HOME | DD

Description
Thank you..

Horse: Old Fashioned www.deviantart.com/applewood-f…
Rider: Miriam Debotte
Stable: Apple Wood Farm
Country: UK
Class: 3 Day eventing (dressage phase)
www.deviantart.com/cubanacanwa…

Cross country: www.deviantart.com/applewood-f…
Show jumping: www.deviantart.com/applewood-f…

Placing: 3rd
and "luck of the Irish" special award

Day 2 had arrived, almost half way through the competition and actually sitting in with a chance at this point! It’s always hard to tell if they’ll actually go clear in show jumping of not, it’s certainly not Don’s strongest discipline.

The morning was spent walking the cross country course, learning the test, general care and a bit of training in the morning, then rinse and repeat before the test. The sun was just starting to set, the day was calm, the butterflies hadn’t kicked in yet. The spotlights from the arena practically lit the whole yard.

Miri was quietly confident going into this test, Don was naturally a really nice mover, he wasn’t difficult, the hardest part would be keeping him calm. Often he was a bit eager and might skip into a canter a bit too soon, but with it being day two the overwhelming excitement had almost gone. The nerves were mostly looking forward to the cross country course.. extremely challenging questions and some technical fences.. “dressage, it’s dressage day I can’t let tomorrow get in the way”. Miri whispered to herself.

The warm up before the test was uneventful, if anything Miri thought Don might be tired, it was quite late after all, but at least he shouldn’t be bouncing into canter randomly. Down the centre line nice and straight, smiling eyes to the judges. Square, salut, beautiful then setting off he tripped, tumbled over his own legs, he jumped into a canter to balance himself. Miri landing on her neck had to wiggle back into her seat but only just before getting to C, quickly she sat up got him back to a trot with enough time to turn, hopefully she turned in the right direction. Nerves now followed thinking about how she almost fell 2 seconds into the test and then possibly plowed into the judges.. “nothing I can do now” she thought and tried to continue the rest of the test with as much grace as they possibly could.

Besides the stumble and the complete right off that was the centre line after that it was a beautiful test and the team agreed! Still, she was incredibly grateful, grateful Don managed to stay balanced, grateful he didn’t bolt off afterwards and just grateful to be there with him, with the support of her family and friends it was a lovely moment with her horse never the less.

Word count: 404

I was hoping to space out the uploading of these! But I realised I'd miss the deadline if I waited until I got home from work tomorrow
So I hope you don't mind the spam! I'd appreciate any thoughts, comments and feedback you have on these pieces

I always found something so inspiring about how riders react to their horses after a course, be it dressage or jumping. I feel the gratitude they show to their horses shows more than the round ever did. This was taken by my own photograph and the rider only did a small course at a local show, but the smiles, praise and gratitude she showed that horse where so inspiring. The sky reference for this piece was also inspired by a trip to the beach with my old dog, so it holds quite a lot of special moments in it.

Credits:
- horse reference: my own
- background: inspired by my own photos

Description
Thank you..

Horse: Old Fashioned www.deviantart.com/applewood-f…
Rider: Miriam Debotte
Stable: Apple Wood Farm
Country: UK
Class: 3 Day eventing (dressage phase)
www.deviantart.com/cubanacanwa…

Cross country: www.deviantart.com/applewood-f…
Show jumping: www.deviantart.com/applewood-f…

Placing: 3rd
and "luck of the Irish" special award

Day 2 had arrived, almost half way through the competition and actually sitting in with a chance at this point! It’s always hard to tell if they’ll actually go clear in show jumping of not, it’s certainly not Don’s strongest discipline.

The morning was spent walking the cross country course, learning the test, general care and a bit of training in the morning, then rinse and repeat before the test. The sun was just starting to set, the day was calm, the butterflies hadn’t kicked in yet. The spotlights from the arena practically lit the whole yard.

Miri was quietly confident going into this test, Don was naturally a really nice mover, he wasn’t difficult, the hardest part would be keeping him calm. Often he was a bit eager and might skip into a canter a bit too soon, but with it being day two the overwhelming excitement had almost gone. The nerves were mostly looking forward to the cross country course.. extremely challenging questions and some technical fences.. “dressage, it’s dressage day I can’t let tomorrow get in the way”. Miri whispered to herself.

The warm up before the test was uneventful, if anything Miri thought Don might be tired, it was quite late after all, but at least he shouldn’t be bouncing into canter randomly. Down the centre line nice and straight, smiling eyes to the judges. Square, salut, beautiful then setting off he tripped, tumbled over his own legs, he jumped into a canter to balance himself. Miri landing on her neck had to wiggle back into her seat but only just before getting to C, quickly she sat up got him back to a trot with enough time to turn, hopefully she turned in the right direction. Nerves now followed thinking about how she almost fell 2 seconds into the test and then possibly plowed into the judges.. “nothing I can do now” she thought and tried to continue the rest of the test with as much grace as they possibly could.

Besides the stumble and the complete right off that was the centre line after that it was a beautiful test and the team agreed! Still, she was incredibly grateful, grateful Don managed to stay balanced, grateful he didn’t bolt off afterwards and just grateful to be there with him, with the support of her family and friends it was a lovely moment with her horse never the less.

Word count: 404

I was hoping to space out the uploading of these! But I realised I'd miss the deadline if I waited until I got home from work tomorrow
So I hope you don't mind the spam! I'd appreciate any thoughts, comments and feedback you have on these pieces

I always found something so inspiring about how riders react to their horses after a course, be it dressage or jumping. I feel the gratitude they show to their horses shows more than the round ever did. This was taken by my own photograph and the rider only did a small course at a local show, but the smiles, praise and gratitude she showed that horse where so inspiring. The sky reference for this piece was also inspired by a trip to the beach with my old dog, so it holds quite a lot of special moments in it.

Credits:
- horse reference: my own
- background: inspired by my own photos