved to jump, and now, seeing the battlefield in front of him with the obstacles placed on it, he nervously pulled his nose with his nostrils and danced under the rider. And if it were not the reins, restraining intense energy, in the hands of Lyosha, he would have already rushed forward. And so he nervously chewed a piece of iron in his mouth, from which white foam was already formed around his mouth, and energetically shifted from one foot to another in anticipation of when his rider would give full scope to the excitement.
The sound of the bell sounded, and Badminton felt the rider's legs squeeze his sides, and the rein restraining his rush forward ... weakened. And he pulled. He only felt how his hand turned his head for Lyosha's reins, directing him to the next barrier, and he rushed at it, and then he felt the pressure of the spurs in his sides, soared upwards, lifting off the ground. That was freedom that he loved. The rider did not brake him, only held him in turns, and then again gave him free rein, and Badminton appreciated it in bold Lyoshka. He loved such riders who were not afraid, didn’t cling to the rein, and didn’t shake with fear. He felt that the one, who controlled him, just like him, was fascinated by the speed and flight over this world...
After another landing, Badminton's foot slipped a little over the wet grass and this reversed his old injury. Already in the next step, he began to fall on his right foreleg. Alexey instantly felt it. He realized that it was painful for the horse ... it was painful to step on the earlier injured leg...
Alexey pulled the reins and stopped Badminton, raising his right hand up...
This meant that the rider was removed from the competition by himself, of his own free will. Then Lyosha quickly jumped off his horse and threw the rein over his neck, released his girths with his free hand so that he could breathe after such tension and, taking the occasion in his hand, led him to the exit from the battlefield. Badminton was walking next to him breathing heavily after such a race and limping heavily on this very painful leg.
Alexey tried not to look into Petrovich’s eyes. He understood that he himself had made this decision to withdraw from the competition, when the last barrier was in front of him and he could have jumped, and then he would have won. He won for sure, because he didn’t knock down a single barrier for the entire rerun, and he surpassed all four riders on time who had started before him. Just the last hurdle, and he would have won these competitions. He would be the first and would receive a medal, a diploma and a cup, and his coach – Petrovich would get a diploma, as the best coach ... but only for all this you had to jump on a horse whose leg hurt...
Alyosha could not do it.
Petrovich himself found him. He saw the guy hiding his eyes from him, squatting at his feet and rubbing mud with a damp sponge from his feet in order to rub Badminton's legs and wrap them in bandages.
"Do not worry, Lyokha." Petrovich began to touch the badminton's injured leg carefully. "You are still the fifth ... Although you could be the first..."
Alexey looked up and faced Petrovich’s gaze, who continued to speak.
"But only if you continued to jump on a lame horse ... I would stop respecting you ..." Lyosha’s eyes began to turn from startled-frightened to surprised and questioning from these words, “and so, high five,” the trainer extended his hand to Alexey . "You're doing fine. You know, all this is not important ... medals, awards.... The main thing is to remain a human."
Petrovich squeezed Lyosha's hand tightly, shaking it, and then again began to palpate the foot of his horse, which had already begun to swell and it was felt that it was getting hot.
"Rub his leg with spirit," Petrovich handed Alexey a little bottle of vodka, which he took out from behind his bosom. There, on the bottom splashed the remnants of a clear liquid. "And as we arrive at the stable, water the leg for about twenty minutes with a hose. Then we’ll see what to do. I'll go to the veterinarians, maybe they have some of the drugs..."
Petrovich, having given the remnants of vodka
to Lyosha, walked quickly to the stands, to look at the awarding of the winners
of these competitions.
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