routine [training]

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Thatswhenyoushine
Session #1; Selena Hassen; Evens, 2 laps on sand, swim

3:30am.

Every morning, right on 3:30, Selena turned up the short driveway of King's Park Stables, her way lit by what looked like minature floodlights, the gate already opened by Darren who always arrived half an hour before her. Often, she'd have to pull off to the side to avoid hitting Tally or Darren as they led horses towards the track. She'd finish the drive then, parking next to Darren's car outside the stable, check the workout list for the morning, grab her riding gear and a flourescent vest, and head down to the track with a couple of horses in tow, ready to begin workouts. It was her routine, and a good one at that. It always got her around on time.

This morning, she easily recognised the sleek forms of Vanquished and Diamond Clock in Darren's capable hands as they passed her on the wide driveway, before finding Tally waiting for her at the stable entrance, a hot cup of coffee in one hand and clipboard in another. "Morning Tally," Selena called with a grin as she climbed out of her car, grabbing the old, worn bag that held her safety vest, helmet, and various other gear as she did. "Any more of that around?"

"I sent a couple of thermos down with Darren and the gear earlier," Tally replied as the young rider hurried in to join her on the sheltered part of the stable pathways, escaping the constant drizzle of early morning rain as quickly as she could. The trainer glanced down at her clipboard, looking at her workout plans. "You're okay with riding Thay first, right?" Tally looked almost apologetic. "I've had to switch it around a bit today; he hasn't been getting along with Amy at all. I've had to take you off Netta for this morning, but I'll get you back on her soon."

"No problem," Selena said with an easy smile, still eyeing Tally's coffee. She loved Netta, but she could survive a morning without her. "Who do you want me to take down to the track?"

Tally glanced at the clipboard again. "Thay and Birdy, please." Selena nodded and headed straight off towards the two horses, picking up Thay first and Birdy second. She made it along the road and down to the track with relatively no problem - both were as quiet as you'd expect a racehorse to be, and the roads were quiet at quarter to four in the morning. As soon as she had both horses in cross-ties, she and Darren set to saddling Thay and Gem, finishing up just as Amy arrived with Tally, three more horses in tow.

"Selena, you can get going now," Darren said. Nodding, Selena pulled on her helmet and led Thay out of the cross-ties, getting a quick leg-up from Darren onto the dancing roan colt, and let him swing into a fast walk out to the track. It was very quiet on the track, with only a few horses beating out the first of the horde from King's Park and none yet on the sand, and she took the chance to really relax and enjoy the ride, moving the ugly colt into an active trot down the centre of the track. Before long, he had moved into a canter on his own volition, already thoroughly enjoying himself. Selena let him, keeping a close eye on his pace and checking him when he tried to break into a full-blown gallop. Today was just a gentle, even paced gallop, two laps on the sand, to let him recover from his latest race, and later someone would swim him to finish off the workout. The colt was almost in peak condition now, not needing much to tip him over the edge, and all he needed was a little light work today to keep him there.

Thay's stride, as ever, was very awkward, but Selena stuck with it through the first lap, holding on grimly as he threw in a few pigroots. Thatswhenyoushine was horribly built; his head was too big for his neck, his legs too long for him to handle and body too short to compensate. You always had to double check he was wearing boots so that he didn't cut himself accidentally when overreaching, and if he took it in his head to get serious about throwing his rider, not many people had a chance of sitting through the awkward movements he was capable of. Even Amy had come off a few times. The colt had a deep chest though, and large, powerful hindquarters - if he felt like it (and he often did), he could absolutely power down that final stretch, if a little awkwardly.

Coming to the end of their second lap with little problems, Selena rode the colt past the gap and then slowed him back to a walk, giving him a good pat as they turned and left the track. He had worked well today, better than he had in a while, and he needed to know that.

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Zen Master and Diamond Clock
Session #1; Tallianna Cremer and Amy Hastings; working gallop, 2 laps

Shortly after Selena left, Zen and Gem were ready to go, chomping quietly on their bits and shuffling around a little in their cross-ties. Amy swung herself up onto Gem's back with little trouble, praising the little buckskin mare when she didn't move a muscle and moving out of the way so that Tally could get a leg up onto Zen and join them. The two women moved the mares out towards the track then, turning down the turf track at a brisk trot that soon turned into a canter, the two horses tugging at the reins in an attempt to go faster.

Amy and Tally kept the mares in check for a few minutes more, making sure they were well warmed up and in a good rhythm before urging them into a well-paced gallop, the two horses increasing pace eagerly. They may not have been the most frequent winners, but the two mares loved to run just as much as the champions; the mark of any good racehorse. Tally had handpicked the two from Flat Creek's foal and yearling crops of a few years ago, and they had more than earned their keep since then, even if they weren't winners of any of the big races just yet.

As they passed the gap for the first time, Gem slowed a little, dropping behind Zen as if she were finished with her workout. Without skipping a beat, Amy urged the filly on again, increasing her pace a little to catch up with Zen again. Zen was having none of it though, fighting with Tally to speed up as well as Gem crept up along her outside, gaining steadily, Zen's rider checking her repeatedly with half-halts to keep her pace even. Seeing Tally's struggle, Amy pulled Gem back in, letting the filly settle a half-length off of Zen's pink nose.

Eventually, Zen settled again, both mares coming back with the edge taken of their energy and feeling very pleased with themselves, if a little frustrated at not getting to actually run. That would come tomorrow, Amy guessed, as it often did - slow and fast works were spread evenly over each horse's schedule to keep their workload manageable and to keep the horses themselves in racing shape. The two mares would be racing again soon too, as soon as they began to look close to peak fitness; and they were not far off it now. It would be interesting to see what a new year would bring for these two.

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Vanquished
Session #2; Jay Whitten; 1/2 Pace, 4f sprint, swim

Netta may have been shy as a foal, but now, as a champion newly turned 5, she stepped out onto the track with head held high in pride. She was still tiny compared to most of the other horses on the track - Apollo had gotten the height, and she had gotten the legs - but it didn't stop her from being one of the best horses around. The Freak, they called her. Completely docile in every other aspect of life, but as soon as you challenged the little chestnut to a race, there was little that could stop the blistering bursts of speed that made her one of the best sprinters around.

And if she was the queen of the dirt track, then Mindset was the king. Who knew why the grey colt of all horses was her biggest rival. There was something about him that just switched their chestnut on, started the fire that made her rocket down that final stretch, victorious or not. And even with young talents like Eidolon and Tia Dalma coming up, the mighty Vanquished and Mindset were still making headlines regularly, five years old and going strong.

Jay had been more than surprised when he'd turned up at work that morning and promptly been deposited on the dark chestnut, with instructions to take her once around at a slow pace and then a full blow-out over four furlongs. He'd almost given up on being allowed to ride anything but second-stringers for King's Park, and then Tally had given him this! He couldn't help being pleased about taking one of Selena's favourite rides, even if it was just for one day. She always got the best horses, and he always got the failures that Tally couldn't bear to retire.

This was power, though. This was what it felt like to ride a real winner. The mare under him champed at her bit impatiently, swinging sideways slightly as they trotted through the gap and onto the track. Netta was ready to run, but that was not the schedule yet. Carefully, Jay eased the chestnut into an easy canter, letting her stretch and settle into a smooth, rocking pace before urging her to step the pace up a bit, counting the seconds between posts. Twenty seconds per furlong was his goal, and he was determined not to mess this one chance up. As they swept along the busy backstretch, Jay shifted the mare a little closer to the inner rail, giving her a little more rein, sweeping past bunches of horses from various stables stuck on the outside doing slow work. He could feel their eyes on him as he passed; could feel Tally's eyes on him as they moved past the grandstands and the part of the rail where the trainers liked to gather and observe.

Along the backstretch again, the busiest section of the track. Mindful of the other horses moving to and fro around them, Jay pulled the chestnut back in a little, ignoring her tugging and resistance at the sudden request to slow. She wanted to run. Thankfully, the four furlong marker, the place where he could begin to breeze her, wasn't far off. He glanced over his shoulder, checking for anyone on his inside, and seeing no one close to him on the rail, nudged the filly over to it, preparing for her to jump into a full sprint. Being the pro she was, Netta anticipated the move and the oncoming run, moving inward and begging for an increase in speed. He gave it to her, but only in small increments, building up speed until finally the pole flashed by and he could give her some rein, urge her into a proper workout.

And there she went! In a split second, Netta gathered herself and stretched out into a full sprint, muscles churning beneath him. Letting her go, Jay's fingers wound into the flaxen mane that whipped at his hands and reached for his face, using clumps of it to steady himself over her neck as she settled into a ground-eating rhythm, flashing past other horses. He almost shouted in exhilaration; she was easily the fastest horse he had ever ridden, and the smallest. He never wanted it to stop.

It had to stop though - all too soon, the fourth furlong flashed past and Jay rose in his stirrups, easing the filly back down to a canter and then a trot, before turning her back down the track towards the gap, giving her a pat as he did. She'd worked well, and was quite settled now, steam rising from her back into the cold morning air, illuminated by the spotlights around the track. Tally met them at the gap, giving the chestnut a pat as well. "You okay to unsaddle and swim her?" the trainer asked him.

"Sure." Jay shrugged; swimming the horses was one of the easier tasks.

"Good," Tally replied. "That was a pretty fast work, so give her a chance to recover before she swims; maybe give her a hose, there's mud all over her legs. And remember to take those boots off her." Jay nodded, and the trainer let go of the reins, returning to her spot by the rail to watch the next few horses work. Gathering his reins, he set Netta off again on a path for the other King's Park horses, swinging down from the saddle when he reached them and leading the filly into a stall to unsaddle her.

The newest recruit, Terrence Whitlan, was already there, saddling Banna, who was in a good mood that morning, behaving herself very nicely for the stablehand. The roan mare's nose swung over to greet Jay as he clipped Netta into the cross-ties, and he gave her a small pat before getting to work on his own charge, unsaddling the steaming chestnut and leading her over to a wash bay, hosing off the splattering of mud covering her legs and chest. By then she was suitably recovered from her run, breathing almost back to normal, and so he took her straight to the pool, where a big grey was just finishing a lap. With ease, Jay attached a long pole to the mare's halter and let her splash into the water as eagerly as she liked, barely needing the pole to keep her in the centre as she swam. He almost had to hurry to catch up; Netta, apparently, was a fan of swimming.

She was only doing one lap today, and with the pace she set through the pool, they were done in no time at all, though she almost went for another lap; standing dangerously close to the edge of the walkway, Jay found himself hauling at the pole to bring her toward the exit, until finally she came splashing out again, snorting and shaking like a wet dog. "Thanks," he told her as he was sprayed with large drops of water, patting her wet neck as he unclipped the pole and led her back to the stalls, handing her off to Terry to towel down and rug up. Netta was done for the morning.

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Autumn Spell, Goodbye Birdy and Fly Away Home
Session #1; Selena Hassen, Amy Hastings and Darren Montejano; Evens, 2 laps on dirt

Tally spotted her next three easily as they came out onto the track, their coat colours just as flashy as the bold green and yellow on the saddleblankets that identified them as King's Park horses. She was running Otto and the twins together this morning, trying to find the competitive spirit the two fillies seemed to lack; she was almost ready to give up on their two silver buckskins. The technique had worked for Otto and Thay, each of them waking the other up, and now both ran in Features. She doubted Birdy and Lena would ever run at quite that level, but at this point she'd be happy for them to at least run consistently in GIII races.

Otto snorted at something off to the side, shying away from the group for a moment before Selena brought him back under control and came up to trot next to Lena again. As they swung onto the backstretch they set out at a canter, quickly reaching the evens speed that Tally had set for them. She'd breeze them all together tomorrow or the day after, if all went well today; all three were due for a good run, but she didn't want to send them all out together to run if they didn't get along. Lena and Birdy were fine together, she knew - they were stabled next to each other, after all - but they barely knew Otto.

Everything was looking fine though, the work running smoothly. Tally kept her eyes on them as they swept down the final stretch at a slow pace, watching the movement of each horse for any interruptions in their rhythm, but all three moved fluidly, eating up the ground before them with long strides. Watching a moment longer as they cantered past, she turned away to the gap in wait for her next charge, leaving them to it for the second lap. All three of her riders were experienced enough to keep the pace, and they'd let her know how the horses were feeling afterward.