Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Jun 8, 2012 17:49:51 GMT -5
WILD KISS AND AMBER BLACK
With long stirrups instead of short ones, Amber felt herself relaxing into the saddle. She hummed as she walked Kiss down the trail. They were only at the beginning of the trail head, so they weren't at the beach yet, but that was where Amber wanted to go. She wanted to go run Kiss down the sand and in the water. She wanted the three year old thoroughbred to relax a bit before returning to the track for more racing. Amber herself also wanted to relax. This year had been stressful, and things weren't all to bright in the darker corners of her mind, so this ride was exactly what she needed. And Kiss had seconditus right now, and this ride would hopefully relax both of them from the frustration that this "condition" brought.
The path was clear, and Kiss wanted some speed. She was slyly accelerating at a slow pace, not really letting on that she was accelerating while still doing so. Amber was sensitive to such things, and picked up on this. Grinning, she held the filly back for about a meter, and then decided that she, too, wanted to go fast. Thus, she squeezed her legs and Kiss accelerated instantly to a trot. Amber rose up and down with the motion. That was, after all, a lot more comfortable than sitting to it, and Amber was all about going with the motion today. They trotted for a while, and a light sweat broke out on Kiss despite the cold winter air. The ground was hard, but it wasn't frozen, so Amber decided that she wanted to canter the rest of the way to the beach.
As they cantered along, Amber paid attention to the sound of nature around her. The silence of winter hung here, and the hoofbeats of Kiss were louder than usual on the cold, hard ground. However, it was peaceful. It was not an unnatural stillness or silence. It was acceptable. Amber let the silence guide her. She lapsed into thought about the present and the future, running through her interview for a new Gallop article series with a smile on her face. It had been a good interview, and she had appreciated the chance to talk about training and jockeying. She had been asked good questions, and it had made her happy to answer them as best as she could. She couldn't wait to read the article. The first one had been released just yesterday, and it had been informative and funny.
The ocean air suddenly swam into her nostrils, and Amber realized that she had reached the beach. She slowed Kiss to a trot, and then to a walk. On the sand, Kiss's hooves sank a lot, and she had a lot more difficulty moving. But Amber was not too concerned. Kiss's dam, Wild Flower, had run the Dubai World Cup on the sand and had shown an affinity for it. She had trained hard and gotten third by a head bob in the race. Kiss would have probably inherited this tendency, too. They continued to walk on, getting used to the initial feel of the surface, before Amber asked Kiss to trot. Kiss obeyed, slightly unwillingly, and her stride was a bit choppy. But as time passed and they turned a couple circles, Kiss became more relaxed, and she was soon the picture of fluid grace as she was on the track.
Now Amber cantered her, and then found the longest stretch of beach and galloped her. They went along with their instinct for speed, and had fun kicking up the sand for a little bit. Amber grinned as she finally slowed Kiss down. They were a bit sweaty. Time for a swim! She walked Kiss down to the surf and then into it. The salt water swam around Kiss's hooves, and the filly stopped for a moment to bend her head and sniff the water. She nearly began drinking it, but Amber stopped her just in time. She guided Kiss in until the water was swirling around the top of her legs, and then turned her sideways and walked down. The water added extra resistance, working some muscles, and Kiss met the challenge. She managed to maintain a slightly slower than usual walk, and was enjoying the feel of the cold water on her sweaty skin.
Amber didn't let Kiss stay in for long - it was winter, after all. She got Kiss out of the water after about two minutes and immediately began trotting and cantering her on the beach to warm her up again. Once she was suitably warm, Amber turned her back to the trail and they cantered home. Both horse and rider were content with how relaxed they felt. It had been good to relax for a bit, and both appreciated it. They would save additional racework for tomorrow.
