Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2014 23:52:49 GMT -5
Evan Winters and Atonement
"Come on, she'll do fantastic, and it's good for you,"
It was evident that the young jockey wasn't all too keen on the idea of a ride on the trails. Especially with a racehorse, but it wasn't as though Atonement was a freak like Vox. He shrugged off Jaimy's encouragement, and accepted the leg up, swinging onto the filly's silky back. He was still getting used to having so little between him and the horse, but it was vaguely similar to English saddles, so he was catching on quickly. After a nasty fall off of Rio the other day, he was admittedly, a bit shaken. Of course, he wasn't exactly terrified to ride again, but he wasn't too keen on riding the filly in the near future. It hadn't been her fault, she'd tripped and he'd gone somersaulting over her head. The memory of it just gave him the shivers, and he felt ashamed; any other trainer would have fired him for being so skittish, but Jaimy didn't seem to care, he was patient.
"I'll go with you part of the way, I've taken Winny out here already," he said, his voice as calm and reassuring as ever. "We're going to a mile, and it's windy so most of the way we'll just be in a working gallop, nothing too breakneck. It's good for her to figure out where her feet really are, and the ground is pretty soft and sturdy." Evan sighed, caving and nodded. His trainer grinned, collecting up the big bay mare and springing forward into a trot. Evan didn't need to urge Adelle forward, she lept ahead on her own, ears pricked, nostrils flared as she took in the new surroundings. The trail was wide, and as Jaimy said, the forest floor was soft and churned up, the horses footsteps making a soft pounding against the earth, muffled as though he were hearing it from a distance. For the first two hundred meters, Adelle stayed close to her older companion, but as they moved into a canter, she began to move more freely, her smooth, rocking horse stride allowing her jockey to relax a little bit. Regardless of how the filly turned out as a racehorse, she was a joy to ride. It was another few strides before Evan asked the filly for a gallop, and she responded enthusiastically.
She was a different horse when she wasn't being thrown together with Vox. Windsor fell behind slightly, riding along the filly's hindquarters as the young racehorse stretched out into a gallop. Evan could tell that she was thinking as she ran, concentrating with her ears laid back, every stride pulling her forward with a purpose as she moved with the trail. Trees and brush whipped by, and feeling almost giddy, Evan fed her some rein and let her go a bit more. Finally, they were out of the trees, and running in a sea of tall grass, the morning sun glittering on the tall, dewy straw blades. Windsor was slowly falling behind, which spurred Adelle onward, and Evan couldn't resist feeding her a little more rein. Now, she was stretching out, reaching for ground and powering along as they flew past what Jaimy had told him was seven furlongs, which meant that she had another eighth of a mile to really open up. As if he had read the youth's mind, there was a shout from behind him.
"Let her go Winters!"
Grinning, Evan kissed in the filly's ear, and flicked the bat back with a light, swift smack to the haunches. Adelle responded by running even harder, the pounding of her hooves now thundering in her jockey's ears, nostrils flared, her eyes laser focused on the trail ahead, Evan so low in her mane that the silky strands were brushing against his face every so often. Before he knew it, they'd whipped past the truck again, and he stood up in the saddle, leaning back and dropping his bridged reins onto the filly's withers. It took a little while for her to settle back into a controlled canter again, and Jaimy caught up with Windsor, grinning. As they settled into a trot, and then a walk (for Windsor, Adelle was still jigging), Evan reached forward and gave her a fond pat. "She sure likes that distance,"
"And the trails, she'd make a great event horse," Jaimy said approvingly. "Who knows...we could have a star yet."
