Post by Dante on Jan 29, 2012 19:07:10 GMT -5
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EXECUTIONER'S APPRENTICE
workout with
TOBIAS LANCASTER
for the
UNICORN HORN COLTS
workout II[/color]
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This was going to be the first big race of the year for App. They were training hard, ready to give it all they could give, ready to come out of the gates soaring. The competition would be stiff. But both the dapple grey colt and the blonde jockey were sure they could do it. Nine furlongs, on the turf. An easy run and distance for Executioner's Apprentice, who was fast becoming a turf horse that was one of the ones to watch out for.
"Give it all you got, make it real." Skylark gave Tobias a leg up onto the colt, who snorted and pawed, eager to get to the gate. He knew what the track meant. App was a clever horse, and he knew that it was time to get running. Time to compete. Time to prepare to win, and hopefully, soon, thy would be winning. They could do it - Tobias was sure.
They were loaded into the gate with relatively little problems, and Tobias looked out at the turf before him. The sun was shining, and it was cool, but not so cold he was shivering in his silks. No, it was a good, mellow day. Calm weather, though a mild westward wind. Quite the change from the thunderstorm Tobias had once accidentally piloted App through! Oh, that had been amusing, though kinda stupid. He shifted in the stirrups and App shifted from foot to foot, snorting. His coat shone in the light, bright red mark on his shoulder standing out, as ever. The first time Tobias had saw that, he thought it was weird....but it grew on him. Now, it was a mark of a victor. The mark of the executioner; App's own, utterly unique mark.
The gates sprang open, and with them, said grey, his mane and tail streaming back behind him as he ran. Tobias held him steady, but let him push on the imagined frontrunners. It was one of App's pest tactics. This preceder was not passive until nearer the end, oh no. He always applied pressure to the top, kept pushing them until they broke and he got his chance to take the win. It worked very well for the horse and jockey, given App's speed and strength, but also his intelligence. He was one of the brighter light bulbs out there, and it helped when Tobias worked him strategically. Couple that with a love to win, and he had confidence. Tobias held him mid field, not in a spot to get boxed in, but not to the total outside. The race was shaping up to have a moderate number of horses, allowing for App to stay near the middle but still be able to swoop to the inside at the six furlong mark or so.
Tobias could feel power underneath him. The sleek colt moved with sure hooves, confident of the turf below him, and where his feet were going. He was in good balance as they came up to the curve. They took it in the same good balance, the world blurring around them. App was eager to run, bit obliged to what Tobias asked of him, and kept his head. There was nothing better than a feeling of the wind on his face, the feeling of flying through the crisp morning air.
Corny and overused as it was, it really was poetry in motion. Executioner's Apprentice was moving at speeds that would make trouble for the front runners, with plenty left in him as they moved into the fifth furlong, but he still had a sense of grace about him. It was all about power, and channeling it. And that was the poetry of it all.
But there were no time for those thoughts, as the sixth furlong began, and Tobias grinned into the wind. Now was time to really show them! In any race, the frontrunners would began to flounder nearer the end, and the closers would start their mad dash. That was when App would make his move, to cut off the closers and cut ahead of the frontrunners.
Executioner's Apprentice was ready for the moment when Tobias gave him his head, and was already speeding up as he added more of the stick, which spurred him on more. They made a move closer in, past the ghost field of horses and the grandstands, imagined to be full of people, cheering them on, (or getting frustrated if they bet to against him) the wind screaming in his ears now, faster, faster. App's hooves were a blur as he raced down the final three furlongs, giving it all he had, and nothing less, nothing less would suffice for the jockey, or the colt, who had the same desire to win.
They flew past the post, ahead of their imaginary competition, then looped back around, slowly cooling out, to Skylark.
"I'm liking what I'm seeing." The jockey-turned-trainer told Tobias. "You connect with him well, and you two know how to manage your time and keep it low." Skylark gave App a pat on that well-known shoulder. "You keep this up, and you'll be giving everyone quite the run for their money."-----------------------
WORKOUT STATS
words| 863
workout surface| Turf
distance| 9 furlongs
horse| Executioner's Apprentice
jockey| Tobias Lancaster
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