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More SAI pictures! I freaking love this program.

---

Eliza and Alexander were in America, again. The famous stallions who'd caused so much trouble for Brazen Field's even more famous horses were up for auction, and the duo had their eyes on one...Or at least Eliza did. Alex had protested at first, but eventually gave up after Eliza got the breeding manager, Nicolas, involved.

Nicolas was well aware of the talent and speed this horse possessed. He knew that he'd be invaluable as a stud. As he realised these points, he smiled down at Eliza, then strutted off to convince (or bully) Alex into agreeing.

Red&Sky wanted Lion's Way. Badly.

---

Eliza sat at her desk in her spacious room in the farmhouse. The only sound was the faint buzz of the machine's cooling fan. The room was dark; the screen lit up her face.

Hesitantly her fingers pressed keys. Always it was hesitant. No confidence lived within her when her father was concerned - even less when her mother was, too. Almost half an hour after starting her email, she typed her name and re-read it.

'Dear Father, Mother,

I hope you are well. I miss you every day, but things over here are very good. The horses are all happy and healthy and running well. I am enjoying it immensely, especially now I have all my time to devote to the farm, since I quit school after my GCSEs. My grades were good - but I assume you've seen them already.

I will be coming to America next week, for an auction being held. The horses for sale are all retired racers, and they are stallions. I hope to bring one of them back to Red&Sky, however I know the price will be high.

I seek your permission to spend as much as deemed reasonable by Alexander, who will be accompanying me, on the stallion. The horse in question is Lion's Way, who beat Anayehi twice. I presume you have heard of these two horses, because they have been taking the racing world by storm lately. Hopefully, Lion's Way will take over the breeding world soon, too, which will make lots of money for Red&Sky, thus increasing the return on your shares. Lion's Way is already very highly regarded as a stallion, despite having never sired any offspring.

If you accept, I can email you will further information on this matter, including financial documents and prospective stud fees.

I hope that you will consider this, and thank you.

Your loving daughter,

Eliza.'

She bit her lip as it sent. The email was calm, cool, and collected, quite unlike Eliza herself was at this moment. The 'loving daughter' bit was necessary.

She had to notify her parents of any major spends and request permission to buy new horses. Alexander would have done it himself, had she not insisted on doing it. She wanted to show her parents that she was in control of the farm, and that things were going great.

She logged off and went over to her bed. Dropping into the sleek, silky bedsheets she curled up underneath and attempted to sleep.

---

'Dearest Eliza,

Your father and I have talked about this issue, and we have decided that we can't provide assistance on this matter. The recession has slowed things up greatly on our end.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Your Mother.'

Eliza's face fell as she read the short message over and over. Relations between her parents and her were overcast at best, but this was outrageous. The only words that betrayed the fact that the message was addressed to her daughter were 'Dearest', and 'Your'. No words of praise after those fantastic GCSE results she'd mentioned. Her mother was unbelievable.

Never mind the fact that they provided no 'assistance on the matter'. That was fine. Fine. Red&Sky would just continue as it was for the next week or so, then suffer as the results of the sale were announced.

God she wished she was eighteen so that she was the owner of Red&Sky.

There would be no new stallion...

...

...

...

At least as far as her parents were concerned...

---

'So what did your parent's say?'

'Hmmm?' Eliza lifted her gaze from the latest Bloodhorse magazine.

'Your parents. What did they say about the money?' Alexander fixed her with a steely gaze. Nicolas stopped in the process of stirring his coffee and watched.

'Oh, uh...they said yes.' She lied easily, believably, 'They said it's fine.'

'America it is, then,' Alex sighed. Nicolas air high-fived Eliza. She managed a weak smile.

---

The journey over was uneventful. The plane landed on American tarmac and then they were whisked onto another before they had time to blink. The taxi to their hotel smelled like cigarettes.

'You think we'll get him, Alex?'

'Maybe. Depends, I guess. He's not going to be cheap, that's for sure. There'll be lots of competition.' He drew his hand over his face. Stubble pricked against his palm and he watched the lights flash by.

Eliza stared blankly out of the opposite window, her heart pounding.

---

'Lot One! Lion's Way, by Thewayyouare out of Arlette, by King of Kings, Starting...' The announcer's voice faded into the cacophony of shouts from bidders. Eliza looked at Alexander, who held the number.

'Wait until the bidding slows,' he growled competitively.

Lion's Way was in fine form. His muscled hide shone with vitality under the bright lights, but his rolling eye and quick gait betrayed his unease. Crowds were fine, but crowds surrounding him on almost all sides in an enclosed ring were not. His ears flicked back, and his eye slid over Eliza's face, glaring at every member of the crowd. His ears pricked up at the mention of his name, then swivelled again as it was lost in the noise.

The bidding did indeed slow, down to one bidder who sat possessively on a throne of an almost unmatchable sum. He cast his gaze over the crowd, daring somebody to best him.

The gavel was poised to strike.

Alexander dared.

Thus started a bidding war between the two men, which was fierce and anger filled. Finally, the enemy surrendered, lowering his gaze in submission. Alexander nodded as the gavel struck and the horse was lead out from the ring. Eliza smiled, then closed her eyes.

Lion's Way was theirs, but at what cost? She was messing around with other people's money on the faint chance that they wouldn't notice, or that they'd be impressed by the list of mares lined up for him to cover, at a fine price each.

---

'WHICH ONE OF YOU PUT LION IN THE MUDDY PADDOCK?!'

Nicolas' Norwegian accent did nothing to make his roar less scary as he burst into the grooms' room. He was generally a nice guy, but make him angry and you'd soon regret it.

Every paddock was the muddy paddock, in this autumn of rain.

'THAT HORSE IS COVERED IN MUD,' His face was red with fury, 'AND ONE OF YOU HAS GOTTA CLEAN HIM, BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL AREN'T.'

The grooms swallowed.

---

So, if you didn't guess already, here's my bid for *Greatalmightyqueen 's auction. Lion's Way is such a stunner I just had to try for him.

Thanks to GAQ herself, I think I'm on the road to understanding shading in SAI. This is definitely a better try than my last piece - in fact, I love this picture. It reminds me of winter days in England after a long shower, when the fields are closer to quagmires than anything else, and when the rain just doesn't stop.

Wish me luck! And good luck to the other applicants. Information below was all written by GAQ, and both the story and info are as if Red&Sky won him.

Name: Lion's Way
Barn name: Lion, His Highness
Gender: Stallion
Breed: Thoroughbred
Age: 6
Height: 16.3hh
Color: Chestnut
Genotype: ee AA
Markings: RH stocking, LH fetlock; star, broken stripe, snip.
Conformation: Remarkably like his sire, Lion's Way has a rounded silhouette: gentle curve to his back, smooth line from croup to dock to gaskin, lovely depth to his barrel. His shoulder is also nicely angled, if slightly too upright for conventional standards. He has good, short cannons and is already developing a thick stallion's crest.
Temperament: Pride and vanity define Lion's Way's personality. On the racetrack, he couldn't bear to be beaten, seeming to view it as a personal slight. Off the track, he loved to be brushed and bathed. He would run in mud despite all that, because of the inherent desire he seemed to possess to be better than everyone else, but after a muddy race his grooms were always prepared to scrub every molecule of clay from his coat lest he mope for days.
Discipline: Racing (retired)
Running style: Closer
Best distance: 8-10f
Bloodlines: Thewayyouare x Arlette (King of Kings)
Inbreeding:
3S x 3D Sadler's Wells
4S x 5S x 4D Northern Dancer
TrueNick: A
Breeding analysis: A linebreeder obviously came up with this one, as "return the sire to the best blood of his dam" appears to have been followed to the letter. Normally, so much Northern Dancer so close might cause alarm due to recent anecdotal evidence from horses such as Big Brown suggesting that ND carried genes for brittle bones and bad feet, but Sadler's Wells has always been a sturdy source of Dancer blood, so there likely isn't anything to worry about.

Art (C) me
Design & Character (C) *Greatalmightyqueen

Description
More SAI pictures! I freaking love this program.

---

Eliza and Alexander were in America, again. The famous stallions who'd caused so much trouble for Brazen Field's even more famous horses were up for auction, and the duo had their eyes on one...Or at least Eliza did. Alex had protested at first, but eventually gave up after Eliza got the breeding manager, Nicolas, involved.

Nicolas was well aware of the talent and speed this horse possessed. He knew that he'd be invaluable as a stud. As he realised these points, he smiled down at Eliza, then strutted off to convince (or bully) Alex into agreeing.

Red&Sky wanted Lion's Way. Badly.

---

Eliza sat at her desk in her spacious room in the farmhouse. The only sound was the faint buzz of the machine's cooling fan. The room was dark; the screen lit up her face.

Hesitantly her fingers pressed keys. Always it was hesitant. No confidence lived within her when her father was concerned - even less when her mother was, too. Almost half an hour after starting her email, she typed her name and re-read it.

'Dear Father, Mother,

I hope you are well. I miss you every day, but things over here are very good. The horses are all happy and healthy and running well. I am enjoying it immensely, especially now I have all my time to devote to the farm, since I quit school after my GCSEs. My grades were good - but I assume you've seen them already.

I will be coming to America next week, for an auction being held. The horses for sale are all retired racers, and they are stallions. I hope to bring one of them back to Red&Sky, however I know the price will be high.

I seek your permission to spend as much as deemed reasonable by Alexander, who will be accompanying me, on the stallion. The horse in question is Lion's Way, who beat Anayehi twice. I presume you have heard of these two horses, because they have been taking the racing world by storm lately. Hopefully, Lion's Way will take over the breeding world soon, too, which will make lots of money for Red&Sky, thus increasing the return on your shares. Lion's Way is already very highly regarded as a stallion, despite having never sired any offspring.

If you accept, I can email you will further information on this matter, including financial documents and prospective stud fees.

I hope that you will consider this, and thank you.

Your loving daughter,

Eliza.'

She bit her lip as it sent. The email was calm, cool, and collected, quite unlike Eliza herself was at this moment. The 'loving daughter' bit was necessary.

She had to notify her parents of any major spends and request permission to buy new horses. Alexander would have done it himself, had she not insisted on doing it. She wanted to show her parents that she was in control of the farm, and that things were going great.

She logged off and went over to her bed. Dropping into the sleek, silky bedsheets she curled up underneath and attempted to sleep.

---

'Dearest Eliza,

Your father and I have talked about this issue, and we have decided that we can't provide assistance on this matter. The recession has slowed things up greatly on our end.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Your Mother.'

Eliza's face fell as she read the short message over and over. Relations between her parents and her were overcast at best, but this was outrageous. The only words that betrayed the fact that the message was addressed to her daughter were 'Dearest', and 'Your'. No words of praise after those fantastic GCSE results she'd mentioned. Her mother was unbelievable.

Never mind the fact that they provided no 'assistance on the matter'. That was fine. Fine. Red&Sky would just continue as it was for the next week or so, then suffer as the results of the sale were announced.

God she wished she was eighteen so that she was the owner of Red&Sky.

There would be no new stallion...

...

...

...

At least as far as her parents were concerned...

---

'So what did your parent's say?'

'Hmmm?' Eliza lifted her gaze from the latest Bloodhorse magazine.

'Your parents. What did they say about the money?' Alexander fixed her with a steely gaze. Nicolas stopped in the process of stirring his coffee and watched.

'Oh, uh...they said yes.' She lied easily, believably, 'They said it's fine.'

'America it is, then,' Alex sighed. Nicolas air high-fived Eliza. She managed a weak smile.

---

The journey over was uneventful. The plane landed on American tarmac and then they were whisked onto another before they had time to blink. The taxi to their hotel smelled like cigarettes.

'You think we'll get him, Alex?'

'Maybe. Depends, I guess. He's not going to be cheap, that's for sure. There'll be lots of competition.' He drew his hand over his face. Stubble pricked against his palm and he watched the lights flash by.

Eliza stared blankly out of the opposite window, her heart pounding.

---

'Lot One! Lion's Way, by Thewayyouare out of Arlette, by King of Kings, Starting...' The announcer's voice faded into the cacophony of shouts from bidders. Eliza looked at Alexander, who held the number.

'Wait until the bidding slows,' he growled competitively.

Lion's Way was in fine form. His muscled hide shone with vitality under the bright lights, but his rolling eye and quick gait betrayed his unease. Crowds were fine, but crowds surrounding him on almost all sides in an enclosed ring were not. His ears flicked back, and his eye slid over Eliza's face, glaring at every member of the crowd. His ears pricked up at the mention of his name, then swivelled again as it was lost in the noise.

The bidding did indeed slow, down to one bidder who sat possessively on a throne of an almost unmatchable sum. He cast his gaze over the crowd, daring somebody to best him.

The gavel was poised to strike.

Alexander dared.

Thus started a bidding war between the two men, which was fierce and anger filled. Finally, the enemy surrendered, lowering his gaze in submission. Alexander nodded as the gavel struck and the horse was lead out from the ring. Eliza smiled, then closed her eyes.

Lion's Way was theirs, but at what cost? She was messing around with other people's money on the faint chance that they wouldn't notice, or that they'd be impressed by the list of mares lined up for him to cover, at a fine price each.

---

'WHICH ONE OF YOU PUT LION IN THE MUDDY PADDOCK?!'

Nicolas' Norwegian accent did nothing to make his roar less scary as he burst into the grooms' room. He was generally a nice guy, but make him angry and you'd soon regret it.

Every paddock was the muddy paddock, in this autumn of rain.

'THAT HORSE IS COVERED IN MUD,' His face was red with fury, 'AND ONE OF YOU HAS GOTTA CLEAN HIM, BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL AREN'T.'

The grooms swallowed.

---

So, if you didn't guess already, here's my bid for *Greatalmightyqueen 's auction. Lion's Way is such a stunner I just had to try for him.

Thanks to GAQ herself, I think I'm on the road to understanding shading in SAI. This is definitely a better try than my last piece - in fact, I love this picture. It reminds me of winter days in England after a long shower, when the fields are closer to quagmires than anything else, and when the rain just doesn't stop.

Wish me luck! And good luck to the other applicants. Information below was all written by GAQ, and both the story and info are as if Red&Sky won him.

Name: Lion's Way
Barn name: Lion, His Highness
Gender: Stallion
Breed: Thoroughbred
Age: 6
Height: 16.3hh
Color: Chestnut
Genotype: ee AA
Markings: RH stocking, LH fetlock; star, broken stripe, snip.
Conformation: Remarkably like his sire, Lion's Way has a rounded silhouette: gentle curve to his back, smooth line from croup to dock to gaskin, lovely depth to his barrel. His shoulder is also nicely angled, if slightly too upright for conventional standards. He has good, short cannons and is already developing a thick stallion's crest.
Temperament: Pride and vanity define Lion's Way's personality. On the racetrack, he couldn't bear to be beaten, seeming to view it as a personal slight. Off the track, he loved to be brushed and bathed. He would run in mud despite all that, because of the inherent desire he seemed to possess to be better than everyone else, but after a muddy race his grooms were always prepared to scrub every molecule of clay from his coat lest he mope for days.
Discipline: Racing (retired)
Running style: Closer
Best distance: 8-10f
Bloodlines: Thewayyouare x Arlette (King of Kings)
Inbreeding:
3S x 3D Sadler's Wells
4S x 5S x 4D Northern Dancer
TrueNick: A
Breeding analysis: A linebreeder obviously came up with this one, as "return the sire to the best blood of his dam" appears to have been followed to the letter. Normally, so much Northern Dancer so close might cause alarm due to recent anecdotal evidence from horses such as Big Brown suggesting that ND carried genes for brittle bones and bad feet, but Sadler's Wells has always been a sturdy source of Dancer blood, so there likely isn't anything to worry about.

Art (C) me
Design & Character (C) *Greatalmightyqueen