preperations

[symphony]

Selena Hassen and Vanquished

It had been a bit of an odd morning, so far. Selena knew that Netta, at least, was confused. So was she, to be completely honest - this time yesterday she had been stuck on Alouette, a five year old grey mare who was really nothing but average. She'd placed in quite a few races, and won three as a two year old, but Ella was nothing compared to the horse she was saddling now.

Vanquished - or Netta, as she was known around the stables - was the next biggest thing coming from the stable, and the press knew it. Usually, the chestnut was the first horse out, her workout well over by the time the majority of the press and other stables got there. This morning though, the promising filly had been left until nine in the morning, when most workouts were well over. It was only once all the other horses had been brought back and put on the hot walker or in their stalls that Tally had instructed Selena to saddle Netta and meet the trainer at the stable entrance with her helmet. Whenever Tally said something like that, it usually meant Selena would be riding; but would she really entrust her with the most talented horse at King's Park?

It appeared so, as Selena led the filly to the stable entrance and Tally led her down the drive to the track, where the filly would be racing the very next day.

"Just take her for a jog once around, nothing more," Tally instructed as she gave Selena a leg-up, and the filly a pat. "And no showing off for all those journalists; they can take all the pictures they want, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what she can do." Gathering up her reins, Selena nodded and sent the filly off through the almost-empty saddling yards, Netta's shod feet making a loud clapping noise on the concrete that echoed through the quiet yards with every step until they reached the gap. As soon as they were on the track, Selena pushed the chestnut into a trot and sent her down the middle of the track, focusing more on the filly than her surroundings as there were very few other horses still out. The chestnut snorted with almost every breath, taking in surroundings that looked very different in the bright light of day when compared to their appearance in the dead of morning. Selena was glad to see her breath did not rise in steam anymore; the day was finally warming up, and her mount was as fresh as the morning, already begging to canter. Selena kept her well in hand though, delivering half-halts as soon as she felt the filly trying to break into a faster pace.

Netta was motoring along at quite a good pace even at a trot, bouncing Selena up and down right along the backstretch and into the final turn, where she decided she at least had to trot faster, if she could not canter. By the time they reached the stretch, Selena was standing in her stirrups for most of the journey, using half-halts almost continuously to keep the filly from breaking into a canter. The filly had been taught well, it seemed; her instinct was to sprint around that final turn, to out-speed even her fastest rivals.

It was as they past the wire that Selena got the filly back to a slower trot, bringing her down to a walk several metres from the gap, where Tally stood. "How did she feel?" the trainer asked, clipping a lead to the headcollar the filly still wore and leading her off the track. Instead of heading towards the saddling yards used during morning works though, she turned towards the grandstand and yards used on racedays, which were a great deal fancier and generally off limits for workouts.

"She was ready to run, that's for sure," Selena replied, letting her reins out to the buckle so the filly could stretch her neck as she walked beside Tally. "Where are we going?"

"We're just going to walk around the parade area for a bit," Tally told her, giving Netta a pat as they walked. "Get her used to everything. I've been over for a look already - there are a few trial races running in about an hour, and there's a few journalists and trainers already there. I figured she might as well get used to the commotion now rather than spooking and hurting herself tomorrow." Selena nodded, adjusting her position in the saddle. It was a good idea.

Netta was relaxed on the way over to the parade area, though as they entered it and were enveloped in the busy atmosphere of the journalists and trainers bustling around in preparation for the
trials that were happening soon. Greeting a few people as they passed, Tally took Netta straight into where the horses would parade, walking her around the circle and letting her get a good look at everything.

"How is she going?" Tally asked Selena, giving the chestnut another pat as her ears swiveled around wildly at all the strange sounds.

"She feels like she's settling in," Selena said, unconsciously giving the filly a scratch on the wither as she too looked around. They had caught the attention of quite a few people, she realised; several journalists who apparently knew who Netta was and a few who probably didn't but recognised Tally. None approached though, probably knowing that they would get nothing informative out of Tally.

It took several circles more to settle the filly completely, and once she had Tally took her out in front of the grandstands and repeated the exercise. By the time they headed back to the stables, Selena was more ready than she ever had been to get off the horse, though the entire experience of riding Netta had been something she wouldn't have given up for the world.