Like Magic; Enchantress and Azrael {Open}

[morgana]

From the moment we unloaded her from the van, got her into the shedrow and took her out later that night, Enchantress was nearly airborn every step of the way. She was running soon and we were hellbent on getting her head in the game. Maybe letting off some steam would help the two year old grey filly focus.

As Harriet and Nathan both tried to settle Nessa while getting Grace up on her back, the filly's ears were constantly on the move, rotating back and forth at every new sound that crossed her line of attention, every new sight. She had been at this track before, but for some reason it was like out of sight, out of mind. Nathan checked the girth as Grace got settled on Nessa's back, murmuring gently to the filly to calm her as he and Harriet led her onto the track. At the same time, Katie Reimer, their newest exercise rider and jockey, was on their other grey colt; the yearling Azrael. Enchantress needed to focus while Azrael needed to gain experience for his first race.

"Alright, you two," Harriet said, watching the two girls come up near. "Katie, you just need to keep Azrael at his comfortable position at least near Enchantress. She's going to want to hang in back and I want to try them both at about six furlongs so they're not both knackered before the race."
"Who am I coming up behind, though?" Katie, the other British exercise rider who was a few years older than Grace, pointed out. "Azrael isn't going to have any clue what to do with himself if he's not using another horse as a lead, and Enchantress is going to come from the back."

"We're not having them match-race each other," Nathan said, trying to settle Enchantress. Azrael, though he was younger, was relatively calm, ears pricked as he watched the going ons with wide-eyed curiosity of a youngster, though his fearlessness showed much promise on the track, at least that's what Harriet and Nathan were hoping. "This is just a simple workout to keep them conditioned and to prevent Enchantress--or Azrael, for that matter, from crawling over the boards in the middle of the night."

"And besides," Harriet added. "Though I'm sure she's going to be off her nut the moment she gets on the field and pitch a complete conniption, Enchantress does have more experience than Azrael; far more. She's grand, and I know she has the potential to be successful, just need to get her head in the game."

The two headed out on the track at a steady canter before picking up a gallop, both of them holding back. Grace held Enchantress back a bit at Azrael's flank, the filly's ears flicking back toward Grace as the joy of being able to use the muscles she was bred for released much of the tension in her body that had her tightened like a coiled spring. Grace could still feel that, and Katie hunkered along Azrael's neck, though stood in the stirrups as she let the colt stretch out in the slightest. They weren't ready for an all out breeze yet and Harriet didn't want to blow the colt out before he even ran his first race.

"You think Azrael's going to lose his mind?" Harriet said to Nathan, glancing his way. "He always wants to be in back of the leading horse, but nowhere further back. I don't want to confuse him."

"He's not, he's still figuring out what all of this is like," Nathan assured her, squeezing her shoulder gently.

[Deleted]

It was time for workouts, considering that the next lot of maiden races were quickly approaching, and the stable was really hoping to finally break the maiden of one colt in particular. Aztareal had been performing well, having shown in two of his three previous races and placing in the other. It had been terribly close, and a bit of a disappoint for the stables when the colt had failed to cross the post in first during his last race, but it only filled them with further confidence that he might succeed in his next race.

The two-year old was an energetic and enthusiastic creature, always looking for competition and hating to lose. He held a very close bond with his jockey, Alexia, who had owned him from the time he was about six months old and this made them stronger when it came to racing. They could achieve great things, of that they held little doubt, and all they needed to do was build some experience between them.

It was not only Alexia and Aztec who would be racing in the maiden dirt that month, however. Jacob would also be racing on his mount, Shot of Mocha. The filly hadn't done too well in her last race, but it was all experience and having debuted so late in the season they only really aimed to break her maiden in her third year - though they would not, of course, object if they were to win before that stage. Jacob had tacked his pretty filly up at the same time as Alexia had tacked up Aztec and they walked to the track together. The aim, of course, was to work out together. But when they reached the track they saw others and Alexia smiled at Jacob.

Ellie hated that Jacob had pulled her to a halt and half-reared as she turned and moved as much as she possibly could. The highly strung filly snorted and threw her head, pawing at the ground and generally kicking up a fuss while Alexia led Aztec over to the other two riders. "Hi there, I'm Alexia. I'm from Silver Stride Stables. Looks like your doing workouts, right?"

[morgana]

The moment the two others had appeared, the energy of the other filly that Enchantress sensed as Grace and Katie pulled the two up seemed to send the two year old Maiden into fits. She flattened her ears against her skull, already wired as it was and snaked her head around at the filly the other rider was aboard. Grace was quick to reprimand her.

"Sorry about that," She said sheepishly. "She's young, quite high strung."

Harriet had ducked under the fence, watching as Katie rounded Azrael around to pause near the other two. He danced in place, his nostrils flared but he otherwise wasn't puffing too hard. They had hardly covered three furlongs. Harriet offered a smile to the other two riders.

"We are. We have a Maiden who likes to run behind the pack and a yearling who plays follow the leader until he finds his opening. We're just trying to get them used to the positions and basically let them out. The grey filly has more energy than she knows what to do with," Harriet said, eyeing Enchantress who's ears were plastered to her skull.