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Description

Close up to horse & rider: Tweed Close-up

Show: Tweed Valley Winter Cup 2023
Class: CSI****
Placing: 2nd (Out of 3) RESULTS - Tweed Valley Winter Cup 2023

Horse: Tears Of Paradise
Age: 9 y.o.
Rider: Julia Llort
Age: 32 y.o.
Nationality: Spain

Story:
Word count: 551 words
The day had woken up clearer than the few days prior of competition, just exactly what Julia wished for the day that she and Tera would finally be able to compete after seeing the other riders taking part in the eventing classes at Tweed Valley.

The Spanish rider had taken advantage of her long stay in Europe to enroll in the event, with her work done early in the continent she’d traveled to the venue a few days earlier than planned and could enjoy the wonderful sceneries of the Scottish borders with a warm coffee mug while rooting the other riders in the dressage and cross country phases, she’d missed the jumping of the short version of eventing to take Tears of Paradise out for a nice canter, totally worth it in both the mare and the rider’s opinion with how much fun they had, even if Julia had to fight against the mud stains on Tera’s stockings later.

Julia reached the mare’s box soon after, rubbing Tera’s muzzle as a greeting for the black sabino Trakehner mare. As her rider and owner walked into her stall, Tera was quick to rub her muzzle against Julia’s left arm, almost making her drop the coffee. After all those years with the mare the Spainyard already knew how much the mare liked the smell of the brew, but also to not let her have any no matter how much she asked.

“Blankets kept you warm this time?” Julia said as she checked that all the buckles were tied, Tera could sometimes be too smart for her own good and take off the blankets just for fun. “Can I finish my coffee before we start getting ready?” She chuckled as Tera tried to snag her coffee away again. “Better get out I guess…” Julia patted Tera’s neck and walked outside, slowly sipping in her mug.

The class they were taking part in was at a very nice time in the morning, and gave plenty of time to Julia to check the course before getting Tera to the warm up arena.

“Muddy.” Was what she mumbled as she stepped into the snow-covered arena. After the first two classes of the day the immaculate white snow had become a mix of mud and pulled grass, Julia immediately discarding their round to be one of their fastest, although given the 64 seconds allowed they would have to be fast. “Nothing we can’t handle though.” She chuckled.

The cold temperatures made Tera really feel full of energy, and it did not take long for Julia to notice when they were in the warm up arena. The rider was used to the black sabino’s excitement, but she always knew that the mare would listen to her aids. After settling down the mare over a few jumps Julia preferred to keep her energy for the real event. They would need all their energy for those fifteen efforts.

“There we go.” Julia patted Tera’s neck as they were allowed into the show arena, Tera’s ears forward and taking in a deep breath as she saw the jumps. Julia softly held the reins on her hands and asked for a halt, greeting the judges before they could ring the starting bell. Before she and Tera began to do what they did best.

*****
Resources:
Stone wall (for the fences), trees (far BG), dirt brushes --> Clip Studio Paint
Stone texture --> Own resources
Jump: Own design
Horse and rider: Multiple refs checked, none traced
*****

I have to say I am very happy as to how this one has turned out! Was a bit unsure about the dimensions of the pic, but I have always struggled with scenic views even though I've always loved them! So I had to try to make one of course! XD

For this piece I focused on trying to keep the drawing balanced despite the huge BG, and also tried to improve my shading and highlight skills that I have always struggled with :') I hope the contrast between the colors of the jump and the BG has helped for the horse and rider to stand out a bit more as well despite their 'dark' colors!

And talking about the pair: look! I managed to make a rider's face look human!

I am also very happy with the jump! I always like to design some more complex jumps and really like how this one came out! It was inspired by the Neidpath Castle given as resource for the XC course, hope it was visible!

And lastly: writing! As always I am still doing my best to improve my writing skills! And this pair just makes it so easy to write stories about them!

29/03/2023 --> Updated the light hue! Couldn't stop noticing how YELLOW the light from the highlight source was compared to the rest of the piece, so I decided to tone it down to a more blue-ish hue to tie it better with the rest of the image! HERE is the original (in case needed for judging), the close up with old hue is also here: TweedValley Tera Close Up

Description

Close up to horse & rider: Tweed Close-up

Show: Tweed Valley Winter Cup 2023
Class: CSI****
Placing: 2nd (Out of 3) RESULTS - Tweed Valley Winter Cup 2023

Horse: Tears Of Paradise
Age: 9 y.o.
Rider: Julia Llort
Age: 32 y.o.
Nationality: Spain

Story:
Word count: 551 words
The day had woken up clearer than the few days prior of competition, just exactly what Julia wished for the day that she and Tera would finally be able to compete after seeing the other riders taking part in the eventing classes at Tweed Valley.

The Spanish rider had taken advantage of her long stay in Europe to enroll in the event, with her work done early in the continent she’d traveled to the venue a few days earlier than planned and could enjoy the wonderful sceneries of the Scottish borders with a warm coffee mug while rooting the other riders in the dressage and cross country phases, she’d missed the jumping of the short version of eventing to take Tears of Paradise out for a nice canter, totally worth it in both the mare and the rider’s opinion with how much fun they had, even if Julia had to fight against the mud stains on Tera’s stockings later.

Julia reached the mare’s box soon after, rubbing Tera’s muzzle as a greeting for the black sabino Trakehner mare. As her rider and owner walked into her stall, Tera was quick to rub her muzzle against Julia’s left arm, almost making her drop the coffee. After all those years with the mare the Spainyard already knew how much the mare liked the smell of the brew, but also to not let her have any no matter how much she asked.

“Blankets kept you warm this time?” Julia said as she checked that all the buckles were tied, Tera could sometimes be too smart for her own good and take off the blankets just for fun. “Can I finish my coffee before we start getting ready?” She chuckled as Tera tried to snag her coffee away again. “Better get out I guess…” Julia patted Tera’s neck and walked outside, slowly sipping in her mug.

The class they were taking part in was at a very nice time in the morning, and gave plenty of time to Julia to check the course before getting Tera to the warm up arena.

“Muddy.” Was what she mumbled as she stepped into the snow-covered arena. After the first two classes of the day the immaculate white snow had become a mix of mud and pulled grass, Julia immediately discarding their round to be one of their fastest, although given the 64 seconds allowed they would have to be fast. “Nothing we can’t handle though.” She chuckled.

The cold temperatures made Tera really feel full of energy, and it did not take long for Julia to notice when they were in the warm up arena. The rider was used to the black sabino’s excitement, but she always knew that the mare would listen to her aids. After settling down the mare over a few jumps Julia preferred to keep her energy for the real event. They would need all their energy for those fifteen efforts.

“There we go.” Julia patted Tera’s neck as they were allowed into the show arena, Tera’s ears forward and taking in a deep breath as she saw the jumps. Julia softly held the reins on her hands and asked for a halt, greeting the judges before they could ring the starting bell. Before she and Tera began to do what they did best.

*****
Resources:
Stone wall (for the fences), trees (far BG), dirt brushes --> Clip Studio Paint
Stone texture --> Own resources
Jump: Own design
Horse and rider: Multiple refs checked, none traced
*****

I have to say I am very happy as to how this one has turned out! Was a bit unsure about the dimensions of the pic, but I have always struggled with scenic views even though I've always loved them! So I had to try to make one of course! XD

For this piece I focused on trying to keep the drawing balanced despite the huge BG, and also tried to improve my shading and highlight skills that I have always struggled with :') I hope the contrast between the colors of the jump and the BG has helped for the horse and rider to stand out a bit more as well despite their 'dark' colors!

And talking about the pair: look! I managed to make a rider's face look human!

I am also very happy with the jump! I always like to design some more complex jumps and really like how this one came out! It was inspired by the Neidpath Castle given as resource for the XC course, hope it was visible!

And lastly: writing! As always I am still doing my best to improve my writing skills! And this pair just makes it so easy to write stories about them!

29/03/2023 --> Updated the light hue! Couldn't stop noticing how YELLOW the light from the highlight source was compared to the rest of the piece, so I decided to tone it down to a more blue-ish hue to tie it better with the rest of the image! HERE is the original (in case needed for judging), the close up with old hue is also here: TweedValley Tera Close Up