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The mare race
Races with human horses have been around for quite some time on the continent. The organizers kept coming up with new, interesting disciplines to keep the enthusiastic audience interested in the future. This was successful, there were always new ideas, the events were very well attended on the weekends, and there were also fairly decent bets on victory and place.
Well-trained stallions of different nations and skin colors competed against each other, as well as overweight, older slaves ridden by hopeful female jockeys who beat even these specimens to top performances. There were also races with overweight but strong mares ridden by the male offspring. Here, too, there were surprisingly good results. There is no question: all of this was very entertaining for the spectators. Sometimes it was a serious race, sometimes more of a competition where the focus was purely on the fun of the event!
As an experiment, a few years ago, mares were even allowed to compete directly against stallions. But this was not the case, because there is no denying it: the stallion is simply stronger. A mare is capable of enormous performance under a good rider, but it is usually not enough to win a demanding race. We are talking here primarily about the tough, medium distances, i.e. distances between 1,500 and 3,000 meters. You can see the huge differences quite clearly, the mares' strength is simply not enough. With very few exceptions, the male riding slaves always took the top places! The public's interest in these competitions soon waned, and there was hardly any betting anymore. People preferred to watch the more interesting races with international competitors. Things got really tough there, and it was not uncommon to see blood running down the coats, which were glistening with sweat.
But there was no doubt that there was always something special about having female racehorses compete against males. This was obviously not as easy as one would have hoped, at least if the race was to be open. This was simply not possible with the racehorses, so why not try it with the jockeys? The sturdy black stallions came into play again, of course! Many had been ridden by men for a long time, so it would be easy to replace half of the participating riders in such a race with women and then we would see what would come of it!
However, racing experts had serious concerns here. The black horses were ridden with extreme hardness, almost brutality! The male riders went to the very limit, which often led to the stallions breaking down during the race and thus also to unpleasant images of horses lying on the ground. But the audience liked it when the riding slaves were challenged to the last in sporting competition. If falls and collapses did occur, it was rather spectacular and almost part of the event. However, there were doubts as to whether the ladies could really keep up in terms of riding under these tough conditions. Were they really able to squeeze the very last bit of juice and strength out of their exhausted racehorses, and to do so by any means possible? Influential people did have some doubts here.
So the idea quickly arose of simply letting mares compete against each other in the first phase. In the first step, of course, none of the valuable high-performance mares, but certainly strong, capable specimens that were then ridden in fair competition by men and women. This idea was immediately met with approval, in fact one could almost speak of enthusiasm. A race over perhaps 2,000 meters, with 10 to 12 well-proportioned mares at the start, half of which were ridden by young female and half by male jockeys. There would certainly be no lack of ambition in such a competition! This was a real opportunity for the young riders.
End of Part 1
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Part 2
Of course, it was necessary to ensure beforehand that this was really an open race, i.e. that the weight load for the horses was roughly the same. A committee of experts was immediately commissioned to draw up a set of rules for this newly developed race as quickly as possible. In order not to lose any time, however, it was also decided straight away which mares would be used: strong two-legged racehorses weighing 85 to around 90 kilos would compete against each other. Skin colour was not important, but it should be an interesting mix for visual reasons. This would certainly have a positive effect on the interest of the public and also encourage betting.
Talented, ambitious young riders would be found very quickly in the surrounding jockey schools. Experts had decided that the female racehorses on the middle distances should be loaded with a weight of around 45 kilos in an initial attempt, but under no circumstances more than 48 kilos. Experience had to be gained as to how they coped with this. This would mean that they could be ridden at a relatively high speed over the planned distance, thus offering spectators an interesting picture that would hopefully excite them.
Initially, there were no plans to impose many requirements on the jockeys, such as limiting the use of the whip or even banning spurs in the race. Of course, there was discussion about which parts of the skin should be allowed for the whip, but for reasons of time alone, no comprehensive set of rules was developed. The young riders were given free rein as to how they wanted to run the race. Only hits on the chest or between the legs would be considered "very unsportsmanlike" and they would be asked to refrain from doing so. When one of the experts described this rather non-binding formulation as questionable, neither the ladies nor the men in charge went into it any further. The objection was quickly dismissed.
Later, it was simply noted, if this type of race found its fan base, there would still be time to deal with it. But now, before a single race of this kind had even taken place, it was probably not the right time for it. But in any case, for economic reasons, care would be taken to ensure that mares that were not too valuable were used straight away. So first of all, only the weight of rider and horse was determined. Equal opportunities were to be ensured in any case, and the pairings were determined by drawing lots about half an hour before the start. Then there would also be enough time for the mares to get used to the additional jockey weight. The riders could also make it clear to their mares that they demand absolute commitment, and that anything less than a win would not be accepted. This would increase the tension during the race even further.
Interested male jockeys were, as already mentioned, quite easy to find. The young, very talented female racers were also quickly identified. They were all in their final year of training, had already successfully competed in a number of junior races on older riding slaves and naturally saw this new concept as an opportunity to get into the public eye through a good placing or even a win. The young ladies were all between 21 and 23 years old, visibly athletic and even extremely pretty. Their weight matched the specified requirements perfectly.
It was similar for the boys, there were 6 young men who were selected for this competition. The fact that they were now competing in a pure “mare race” didn’t really bother anyone, even though they had mostly ridden stallions during their training. Often they were ones that no longer met the tough requirements of racing or ones that had been pushed into the second or third row due to minor injuries. However, once the young riders were in the saddle and holding the whip in their hand, they paid no attention to this, because the bottom line was: a horse is a horse and it has to run! Here too, the young riders saw the opportunity to offer themselves for other lucrative races by achieving a good result.
Finding the right mares wasn’t quite so easy! You had to meet several requirements at once. On the one hand, the race was supposed to be "colorful", i.e. the participating mares were supposed to come from different countries. Africa, Asia and especially the strong women in Mongolia were also considered. A few grey mares were supposed to round off the picture. In short: it should simply be something for the eyes!
End of Part 2
Last edited by Max (2025-03-08 22:52:41)
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Please no content about minors!
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You're right, of course! I've changed the numbers. I also think I'll stop here and not post the remaining parts. The content of the story assumes "young riders"!
Sorry, I shouldn't have written that in the first place...
Max
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