injury fears

[Snowflake]

Akuma Battlecry ridden by marissa star

Akuma has been acting strangely for a while, so he is taken off the track for a bit and trained only on the galloping lane and facilities other than the track. A bunny rabbit causes him to spook, throw Marissa and gallop off on his own. when he is found, he is quite severely lame. GHS fears he may have a serious enough injury to take him off the track for good.

Rissa? Sarah was calling me. I ran the body brush off Akuma's polished dark bay coat once more before replying. Yeah? She came to the stall and leaned on the door. Akuma pinned his ears but we both knew alot of his actions were all talk. James and I have been thinking that Akuma needs a break from racing. He's not performing nearly as well as he should be, with his lines, so I want you to take him on the lanes for a light gallop today.

I looked up and frowned at her slightly. How long will he be laid off? If Akuma wasn't racing, he probably wouldn't get enough wins to run in the Triple Crown. Which would suck a rather lot, because Akuma's own sire had won the Triple Crown.
A month, maybe two. Just until he jumps for joy at the sight of a racetrack. Sarah grinned slightly. So I hadn't been the only one to notice that the surly colt was never as excited, nor as happy to be at the track like other colts and fillies his age. He just wanted to kick their butts.

Sarah strode off then. She had some paperwork to take care of. And a vet to call. One of the broodmares had apparently stumbled and fell; and although she seemed fine, it didn't necessarily mean everything was okay. I tacked Akuma up quickly, ignoring his threatening looks and flattened ears. He was usually like this, and although he had given me a couple of good kicks before, I wasn't scared of him.

We headed out in the direction of the track, but instead of riding out onto it, we warmed up on the outside and headed into the bushland where the galloping lanes were. Since Akuma was in peak fitness, I urged him down the hardest one. Two miles long, with hills and plenty of turns to keep him interested. He'd be getting a twelve furlongs run on these today - I'd trot and canter him for the first four furlongs, then gallop him for twelve.
Vicky Wilson was just finishing the shortest one on Dusk Runner, who was sweating a little but looking bright and energised. Watch out, Marissa, there's quite a bit of wildlife about this morning. She warned me, looking slightly out of breath and kind of wary.

Will do. Thanks. I smiled at her. Touching my heels to his sides, Akuma burst into trot, seeming interested in his workout for the first time in a while. We spent the first furlong of the track just trotting. It was all steep uphill, so it was really working his hind quarters. Just in that first furlong, I saw three wild rabbits and six bush turkeys. Heeding Vicky's warning, I kept a keen lookout for more wildlife, and sent Akuma into canter. Our time cantering was fairly uneventful; Akuma shied at a low flying bird, but I stayed on. We finished cantering and moved into gallop. From here on the hills weren't so steep, and there were fewer trees.

I pushed Akuma faster as we continued to climb the now gentle slope, and he obliged quietly. Then the next moment, I was flying through the air over the colt's neck and landing in a sore heap on the ground in front of him. He reared, striking at something small very close to me, then took off at top speed. Akuma! I called out uselessly. There was really no point - if the colt was severely spooked like I thought he was, he wouldn't be coming back for me. Dammit! I growled. I sat up, wincing at the pain on the right side of my body where i'd landed. I felt very bruised. Sitting on the edge of the trees, about five metres away from me, was a rather large bunny rabbit. No doubt the same one Akuma had shied at. I cursed, glaring at it, then stood and brushed the dirt off my clothes. I sighed, groaning a little from pain. It was a bit of a walk to get back home.

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