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sdfjasdfkjsdhflaksdjfh ITS DONE and i'm super pleased with how it turned out!
I tried to find some of that creativity i had back in Tokotas with the colour scheme and the composition. Its still not quite right but its a big step forwards to finding a balance between the realistic harpg world and having some more character and personality to my lines and art. Fingers crossed they do ok (despite Porthos being less than ideal) and don't let the team down.

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Ryan was doing his best to hold back the butterflies in his stomach as he watched the riders before him complete their rounds. It was the first event of the season and all the teams seemed determined to start the tour with a bang. There had been some ripper rounds, with some entrants pushing hard to get shave those precious seconds off the times to catch the leaders. For some it had worked, for others it had backfired.  There were already a few jumps that seemed to be catching people up, and Ryan wasn't sure if it was a blessing that he had been drawn to ride second last, or a curse. On the plus side, he was getting a chance to see the course in action an figure out how people were cutting corners and where everyone was most commonly being caught out. That fountain jump in particular was taking out the competition left and right. The negative however was that both he and his mount were feeling the tension that such a large event brought.

Ryan brought his mind back from the rounds he had seen and the tactics. He had walked the course and knew as much as he could about the jumps, what he needed to focus on now was the young stallion underneath him. Porthos was twitchy. Ryan could feel the tension in the stallions back and in the endless dancing steps and dragon snorts that he was unleashing at the slightest thing. Porthos had worked nicely that morning, though nicely was a relative term. He had at least been attentive and hadn't deafened everyone around them with his endless trumpeting challenges to the nearby horses. The jump work when  they had gotten a chance to ride the arena had been decent as well. There had been few spectators at that point and so the atmosphere was nowhere near as charged as it was now. Now, the crowd filled the stands and the stadium with electricity. The roars when someone jumped clear, and the groans when a rail dropped was impossible to avoid. Even here in the warm up arena it still vibrated through everything and left the riders on edge and the horses dancing and frothing with excitement. Although he had purposefully delayed as long as possible to get Porthos ready, it was hard to shield the inexperienced horse from the activity and tension that surrounded them. The thoroughbred was young, one of the youngest in the field, and he was relatively unproven at an event of this scale. The last time he would have been at anything thing like this would have been during his racing career, and much to Ryan's unease it seemed that Porthos was reacting in much the same manner.

Tossing his head Porthos repeatedly tried snatching at the bit, avoiding the contact and Ryan's request to collect and work nicely. Instead, he swung sideways and into Ryan's leg as he tried to straighten him again.

"Calm down man, you can't go into this with your ass on fire." Ryan grumbled as he held the spirited stud together and urged him into a canter. Porthos replied with a squeal and popped a small buck in for good measure before moving forward and asking to gallop. Ryan refused and asked again for the round frame and focus that they would need to try and get around the course in one piece. It took several laps and figure eights before the stud finally stopped staring at the sky and started to listen to his rider. Ryan was muttering under his breath that he should have taken Lex's advice and used the bonnet despite his misgivings, when the steward called his name and starting number across the field. "#46 Jacobs. You're up next."

"Fuck."  Ryan circled Porthos, asking for a walk and getting what was almost a passage instead. Rolling his eyes he grimaced and they made their way towards the roaring crowd. The stallion danced sideways, snorting his way into the arena. Eyes bright and ears pricked he seemed to drink in the attention as they paused at the entry. Ryan asked him to trot and Porthos obliged, so distracted was he by eyeing off the crowd and the waving banners.

The previous rider finished up their round and he buzz of the announcers rattled through the speakers. Ryan held his breath as Porthos caught sight of the spotted mare. The stud faltered, letting out a piercing shriek to announce himself as he tried to turn towards the fast disappearing appaloosa. Ryan grumbled as he once again tried to refocus his mount while the course clerks nodded that he only had a few moments before he must begin his round. Porthos rocked back on his hind legs and Ryan bit off a curse as the stallion reared, luckily it was a small one, only to settle into a ground covering canter as they made their way around the jumps. Still struggling to regain complete control, Ryan tried asking Porthos to adjust his stride as they rounded a few jumps and turned towards the starter and the first combination. Finally something seemed to click in the studs head and for once he seemed to lock onto the jumps ahead rather than act like a twit.

One last deep breath and that was it. They were underway.

Ryan did his best to direct the stallion, setting him up as nicely as possible for the jump, but Porthos was still feeling full of himself and refused to shorten his stride and so they took the first jump half a stride early. Porthos flicked his tail in annoyance and tucked himself up before grunting on the landing. Ryan shot a glance under his arm but couldn't quite tell if they had clipped a rail, but there was no time to ponder that, they were fast approaching the next combination. Ryan tried his best to settle Porthos in time, but they only had a few moments and again, they took the jump slightly off stride. This time Ryan heard the clip of hooves on a rail and Porthos twisted mid air and made the landing safely. The rail was still bouncing in the cup but hadn't dropped when Ryan was forced to refocus as Porthos tossed his head and sidestepped as they took the next turn towards the fountain.

That one mistake brought them far too close to the fountain itself and for a moment Ryan thought they wouldn't make it. Porthos had never been one to run out of any jump though. He was a brave and determined jumper and so even though they were so close, he rocked back and pushed off, twisting as he did so to avoid clipping the fountains statues. But nothing could stop them from getting a thorough splashing as they passed through the water itself. The cold water snapped Porthos' attention back and he let out an almighty squeal as they landed hard. Ryan lost his seat, something rare for him, and fell forward onto the stallions neck. Entirely displeased at the water touching him, Porthos decided to display his feelings by unleashing an almighty buck after the landing. It was not a pretty sight, but the buck did help Ryan find his seat again, even if he took a bonk to the head in the process. Slightly stunned and feeling like the entire ride was degrading in seconds, Ryan did his best to gather his reins and settle a now very pissed stallion to refocus on the remaining jumps. He couldn't imagine how their time was going, but they would need to really perform on the latter part of the course if they were to have any chance of providing Kingfishers with a decent score.

Determined to make up for the lousy ride so far, Ryan took advantage of Porthos' now rather prim attitude shift and really pushed him into a careful position for the next jump. If it hadn't been for the last few moments, Ryan would have smiled at how much space the bay gave the spread. It seemed that the water had finally shocked some sense into the stud and they finally settled onto the right line as they took the short turn around the next jump and again soared over it with Porthos' knees almost to his ears. Ryan did allow himself a grin as they landed that jump clear again. They would make the best of the remaining round, and he was damned if he wouldn't turn this into a learning experience for his horse.

Porthos was young and a dick at times, but there was a reason Ryan had chosen him for this event. He was an incredibly talented athlete with an amazing scopey jump and the bravery to tackle anything in his path. It was the kind of attitude you couldn't teach, and Ryan knew that this horse could take him to the top if he was given the chance. It was time to play to those strengths and see what happened.

----------

Rider: Ryan Jacobs (31yo)
Horse:  Porthos (8yo OTTB Stallion)

Show:  HCL VIENNA
Team: Kingfisher Korps
Representing the Team

Only provided Location + Jump references used for general location design, everything else is all me (which explains all the mistakes).

Description

sdfjasdfkjsdhflaksdjfh ITS DONE and i'm super pleased with how it turned out!
I tried to find some of that creativity i had back in Tokotas with the colour scheme and the composition. Its still not quite right but its a big step forwards to finding a balance between the realistic harpg world and having some more character and personality to my lines and art. Fingers crossed they do ok (despite Porthos being less than ideal) and don't let the team down.

----------

Ryan was doing his best to hold back the butterflies in his stomach as he watched the riders before him complete their rounds. It was the first event of the season and all the teams seemed determined to start the tour with a bang. There had been some ripper rounds, with some entrants pushing hard to get shave those precious seconds off the times to catch the leaders. For some it had worked, for others it had backfired.  There were already a few jumps that seemed to be catching people up, and Ryan wasn't sure if it was a blessing that he had been drawn to ride second last, or a curse. On the plus side, he was getting a chance to see the course in action an figure out how people were cutting corners and where everyone was most commonly being caught out. That fountain jump in particular was taking out the competition left and right. The negative however was that both he and his mount were feeling the tension that such a large event brought.

Ryan brought his mind back from the rounds he had seen and the tactics. He had walked the course and knew as much as he could about the jumps, what he needed to focus on now was the young stallion underneath him. Porthos was twitchy. Ryan could feel the tension in the stallions back and in the endless dancing steps and dragon snorts that he was unleashing at the slightest thing. Porthos had worked nicely that morning, though nicely was a relative term. He had at least been attentive and hadn't deafened everyone around them with his endless trumpeting challenges to the nearby horses. The jump work when  they had gotten a chance to ride the arena had been decent as well. There had been few spectators at that point and so the atmosphere was nowhere near as charged as it was now. Now, the crowd filled the stands and the stadium with electricity. The roars when someone jumped clear, and the groans when a rail dropped was impossible to avoid. Even here in the warm up arena it still vibrated through everything and left the riders on edge and the horses dancing and frothing with excitement. Although he had purposefully delayed as long as possible to get Porthos ready, it was hard to shield the inexperienced horse from the activity and tension that surrounded them. The thoroughbred was young, one of the youngest in the field, and he was relatively unproven at an event of this scale. The last time he would have been at anything thing like this would have been during his racing career, and much to Ryan's unease it seemed that Porthos was reacting in much the same manner.

Tossing his head Porthos repeatedly tried snatching at the bit, avoiding the contact and Ryan's request to collect and work nicely. Instead, he swung sideways and into Ryan's leg as he tried to straighten him again.

"Calm down man, you can't go into this with your ass on fire." Ryan grumbled as he held the spirited stud together and urged him into a canter. Porthos replied with a squeal and popped a small buck in for good measure before moving forward and asking to gallop. Ryan refused and asked again for the round frame and focus that they would need to try and get around the course in one piece. It took several laps and figure eights before the stud finally stopped staring at the sky and started to listen to his rider. Ryan was muttering under his breath that he should have taken Lex's advice and used the bonnet despite his misgivings, when the steward called his name and starting number across the field. "#46 Jacobs. You're up next."

"Fuck."  Ryan circled Porthos, asking for a walk and getting what was almost a passage instead. Rolling his eyes he grimaced and they made their way towards the roaring crowd. The stallion danced sideways, snorting his way into the arena. Eyes bright and ears pricked he seemed to drink in the attention as they paused at the entry. Ryan asked him to trot and Porthos obliged, so distracted was he by eyeing off the crowd and the waving banners.

The previous rider finished up their round and he buzz of the announcers rattled through the speakers. Ryan held his breath as Porthos caught sight of the spotted mare. The stud faltered, letting out a piercing shriek to announce himself as he tried to turn towards the fast disappearing appaloosa. Ryan grumbled as he once again tried to refocus his mount while the course clerks nodded that he only had a few moments before he must begin his round. Porthos rocked back on his hind legs and Ryan bit off a curse as the stallion reared, luckily it was a small one, only to settle into a ground covering canter as they made their way around the jumps. Still struggling to regain complete control, Ryan tried asking Porthos to adjust his stride as they rounded a few jumps and turned towards the starter and the first combination. Finally something seemed to click in the studs head and for once he seemed to lock onto the jumps ahead rather than act like a twit.

One last deep breath and that was it. They were underway.

Ryan did his best to direct the stallion, setting him up as nicely as possible for the jump, but Porthos was still feeling full of himself and refused to shorten his stride and so they took the first jump half a stride early. Porthos flicked his tail in annoyance and tucked himself up before grunting on the landing. Ryan shot a glance under his arm but couldn't quite tell if they had clipped a rail, but there was no time to ponder that, they were fast approaching the next combination. Ryan tried his best to settle Porthos in time, but they only had a few moments and again, they took the jump slightly off stride. This time Ryan heard the clip of hooves on a rail and Porthos twisted mid air and made the landing safely. The rail was still bouncing in the cup but hadn't dropped when Ryan was forced to refocus as Porthos tossed his head and sidestepped as they took the next turn towards the fountain.

That one mistake brought them far too close to the fountain itself and for a moment Ryan thought they wouldn't make it. Porthos had never been one to run out of any jump though. He was a brave and determined jumper and so even though they were so close, he rocked back and pushed off, twisting as he did so to avoid clipping the fountains statues. But nothing could stop them from getting a thorough splashing as they passed through the water itself. The cold water snapped Porthos' attention back and he let out an almighty squeal as they landed hard. Ryan lost his seat, something rare for him, and fell forward onto the stallions neck. Entirely displeased at the water touching him, Porthos decided to display his feelings by unleashing an almighty buck after the landing. It was not a pretty sight, but the buck did help Ryan find his seat again, even if he took a bonk to the head in the process. Slightly stunned and feeling like the entire ride was degrading in seconds, Ryan did his best to gather his reins and settle a now very pissed stallion to refocus on the remaining jumps. He couldn't imagine how their time was going, but they would need to really perform on the latter part of the course if they were to have any chance of providing Kingfishers with a decent score.

Determined to make up for the lousy ride so far, Ryan took advantage of Porthos' now rather prim attitude shift and really pushed him into a careful position for the next jump. If it hadn't been for the last few moments, Ryan would have smiled at how much space the bay gave the spread. It seemed that the water had finally shocked some sense into the stud and they finally settled onto the right line as they took the short turn around the next jump and again soared over it with Porthos' knees almost to his ears. Ryan did allow himself a grin as they landed that jump clear again. They would make the best of the remaining round, and he was damned if he wouldn't turn this into a learning experience for his horse.

Porthos was young and a dick at times, but there was a reason Ryan had chosen him for this event. He was an incredibly talented athlete with an amazing scopey jump and the bravery to tackle anything in his path. It was the kind of attitude you couldn't teach, and Ryan knew that this horse could take him to the top if he was given the chance. It was time to play to those strengths and see what happened.

----------

Rider: Ryan Jacobs (31yo)
Horse:  Porthos (8yo OTTB Stallion)

Show:  HCL VIENNA
Team: Kingfisher Korps
Representing the Team

Only provided Location + Jump references used for general location design, everything else is all me (which explains all the mistakes).