BSTC - Asa, Endurance

Horse: SsH' Olvidada Asasina
Owner: *Gylana
Breed: Hanoverian
Height: 16.2hh
Discipline: Endurance
Rider: Seb(astian) Marcel Fawkes
Closeup: [link]

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Seb and Asa's first of two pictures together. This one's mainly focused on building up her stamina and general XC experience, the next will be serious training of her jumping style and work on specific types of jumps.
Hope you like it *Gylana!

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Seb and Asa shot away from the start of the cross-country course before Frankie could even begin to complain about his lack of a helmet. Seb had been given a quick brief about what was to be expected from him in training Asa, and had obliged without question. The mare was to be given the general training any horse at BS would when being educated in – fearlessness, boldness, strength, endurance, vitality, durability and consistency – as well as special note being taken on how her stamina was to be carefully controlled and increased.

It was instantly that Seb understood what kind of horse he was dealing with. Asa was strong-willed, fiery and really rather ignorant to what he was asking. Asa took off like a lightning bolt, soaring straight past the first jump as Seb asked her to avoid it, but leapt at the brush fence without his consent. There was the faint yelling of Frankie back at the start, but Seb was perfectly able to ride around the course without much trouble, despite Asa’s attitude.
Without wanting to condone her previous methods of training, Seb’s mind was draw instantly to the thought that she’d been allowed to get away with far too much before now. She was hard in the bit, very eager and bold but just damn ignorant of what he was asking from her.
“Seb, what’s going on?!” Faye asked from where she sat, huddled up, in her little bag on Seb’s back.
“Asa’s a bit of a handful,” he said cheerily as she leapt over a log; Faye hung on to the edge of the pouch with her little paws grasping at the fabric as best as possible.

They raced around the course almost as fast as the seasoned BS Thoroughbreds could, but her jumping was far too wild, it was rushed, unconsidered and it was by sheer luck that she didn’t topple over a few of the fences and didn’t fall into the creek that ran between a few of the jumps. Seb did his best to sit to her wild strides, but found it increasingly hard to get used to the inconsistent nature of her running. One minute she’d be sprinting along like a track horse, the next she’d be lolloping like an old school pony, barely able to catch her breath.
“The stamina of a cheetah,” Faye put in quite rightly, watching the ground behind them begin to disappear faster as Asa sped up to leap the coffin jump.
“Uurgh!” Seb grunted as she hurtled to the ground and then sped off towards the next jump. “She needs a lot of work…”

Over the next few days, Seb took Asa around the course, sometimes going intentionally slower or faster around certain parts, taking some jumps and missing others, just trying to get Asa into a mindset that had her believing she had to listen to him to get around it comfortably.
Nevertheless, the headstrong mare was still putting up a fight. She acted as a creature of habit, lunging towards every jump she was faced with so wildly that she very nearly fell into the dirt on the other side.
Seb kept his cool, working slowly and firmly with her, but it was several days later, when there had been less than a hint of progress, that Seb began to lose his cool.
You might want to know that when Seb starts getting stressed, most other trainers would be throwing fits and giving up.

The BS cross-country course is very long, difficult and very advanced, but it can be used by less experienced horses as long as they don't climb too far up the mountain.
Asa was being taken about half way up, but that was not only due to her skill level, but also that her stamina couldn't hold up to racing up and down slopes all day. Seb had noted that each time she was taken on it, she could run a little further, but her pace was so varied across the entire course that to evaluate her stamina would be impossible. She seemed to be able to trot for hours, gallop for minutes and stand still for days if she was allowed to.

It was half way through the training camp that Seb had her up on the higher levels of the mountain. Asa was still pulling and seemed far too eager to go whilst climbing up just in walk, but her ears were twitching back towards Seb every few seconds as he murmured quietly to her.
“Good girl,” he said softly, stroking the base of her mane, twirling the tufts of hair around his fingers. Asa gave a long sigh and dropped her head a little, letting the reins slip through Seb’s fingers and hang beside her neck. Faye went ‘hmm!’ with a mixture of contentment and surprise as Asa’s body relaxed enough for Seb to let the reins go completely.
“Well, look at that,” she said, “she’s finally calmed down!”
Seb chuckled. “Yeah. Now’s the tricky bit.” He pushed her into a trot, Asa’s head rose up suddenly, her body collected together, and she let out a shrill squeal. “Ssshhh,” he said, putting a little more pressure on her flanks to bring her into a canter. “Stay calm, girl,” he said, riding straight past a big brush fence and towards the entrance to the tunnel that connected the mid to the top level of the mountain. Asa whinnied suddenly, striking into a more powerful canter and took the first small fence with ease. Seb held her steady but softly with his hands, flattening himself to her back as she leapt up and over the logs, checking her back every so often, but finding that she was relying on his knowledge of the course more than her own confidence now. “That’s what I wanted.” Seb said to her and Faye gave a content little grunt.

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<sub>Art & Beaumont Stables ©: =Baringa-of-the-Wind
Asa ©: *Gylana

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