I was going to give her everything I had.
"In the last race, you were marked by the other girls. How did that feel? Was it hard to run?"
"Yeah! It was super hard! It wasn't as much fun as usual."
"I thought so. I'm sorry. I should have taught you how to handle being boxed in during our practice… No, I need to stop apologizing."
I cut myself off when I saw her ears and tail droop. I cleared my throat and started again, using exaggerated gestures to keep her engaged.
"Ahem! Listen, Urara. From now on, when you're on the track, I want you to imagine you're always being marked. Someone is blocking your front, someone is on your side, someone is right on your heels… I want you to think about how to run in those moments."
I'd give her advice, but there are things only the runner can feel. Escaping a block requires split-second intuition.
"Mmm… I don't really get it, but okay!"
"Visualize the other girls trying to get in your way. Just an image. It could be the girls from the last race, or even Happy Meek. You aren't out there running alone."
Up until now, I'd focused entirely on her form, stamina, and speed. I hadn't spent enough time on situational awareness—mostly because she'd been so slow that I felt I had to fix her basics first.
"Image, image… Okay! I think I got it! Here I go!"
She poked her temple with her finger, muttering to herself, until finally, the "image" seemed to click. She took off down the track.
I don't know who she was imagining, but she finished her dirt sprint in record time and came jogging back with a huge smile.
"How was it?"
"It didn't work!"
Strategy: Image Training — FAILED.
The next day, I took Urara on a walk around various parts of the Tracen grounds. I figured that during our breaks, seeing other Horse Girls at work might ignite her fighting spirit. Even if it didn't do that, maybe she'd pick up something we could use for our own sessions.
(I wish I could show her Team Rigil… well, there are other famous teams. Let's check them out.)
With that in mind, I headed toward the turf course. I'd hoped to find someone practicing on dirt, but the timing was off and the dirt track was empty. However, we did happen upon a practice session for Team Spica—another one of the academy's top teams.
Except…
"Hey, hey, Trainer? What is that person practicing?"
"I… have no idea."
I couldn't give her a straight answer.
Right there in front of us, a strikingly beautiful gray-haired girl with a sturdy build was sitting in a formal seiza posture right on the grass, focused intently on a Shogi board. The other girls from her team were nearby, but none of them seemed to find her behavior odd at all.
(I've heard Shogi is good for mental sharping, but why in the middle of the track? Is there a reason? Is this somehow… training?)
Maybe I could introduce games to help Urara's focus? But I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she had to be sitting on the turf to do it.
(Spica's trainer has been in the business way longer than me. He's raised multiple G1 winners. There has to be a deep meaning to what she's doing… No, I still don't get it.)
While I was lost in thought, the gray-haired girl produced two concrete blocks from nowhere, stacked ten roof tiles on top of them, and tightened her fist. With a sudden shout, she brought her hand down, shattering the tiles in a display of perfect karate.
(What is she trying to achieve? Stress relief? Is that also part of the training?)
If I stretched the definition, maybe it was power training? My Urara couldn't break one tile, let alone ten, but maybe Horse Girl power made it easier than it looked.
As we watched the gray girl's eccentric behavior, she suddenly spun her head around toward us. Her neck turned so far it looked like it had gone a full 180 degrees.
"An intruder! To arms! To arms!" she bellowed, sounding like a character out of a samurai drama.
My instincts screamed that we shouldn't get caught by whatever that was.
"Run, Urara!"
"Huh?! O-okay!"
We bolted. Luckily, she didn't chase us. Once we were safe, a thought occurred to me.
(That was absolutely useless as a reference…)
Strategy: Scouting — FAILED.
And so, I continued to spend my sweltering summer days searching for anything and everything I could do for Urara.