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Equilibrium

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If you have time to read nothing else, please read this. This piece took me... well, let's see, keeping in mind that on the days I was able to work on it, I worked for about 5 hours, it took me 1 day to do the sketch, 1 day to finalize it and ink Riki, another day to ink Vivian and get the structure of the background finished. And it took me at least 3 days to color the whole thing, and then I was able to upload it to sumo.fm and cover it with a black layer, played with the opacity, and then erased through it with a bunch of different brushes to get this kind of Halloweenish/eerie lighting. While trying to save it the first time, my computer was overloaded by the file size and erased the whole thing. So I had to do it TWICE. Very frustrating.
But so absolutely worth it.
I think this piece came out very.. dramatic.
And it took me over 20 hours to complete.
I'm absolutely in love with this piece.
And I hope you all are too. <3


Riki and Vivian competing in ~leyuu's Midnight Stables Event!
Horse: CSS Adalrik
Rider: Vivian Morgan
Stable: Grand Finale Farm
Number: 32 (Displayed on horse's breastplate and rider's chest.)
Vet Inspection: [link]
Training #1: [link]
Training #2: [link]
Extra: [link] (I DO NOT expect any extra points for this! It is just part of my storyline.)

Vivian brushed away a mosquito as the sun began to set and the nightlife creeped out from the shadows. An early autumn chill had taken hold of the atmosphere in a pleasant sense. The rider bent forward and wrapped her arms around the upright neck of her alert mount. The stallion snorted and tensed, his bit squeaking loudly between his black velvet lips as he moved it anxiously over his tongue. Vivian finally felt confident back in the saddle with Riki and this run would prove that.

The steady buzzing of the cicadas and the gentle chirp of the grasshoppers surrounded the pair as they waited in the golden light under a lamp next to the started gate for the Midnight Stables cross country Event. The light shedding down on them created a circle of familiarity, outside of which was difficult for Vivian to make out. People spoke softly in the darkness as they listened over radios to hear the progress of the rider that was rubbing the course before Vivian and Riki.

"Rider 31 has completed the course," crackled over the radio of the event manager who was manning the starting box. She replied back that 32, Vivian and Riki, would be starting up. Looking up from her clipboard, she motioned for Riki and Vivian to step forward. Vivian collected her reins and cued the stallion towards the box.

As Riki's round body slipped into the low-railed starting box, a mental change occurred. The stallion's body tensed and his head raised higher up into the air. His chocolatey eyes flashed in the shadows of his skull, and his large nostrils flared as anticipation pumped the blood faster through his veins.

The excitement was predictable, and Vivian's tight grip on the reins was well timed as Riki lunged forward. The rider quickly pulled him back, circling him in the 3 sided box. She cooed to him soothingly, and his black tipped ears flickered back to catch the waves of her voice.
"Good luck out there," the woman with the clipboard said as she looked up at the rider on the anxious painted stallion. "Be careful," she added noting the darkness that has set in over the course. Vivian nodded in acknowledgment and turned Riki out to face the course.

Given the signal to start, Vivian lightly pressured Riki with her legs, cueing the stallion into an extended canter. The darkness was foreboding and unfamiliar. She could feel the confidence from Riki as his hooves pounded methodically on the track where 31 other riders had already raced out towards the first fence. Vivian locked her eyes on the lights in the distance that illuminated the base of the first jump. She firmly guided the overly confident stallion towards it, trying to see past the fence to where the ribbon was that she had to grab. With as much practice as they had had, Vivian still did not feel confident about the course. Cross country in the dark was difficult enough, but to add a grab at a ribbon? She gritted her teeth and prepared for the first jump.

Riki didn't need to be told how to jump. He didn't need to be strided. He didn't need to be guided to the center. The stallion was naturally keen on the ins and outs of cross country. Perhaps too confident in himself, but not in his own understanding. He constantly pulled at the reins, wanting to extend further than an in-hand gallop. As the first fence approached, he took it steadily, despite the perspective-altering shadows that dance across the surface of the fence as he ran up to it. Once over the fence, he felt himself pulled sharply to the right by his rider. Annoyed, he obliged, veering to his right as Vivian displaced herself in the saddle to grab at a white ribbon that fluttered from the top of a white pole.

Vivian felt Riki shudder as she brought the ribbon back to the saddle and verbally reassured him that the ribbon wouldn't bite him. She looked out towards the second, nearest fence and guided the stallion towards it with one hand while she tucked the ribbon into a saddle bag that bounced from Riki's right hip. The log fence was another easy fence for Riki that he cleared with no hesitation, but the ribbon was set on the left hand side of the fence. This came as a surprise to Vivian who quickly pushed Riki to the left with her leg, barely plucking the ribbon off of it's pole. Vivian's pulse pounded as she tried to slow Riki down.
"We're going too fast," she told him through gritted teeth as they headed towards the next illuminated jump on the course.

The stallion fought his rider as she commanded his submission to her desired speed. He tried to drag through the bit and pull out into his gallop, but Vivian was persistent and firm. She demanded his attention and brought him down to a very controlled canter. The Trakhener fence proved to be the most challenging thus far as the shows cast by the elevated log distorted the depth for the stallion's primitive vision. He faltered in front of the fence, throwing in an extra stride as Vivian ended up on his neck. The rider clutched at the stallion's braided mane and crested neck in an attempt to straighten herself and regain her ballance. Luckily the orange ribbon was a few strides away from the fence and she was about to snatch it without much difficulty.

Vivian felt her stress building up as they kept cutting corners and missing steps. The darkness scared her, and Riki's overconfidence was pushing their luck. At this point, safety and completion of the course was more important to Vivian than winning with a good time. She didn't want to compromise safety for a win. She knew that Desmond would have been yelling at her right now if he saw this run. The thought of the Scot sobered Vivian. She firmly brought Riki down to a trot and circled him in a figure eight before turning him towards the next jump, a complex but well-lit bounce with a red ribbon hanging in the breeze two strides beyond the out. Discipline. Focus. Vivian steadied the stallion and allowed him to approach the bounce at a controlled canter.

The pace and precision at which Vivian and Riki took the fourth jump, the bounce, made the pair look more like a team competing in a hunter jumper class than a cross country run. But it worked. It was necessary. After the fence, Vivian was able to collect the red ribbon more easily before moving on towards the water jump. The lights reflecting on the fence before the water reflected the shimmer of the water onto the surface of the jump. Riki's attention was focused solely on the strange lights that dance in front of him, and Vivian felt a strong hesitance in the stallion's step. She pushed Riki forward with a pat on his arched, sweating neck. Trustingly, Riki leaped over the jump and splashed into the water. The stallion seemed immensely shocked as the chilly water sloshed up against his stomach. He leaped up into the air with a tremendous buck as the cold water splashed between his legs. Vivian sat deep and pushed Riki forward, pulling his head up and directing him firmly towards the fence that would take them out of the water. Riki galloped fiercely towards the fence, blindly throwing himself over it, grateful for the dry land beneath his white hooves. Vivian verbally praised him as she tucked the fifth ribbon into the saddle pouch and headed off towards the brush fence.

As Vivian cantered steadily towards the sixth jump, she let Riki take the pace he desired. It was a simple brush fence on the flat. No hill. No ditch. As they approached the fence, the light that illuminated the front of it flickered and the shut off. Vivian nearly dragged Riki down out of his canter, but the stallion's confidence allowed her to trust him as he locked onto the shadowy structure. Luckily, the light that illuminated the ribbon was bright. the rider breathed a sigh of relief as Riki's front feet touched the ground on the other side of the brush fence. She jerked him to the left, pushing with her outside leg. She leaned over, and Riki spooked at her weight shift, veering right. Vivian found herself supporting the weight of her torso on Riki's face as she dragged him towards the pole. Her fingers wrapped loosely around the light blue ribbon, and the poll bent dramatically as Riki bolted past it. The light shone up in Vivian's eye with a temporary blinding affect. Her heart caught in her throat, her breath held at a sharp inhale. The whites of Riki's chocolatey eyes shone in the darkness. He breathed heavily, his large heart pounding fiercely. They had to make it.

It is forbidden to copy, download, transmit, distribute, display, reproduce, sell, heavily reference, claim, trace, reuse, license or anything else, without written permition of the respective owner. All rights are reserved!

ALL ARTWORK, CSS Adalrik, Vivian, and Desmond are COPYRIGHT under LAW to ME, *walktrotcanter7
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© 2012 - 2024 walktrotcanter7
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KonaKinz's avatar
You're back!?? :D