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Tattered-Dreams — The Last
Published: 2013-03-15 00:32:11 +0000 UTC; Views: 1770; Favourites: 45; Downloads: 0
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Description
Stable: Lakewood Farm
Horse Number: 1
Horse Name: Kiwi
Entry: Optional
Storyline:
1. Mandatory: First Meeting
2. Optional: The First Steps
3. Optional: Interlude - Things for the Future
4. Optional: Breakthrough
5. Optional: Building Trust
6. Mandatory: Mishap - Halter Training
7. Optional: Progression
8. Optional: Mishap - Early Saddle Sessions
9. Mandatory: Backing
10. Optional: Mounting Up
11. Mandatory: Flat Training
12. Optional: Jump training
13. Optional: Christmas Hack
14. Optional: Kaimanawa Hack
15. Optional: Beach/water riding
16. Optional: The Future: You are Here
Well, guys...that's it. It had to happen eventually, so this is the end of the Kiwi Stories.
To all those who've been following since the start; thank you so much. All your comments have been greatly appreciated and its been so motivating for me to keep bringing more things to her development, knowing that there's people out there who were looking forward to her next adventure.
Kiwi's got a home for life with Alec at Lakewood, so this is definitely not the last of her! She'll be hanging out and competing here and there (and Alec's mum will be visiting in the future, too, to see this little mare, and that's a visit that can only go badly, so there's more in that respect). But as for the challenge, she's now a sociable, sweet and honest little horse who's come a long way. She'll be constantly learning, and there's always more to teach her, but this storyline has come to a close.
I never planned to do this picture, but it felt like a nice finish to the whole thing.
Chess poked her head into the Den and her eyes landed on Becca straight away. The brunette was fixing up the diary for the next morning's turnout.
"Becks; have you seen Alec? I need a hand and everyone's busy."
Becca looked up, frowning. "Busy? Austin's working Toeki but Twitch was just filling haynets."
Chess nodded. "She was. Until Hershey shot past her and raced off towards Wickerwood."
Becca groaned. "Why do we own goats? Really? Um...I think he was taking Kiwi up to Long Meadow."
"Thanks!" Chess called behind her.
The blonde jogged up the long track to the far fields, tugging on a hoodie as she went. Peanut darted ahead of her, weaving through the hedges. Winter was almost over but spring was taking its time rolling in. The air was clear, but there was still a chill to it, though the snow had entirely gone and the grass was coming back in green.
Chess slowed as she neared the fence. She could see Kiwi, up on the crest of the hill, right at the back of the farm. She was laid in the fresh grass, her head resting on the ground. She appeared to be snoozing. Alec was seated against her body, using her shoulder as a backrest as he fiddled with papers in his hands.
Chess smiled. He'd bought Kiwi, just wanting to back his own horse, and she had clicked with him on sight, but when he'd looked back at the auction website months ago, he realised that they could send in progress reports, paperwork and photographs of the gentling and backing process, which could be put towards a competition. Becca hadn't been sure about it, but Alec had liked the idea, and because he'd already been taking his polaroid camera everywhere to document Kiwi's journey, it hadn't been difficult to fill out the paperwork, too. They'd all been helping to fill in the progress reports, as third parties to the process, and it was ready to post off in time for the closing date.
Chess vaulted the fence and started trekking up towards them.
She stopped a small distance away. Kiwi looked content in her sleep, but she still had a very alert subconscious around anyone who wasn't Alec, and she didn't want to disturb them. Her tail swirled through the blades of grass, her mane lifted by the breeze. Alec sat forward with a smile, his dark hair blown back and forth, but he didn't look cold.
"Hey," he greeted. "Sorry, did you need me for something?"
Chess thought about the huge disinfecting job they had to get done for the new horse that was hopefully arriving in a few days and shook her head. There was time yet. "No, it's fine," she said. "Where's your camera?"
He procured it from the awful orange rucksack beside him and, gauging the distance, tossed it to her. "Why?"
"Ain't she pretty when she's sleeping?" Chess asked instead.
Predictably, Alec turned to look at the mare, his eyes soft. Chess snapped a photo and crept closer to hand the items back.
"Send that in, too," she said, nodding at the polaroid, slowly flooding with colour.
Alec smiled at it. "I think I will."
"She's come on miles, Alec," Chess said warmly, backing off again. "You've done good."
Alec smiled up at her this time. "Thanks."
"You're on disinfectant duty when you get back to the Barn," Chess told him, jogging away. "And remember; you've got an open future now. You can go anywhere from here."
"Anywhere sounds good," Alec answered to the empty field as he was left alone again.
Short and simple to finish off
The picture was done kind of fast, too, but I didn't want to make this anything complex, so it kind of worked out. The shading isn't great, though. And I've decided I really want to improve my people and faces this year, so I'm working on that, too.
All done on Photoshop.
This photo used for the horse's pose: [link] Alec done with no ref.
Art, human characters and Kiwi copyright to *Tattered-Dreams
Kiwi's design copyright to *LeavingNeverland
Do not take, copy, edit, redistribute or manipulate.
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Comments: 64
Aww, I'm really glad this made you want to read the rest ^^
All of them are staying up and they'll remain linked, so the idea was that even if people weren't interested or didn't know about it as it was going, at least they could find it in their own time
The event is actually closed, and a lot of people who took on a Kaimanawa didn't do anything with their horse at all. I believe Nev was going to eventually auction the still wild horses to new owners, but you'd have to ask her to be sure. And I think some people expressed interest in entering another event, but I don't know if there were plans to run one. I'm sorry - I just don't know enough about it, only what Nev's mentioned to me or I've read in the group. Unfortunately, she's been away for a while, so you may have to wait to get an answer. (course, there's nothing stopping you from adopting or creating a wild horse and running your own storyline
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^^
Yea, I managed to find the group and read what I could. I tried to go through the gallery to find more stories to follow, but like you said, most people didn't even bother with the horses. I hope Nev does auction off the still-wild ones. 
I also posted a comment on the group page, asking her if she's got any plans to do another event. *fingers crossed*
Thank you SOOOOOO much for getting me interested in this!!!
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Yeah, there's still a fair bit of info available in the journals, but sadly many of the other stories didn't go far. A few have some good parts, though.
Nev will be able to let you know if she's running a re-auction, but if not - Kaimanawa's are a real breed, not created for the event, so there's nothing to stop you creating your own, I guess. Good luck getting hold of one if you wait for the rehoming, though - it'll be good to see more of Nev's lovely designs have a nice home ^^
And lol - you don't need to thank me! You got interested all on your own. I'm just really glad you enjoyed Kiwi's story
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Yea..xD I didn't really read any of the other stories, because after Kiwi and Alec, they all seemed incomplete. All well. Hopefully, if she does another event, it'll get more interest.
I hope she does. xD I want one of hers. I haven't been feeling very design-y lately, so I want one of her lovelys..xD
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Aww, I'm sorry Kiwi and Alec ruined the others for you
And honestly, I don't think you could get much more interest than she did the first time around! Tons of people were snatching up the ponies. Whole round pens were taken in a couple of hours. But people got the horses and then didn't stick with it. Less interest and more dedication next time would be nice I think ^^
She does have some real beautiful horses up for grabs though! I love Kiwi to pieces, and got her the moment she was put up, but some of hers have made me want another wildie
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it's fine! I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Yea, that's what I ment by interest. Like more people actually interested it following through. I couldn't think of the word..xD
oooh! What if we did like a sort of collab thingee for a pair of wilds? xD we each get our own, and then kinda collab on the actual training? XD
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Haha! That's a relief, then!
Ah, no worries. I get what you mean. I guess it is a bit awkward, though - you have to have a certain amount of knowledge and common sense in training horses to really make a progressive story like this believable, and a lot of people on here I don't think have the actual knowledge they'd need if they were really caring for horses. I know a lot about training, backing and care, but I've never gentled a horse before, so even I think there's areas where Kiwi's story doesn't flow right. I don't know if that made sense - but basically if you don't know how to do the training, its hard to write or draw it, which could be what's caused people to drop the idea.
And I get what you mean about collaborating, but again, if you're being realistic, you can't easily gentle and back two horses together. All the horses Nev designed are unique with their own quirks. Kiwi came to us as highly intelligent, but had no ability to deal with unfamiliar situations, and just freaked out. Other horses have had socialisation quirks, problems with other animals, head shyness, blindness ... the list goes on. You just can't train two horses who are so different to the same schedule, so having your own horse and working alone was more realistic and part of what I originally liked about the challenge - the rules were really malleable and you could form your story as you needed for your horse. Its a good idea to keep people motivated, but they should be motivating themselves if they want to be a part of it (in my opinion) and it could backfire if one of the artists working together lost motivation and made the other lag behind or they had different ideas where they wanted to go with the training...too many variables...
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yes..xD
Yea, can be very awkward. And I agree that most people on here really have no idea. I have a lot of experience in training, backing and care, but at the same time I had to tame a wild pony stallion for my neises when I was 12 (5 years ago), so for me all this stuff is really easy to draw and write. I don't know, I guess it just depends on the person and their life experiences. ^^
hmm, I can see where you're coming from. I didn't mean training at the same schedual and such though. I ment they just kinda have eachother to ask for advise or new ideas once in awhile? And they can keep eachother updated on how their progressing and any problems they had and how they handled them. You know? I agree with you completely though, that there would be plenty of variables. It was kinda a random idea, so....xD
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That's exactly what it does depend on - we rely on our experiences when we write or draw to know how things are supposed to work. If we've never done something, it can be much harder to write about. That doesn't always apply when writing fantasy stories though XD (I highly doubt many people know what its like to have magical powers 
Ah, that idea does make more sense - but again you have the issue that in that pair, one or both of you may not know some things, or hit snags with the same area. You could match pairs specifically so each person has a different knowledge base or skill set to contribute, but artists can be picky, and they may not like being paired with someone they've never spoken to. Especially here on DA, if you run into an issue, you can post journals or polls etc to get tips or advice.
I know a fair bit - though I was taught in the UK, so what I know is probably vastly different from someone taught in the States. Different information is all over the place, so for me, I just tell people that if they have a question, they're welcome to ask and I'll give them the best answer I can. Its good to ask a lot of people, though, not just one so that you get more varied information, not just one opinion.
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Yea..xD Very true.
I wasn't suggesting the collab for everyone..xD Just between you and me. I agree with everything you're saying though, about others here on DA.
I was never really 'taught', I've just grown up around horses my whole life...I rode with an instructor for awhile, but she was veeerry opinionated, and not always as right as she thought she was..sooo, that didn't last very long..xD
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Oh - I misunderstood 
I think that's how most people learn about horses; you ride long enough, or you help on a yard enough and you pick up how things are done and just learn as you go. I've ridden for a long time, too, and I've gone through several instructors now (I ride at the same place I started at, but it's changed hands and staff through the years). Some of them were better than others. But I decided I wanted to study horses, so I did 2 years in college and 2 at university, working on the same student-run yard. The purpose of those courses was to teach you about anatomy, biology, nutrition, behaviour, psychology, rehabilitation, training and a lot of other science/classroom based stuff, but we also had riding lessons and worked on the yard every day. Through all our different tutors, we learned everything from putting on a bridle to bandaging a leg, and all the ways you can do them. Which is why I say I've been 'taught' because a lot of what I know came from college and exams - not just as I went along.
Sorry - that was way, way long!
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lol alrighty, not a problem.
Exactly, that's how I learned pretty much. And loads of experimenting along the way. xD
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Ah, if you do the same thing we may end up trading info at some point anyway
And experimenting is a large part of learning 
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yea, true..xD
Yes, very true. Most of what I did gentling and backing my neises' pony was just guesswork and instinct, so I can relate.
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To be fair, a lot of working with horses relies on instinct. And another large part of it is just common sense 
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yea..xD
Taking on a fully wild horse is actually much easier than working with troubled horses. You train in one of two ways..either through fear, or through trust. It's natural for humans to train through fear, because of us being predators. But once we get past that, we realize it's smarter to train through trust. With a fully wild horse, they're herd animals. Take them away from the herd, and all they want is a herd. Our job is to be that herd for them. Through trust and respect, we become that herd.
But with a troubled horse, or the like, you have to back all the way up and earn trust, then fix problems, then back up again and do it over cuz they start to question what you just taught them..Much harder. xD
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All that is stuff I know XD
Maybe its just that I like the challenge of troubled horses 
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yea, I agree. I personally love working with both wild and troubled. I was just referring to you not feeling ready to take on a wild horse. I was simply trying to say, if you can train 'problem' horses, a wild horse would be pretty easy for you.
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Hmmm, I guess that's another way of seeing it. The only thing is, true wildies - though they have no provoked fear - will have some fear simply through ignorance. They don't recognise people and as animals who take flight before fight (usually) what takes time is building that understanding.
You'd guess I'm impatient, but that's not it, either. I just like working with distrusting horses more than I like the very slow progress with an unassuming horse. Think of it another way, maybe - with a wildie, you can screw it up. Bad memories stay with horses far longer than good, and one mistake could ruin weeks of work easily. With a horse that's already been mistreated or backed wrongly etc, maybe it's a harsh thought, but pretty much anything you do or how you go about re-establishing them, its not going to be as bad as what they've been through and one small mistake isn't likely to stand out in their mind as much.
This is the kind of thing that makes sense in my head, but I can never get across sensibly before it starts to lose all meaning XD
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true, true..xD I guess it really just depends on personal preferences and such.
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I think so
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yea. And TBs, they go from being some of the best horses, to the absolute most horrible to work with.
It's all a matter of opinion.
Thoroughbreds are, in fact, what finally made me have to leave my riding instructor. We got into an argument about them when she said all they were good for was running fast and turning left...I got pretty peeved...:/
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Exactly.
Hmm, see, I'm not the best person to talk up TBs with. I think more of them than your instructor; if you train them right, from the right age and are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the breed, there's no reason they shouldn't make nice riding horses. But my issue comes in when you take them from a race track. I've seen enough and worked with them enough to know that reschooling a racehorse is not an easy feat, and a lot of the time, they don't result in good horses. Steeplechasers have better chances, some people think, because they're at least taught to jump, but flat racers have it ingrained into their minds before they're even 2 years old to just gallop. Trying to break them of that horizon vision can send them spiralling - a lot have little idea how to canter on the left lead, let alone organise themselves on the right.
I actually thought a lot of an ex racehorses I rode in college. He had failed on the track so he was rebacked early on and though he did get a bit strong in the open, he was capable of working properly. Another ex racer we got on the yard we had to literally teach to canter. He stumbled around like a baby on the left lead, trying to balance between a trot and the gallop and on the right he'd be all over the place, not knowing where his legs went. Granted, he was probably an extreme, but you'd be surprised the number of racehorses who are never taught to use a right lead.
Then there are the really bad ones - My friend had an ex racer who went totally off the rails. She was a sweetheart on the ground, and she worked beautifully the first two times I rode her. But then she'd decide out of nowhere she wasn't going to do it and throw these massive bucks that no one could sit to. No matter what we tried, something just seemed to be broken in her mind and we couldn't get through to her.
Yeah...Nice horses, but science, breeding and genetics have pushed them to the brink and they're getting weaker than they are stronger. I'd never write them off as a breed, but I'd never own one myself and I'm really wary of working with one from the track. Definitely not my kind of horse - but other people swear by them, and I'm not going to be the person to tell them not to; any horse is a risk so you may as well take that risk with a horse you love.
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I agree with everything you just said. I'm generally not a TB kinda person, but at the same time, I realize that it's not their fault. We, the humans, breed them and train them to be that way. They've had no control over that. It's all about which horse you're working with. Every horse is different, just like every human is different. It just depends on the person, and on the horse.
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Oh they both look so wonderfully content! ^^
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DAWWWH. Such a good way to end. 
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Thanks!! Glad you approve
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Is it wrong that this reduced me a sniveling mess?
I just love how much effort and time you've put into their bond and it's such a wonderful thing to see them relaxing together.
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Awww, it didn't! I didn't mean to make anyone cry! Though I guess in this case it's a compliment ^^
I've had such fun with these two (I can barely even think that Alec was new to the Farm along with Kiwi - they've been here so long now!) so it was nice to show them like this; just so content together. Thank you so much 
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It is definitely a compliment! And they were happy tears
I think this gives this part of their story closure and leaves the future open for their adventures ^^.
You're very welcome
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As long as they were happy tears ^^
That's what I was going for; close this story, but leave it open for others
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Indeed they were!
And in that you absolutely succeeded
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Awww, I love this. c: <333 I like how you finished it off, really sweet.
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Thank you!
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It's a shame I only just started watching you when you finished the story. e-e Still, I like the style of the picture!
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Aww, I'm sorry you couldn't follow it - but all the links are there if you ever want to read from the beginning ^^
And thank you! Glad you like it
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I'll hopefully get the time at some point, but I've got a lot to do at the moment s: Only just setting up my stables so I've got a lot to do there, then there's college work and stuff. >>
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I know the feeling
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Awe so sweet! I can't wait to se we here these two go from here.
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Thanks! And me either
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Awww, what a wonderful story. You go Alex and Kiwi! This is like, great ending.
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Thank you! Yay, I'm glad you like how I wrapped it up
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