On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[RogueInquisitor]

Silence Suzuka had her debut race last chapter. Was it more publicised than Shirogane's? We saw Shirgane attend with her trainer, but there wasn't any mention of her classmates.

I expect that there will be another dinner with her family to celebrate her win, and now she doesn't have the excuse of a race the next day to stop her grandparents from feeding her more.

How often does Tracen hold tryouts? Do they get a lot of transfers like Special Week?

 

[GarfRed]

I wanna see a small tidbit that Shirogane retires and spends sometime with Haru Urara in an IRL excerpt.

 

[Guardian Box]

...just occurred to me that Shirogane has inherited HUMAN stamina... primitive humans would "hunt" prey by chasing them until they dropped dead or were too tired to stand up anymore.

Click to shrink...

...and that's why teamed up with horses so well, because they had amazing stamina as well. In most metrics they had us beat as well.

 

[Killdread]

...and that's why teamed up with horses so well, because they had amazing stamina as well. In most metrics they had us beat as well.

Click to shrink...

Eh… That's complex and debatable, I'm pretty sure a good portion of somewhat fit people could run down a wild horse to exhaustion death. It'd likely be the most difficult animal to do that to, but we could manage.

Horses are faster and stronger than humans, but their endurance for how long they can keep up the speed over time is a lot worse, riskier, and generally requires more recovery to remain healthy. Which is shown in horse game oddly enough. Horses generally need between a few days and a week of rest after a race depending on distance for standard tracks. Humans by comparison need basically a day of recovery after a short race, if that, and up to about a month for a particularly long race that we are still trying to run pretty fast (marathon). And that's a difference between a 2-5 minute exertion for the horse and a 2.5-3.5 hour exertion for the human.

Sure the horse goes a mile a minute and we go about one tenth that, but we can keep it up for more than ten times as long.

 

[Mentos]

I vaguely recall hearing one of the reasons Early Man were stamina monsters was the ability to carry containers of water.

 

[shikamarurulez1]

If umamusume weren't actual magic I'd suspect Shiro somehow isn't one and only randomly inherited the ears and tail of one given how she's Built Different

 

[Melsa Hvarei]

Yeah, the communication tensions are going to be interesting. Especially since it highlights how Shiro undervalues her races - both due to undervaluing herself, and because she sees it more as necessary work than something she's really proud of. Sure, she's proud of her achievements, but I get the impression her pride stems more from her personal skills - things she's personally developed - and getting money, rather than from being a strong racer, which she attributes more to the natural inheritance of being an uma. She'd probably take more pride in winning a business scholarship or something than winning a race.

Click to shrink...

Yeag yeag exactly! While her classmates value racing incredibly highly. There's a big discrepancy there between Shiro and her classmates, and tbh prob even her teammates. And that'll be a difficult bridge to gap, or even mb plain difficult for the others to understand. Though at the same time I wonder if mb it'll lead to the others pitying her, thinking they have to help her with her self-esteem or smth

 

[manatherindrell]

Eh… That's complex and debatable, I'm pretty sure a good portion of somewhat fit people could run down a wild horse to exhaustion death. It'd likely be the most difficult animal to do that to, but we could manage.

Horses are faster and stronger than humans, but their endurance for how long they can keep up the speed over time is a lot worse, riskier, and generally requires more recovery to remain healthy. Which is shown in horse game oddly enough. Horses generally need between a few days and a week of rest after a race depending on distance for standard tracks. Humans by comparison need basically a day of recovery after a short race, if that, and up to about a month for a particularly long race that we are still trying to run pretty fast (marathon). And that's a difference between a 2-5 minute exertion for the horse and a 2.5-3.5 hour exertion for the human.

Sure the horse goes a mile a minute and we go about one tenth that, but we can keep it up for more than ten times as long.

Click to shrink...

There is an annual human vs. horse marathon, and the horses win more often than the humans. You have to go truly extreme distances before humans can reliably beat horses.

 

[Killdread]

There is an annual human vs. horse marathon, and the horses win more often than the humans. You have to go truly extreme distances before humans can reliably beat horses.

Click to shrink...

I have now read the information about this race, and stand by my statement, for several reasons. But first, yeah a horse with a rider, designated break areas, and multiple health checks over the course is probably going to outdo a human.

So why am I still confident in my answer? Mostly because the horses in that race have a lot of advantages a wild horse wouldn't. We can start from them being bred for specific traits to make them better for humans for a while, and end at them having at least one uncounted break. That break or breaks roughly translate to 10 minutes of uncounted time the honses are taking extra.

The big advantage the horses in that race have over humans and wild horses though? Properly regulating their speed and effort to pace themself for the duration of the race. Wild honse? They just run at near max speed to get away from the weird hairless ape, which shows up again as it's starting to get its breath back.

Is it still the most trying possible hunt for a human? Yeah probably. But we can do it.

 

[WrandmWaffles]

Considering the difficulty in racing shown by Steady Distance, would it instead just be graded races? Like Steady hasn't raced any G1 races, so does that mean that she has only run in her tracksuit?

Click to shrink...

Likely special races would allow for a costume, particularly at more financially successful racetracks. Could also be a prize pool threshold, or something. So Steady has not often run in her special outfit, no.

POV: Shirogane after having run and won a race every week for three months straight.

Click to shrink...

Shirogane: "This gets taxes, this goes to fees, this goes to the Academy..."

most people: "shirogane must be so happy! She is finally living her dream and winning!"

Shirogane: " finally... I am in the glorious game of Economics... investment options, capital, maybe even stock trading... I been such a awful cost for my family that showed me what love means and now I will start paying they back. This is just the qualifications for the beggining, but here I am."

Click to shrink...

Shirogane: "Huh, this is a lot of money for a young adult to make. I wonder how far I can take this? Obviously not a lifelong career, but..."

I wouldn't assume so as betting / gambling wouldn't be allowed by Tracen

Click to shrink...

Supposedly there isn't official gambling on the Twinkle series (ironic because that's basically how irl horse races make money), but I think there is certainly unofficial gambling on races.

...just occurred to me that Shirogane has inherited HUMAN stamina

Click to shrink...

It's less that Shirogane inherited human stamina, and more that she is psychologically closer to a human than most umas, which is part of why her fight response is significantly stronger than most other umamusume. Similarly she isn't as herd oriented and instead family oriented, so is more comfortable going around doing her own thing.

Sure, she's proud of her achievements, but I get the impression her pride stems more from her personal skills - things she's personally developed - and getting money, rather than from being a strong racer, which she attributes more to the natural inheritance of being an uma. She'd probably take more pride in winning a business scholarship or something than winning a race.

Click to shrink...

Shirogane would certainly view winning a race as an achievement made based on her training and efforts, but it would not be very special to her in the way it is for many of her peers. She'd view it not unlike scoring well on a national exam or getting a job at a competitive employer. It isn't her dream, like it is for many racers, so while she would take satisfaction in victory, the thrill of it is less poignant compared to for others.

I wonder if Suzuka ever mentions her Gate moment during her Classic year Yayoi Sho race where she dug under and out of the gate right before race start and allegedly tried to look for her groomer. Super adorable for the irl horse but also super embarrassing as the Uma.

Click to shrink...

I guess in umaverse that would be a false start where she spaced out, tripped then ended up under the gate. Would be quite embarrassing.

Silence Suzuka had her debut race last chapter. Was it more publicised than Shirogane's?

Click to shrink...

It was. For one, it was in Tokyo, so attracts a bigger crowd, and Suzuka is already a notable name due to being in the normal pipeline so was pegged as an up and coming talent. The weather was also nicer so more people attended.

I wanna see a small tidbit that Shirogane retires and spends sometime with Haru Urara in an IRL excerpt.

Click to shrink...

That would require them having the same sketchy owner. Which...I guess would be possible. In all likelihood Shirogane the mare would have been used as a lead horse, and be noted for being particularly good at it.

If only she would stop taking her ponies on field trips outside the enclosure.

I vaguely recall hearing one of the reasons Early Man were stamina monsters was the ability to carry containers of water.

Click to shrink...

It also has to do with how two-legged locomotion is relatively efficient since we basically fall forwards when running.

While her classmates value racing incredibly highly. There's a big discrepancy there between Shiro and her classmates, and tbh prob even her teammates.

Click to shrink...

This has been noted by a few of the older umas, like Symboli Rudolf, who is fairly impressed that Shirogane is able to perform decently without the same kind of passion most other racers possess. Some of them also note that this relative apathy towards racing itself means Shirogane is less likely to have performance anxiety, so might end up doing better in high stakes races than expected.