“Faith Webber. I have to say, when I spotted a couple of these horses, I thought I was brought here under false pretenses.”
Naomi laughed and they settled in the seats before Duane’s desk, and he conveniently disappeared. As Naomi studied the other woman, she drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No, honestly, I’m too nervous.”
“Perfectly understandable. Okay, then I’ll get right to it then. You were told that I moved my ranch, The Double A, from Wyoming to Colorado, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Okay, it’s here, but this isn’t it. We are currently at Erin’s Way. There’s history here, the owner and operator of everything is Erin Riceman. I won’t get into the details of how she became the boss, we can save that for when and if you are offered the job and accept. Anyway, you were correct, the horses you saw are not racehorses. There are currently three ranches on this side of the road. Once this snow melts off, and it’s safe to do so, another ranch will be built across the road. That one will be named Riceman Rodeo Ranch. That will be for rodeo stock, and if people want to board their own rodeo horses during the off season. It’s still a work in progress, because Clark, hasn’t even broken ground yet.
“Now, let me give you some history. Erin’s Way has been in the Riceman family since it was established back in the eighteen thirties. Erin and Clark’s so many times removed grandmother started it. Again, that’s history not relevant to your job. However, this next part is. Back when Erin was twenty-one, she and her parents were late celebrating her birthday because of the mares foaling. It was six weeks later. On their way to town, they were struck by a person that had an aneurysm and their foot got stuck on the gas.”
“Oh god, let me guess, they were dead, and kept coming.”
“Yes, Erin and Clark are siblings. Clark is three or four years older than Erin, however, at this time he was in the military, deployed overseas, and on a mission that was highly classified. No one knew where he was.”
“To keep him safe?”
“Yes. Anyway, they lost their parents in that accident, Erin lost her hand. When she came to and was released from the hospital, she had inherited everything. It’s all straightened out now, but both Erin and Clark are equal partners. Anyway, as soon as Erin came home, she went to see her horses. They hadroughly five hundred head. Erin’s Way is known for their studs, and extremely valuable brood mares.” She paused when Faith nodded.
“What happened?”
“Not all, but several horses rejected her. She thought it was because of the bandage still on her hand. Anyway, the guys that ran the ranch while she was in the hospital for three months told her to wait until the bandages come off.”
“Did it work?”
“No. Once she was able to go around without them on, she approached the horses again. The studs that rejected her were culled from the herd. She talked it over with her vet and that was her first new enterprise.”
“What?” Faith was fascinated by the story so far.
“It was discussed that they could extract the sperm from these studs, store it, all on the up and up, and then sell the horse. I know it wasn’t as quick as I’m making it out to be, but once she had enough sperm from each of them, she sold them. We’re talking, not all, but some of those studs went for up to five million.”
Faith felt her eyes bug out, then nodded. “Yeah, if they have the lineage, I can see that. You don’t want a horse around that won’t work with you, that was smart of her. What happened with the sperm once they sold the horse?”
“This is where Erin is a smart businesswoman. She had it written in the contract that the samples stay with her, and she has all rights to them.”
“That too makes sense, because she owned the horse they came from. It wasn’t like she stole it.”
“Exactly, and that is where Riceman Stallions was born. It’s strictly on-line for breeders.”
“Smart.” Faith nodded as she relaxed.
“Okay, that is two businesses, now on to the next one. With the sale of the horses, she purchased lumber, and about five miles from here, Erin’s Way is three thousand acres.” She paused at the whistle Faith let out.
“Anyway, that lumber she purchased put up six cabins and a gigantic barn with an indoor arena. The horses that fill that one, we are currently at thirty-five, are rescues. They were either rescued by the SPCA from abusive and neglectful owners, or bought from the auction barns to prevent them from going to slaughter. As much as Erin wants to purchase more, we don’t really have the room, unless she builds another barn. Anyway, that ranch is called The Broken Wheel ranch. I know you can’t see it beneath all the snow, but out at the road there is a broken wheel from an actual covered wagon that the original Erin started this ranch.” She gave the history as she knew it, and watched as Faith stared in shock.
“Anyway, Erin reached out to me after I got out of the hospital from my accident to ask me to come work as the manager at Broken Wheel. In the meantime, some shit went down, and there was a farm with roughly fifteen hundred acres that borders Erin’s land to the North. She was able to get it for a song, again, that’s a story for a different time. The owner of that property has lifetime use of it. His name is Ducky, or rather Donald Donaldson, and everyone calls him Ducky. I don’t know exactly how old he is, but I do know he’s in his eighties and is still spry. Oh, he doesn’t muck out the stalls, but he gets around with a golf cart.”
She waited for Faith to process it all, and nodded again. “That is where I moved my ranch to. In Wyoming it was The Double A, here it is called New Double. We have twenty-nine racehorses, and twelve of them are slotted to be purchased, but the potential owners would like to see their potential. I have another dozen that are ready to be run. That’s where you come in.”
“Do you have any other jockeys?”
“No, we were getting settled after the move, and the jockeys that worked for us before I fired. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of my father? Benson Alcott?”
“Not really.”
“What about Percy Biggins?”
