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Description

First Annual Remembrance Show : In Honor of Cookie

Memorial Class

Un Echo Sans Réponse "Echo" | ~12-14 y/o Selle Fançais Stallion

With Joseph Wilkinson (~28-30 y/o)

Donations (screenshot from the journal ) :

- Blankets for Grand Champion & Reserve Champion

- Breeding slot to Echo de Semilly for First Place in 3DE

- Custom Horse Designs for every Third Places

>> Part 2 | Burning Through <<

Results : 3rd

Story (1543 words) :

CT Dutch Equine, a reference in the horse show community, birthplace and home to many great names among the Trakehner breed. The riders from Vallée Bleue, commonly referred to as the ‘Blue Squad’, had had the occasion to experience the CT grandeur for the first time no less than one month ago, and what an experience it had been. It was then that Echo got back onto the competition scene after his leg injury that had put him to stall rest for nearly a whole year, and partnered up with Joe, they had won the show jumping class as well. Together, the Blue Squad had stayed another week at CT to celebrate Halloween together, and although the show results were not as good as before, the point then was to have fun, and lord did they all have a lot of fun.

When they had planned to come back in the winter for another show, no one knew this would be under these circumstances. The tragedy that had occurred on the CT grounds meant that the estate was closing its doors to the public, retiring their horses from competition, and only ever reopening once a year for this special commemoration. As heart-breaking as it was, it was without an ounce of a doubt that the Blue Squad decided to come back and compete in this special show, to show their support and honor the memory of such a respected and loved member of the worldwide horse community.

Joe in particular had been especially eager to participate, he had seen in CT not only the appeal of the competition but also the large potential for making life-long friends, so he had felt particularly impacted by the news of the tragedy. For this reason, he had started planning for this show quite early, training with Echo as much as possible, having registered in the show jumping class. Eventually, time came for the Blue Squad to actually prepare to go to Kentucky, but the night before the departure, Joe was invited by a friend to a birthday party which he happily went to. However, after waking up in the morning with a serious hangover, a severe pain suddenly arose from his left wrist so he had to go to the ER for a medical exam. The results were reassuring, as it turned out that Joe had just a sprain and nothing broken, prompting in his mind blurry memories of trying to break a wooden board with his bare hands to entertain his friends, but that also meant that the young man would be unable to ride a horse for a week at the very least. And the show started the next day…

After cursing at himself for his stupidity while he was alone, he spent the rest of the day during the trip to Kentucky trying his best to hide his frustration and disappointment in himself behind a façade of jokes and smiles, as he was so good at that. Although they couldn’t participate anymore because of Joe’s injury, Echo had still been brought along, and when they arrived on site, the team settled him and the other two horses in their stalls before retreating to their bungalow they were renting for the duration of the event, where they all went to bed quite quickly after such a tiring day of travel.

For the first day of the event, the focus of the Blue Squad was on Raph and Fire, together known as Team Rapphire, as they tackled the first phase of their 3DE class. As the good friend that he strove to be, Joe tried his best to be as supportive as possible, knowing that Raph would be highly stressed and would need a lot of support and encouragement. He was so invested with his friend’s performance that for a while he completely forgot about his injury, or even the context of the show, and he was the first and loudest to cheer for her once it was over and she exited the dressage ring on her chestnut mare. He even insisted to help groom Fire once they were back at the stables, but really he might have been overcompensating.

As the night fell at the end of that first day, Joe found himself alone sitting on the ground with his back against one of the guest’s barn walls. He probably should be with the rest of the Squad, watching the Pas De Deux that was the last class of the day, or participating in one of the memorial activities that he knew many people were organizing all around the stables ground. But he didn’t have the heart to do any of that, so he just sat there in silence for who-knows how long. Staring absent-mindingly at the star-lit dark sky, a cluster of unusual lights came into view, and Joe immediately recognized what they were : paper lanterns. Somewhere in a field just north of there, people were releasing those for one of the memorial activities that Joe first thought he’d be joining, but seeing them flying away in the night like that was too much for him to bear, so he retreated to inside the stables in hopes of finding some comfort with his stallion.

Echo was laying down, resting in the darkness of his stall as the lights were off to allow the horses to sleep, but he was still awake and visibly recognized his partner from the sound of his steps from the way he was expectantly looking at him when the man came into view.

“Hey there, mate” Joe greeted the stallion as he opened the stall’s door “Were you expecting me ?”

Echo moved his legs as if about to get up, but Joe quickly kneeled down next to him as to say that he didn’t have to move. The stallion refolded his legs in a comfortable position, and Joe sat down next to him, petting him on the neck to help him relax again. The silence between the two remained for a while, and Echo was showing signs of dozing off, barely keeping his eyes open but Joe only realized it after he opened his mouth.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” the young man started to softly say “I should be out there, doing something, showing support, or anything really”

Echo let out a sigh before moving his head closer to his partner.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be bothering you” Joe petted the stallion between the ears “I just don’t know who else to turn to…”

The bay horse opened one of his eyes, one ear pointed towards the man, looking like he was curious to hear more even though Joe was well aware he couldn’t understand a thing he was saying.

“It’s stupid, I know… But I just don’t want to bother them” he continued “Raph needs to focus on the competition, and she also needs Maya's help for that. And there’s no way I’m talking feelings with them out of the blue, cause I’m supposed to be the cool experienced rider they can look up to, I don’t want them to be disappointed in me for being such a stupid wimp…”

This time, Echo lifted his head, eyes wide open and both ears forward as he looked at Joe. Even though he couldn’t understand, the stallion could visibly feel that something wasn’t right in his partner. The young man sighed as he switched to pet Echo under his chin.

“I know I shouldn’t say such bad things about myself, but if I hadn’t been so stupid in the first place, you and I would be flying high tomorrow, jumping at your real level this time ! It would have been our own way to get involved for the commemoration, you know” a flash of a smile had cracked on Joe’s face but quickly vanished as he continued to follow his train of thoughts “But instead, here we are… Doing nothing and being useless”

The stallion lowered his head at this statement, laying it on top of Joe’s folded legs. His ears went down slightly and he closed his eyes again, letting out a long sigh.

“I’m so sorry for you too, buddy” the young man gave his friend a hug “We were just getting you back into it after you must have felt left out for so long, and I had to screw things up… When I tell you that I’m a stupid wimp, I mean it on all fronts”

Silence fell between the two after that. Joe was starting to feel guilty for potentially annoying his stallion, but Echo didn’t seem to be bothered at all, even starting to fall asleep on Joe’s lap. So they stayed that way for a while, the young man even falling asleep as well for some time, before he woke up from a noise coming from the stall next to them. When Joe realized how late he had stayed there, he figured he’d better go back to get some actual real sleep in his room in the bungalow. After kissing Echo goodnight, Joe lazily walked back to his room, not even bothering to change his clothes before crashing onto his bed, falling asleep without the strength to even dream…

Joe is basically me in that story, not to the letter of course, but still.

Sometimes, I just can’t help but think I could have done more for Cookie. How ? I don’t know. Maybe I could have done some art for her, draw her horses, honor her memory in some way, but I didn’t and I feel guilty about it. I had planned on doing something like that, but got overwhelmed by too many plans for my own stables, personal things going on in real life, and that stupid neck injury that limited my drawing abilities for quite some time.

I know that since I didn’t really know her for that long and we weren’t even friends, I probably shouldn’t feel so bad but I can’t help it… I can’t even imagine how the people who were actually close to her must have felt and still feel right now. I send all my love and support to them <3

And Cookie, you were an amazing person with a big heart, I hope you have found your peace <3

(And here, have a song from my favorite artist that makes me think of Cookie whenever I listen to it : In The Embers by Sleeping At Last )

On the art side of things (apart from the obvious ‘I’m Blue’ joke I could make), I can’t tell you how much I hate drawing human faces, I very dissatified with how Joe’s face turned out, as well as his hair and beard but oh well. The most important thing for me by far is the story, not the drawing, so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

Also, I think it’d be nice to admit that I got heavily inspired by “The dead of night ” by Zoubstance, so credits to where credit is due.

Reference Joe + Reference Echo (traced)

Description

First Annual Remembrance Show : In Honor of Cookie

Memorial Class

Un Echo Sans Réponse "Echo" | ~12-14 y/o Selle Fançais Stallion

With Joseph Wilkinson (~28-30 y/o)

Donations (screenshot from the journal ) :

- Blankets for Grand Champion & Reserve Champion

- Breeding slot to Echo de Semilly for First Place in 3DE

- Custom Horse Designs for every Third Places

>> Part 2 | Burning Through <<

Results : 3rd

Story (1543 words) :

CT Dutch Equine, a reference in the horse show community, birthplace and home to many great names among the Trakehner breed. The riders from Vallée Bleue, commonly referred to as the ‘Blue Squad’, had had the occasion to experience the CT grandeur for the first time no less than one month ago, and what an experience it had been. It was then that Echo got back onto the competition scene after his leg injury that had put him to stall rest for nearly a whole year, and partnered up with Joe, they had won the show jumping class as well. Together, the Blue Squad had stayed another week at CT to celebrate Halloween together, and although the show results were not as good as before, the point then was to have fun, and lord did they all have a lot of fun.

When they had planned to come back in the winter for another show, no one knew this would be under these circumstances. The tragedy that had occurred on the CT grounds meant that the estate was closing its doors to the public, retiring their horses from competition, and only ever reopening once a year for this special commemoration. As heart-breaking as it was, it was without an ounce of a doubt that the Blue Squad decided to come back and compete in this special show, to show their support and honor the memory of such a respected and loved member of the worldwide horse community.

Joe in particular had been especially eager to participate, he had seen in CT not only the appeal of the competition but also the large potential for making life-long friends, so he had felt particularly impacted by the news of the tragedy. For this reason, he had started planning for this show quite early, training with Echo as much as possible, having registered in the show jumping class. Eventually, time came for the Blue Squad to actually prepare to go to Kentucky, but the night before the departure, Joe was invited by a friend to a birthday party which he happily went to. However, after waking up in the morning with a serious hangover, a severe pain suddenly arose from his left wrist so he had to go to the ER for a medical exam. The results were reassuring, as it turned out that Joe had just a sprain and nothing broken, prompting in his mind blurry memories of trying to break a wooden board with his bare hands to entertain his friends, but that also meant that the young man would be unable to ride a horse for a week at the very least. And the show started the next day…

After cursing at himself for his stupidity while he was alone, he spent the rest of the day during the trip to Kentucky trying his best to hide his frustration and disappointment in himself behind a façade of jokes and smiles, as he was so good at that. Although they couldn’t participate anymore because of Joe’s injury, Echo had still been brought along, and when they arrived on site, the team settled him and the other two horses in their stalls before retreating to their bungalow they were renting for the duration of the event, where they all went to bed quite quickly after such a tiring day of travel.

For the first day of the event, the focus of the Blue Squad was on Raph and Fire, together known as Team Rapphire, as they tackled the first phase of their 3DE class. As the good friend that he strove to be, Joe tried his best to be as supportive as possible, knowing that Raph would be highly stressed and would need a lot of support and encouragement. He was so invested with his friend’s performance that for a while he completely forgot about his injury, or even the context of the show, and he was the first and loudest to cheer for her once it was over and she exited the dressage ring on her chestnut mare. He even insisted to help groom Fire once they were back at the stables, but really he might have been overcompensating.

As the night fell at the end of that first day, Joe found himself alone sitting on the ground with his back against one of the guest’s barn walls. He probably should be with the rest of the Squad, watching the Pas De Deux that was the last class of the day, or participating in one of the memorial activities that he knew many people were organizing all around the stables ground. But he didn’t have the heart to do any of that, so he just sat there in silence for who-knows how long. Staring absent-mindingly at the star-lit dark sky, a cluster of unusual lights came into view, and Joe immediately recognized what they were : paper lanterns. Somewhere in a field just north of there, people were releasing those for one of the memorial activities that Joe first thought he’d be joining, but seeing them flying away in the night like that was too much for him to bear, so he retreated to inside the stables in hopes of finding some comfort with his stallion.

Echo was laying down, resting in the darkness of his stall as the lights were off to allow the horses to sleep, but he was still awake and visibly recognized his partner from the sound of his steps from the way he was expectantly looking at him when the man came into view.

“Hey there, mate” Joe greeted the stallion as he opened the stall’s door “Were you expecting me ?”

Echo moved his legs as if about to get up, but Joe quickly kneeled down next to him as to say that he didn’t have to move. The stallion refolded his legs in a comfortable position, and Joe sat down next to him, petting him on the neck to help him relax again. The silence between the two remained for a while, and Echo was showing signs of dozing off, barely keeping his eyes open but Joe only realized it after he opened his mouth.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” the young man started to softly say “I should be out there, doing something, showing support, or anything really”

Echo let out a sigh before moving his head closer to his partner.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be bothering you” Joe petted the stallion between the ears “I just don’t know who else to turn to…”

The bay horse opened one of his eyes, one ear pointed towards the man, looking like he was curious to hear more even though Joe was well aware he couldn’t understand a thing he was saying.

“It’s stupid, I know… But I just don’t want to bother them” he continued “Raph needs to focus on the competition, and she also needs Maya's help for that. And there’s no way I’m talking feelings with them out of the blue, cause I’m supposed to be the cool experienced rider they can look up to, I don’t want them to be disappointed in me for being such a stupid wimp…”

This time, Echo lifted his head, eyes wide open and both ears forward as he looked at Joe. Even though he couldn’t understand, the stallion could visibly feel that something wasn’t right in his partner. The young man sighed as he switched to pet Echo under his chin.

“I know I shouldn’t say such bad things about myself, but if I hadn’t been so stupid in the first place, you and I would be flying high tomorrow, jumping at your real level this time ! It would have been our own way to get involved for the commemoration, you know” a flash of a smile had cracked on Joe’s face but quickly vanished as he continued to follow his train of thoughts “But instead, here we are… Doing nothing and being useless”

The stallion lowered his head at this statement, laying it on top of Joe’s folded legs. His ears went down slightly and he closed his eyes again, letting out a long sigh.

“I’m so sorry for you too, buddy” the young man gave his friend a hug “We were just getting you back into it after you must have felt left out for so long, and I had to screw things up… When I tell you that I’m a stupid wimp, I mean it on all fronts”

Silence fell between the two after that. Joe was starting to feel guilty for potentially annoying his stallion, but Echo didn’t seem to be bothered at all, even starting to fall asleep on Joe’s lap. So they stayed that way for a while, the young man even falling asleep as well for some time, before he woke up from a noise coming from the stall next to them. When Joe realized how late he had stayed there, he figured he’d better go back to get some actual real sleep in his room in the bungalow. After kissing Echo goodnight, Joe lazily walked back to his room, not even bothering to change his clothes before crashing onto his bed, falling asleep without the strength to even dream…

Joe is basically me in that story, not to the letter of course, but still.

Sometimes, I just can’t help but think I could have done more for Cookie. How ? I don’t know. Maybe I could have done some art for her, draw her horses, honor her memory in some way, but I didn’t and I feel guilty about it. I had planned on doing something like that, but got overwhelmed by too many plans for my own stables, personal things going on in real life, and that stupid neck injury that limited my drawing abilities for quite some time.

I know that since I didn’t really know her for that long and we weren’t even friends, I probably shouldn’t feel so bad but I can’t help it… I can’t even imagine how the people who were actually close to her must have felt and still feel right now. I send all my love and support to them <3

And Cookie, you were an amazing person with a big heart, I hope you have found your peace <3

(And here, have a song from my favorite artist that makes me think of Cookie whenever I listen to it : In The Embers by Sleeping At Last )

On the art side of things (apart from the obvious ‘I’m Blue’ joke I could make), I can’t tell you how much I hate drawing human faces, I very dissatified with how Joe’s face turned out, as well as his hair and beard but oh well. The most important thing for me by far is the story, not the drawing, so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

Also, I think it’d be nice to admit that I got heavily inspired by “The dead of night ” by Zoubstance, so credits to where credit is due.

Reference Joe + Reference Echo (traced)