Just For Fun

Yes, I know, poor Kick Start has frighteningly ugly anatomy in this one. This was something approximating a speed paint, and I'm happy to say that despite the...challenges it has, I did enjoy drawing this a lot. I think I got her expression right, and I even managed to slip Albus in there. Wow, my little foals are all grown up now...at least in size.
Haha, every time I draw a picture I seem to use a different shading technique. I can tell you this one won't be staying though. It worked fine for a quick style but it's not quite what I prefer.
So here we have Kick Start ridden by her rider and groom Rachel Hart, and in the background Albus Aureus ridden by Charlotte Brooks.


The day was put off again and again, but eventually it had to arrive.

Kick Start and Albus Aureus had been friends within a few days of birth and never spent a night further apart that the thin wall between their mothers’ stalls. Each day they played together in the pastures, running and kicking and growing strong and fast. The lush grass and wide open space to gallop had done their job, and although still gangly and clumsy, both horses were bursting with energy that they had no hesitation to spend racing one another across the length of their paddock. It was all too obvious that it was time for them to start training, and that meant they had to be separated.

Neither horse seemed to realize what was happening at first. They settled into their new barn easily, but the approaches they took to making friends were polar opposites. More than one horse was startled when Kick Start popped her big, golden head right over their stall door to say hello with girly squeaks of excitement, while Albus waited shyly in the background. His quiet presence was unmistakable, but somehow it was easy to overlook him despite his vibrant coat, which had taken on a fiery glow once he shed his baby fur.

When Kick Start was turned out in her new paddock for the first time she found herself alone with an older racing mare, Forewarned. She ignored her solemn black companion and waited eagerly for Albus to join them. The sun rose higher in the sky and when he still did not appear, Kick Start stomped her hooves and began pacing up and down the fence, flicking her ears anxiously. Finally she seemed to decide it was time to take action. The sweltering summer heat had settled over the farm in a sleepy haze, but everyone was jolted to attention by a loud, anxious whinny. It was the same plaintive call Kick Start’s mother had used to call her daughter back when she wandered out of sight, and now the young filly was using it to summon her best friend. Everyone in earshot shifted guiltily and tried not to listen as the calls continued into the evening.

For the first time in her life, Kick Start was sullen and touchy. She moped and kicked, but after several days went by she had to find an outlet for her affectionate personality and began to treat her grooms and exasperated pasture mate Forewarned with more benevolence. There were a lot more people going in and out of her new barn who she could snuffle and slobber on, and eventually the environment perfectly suited to her curious temperament won her over. It was then that she stepped onto a race track for the first time.

Devin, Climax Stables’ sole trainer, looked over the golden filly standing before her with critical eyes. Or more accurately, she fended off the filly who was trying to nibble her clothes with far too much enthusiasm. She had to admit that in general Kick Start seemed on her way to becoming an attractive mare, but for the time being her long stork legs and muscular hindquarters far outbalanced her slender neck and shoulders.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Devin grumbled, mostly to herself. She turned to face Rachel, the young exercise rider who supposed to be controlling the filly. “Get her off of me, please. And quit giggling.”

“Sorry,” Rachel coughed, but her face still twitched suspiciously as she mounted her horse. Devin ignored her and wiped a few blades of drool soaked grass from her shoulder with dignity.

“Okay, Sunny, it’s all yours,” Rachel said cheerfully, letting the reins hang loosely in her hands so that Kick Start was free to move around as she pleased. The filly turned her head toward Devin with her ears pricked, and the trainer hurried back to her own mount so she could sit out of reach. Kick Start wasn’t disappointed. In her mind, an old lead pony was just as much fun to play with as a prickly trainer.

The theory behind the session was that if Kick Start had a chance to explore the track under her own guidance, the relaxed first experience would lend her confidence throughout the rest of her training. Even she though she seemed more concerned with the horses and people working there than the setting itself, the exercise seemed to work. As her training progressed further Kick Start was always eager to get out of her stall in mornings so she could ‘play’ with her favourite people, and under Devin’s guidance she put on muscle and built up her stamina until she was deemed fit for her first race – physically, at least.

Kick Start had trained well on several surfaces, but in the interest of keeping her first venture off the farm of short duration she was entered in a maiden race on the Polytrack at Woodbine, which was under an hour’s drive from the farm. When Kick Start entered the paddock that day, she found herself right in her element, surrounded by hordes of people who were thrilled to have a dainty nose shoved right into their camera lenses. Kick Start soaked up the attention like a sponge and wrung it right back out on everyone. She was disappointed to be lead away from them and onto the smooth track, but brightened when she saw how many fillies had come along to play with her.

Devin always said that Kick Start had been one of the easiest horses she trained with respect to the starting gate, and the golden bay filly demonstrated the talent she had been named for with gusto that day. She shot ahead of the other fillies who were scrambling crookedly from their posts, took the early lead with pricked ears and set a fast pace around the first turn. Rachel, acting as jockey, gritted her teeth and tried to hold her mount back so she would have something left in reserve, but Kick Start was enjoying herself too much to listen. They managed to keep the lead around the second turn, but although Kick Start was still bounding along happily, her zig-zagging caper down the homestretch did little to intimidate the closers and she finished fourth.

Kick Start returned to the barn in high spirits, oblivious to her disappointed support team, and although she slipped right back into her normal routines it was obvious that she was not mature enough mentally to compete. Winter arrived without another venture to the track, and everyone turned their efforts toward the upcoming year.


Registered Name: Kick Start
Stable Name: Sunny
Gender: Filly
Age: 2
Breed: Thoroughbred
Genetics: Ee AA
Height: 15.3hh
Sire: Vivace
Dam: Esplode
Offspring: None
Disciplines: Flat Racing
Owner: Climax Stables
Breeder: Climax Stables
Trainer: Devin Blackburn
Jockey: Rachel Hart
Race Record: 0/0/0(1)
Earnings: $2 000
Major Wins: N/A
Position: Frontrunner
Surface: Dirt (versatile)
Distance: 8-10 furlongs
Personality: Kick Start is full of energy and curiosity. She can't resist introducing herself to anyone around, and will stick her nose right in your face to say hello. If her enthusiasm is not returned she steps back indignantly and wonders what your problem is. Her other favourite tactic is to kick or squeal without warning if she thinks you're not paying her enough attention.

Drawing roughly referenced from [link]
All characters (c) to me, Copperdragon