HOME | DD

Description
Extra images: Old habits | Say Cheese | Time to go

Event: Cheval D'or Eventing Show Jumping Phase
Start number: 012
Horse: VH Fossegrimen (8)
Rider: Astrid Buschmann (27)
Country: Norway
Placement: 1st (Phase placement: 1st) - Cheval D'or Results - FINAL

The sun was shining and the early morning was bright and comfortably warm. Grimmen himself had also warmed up quite a lot to the new scenery. He had been acting up since the moment Astrid and Julie had opened the door to his stall. Kicking, rearing, and practically prancing around. It wasn't like it had used to be before though. They understood eachother better now than a couple years ago, when Astrid had been on the brink of actually becoming afraid of her own horse. He had calmed down significantly since then, and was showing signs of becoming a grown up gentleman. But he wasn't fully there yet.
All morning he had been skipping around, impatient to just get on with it. He knew exactly what was going on, and he was more than ready for it. Astrid felt ready too. It had all gone so well up until now, but the insecurities were gnawing in the back of her head. What if this... What if that... They might mess up and take down bars, or she might fall off. Or Grimmen could fall, the footing was fairly slippery after all. She never voiced her worries to anyone but Dimas, but of course, he wasn't here. And she knew Julie looked up to her. It was unfair to not be honest with her, but this was her image now. An overly confident daredevil with no limits. Coming onto those sort of thoughts it was decided. She couldn't just give up all of that now. She had a reputation to keep up.
With some struggles and discussions they got Grimmen ready and was headed off towards warm up. Grimmen snorted and trotted on proudly, as if to show everyone here I am. Astrid smiled to herself as she worked with him over some ground poles. He wasn't unhappy anymore, and she hoped that all their hard work would finally pay off. He had done well in previous competitions, but he had really proven his worth in this one. His true potential had really shown up, and she hoped it would continue that way in the next seasons.
Slowly, but surely, the warm up area was emptied, and soon it was only them left. They were last out in jumping, which could be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Some had struggled on the muddy grass, while others had sailed through with no trouble at all. It was really just up to the riders individually. All Astrid could do was hope that this wouldn't turn out to be a slip-n-slide for Grimmen. They would just have to trust their instincts.

-----

Update: I submitted the wrong version lol - here's the one I meant to upload
(Also, I'm 190% sure dA will mess with the colors again, and at this point I think I have given up)

-----

Tools:
Photoshop CS6
Wacom Intuos
10+ hours

References:
Stable Logo
British Show Jumping 83
horse stock 002
Bay Warmblood Horse - Show Jumping at Pebble Beach

Description
Extra images: Old habits | Say Cheese | Time to go

Event: Cheval D'or Eventing Show Jumping Phase
Start number: 012
Horse: VH Fossegrimen (8)
Rider: Astrid Buschmann (27)
Country: Norway
Placement: 1st (Phase placement: 1st) - Cheval D'or Results - FINAL

The sun was shining and the early morning was bright and comfortably warm. Grimmen himself had also warmed up quite a lot to the new scenery. He had been acting up since the moment Astrid and Julie had opened the door to his stall. Kicking, rearing, and practically prancing around. It wasn't like it had used to be before though. They understood eachother better now than a couple years ago, when Astrid had been on the brink of actually becoming afraid of her own horse. He had calmed down significantly since then, and was showing signs of becoming a grown up gentleman. But he wasn't fully there yet.
All morning he had been skipping around, impatient to just get on with it. He knew exactly what was going on, and he was more than ready for it. Astrid felt ready too. It had all gone so well up until now, but the insecurities were gnawing in the back of her head. What if this... What if that... They might mess up and take down bars, or she might fall off. Or Grimmen could fall, the footing was fairly slippery after all. She never voiced her worries to anyone but Dimas, but of course, he wasn't here. And she knew Julie looked up to her. It was unfair to not be honest with her, but this was her image now. An overly confident daredevil with no limits. Coming onto those sort of thoughts it was decided. She couldn't just give up all of that now. She had a reputation to keep up.
With some struggles and discussions they got Grimmen ready and was headed off towards warm up. Grimmen snorted and trotted on proudly, as if to show everyone here I am. Astrid smiled to herself as she worked with him over some ground poles. He wasn't unhappy anymore, and she hoped that all their hard work would finally pay off. He had done well in previous competitions, but he had really proven his worth in this one. His true potential had really shown up, and she hoped it would continue that way in the next seasons.
Slowly, but surely, the warm up area was emptied, and soon it was only them left. They were last out in jumping, which could be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Some had struggled on the muddy grass, while others had sailed through with no trouble at all. It was really just up to the riders individually. All Astrid could do was hope that this wouldn't turn out to be a slip-n-slide for Grimmen. They would just have to trust their instincts.

-----

Update: I submitted the wrong version lol - here's the one I meant to upload
(Also, I'm 190% sure dA will mess with the colors again, and at this point I think I have given up)

-----

Tools:
Photoshop CS6
Wacom Intuos
10+ hours

References:
Stable Logo
British Show Jumping 83
horse stock 002
Bay Warmblood Horse - Show Jumping at Pebble Beach