This is Not a Spooky Story

Full transcript of the My True Ghost Stories episode “This is Not a Spooky Story.” Listen to this episode.

Hello and welcome to my true ghost stories Since this is a holiday weekend and everybody's busy with their families and not probably listening to too many podcasts I Don't know. Maybe you are listening to podcasts if you're listening to this right now But I've decided to put on one of my Patreon episodes and my Patreon Episodes are not ghost stories. They are interesting stories from my regular life in New York City and beyond So I'm going to put on one of those stories and then give you a ghost story at the beginning of next week So have a happy holiday weekend everybody and be sure to check back here next week for a new episode And here's this week's special episode This story is about little urban me Getting to interact with some horses When I was a kid I Loved horses I lived in the middle of the city, but all I wanted was a horse Like some kids have an invisible friend. I had an invisible horse That I didn't ride I I walked it around I always had my right arm folded up near my shoulder because I was holding the reins of my invisible horse When I was a kid there was still remnants of this thing that people had called a hope chest a Hope chest was this box that a girl would have where she would keep things for when she got married and I would still hear people mention that when I was young like a preteen So I set up a hope chest for myself, but inside the hope chest was a hoof pick and a curry comb and a main comb all the things I was going to use on my horse that I got some day I couldn't really use it on my invisible horse, but I was going to use it on my horse that I knew Somehow I was gonna get a horse maybe in my backyard. I don't know So one day right after I had turned 14 The television was on I think no one was watching the television, but it was on was one of those situations and I was looking at the television and there was a horse race going on and I realized that the horse race was going on at the metal lands and the metal lands It was very close to my house like a 15-minute drive from my house So I thought there are horses very nearby to where I live and So I was a pretty ambitious kid so I just started to get an idea of how can I Go over to that racetrack and get involved with those horses So I started talking to everybody about it, especially my mom who was who I talked to the most My mom eventually did enough research and she found someone who knew or she might have actually called the metal lands for me and It turned out that there is a job at Reastracks For something called a hot walker a Hot walker is someone who walks a Horse to cool down So a hot walker is walking the hots literally so the horse is all hot from racing or Training and you walk it around in circles while it cools down and catches its breath, which is very important for horses health So I actually got this job It was a different time so they just said yeah, yeah bring your daughter on down and you know, we'll find a We'll find a stable for her that needs a hot walker.

So I had to be there at the racetrack at 5 a.m And it was in the summer so I didn't have any school So my mother would actually we would get up at 4 o'clock in the morning and my mother God bless her would drive me to the metal lands racetrack to arrive at 5 a.m And I would arrive there and you'd go to this like front little office and then they would make a call and then they'd say okay So and so it's gonna come get you and take you to stable number five and My favorite was stable number five because there was this really cute jockey. I was only 14 remember There was this really cute jockey who would come to pick me up and bring me back to stable five to walk the hots So I did this for most of the summer of my 14th year and I made $10 a day which at the time 414 year old was a fortune and I put it all in an envelope Towards buying my first horse that I did not know where I would keep that horse But I was gonna get that horse and I was gonna use this money to get it At the racetrack they were not the nicest people As you can imagine it's a certain element of gambling That did not bring the nicest people there, but the horse people were okay and fairly nice to me And being from the city I recognized Not good behavior. I recognized shady behavior. So I just kept my head down And kept enjoying these stunning resources that I would walk all day So I developed a pretty good routine for myself and I even made a friend this one woman who worked in stable five which is where I wound up working all the time That summer so she was really nice and she sort of befriended me and took me under her wing because I really had no idea What I was doing and I was only 14 which nobody knew I was only 14 But she could tell that I was extremely young and she might have taken a bit of a protective attitude towards me because of these shady folks who were lurking all around there So it was one morning that I went to work my mother dropped me off the cute jockey came and got me brought me back to stable five And the sun wasn't even up yet. It was so early And they brought this horse to the entrance of the stable and this horse was sweating and really out of breath more than other horses than I'd seen And this horse was beautiful and muscular and just absolutely stunning And when they brought these horses in there was usually like a trainer in a jockey and maybe one groom But in this case there was a whole bunch of people with this horse And they brought it in and they brought it to my friend that woman who worked in stable five They brought the horse over to her and she said oh, it's my slaw It's my slaw And it was obviously time for this hot to be walked and I was the only hot walker there And so my friend the woman who worked there looked at me and said are you ready to walk slaw?

Are you ready to walk my slaw? And I said sure okay I was looking forward to being near that beautiful horse And all the people that were around the horse sort of you know filtered into the stable and stood around and you would walk in a circle And there was a little track in a circle inside the stable where you would walk The huts around and they sort of placed themselves all around there and there's little conversations going on And everyone was watching everyone was watching this horse cool down I knew they weren't watching me, but they were watching the horse But I knew that I was right next to that horse so I really minded my peas and cues and I did everything Like the first day I was trained I did everything Exactly as they told me to do And this horse was pancing and sweating and just trying to cool down as I walked him And I was starting to over here the conversations as I walked around in this circle These two guys and then these two guys was all men except for the the one groom the woman friend of mine And I realized From what I was overhearing as I kept walking and walking and being observed As I said they weren't observing me they were observing the horse I realized That this horse that I was walking was Seattle slew Seattle slew The triple crown winner the famous world famous Seattle slew second only to secretary it in terms of fame And success And I suddenly realized also that I was now walking a celebrity Now this poor horse that was pancing and sweating had no idea that he was a celebrity But I knew he was a celebrity so I stood up even taller And walked that horse around Until they told me that the horse was sufficiently cool down and then they came and retrieved him And that was my relationship with Seattle slew A few days after this momentous occasion in my life I lost that job. I lost that job. Well I was going to start only coming on the weekends because I was school was starting But mostly primarily I lost that job Because they found out that I was only 14 and you have to be 18 to work there And I no one had ever asked how old I was But I happened to mention school starting and they said oh you're starting college I said no, I'm starting high school and they were like oh my god get her out of here So as soon as they found out I was 14 They got the cute jockey to drive me Out call my mother to come pick me up and that was the end of my career there And sadly since I have never moved out of the city I have yet to get a horse and there are stables in the city But it might not be that realistic anymore and I've lost my hope chest But I will always be grateful That I was able to make brief contact with the second most famous racehorse in the world Seattle slew Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of My True Ghost Stories If you enjoy my storytelling style you can subscribe to the patreon In my patreon, I tell interesting stories of my life in New York City and beyond And if you have enjoyed this episode of My True Ghost Stories Please take a second to review, subscribe and share it with a friend to help this show grow And that's all for today Thank you for listening to today's episode And if you think your house is haunted Want energy cleared from your space or need a custom spiritual ritual I'm here to help Visit jpclearing.com or email me at jpclearing60 at gmail.com Don't forget to join me here every Tuesday for a new episode Until next time