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Adalrik's Debut

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CSS Adalrik with Vivian Morgan trotting in hand in the Dragonfly Saddlery In Hand - Junior Horse class at =femalefred's 2011 Brighthelm Stables Summer Bonanza.

Vivian wouldn't admit that she was incredibly nervous for Riki's debut in the show ring. She busied her shaky hands with grooming the already gleaming colt once again. Riki glanced over his shoulder at Vivian with a comforting expression and then turned his attention back to what was happening on the other side of the trailer. From where he was standing, Riki could see several horses and even more people warming up in a large ring. He watched them intently while munching on hay and thoroughly enjoying his 5th grooming for the morning. The sun was rising slowly, taking it's time across the clear blue sky, shining intensely down on the earth. Vivian glanced at her watched after she finished brushing Riki down and gasped. "Ah! Gotta hurry! Just.;. hold tight, Riki. I'll be right back." She slipped into the trailer and changed into her breeches, show shirt and jacket. She hopped out of the trailer pulling on her boots and then quickly doubled over and forced her long brown hair into a hairnet and then under her helmet. Straightening up she sighed and glanced at Riki who was watching her intently. "What are you lookin' at?" she chuckled, tucking a stray strand of hair up under her helmet. Riki snorted and bobbed his head, jingling his halter. Vivian grabbed a bottle of show sheen and doused the colt once more before untying him from the trailer and heading down the drive towards Ring 1.

Vivian and Riki passed between warm-up ring and the back of the stands around Ring 2 as they walked quickly towards the largest ring at Brighthelm Stables. Riki was beginning to get excited as they passed more horses and headed towards even stranger territory. His ears pricked forward eagerly and he stepped confidently forward with eager anticipation. Vivian paused outside of the large ring and watched as the previous in-hand class ended and horses began to file out. Once the ring was cleared, the horses were called by name into the ring. "...CSS Adalrik..." Vivian took a deep breath. This was it. She smoothed her jacket and collected the soft lead rope into proper coils in her hands. Waaaaaaaait a second...

"Oh shoot!" Vivian cried as she realized she was holding Riki's blue and yellow striped lead rope. She looked up at Ricki who blinked back innocently in his blue halter. "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" She had forgotten to put on his bridle!

Vivian turned on her heel and began running back towards the trailer with Riki in tow. The colt was confused at first, but quickly caught on and trotted briskly beside his handler. His hooves thudded softly into the ground as Vivian ran him down the road back towards the trailer. She shouldn't have insisted on bringing Riki to the show alone. She should have brought someone with her to help. She shouldn't have panicked. She shouldn't have groomed him a billion times. She should have been more organized. All of these chastisements flew through Vivian's mind as she run up to the trailer and began digging for Riki's halter. Where had she put it? The tack room? No. The truck? No. By the grooming supplies? No. She began to panic as she dug for the bridle. Riki snorted and tugged at his hay net for another mouthful. A glean of silver caught Vivian's eye and she pushed the hay net back from the trailer to reveal Riki's black bridle hanging from the side of the trailer. As she quickly slipped off Riki's halter she realized that she had hung the bridle there before she had even unloaded Riki. And because it was the only hook on that side of the trailer, she had had to tie the hay net there as well. Riki dutifully opened his black lips to accept the bit and stood patiently as Vivian fastened the bridle. Within seconds they were running again, flying with all haste back towards the ring.

Vivian didn't care what she looked like as she ran up to the ring and panted her name to the person at the gate who quickly opened the ring up for her and Riki. "And it appears that Adalrik has decided to show after all!" the announcer chuckled. Vivian's cheeks were flushed bright pink as she trotted Riki into the ring and headed for the line up which had already formed. Riki held his head high and stepped lightly and fluidly as if he knew he was being watched. Vivian slowed him to a slop and turned him around in the line up taking deep breaths and trying to regain her composure. The horses were called one by one to preform the class' pattern for the judge while the remaining horses waiting their turn. Riki watched the other horses intently while he waited, his ears swiveling back and forth constantly as he tried to capture all of the sounds at once. "Okay, Riki. We're up next," Vivian whispered to the colt, glancing quickly over him to inspect the damage done to his grooming from their run. Surprisingly the colt was still sparkling.

As Vivian took a step forward into a jog and Riki followed her as he pranced into his trot, she couldn't help but smile with pride for the colt. No matter what the outcome of the show was, she knew that she would walk away with an unforgettable experience and new lesson learned: Never hang bridles under hay nets.

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Holycrudmuffins! Wow! This picture took quite a chunk of time. About 7 hours in all. Riki was glorious to draw, but Vivian gave me A LOT of trouble. I think everyone came out fairly well in the end though. ^^
I tried a new style of background, with all of that foliage (based off of =femalefred's map for the show), and although I put HOURS into all that grass and those trees, it didn't come out half as well as I wanted it too. Which is killing me, cause I think Riki and Vi look really good. Oh well. That's what I get for experimenting on a show picture. xD I also got the fencing wrong! D: It is SUPPOSED to be a temporary fence, not a solid 3 rail fence. But (once again) oh well. It's etched in colored pencil. No way to undo it. :/

ALL ARTWORK © ME, ~walktrotcanter7
Adalrik and Vivian Morgan © me, ~walktrotcanter7
Brighthelm Stables and Summer Bonanza © =femalefred
Image size
3478x2945px 3.21 MB
Make
FUJIFILM
Model
FinePix JZ300
Shutter Speed
1/107 second
Aperture
F/3.3
Focal Length
5 mm
ISO Speed
400
Date Taken
Sep 23, 2011, 3:10:06 PM
Sensor Size
6mm
© 2011 - 2024 walktrotcanter7
Comments17
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elkasteri's avatar
oh wow amazing! this angle is so difficult to draw and you did an awesome job!!