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Description

*is pumped that she successfully drew a background *
My second and final pic for ~Storm-the-dancer 's RSs Charity Event! This time...

Horse: Blow Away The Cobwebs
Rider: Stephanie Goodfarthing
Number: 101
Class: Dressage Kur
Music: Stardust soundtrack medley - flying change/tempi changes performed to section from "Septimus": [link] (incidentally one of my favourite pieces of music, strats at 0:41)

EDIT added story!

Previous: [link]

Things had been tense on the yard since the party. Not unbearable - not by a long shot. But still, tense was the word.

The old rivalry still existed between Scott and Laura, but now there were even more stand-offish than usual; Scott had hurt the feelings of Marcus who was Laura’s best friend, so by default, he had hurt Laura’s feelings too. The pair coexisted, but barely even spoke - if anything it was worse than the competitive rivalry, because now it was downright spiteful.

For the same reason, Laura barely spoke to Steph, and Steph, as “ice queen” of the yard, was giving Laura the cold shoulder. Nobody knew who would give out first but the money was on cool, calm Steph over fiery, angry Laura. And everybody wanted to be there when they finally settled the score.

Marcus was, of course, holding the perfect silent treatment. He barely spoke to anybody - including Pod, who’d been trying to provoke conversation out of him by all sorts of strange methods.

“So…Marcus…howsabou’ we try starting all the young stock using Parelli methods?”

“So…Maarrrcus…I really wanna teach Boris tempi changes…narr, really! Come back!”

“Sooo…Marrrrrcus…fancy a game o’ Ring o’ Fire? Course we can play wi’ jus’ the two of us!”
But nothing would do it.

So it was a slightly nervous Ellie who helped pack Cobweb and Jett into the trailer and sent Laura and Steph on their merry way to Rare Soul Stables. Before she climbed into the passenger seat, Laura was grabbed by Ellie.

“Look, I know you’re both mature enough not to go round sabotaging each other or whatever - but try not to start any big hostilities til you come back, right? Because if there’s one thing worse than falling out, it’s falling out in a different country.” Ellie warned Laura gently, tucking a strand of plum-purple hair - her new favourite colour - behind her ear in nervous habit.

Laura smiled wanly. “We’v already fallen out, Elle.” Seeing the look on Ellie’s face, she laughed, “OK, promise! You can rely on me. Wish us luck!”

“Luck!” Ellie shouted, waving as the horsebox trundled out of the driveway. Drizzle began to patter irregularly on the gravel, and she was shouted over by Eleanor to bring in the horses.

After a night’s sleep and barely any real conversation, the day of competition dawned. Steph was on first, and had been up for hours prepping her horse, the dressage-trained Thoroughbred Cobweb. He was one of the sweetest horses she knew - honest, a try-hard, thoughtful. She’d been training hard for this moment, Cobweb had come on leaps and bounds since his last foreign outing, progressing quickly up the ranks of British Dressage and wowing the local unaffiliated shows. He was also a favourite with those who took private lessons at Oak Hollow - he responded to every aid as he had been taught, meaning he produced quick-learning riders. And he always, always made them look good.

“You wouldn’t judge me, would you, Cobweb?” Steph whispered to him and she saddled him up. “You don’t care who I’m seeing, whether they’re famous, or from back home, or from abroad. You just want to be happy and eat your hay. Well, you can’t with a bit in your mouth,” She untied his haynet and threw it inside the horsebox. “You know everything about me and all you want to do is be praised for what I ask of you. Why can’t people be so simple?” She sighed, patting his neck and taking off her overalls.

“Talking to the ponies?” Laura asked as she jumped out of the trailer, wearing her over trousers and staff sweatshirt. “How does he feel?”

Steph sighed. Laura used to be one of her favourite people to chat to. She had such funny anecdotes and always knew what to say to banish nerves - now all they talked about were the horses, absolutely nothing else besides. “He feels OK. Less tense than me.”

Laura didn’t reply, just folded Jett’s cooler up her neck. The black mare flicked her ears back and forth, temperamental on the day of competition. She snapped at air as Laura began grooming. “Oh shut up, you moody witch.” Laura replied tiredly, carrying on grooming.

Steph couldn’t stand it anymore. She turned around with a violent sigh. “Laura, we have to stop acting like this.”

“Like what?” Laura said nonchalantly, now laying Jett’s mane to one side with a wet brush.

“Like you know what, Laura! Don’t be so childish!” Steph snapped. Laura stopped brushing and faced Steph, hands on hips. “Sorry.”

“Yeah. You should be.” Laura put down her brush and folded her arms. “I dunno if anybody has actually talked straight to you yet, but here’s how it is. You never liked Scott when he first came, and you knew Marcus was jealous of him because he’s a famous eventer. You’d already started hitting on Marcus before we even got to the party so what you did was just…it was really, really low, Steph.”

Steph rolled her eyes, shoulders sagging. “I know how low it was! I couldn’t help it! I just…there’s no was I can justify it.”

“Not to me.” Laura said. “But you can make it up to Marcus.”

Steph shook her head in disbelief, “How, exactly?”

“Just be honest! It isn’t hard. He likes honesty - that’s why he likes Cobweb so much.” She patted the grey horse, who had been dozing and jumped awake. “When we get back, tell him everything you just told me.”

Steph smiled, then faltered. “This doesn’t change how I feel about Scott, you know.”

Laura laughed. “Yeah. That will always be a mystery to me.”

Next: [link]

DEETS
Time: Maybe 5 hours altogether? I forget
Reference: Photo from Horse&Hound Magazine
Tools: Papermate propelling pencil and WHSmiths sketchbook, Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet & Photoshop Elements 5.0
Brushes: None

Art & Characters (c)
Cobweb's design (c)
RSs (c)

Description

*is pumped that she successfully drew a background *
My second and final pic for ~Storm-the-dancer 's RSs Charity Event! This time...

Horse: Blow Away The Cobwebs
Rider: Stephanie Goodfarthing
Number: 101
Class: Dressage Kur
Music: Stardust soundtrack medley - flying change/tempi changes performed to section from "Septimus": [link] (incidentally one of my favourite pieces of music, strats at 0:41)

EDIT added story!

Previous: [link]

Things had been tense on the yard since the party. Not unbearable - not by a long shot. But still, tense was the word.

The old rivalry still existed between Scott and Laura, but now there were even more stand-offish than usual; Scott had hurt the feelings of Marcus who was Laura’s best friend, so by default, he had hurt Laura’s feelings too. The pair coexisted, but barely even spoke - if anything it was worse than the competitive rivalry, because now it was downright spiteful.

For the same reason, Laura barely spoke to Steph, and Steph, as “ice queen” of the yard, was giving Laura the cold shoulder. Nobody knew who would give out first but the money was on cool, calm Steph over fiery, angry Laura. And everybody wanted to be there when they finally settled the score.

Marcus was, of course, holding the perfect silent treatment. He barely spoke to anybody - including Pod, who’d been trying to provoke conversation out of him by all sorts of strange methods.

“So…Marcus…howsabou’ we try starting all the young stock using Parelli methods?”

“So…Maarrrcus…I really wanna teach Boris tempi changes…narr, really! Come back!”

“Sooo…Marrrrrcus…fancy a game o’ Ring o’ Fire? Course we can play wi’ jus’ the two of us!”
But nothing would do it.

So it was a slightly nervous Ellie who helped pack Cobweb and Jett into the trailer and sent Laura and Steph on their merry way to Rare Soul Stables. Before she climbed into the passenger seat, Laura was grabbed by Ellie.

“Look, I know you’re both mature enough not to go round sabotaging each other or whatever - but try not to start any big hostilities til you come back, right? Because if there’s one thing worse than falling out, it’s falling out in a different country.” Ellie warned Laura gently, tucking a strand of plum-purple hair - her new favourite colour - behind her ear in nervous habit.

Laura smiled wanly. “We’v already fallen out, Elle.” Seeing the look on Ellie’s face, she laughed, “OK, promise! You can rely on me. Wish us luck!”

“Luck!” Ellie shouted, waving as the horsebox trundled out of the driveway. Drizzle began to patter irregularly on the gravel, and she was shouted over by Eleanor to bring in the horses.

After a night’s sleep and barely any real conversation, the day of competition dawned. Steph was on first, and had been up for hours prepping her horse, the dressage-trained Thoroughbred Cobweb. He was one of the sweetest horses she knew - honest, a try-hard, thoughtful. She’d been training hard for this moment, Cobweb had come on leaps and bounds since his last foreign outing, progressing quickly up the ranks of British Dressage and wowing the local unaffiliated shows. He was also a favourite with those who took private lessons at Oak Hollow - he responded to every aid as he had been taught, meaning he produced quick-learning riders. And he always, always made them look good.

“You wouldn’t judge me, would you, Cobweb?” Steph whispered to him and she saddled him up. “You don’t care who I’m seeing, whether they’re famous, or from back home, or from abroad. You just want to be happy and eat your hay. Well, you can’t with a bit in your mouth,” She untied his haynet and threw it inside the horsebox. “You know everything about me and all you want to do is be praised for what I ask of you. Why can’t people be so simple?” She sighed, patting his neck and taking off her overalls.

“Talking to the ponies?” Laura asked as she jumped out of the trailer, wearing her over trousers and staff sweatshirt. “How does he feel?”

Steph sighed. Laura used to be one of her favourite people to chat to. She had such funny anecdotes and always knew what to say to banish nerves - now all they talked about were the horses, absolutely nothing else besides. “He feels OK. Less tense than me.”

Laura didn’t reply, just folded Jett’s cooler up her neck. The black mare flicked her ears back and forth, temperamental on the day of competition. She snapped at air as Laura began grooming. “Oh shut up, you moody witch.” Laura replied tiredly, carrying on grooming.

Steph couldn’t stand it anymore. She turned around with a violent sigh. “Laura, we have to stop acting like this.”

“Like what?” Laura said nonchalantly, now laying Jett’s mane to one side with a wet brush.

“Like you know what, Laura! Don’t be so childish!” Steph snapped. Laura stopped brushing and faced Steph, hands on hips. “Sorry.”

“Yeah. You should be.” Laura put down her brush and folded her arms. “I dunno if anybody has actually talked straight to you yet, but here’s how it is. You never liked Scott when he first came, and you knew Marcus was jealous of him because he’s a famous eventer. You’d already started hitting on Marcus before we even got to the party so what you did was just…it was really, really low, Steph.”

Steph rolled her eyes, shoulders sagging. “I know how low it was! I couldn’t help it! I just…there’s no was I can justify it.”

“Not to me.” Laura said. “But you can make it up to Marcus.”

Steph shook her head in disbelief, “How, exactly?”

“Just be honest! It isn’t hard. He likes honesty - that’s why he likes Cobweb so much.” She patted the grey horse, who had been dozing and jumped awake. “When we get back, tell him everything you just told me.”

Steph smiled, then faltered. “This doesn’t change how I feel about Scott, you know.”

Laura laughed. “Yeah. That will always be a mystery to me.”

Next: [link]

DEETS
Time: Maybe 5 hours altogether? I forget
Reference: Photo from Horse&Hound Magazine
Tools: Papermate propelling pencil and WHSmiths sketchbook, Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet & Photoshop Elements 5.0
Brushes: None

Art & Characters (c)
Cobweb's design (c)
RSs (c)