Post by Snowflake on May 22, 2009 22:31:09 GMT 10
silver stalker is headed for the BC juvenile fillies but needs to win some more!
With only two wins in seventeen starts, things weren't looking too bright for Silver Stalker right now. She was being aimed for the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Fillies, and although she would make the race restrictions, she needed another few wins for confidence between now and the time the big race was to run.
We warmed up on the way to the galloping lanes, doing figure eights and circles here and there, going from walk, to trot, to canter, and then gallop before we reached James, who was waiting for us.
It was all business today, so apart from our special smiles, there was no lovey-dovey-ness between us. He got straight to the point. Don't cut her any slack today. Take her for eight furlongs in Lane 3, and push her the whole way as though it were a race. She needs to work on her stamina. He looked thoughtful, then added, We'll run her against Fatal Attraction in a few days time to give her a little friendly competition. I nodded, then urged Silver Stalker on back up through the paces as we made our way to Lane 3. It was the toughest, most grueling lane, which was why we were testing Sylvia on it today.
We took the first furlong, which was a steep, steep, sandy dirt hill, at a medium-fast gallop. I could tell that Sylvia was very excited; I could feel adrenaline pumping through her veins, then to me through the reins. The next furlong was flat and straight, so I urged her even faster. More thrilled by this workout than a kid on a ride at a theme park, Silver Stalker was quite happy to oblige, and plunged straight into her absolute fastest. I had to slow her a little for the next hill so she wouldn't hurt her legs - it wasn't as steep as the last but this one had some hairpin turns in it.
Then came the ditch. I leaned back like an eventing rider, slowing Sylvia a little so she could navigate the decline in the lane properly. Then it was down, down, down into a sand pit that was about a furlong long. Good girl, I encouraged. Your doing great! The idea of the sand pit was to build up muscles and resilience in tough footing. The soft, heavy feeling sand was the perfect surface for the job.
Sylvia snorted in surprise, but plunged on, lifting her legs higher than was necessary. After this, we had only one more furlong to go. I could feel Sylvia tiring a little now - the sand pit must be doing its job. We finished the sand, and continued on to the flat dirt track, racing full speed now (not quite full speed though, i guess - Sylvia was noticeably tiring) to the finish. Sylvia was breathing heavily and her nostrils flaring to take in more oxygen, but despite feeling tired and probably considerably weak, as I know I felt when I did strenuous exercise, she did not give up.
Good girl! I exclaimed, petting her as we started to slow. We followed the rest of the lane (another mile) to warm down.
finished