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Harmony

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My entry for *sealle's Ladies' Hack show at KhanCohban Farm.

I tried the same technique as I used for my last picture of Kick Start in this one, and I love the result. Her coat turned out just as I hoped. The only think that disappointed me thought was that in this picture it's so obvious an example of the gap between my skills with horses and...pretty much everything else. From now on I'm going to try and pay more attention to lighting and atmospheric effects and depth and hopefully improve on my backgrounds. I would also like to improve at humans...although Fiera isn't too bad in comparison to my normal humans, her face gave me a lot of trouble, and I don't know much about the correct riding position so she looks a little awkward.
I did a lot of research on the kind of equipment and dress for hack competitions, but if you see anything incorrect please let me know! I would appreciate it. I'm also hoping that this background is all right for KhanCohban Farm. Although I'm not very knowledgeable about the geography of the area, the farm map was a big help.


***
It hadn’t snowed yet, but a cold wind was blowing over Climax Stables as Soffe’s grooms wrapped her up for her trip. It would be a long way, but she had taken it once before and everyone was reassured to know she would not frightened of flying. Accompanying her was her groom, David, and her usual rider Fiera as well as a couple other members of the staff. All of them were excited about the trip.

“You’ve traveled further in your life than I have!” joked David as he fastened her shipping boots. “You’ll have comfort me on that plane.” Soffe only snorted and shuffled her feet, not pleased with her situation. Her groom laughed and gave her a fond pat before he gave a final check over and lead her outside to be loaded up for the trip.

To everyone’s relief, the flight went smoothly and they arrived at KhanCohban Farm without incident. Soffe seemed delighted to be in a familiar place and recovered quickly from the trip, bouncing back to her usual energy level without difficulty. Some of her old friends were no longer there, but there were many new horses to meet and the action on the farm leading up to the horse trials entertained Soffe to no end.

In the day of the show she was groomed to perfection, fidgeting playfully the whole time and stretching out the process for far longer than necessary. Eventually her coat gleamed and her mane was braiding into tiny braids along her neck, her hooves picked and polished. Fiera made everyone around knew that the bay mare was her mount.

It had been a long road to bring Soffe and Fiera to reach this point in more ways than one. When the two had first been introduced their personalities had collided hopelessly, Fiera’s headstrong nature seemingly incompatible with Soffe’s demand for respect from her riders. At first Soffe had been deeply insulted by Fiera’s bossy commands that her attentiveness made superfluous, and Fiera had nearly given up in frustration, to stubborn to adapt to her horse. Eventually though, after many months of training, they had begun to adjust to one another and were now a wonderful team. As they stepped into the arena, Soffe was responding willingly to each of Fiera’s aids, and she was careful not be too pushy with the mare. They moved smoothly though their gaits, and made even the most difficult figures look harmonious. Everyone from the Climax Stables team felt proud of how far the two had come together.

The other competitors were spectacular, and everyone knew that despite the pair’s skill they would have a hard time winning this show. But even if they did not place, Fiera and Soffe knew their personal victory had already been won.

***

Registered Name: KhC Shes So Fine
Stable Name: Soffe, Soffine
Gender: Mare
Breed: Thoroughbred
Genetics: Ee/Aa
Age: 6
Birthday: July 30, 2002
Height: 16hh
Sire: Foundation
Dam: Foundation
Purchased From: KhanCohban Farm
Disciplines: Dressage, Pleasure, Hack, Racing
Personality & History: Soffe is high spirit yet affectionate, enjoying attention from anyone. She is gentle and willing, a versatile competitor and always performs to best of her ability. Her great intelligence is a valuable asset in the show ring, although it has made her a skilled escape artist.

Rider: Fiera Pike

Soffe's pose and tack were referenced from many different images found on Google, and her shading was ref'd from [link] (c) to *SeishinUma
Artwork and characters, and Climax Stables (c) to me, Copperdragon
Soffe's design and KhanCohban Farm (c) to *sealle
KhanCohban Horse Trials - [link]
Image size
2869x2099px 5.16 MB
© 2009 - 2024 CopperdragonArt
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SundaysPony's avatar
Oh wow this is amazing!!!:D