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Description
Previous: 2.5: Can we Keep him?
Next: Coming soon

Story (722 words):
How they had done it, she didn't know. A full year ago, they had been owners of a tiny stable. The only horses she would see were from the clients. They would sometimes be stalled at the stables, but she only had to feed them and put them out. Horses of different breeds, different colours and ages. Their personalities all seemed the same to her.
It didn't matter if a horse was anxious, sweet or aggressive. All she saw were horses. Legs, ears, breathing changes. Tensing and relaxing whenever she put pressure and released. The owners mattered more than the nature of the horse. Owners were unpredictable, even if she could see the signs of changing emotions. She never knew what would happen.

Now, she stumbled through the full feeding room to get all the buckets. Every horse had its own feeding bucket, in the same colour as their tack. To keep it easy. Not all horses got the same feed, especially not with the foals and youngsters. And they made up most of the pack.
  Ollie, Orthello and Summer being this year's foals. Then there was Blue, a one-year-old, and the two-year-old Henry. Most of the youngsters were 'rescued' from owners who could no longer provide for the horse, or were in some other financial struggle. Except for Orthello, the new endurance prospect for Luke.

The horses stamp and neigh in their stalls as she walks out. Her watch says she's six minutes late. They knew and they weren't happy about it.
'Oh be quiet you,' she called out to the horses. The horses only got louder in response. She chuckled. Always the same. They knew they had to stand quiet and wait for her to put the bucket down. She had trained them well in that aspect.
  The foals couldn't be counted for, they were young, they had plenty of time to be trained later. All they had to know, was a halter and some simple leading to the field. The stalls all include a little paddock, so if the weather has been bad, they can still go outside.

After feeding all the horses, it was time to muck out the stalls. She always starts at the foal side. It's less work in there, and the foals can play outside. She grabs the halters of the stallions and takes them out per two horses. Halfway back for the third round, she ran into Luke.
'Morning, there.' He said. She waved at him but stayed quiet. She needed to focus and she knew it wouldn't happen when she started talking to him. He took the remaining halters and walked along with her. He had Gina on her one hand and Trina on his other. Time for the mare pasture, so she grabbed Blue and Pinky. The palomino mare strutted along, too impatient to stand still or walk. She was Luke's dressage prospect, with her eight years, she had never really been ridden in anything. A recreational horse who had to stand in the pasture when her owner couldn't ride out. The mare, in turn, was completely impatient to do anything but work or play.

She opened up the gate to the empty mare pasture. With only 4 mares, the fields always seemed somewhat empty. The stallion field was full to the brim, with 6 horses in total. Including A Hershey's Kiss, Miriam Jane's horse.
'Let her go last,' she warned Luke. She pointed at Gina. The mare could not be trusted with letting go, just yet. She undid the halters for her horses and turned to Luke. 'Hand her to me, then undo Trina's halter.' He looked at her, puzzled. He did as he was told. He had never liked going against her. It scared him, especially when she was so adamant. Gina neighed at the other horses. She lifted both her front legs. Just slightly. He undid her halter and Gina took the hint. She galloped away from him, bucks and farts galore. She took to a canter when she came past them.

Luke turned around to see Lilith's smiling face. 'You warned me, but I did not expect this.' He shook his head and joined Lilith at the fence, to pick up the last two horses. This was going to be one fun mare to ride in the future.

Points this image
Featured:
Go big or Go Home

Standard
Flat coloured full body 6

Add-ons
(semi) detailed shading +3
(semi) background +2
Story 500-800 words +3

Total: 14

References
field 04. by greenleaf-stock
RA canter 1 leg on ground sun by Chunga-Stock
Warmblood by Deirdre-T
Roadside Fence Stock 3 by RX-stock

Copyright
The pose and colour go to the respective owners of the reference pictures.
The image and characters are full copyright to CheeseDraws (ME)

Other info
Time taken: around 4 hours
Program: Photoshop CS6 master edition
Tablet: Wacom Intuos medium

Artist's comment
So I really kind of enjoyed this looser style and just trying things... In my fun, however, I made one of her back legs too white... We'll pretend we don't know

Description
Previous: 2.5: Can we Keep him?
Next: Coming soon

Story (722 words):
How they had done it, she didn't know. A full year ago, they had been owners of a tiny stable. The only horses she would see were from the clients. They would sometimes be stalled at the stables, but she only had to feed them and put them out. Horses of different breeds, different colours and ages. Their personalities all seemed the same to her.
It didn't matter if a horse was anxious, sweet or aggressive. All she saw were horses. Legs, ears, breathing changes. Tensing and relaxing whenever she put pressure and released. The owners mattered more than the nature of the horse. Owners were unpredictable, even if she could see the signs of changing emotions. She never knew what would happen.

Now, she stumbled through the full feeding room to get all the buckets. Every horse had its own feeding bucket, in the same colour as their tack. To keep it easy. Not all horses got the same feed, especially not with the foals and youngsters. And they made up most of the pack.
  Ollie, Orthello and Summer being this year's foals. Then there was Blue, a one-year-old, and the two-year-old Henry. Most of the youngsters were 'rescued' from owners who could no longer provide for the horse, or were in some other financial struggle. Except for Orthello, the new endurance prospect for Luke.

The horses stamp and neigh in their stalls as she walks out. Her watch says she's six minutes late. They knew and they weren't happy about it.
'Oh be quiet you,' she called out to the horses. The horses only got louder in response. She chuckled. Always the same. They knew they had to stand quiet and wait for her to put the bucket down. She had trained them well in that aspect.
  The foals couldn't be counted for, they were young, they had plenty of time to be trained later. All they had to know, was a halter and some simple leading to the field. The stalls all include a little paddock, so if the weather has been bad, they can still go outside.

After feeding all the horses, it was time to muck out the stalls. She always starts at the foal side. It's less work in there, and the foals can play outside. She grabs the halters of the stallions and takes them out per two horses. Halfway back for the third round, she ran into Luke.
'Morning, there.' He said. She waved at him but stayed quiet. She needed to focus and she knew it wouldn't happen when she started talking to him. He took the remaining halters and walked along with her. He had Gina on her one hand and Trina on his other. Time for the mare pasture, so she grabbed Blue and Pinky. The palomino mare strutted along, too impatient to stand still or walk. She was Luke's dressage prospect, with her eight years, she had never really been ridden in anything. A recreational horse who had to stand in the pasture when her owner couldn't ride out. The mare, in turn, was completely impatient to do anything but work or play.

She opened up the gate to the empty mare pasture. With only 4 mares, the fields always seemed somewhat empty. The stallion field was full to the brim, with 6 horses in total. Including A Hershey's Kiss, Miriam Jane's horse.
'Let her go last,' she warned Luke. She pointed at Gina. The mare could not be trusted with letting go, just yet. She undid the halters for her horses and turned to Luke. 'Hand her to me, then undo Trina's halter.' He looked at her, puzzled. He did as he was told. He had never liked going against her. It scared him, especially when she was so adamant. Gina neighed at the other horses. She lifted both her front legs. Just slightly. He undid her halter and Gina took the hint. She galloped away from him, bucks and farts galore. She took to a canter when she came past them.

Luke turned around to see Lilith's smiling face. 'You warned me, but I did not expect this.' He shook his head and joined Lilith at the fence, to pick up the last two horses. This was going to be one fun mare to ride in the future.

Points this image
Featured:
Go big or Go Home

Standard
Flat coloured full body 6

Add-ons
(semi) detailed shading +3
(semi) background +2
Story 500-800 words +3

Total: 14

References
field 04. by greenleaf-stock
RA canter 1 leg on ground sun by Chunga-Stock
Warmblood by Deirdre-T
Roadside Fence Stock 3 by RX-stock

Copyright
The pose and colour go to the respective owners of the reference pictures.
The image and characters are full copyright to CheeseDraws (ME)

Other info
Time taken: around 4 hours
Program: Photoshop CS6 master edition
Tablet: Wacom Intuos medium

Artist's comment
So I really kind of enjoyed this looser style and just trying things... In my fun, however, I made one of her back legs too white... We'll pretend we don't know