Tokotas--RoM-Dignity-Steeplechase--CCD
Alex double checked the saddle girth, making sure that the light racing saddle strapped to Duc d’Orleans’ back was secured, pulling it taut sharply to an annoyed grunt from the curly maned Tokota. Duc, Chevalier de Lorraine and a friend’s Miralta, Cinnamon, were all competing in the steeplechase in just a few minutes, and Alex wanted to make absolutely sure that all Tokotas and riders were as safe as he could make them in the time he had left. Marcus and the twins, Jason and Christopher, were acting as the jockeys for this event, as Alex was too heavy for a timed race like this, and all three were a mixture of excited and anxious. Thankfully, Alex and Tristan had plenty of practice calming nervous people, and Tokotas, down, though Tristan was attempting to do so with Chevalier’s companion cat in his arms, as the orange tabby would definitely attempt to run the race with his buddy. Alexandre, the cat, was particularly attached to Chevalier and did not like it when the Tokota was out of his direct line of sight, so it was best if Tristan held on to the cat until Chevalier was done for the day and could resume being Alexandre’s mobile bed.Finally satisfied with how the three Tokotas tack was fitting, Alex stepped away from the three Tokotas, allowing their jockey’s to take up the reins and mount up. Marcus led Cinnamon a little bit away from the other two Tokotas, giving her a little bit more space while he mounted up. She had been dancing in place a little bit, picking up on the nerves from both Chevalier and Duc, so the space was needed. Marcus, once he was settled in the saddle, ensuring that his feet were firmly in the stirrup irons, he patted her neck with his free hand, murmuring quietly to Cinnamon, to calm her down. Her tall, pointed ears flicked back, and she started to calm down as she listened to Marcus’ soft voice. Cinnamon soon relaxed completely, and shook her head, releasing the last of the tension in her body as she did so. Alex smiled slightly, knowing that Cinnamon was in good hands, before he turned back to Chevalier, Duc, Jason and Christopher.In the three minutes Alex was distracted with Cinnamon and Marcus, Chevalier had managed to ignore all of Jason’s attempts to rein him away from where Tristan was standing with Alexandre in his arms. Now the golden Tokota had his head in Tristan’s arms, completely smothering the orange cat, who, if Alex’s ears could be believed, was utterly thrilled at this turn of events, just going by the loud purring. Jason’s further attempts to pull Chevalier away were pretty futile, and Alex wondered if the young jockey was going to be strong enough to actually handle the Tokota over the steeplechase course, but he glanced over at Duc, who was standing calmly off to one side, allowing Christopher to check on his collar-halter without any fuss or complaints. Alex sighed and went over to rescue Tristan and Jason from Chevalier’s clinginess, grabbing the Tokota’s collar-halter and pulling him away from the happily purring Alexandre. Tristan, thankful to escape, immediately left the kennel area and headed to their, his and Alex’s box in the stands, with the cat in tow to prevent any further shenanigans from either cat or Tokota.With everyone finally settled and all of the distractions removed, Alex started handing the three Tokotas off to their lead Tokotas, so they could be loaded into the starting gate for the race. Chevalier pouted the whole way, hanging his head and whining softly, but Jason managed to get him refocused on the task ahead of them as the duo was loaded into the starting gate. Cinnamon and Duc, on the other hand, thankfully loaded into their gates like complete professionals, and were settled much quicker than Chevalier was. Alex ran up to the box, and made it just in time to see the gates slam open, all three Tokotas barreling forwards. Cinnamon, due to her longer legs and quick start, quickly took the lead, loping down the sandy track towards the first obstacle, a hedge fence that was taller than both her and Marcus combined. Her ears went forwards, then backwards as she listened to what Marcus was telling her, either vocally or with his hands and seat, then she took the fence like an absolute professional, without hesitation or even a stumble on landing, which was not the case for others in the race, as many of the involved Tokotas stumbled on the first jump. Neither Chevalier or Duc stumbled, though one of the Tokotas who did knocked into Duc, hard, and jostled him that way, but Christopher was quick to help the Tokota recorrect. Chevalier and Duc, along with Cinnamon, quickly pushed through to the second fence, leaving a full half of their competitors behind in a jumbled mess. With Duc and Chevalier on her heels, Cinnamon cleared the next obstacle, a deep water ditch, with easy grace, landing smoothly on the other side well clear of the water and the mud that surrounded it. Unfortunately, Chevalier and Jason were not so lucky, and the golden Tokota’s coat was now covered in mud splatters, both from Chevalier’s landing in the mud himself and from when Cinnamon kicked some mud up with her hindpaws as she leapt back into a run. Alex flinched from where he was watching, Chevalier was very vain and something like getting mud on him was more than enough to throw him off completely, but with Jason’s encouragement, it seemed that Chevalier was willing to ignore the mud for now. Duc and Christopher were smart, moving a little further away from the other two Tokotas and jumping the water jump there, avoiding all of the mud that way. The water obstacle stymied even more of the field of the race, with several out right refusals, and one unfortunate handler taking an unexpected swim, and it now seemed to be a race between the two S3 Tokotas and their friend’s Tokota, as Cinnamon continued to lead the three of them around the course. Duc had pulled alongside, stretching to his limits to keep up with Cinnamon’s long legged strides, and Chevalier was right behind them both, so close that it was surprising that neither Duc’s nor Cinnamon’s tails had hit him in the face yet. Alex and Tristan, as well as a semi-oblivious Alexandre, watched as the trio took the next three hedge fences with ease, all three running flat out between them. The next two obstacles were water ditches, and this could make or break the race, if one of the Tokotas slowed or stumbled even a little, the others could pull away. Once again, Cinnamon’s ears indicated that she was paying attention to Marcus’s queues, but Duc and Chevalier were listening to Christopher and Jason too, and all three Tokotas took the first of the water jumps in near perfect unison. Alex held his breath, watching as all three landed and smoothly raced to the next jump, none of them slipping or sliding at all in the mud. The next jump was the last one before they were back where the race had started, indicating one lap out of three down, and Alex was just hoping that Cinnamon, Chevalier and Duc would just run the whole race clear, but he was thrilled that all three of the Tokotas were tied for first at the end of the first lap. He hoped, as did Tristan, who had started anxiously petting Alexandre, that Cinnamon, Duc and Chevalier could hold up the brutal pace they had set, and settled in to watch, eyes trained on the three Tokotas as they pounded down the stretch back to the first obstacle again. All they could do was watch and wait.
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