Trigger was really looking forward to his fourth birthday. Last year was so exhilarating. A nice warm bucket of oats in the morning, a gentle grooming with all the trimmings and a fast race at the track. After that a bit a frolicking and grazing in the pasture with his friends. In the evening he was put back into the warm stable with a bale of tasty hay and finally his owner came in, gave him a big hug, wished him a happy birthday and called him a good boy. Just thinking about it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Finally his birthday was here! The day went exactly like last year but after his owner had left, the strange tall man came. He did not smell very nice and Trigger started snorting. But the man stroked his neck gently and told him what a good boy he was. He stopped fretting. Then the nice man did something nobody had ever done before. He tickled him under his tail and not with his hands either. Was it his birthday too?

But ever since that day Trigger could run faster than any other.