HOME | DD

Description
Got first and grand champion!

Show: SlightlyMad's Second Annual All-Showjumping Show
Horse name: SEA He's The One
Rider's name: Oliver Chancey Trace
Class: Grand Prix

Advertisement: Ongoing Showjumping Show Advertisement

Previous: Fear of Flying - Extra Image

--Story--
On the first day of competing the before-peacefully quiet Slightly Mad showgrounds were buzzing with crowds of people as they moved between the facilities in what seemed to me like a slow, menacing throng of bees zooming around a hive, and Jesse and I stopped to watched the commotion from the side for a few moments in surprise. Eventually Jesse lifted his Stetson to rub his forehead, letting out a huff.
“Well then,” he chuckled, “Certainly didn't expect such a giant hoard o' cattle to arrive overnight. You've got your branding iron?”

“Funny,” I smirked, throwing him an overly-dramatic sidelong look of disapproval as I stuffed my hands in my pockets. Being from the large outstretched landscapes of Montana where one could walk or ride for hours and see no sign of civilization meant I wasn't particularly well-acquainted with crowds like this, let alone been taught how to become one with them, and I watched the coming and going of all these people moving around like a solid, unpenetrable wall in silence.

“Where are we supposed to be going?” I finally asked Jesse, pulling my gaze away from the scene and turning it onto him. He was fumbling with a small paper map that we'd gotten upon our arrival a few days before, and I moved closer in order to peer over his shoulder.

“Here,” he said, pointing at one of the trullis that Rush had circled in a painfully obvious red pen, and we both looked up again to see whether we could spot the building through the waves of people like one would search for an island in the sea.

“Hey,” someone suddenly said from behind us, “Vhat are you guys doing, hanging around here? Aren't ve going to see Rush?” Jesse turned to look at the person, whom I immediately identified as Joachim by the thick accent before even having to look at him, and gave him a sheepish grin.

“We're getting there, just need to find out where we're going first,” he said, holding up the map in front of the young man's face. Joachim huffed, shaking his head with an amused chuckle, and he took the paper.

“Vell zat's easy,” he sniggered, starting off ahead of us after a few moments across the grounds as he beckoned for us to follow. We did, of course, scampering after him like two obedient dogs, and I found that once we were in the midst of the crowd it turned out to be much less stuffy than what I'd expected. In fact, there were entire patches of empty spaces, and I wondered to myself whether our spot had given us some kind of skewed view of the situation and turned it into an optical illusion. One glance at Jesse told me he was thinking the same thing, or at least something along those lines.

“I zink zis is it,” Joachim suddenly announced as he stopped in front of one of the many trullis situated around the stable grounds and I tried to peer into the shadows inside, seeing that there were indeed a few shapes moving around inside. With that, Rush's violent, highly explicit cursing reached my ears as well and nearly cause me to wince as he ranted on and on, not really at anyone in particular.

“This (censored) is just such (censored),” he growled then, as Neo started to fidget again, another wave of cussing followed. Eventually, Jesse cleared his throat.

“What,” Rush grumbled when he realized we were there, though his eyes quickly fell on Joachim and I could see his entire demeanour softening.

“Hey,” Joachim grinned, stepping over into the trulli and leaning down to press a quick kiss to Rush's lips, “Do you need help with anyzing?”

“Nah, I'm alright. Neo just needs to stand still,” Rush shrugged, returning his attention onto Neo's tack. Joachim chuckled, rubbing the stallion's nose and forehead, which actually seemed to calm him down a bit and allowed for Rush to finish up without any real difficulties. I could feel my gut churning, the fire that was starting to blaze deep down inside of me quickly growing larger and larger, and jealousy's iron grip started to sqeeze my entire body.

“Hey, I'm going to go get us some coffee,” I told Jesse, lightly touching his arm to get his attention, “Otherwise I might go through the entire day half-asleep.” The man looked at me then chuckled, giving an agreeing nod, and with that I walked off to find a place to buy beverages. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest, so loudly I could feel it all the way up in my throat, and a cold sweat was forming on my palms as the iron grip on me tightened. I hated jealousy and often prided myself in never suffering from it, but here it was rearing its ugly head once again as it glared at me with its beady eyes. I swore I could almost see a smug, triumphant grin on its face. My whole body was trembling with it and I could feel my legs shake beneath me as I stood in line at the busy coffee stand, but I did my best to force it away, even as I started to walk back to the trulli once I had gotten the coffee. It seemed like the others had already left to go to the arena when I arrived but upon closer inspection I found Jesse waiting for me beneath the shade of a small tree some metres away, sitting on the grass comfortably with his head leaned back against the trunk and his Stetson lying in his lap.

“Hey,” I said, stopping by him before holding out the styrofoam cup of watery, luke-warm coffee. He peeked an open then took it, grunting a thanks.

“Joachim and Ollie went off to the warmup field already, I just waited up for you here in case you got your ass lost,” he told me while setting the Stetson on his head, covering his sun-faded dark brown hair, and he got to his feet before brushing the bits off grass and dirt from the back of his jeans. I said nothing.

“The weather's a real blessin' though, huh?” he continued when he realized I wasn't going to be the one keeping the conversation alive as we walked over to the warmup field, where it was crowded with horses of all shapes and sizes. He was clearly avoiding the most obvious topic at hand. I merely hummed in agreement, looking around me to try and distract myself from the nasty, bitter aftertaste the coffee left in my mouth as it stuck to the roof of my mouth. We soon found Joachim standing in a small crowd of people at the edge of the field, which had been fenced off with some rope so that none of the general doe-eyed public could wander in and get in the way of the horses and their riders, and physically pulled him along to the jumping arena after he tried to resist coming with us after verbal coaxing. It was difficult to tear him away from watching Rush and Neo as they trotted and cantered across the grassy area, working together beautifully like a match made by the angels up in heaven, and I couldn't help but wonder to myself how nice it must be to be able to watch the person you liked – loved, even – so intently without having to worry about someone catching you in the act. Once again, I felt jealousy start to burn in my gut but this time I forced it away, with some matter of success. We stopped by the edge of the showjumping arena, all taking a moment to inspect the jumps more thoroughly now that we really had the time to look at them, then Joachim turned around and turned his attention onto me. I gulped.

“So how long have you been at Sterlingvood now?” he asked, running a hand through his long, thick brown hair to sweep a few stray, wind-blown strands from his face.

“Uh, a few months,” I replied simply, hardly knowing how to talk to him; I had nothing against him, only that he was Rush's boyfriend. He had what I desperately wanted and deep down, I hated him because of it.

“The work hasn't been too tough on you?” he grinned, although for some funny reason it looked like a forced smile to me. I blamed it on my imagination thought.

“Not really, no. I worked on my dad's ranch before so I'm used to something.”

“Vhere vas zat?”

“Montana.”

We said nothing to each other for a few moments, the air prickling with the tense silence, and at that moment I knew that he knew.

He knew that I desperately wanted his boyfriend, craving for his attention and affection – the latter of which I never, ever got. And probably never, ever would get. Looking at Joachim clearly told me so; he was a tall, handsome German with an accent that made anyone swoon whether or not they'd admit it, and he had the most beautiful eyes. Perhaps even prettier than Rush's. Next to him I could only imagine myself to be a lanky, clumsy, too-tall-for-his-own-good guy, with messy hair that I couldn't even pull a comb through properly anymore and boring brown eyes. What a disappointment.

“So when will you be comin' back to Sterlingwood for good, Joachim, anytime soon?” Jesse finally asked to break the silence coating the air thickly, and Joachim took his somewhat hostile gaze off of me.

“I don't know, maybe soon. I didn't realize I missed home so much and it's nice to be back, but at ze same time I vant to be closer to Rush again,” he sighed, shaking his head, and immediately the look was gone from his eyes. Jesse wasn't a threat. To be fair, I wasn't either, but I guess he still wasn't too amused about the fact that I was drooling over his boyfriend, following him around with a puppy-dog look. I certainly wouldn't be if I were him.

“Well, he'll definitely be happy to have you back,” Jesse chuckled, “Hasn't been quite the same since you left.”

He paused for a moment there, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows as he furrowed them ever so slightly in brief thoughtfulness, then with a bright grin he added, “Well, maybe been more like the old Ollie I used to know since you've been away. So you really should come back soon.”

Right. If he came back, I'd have to leave. It sounded like the illogical logic of a teenage girl crushing or even going after the boyfriend of another girl, but I pushed that thought of my mind and convinced myself that I was right. And I probably was.

I'd go back to Montana again to get to work on my father's ranch and avoid the repproaching comments about having attempted to abandon the family's heritige pride that had been with us for centuries now and would have been passed on to me had I not disappointed them by leaving. It would go to my younger brother now, but I didn't care about that. Didn't care about any of it.

I'd avoid thinking about what I'd have left behind at Sterlingwood; the easy acceptance, the freedom, and the horses that I'd already grown quite attached to. And that the people there knew me for who I was, not who I pretended to be. No one back home – “home”, I should say – knew about my orientation. Gay, bi, whichever of the two it was I didn't really care, but no one had ever realized I wasn't straight. Not even my close family.

“Here, I'll go throw out your cup,” I said quickly when I'd noticed Jesse taking the last sip of his coffee, and I ignored his suspicious, critical eyebrow-raise by keeping my eyes down as I nearly snatched the cup from his hands. Before he or Joachim could say anything I walked away briskly, pushing through the forming crowd that I knew probably wouldn't let me back through again if I returned. Who hopefully wouldn't let me back through. I looked around for a trashcan then returned once I'd found it and tossed the two cups out, and made a lousy attempt at finding my way through the crowd before walking off to find my own spot a little ways away. I'd just tell them that I couldn't get to them after I'd left. It was just a pity that I was a terrible liar and would have to try to convince them of that...

Word count: 2121

Next: Opportunities Lost | SMS Freejumping Entry

Artist's note: THIS DRAW HAS BEEN DONE FOR OVER A MONTH NOW EXCEPT THAT YOUR SHITTY LITTLE SHREW DIDN'T GET THE STORY WRITTEN UNTIL 5 MINUTES AGO
Still not sure how I feel about my ability to capture everything at the right angle here, but at least I tried... And as an explanation for the title, to all those Assassin's Creed players out there; leap of faith spots usually have doves Or at least, in II and III they do.

Previous effort show experience
Taking it easy - 1st place and grand champion
Lost Confidence - SVI Schooling Show - 1st place and grand champion

Extra images

Other entry

Tools used: Intuos pen and touch and Medibang
Time: Uuuh...
References
media.oregonlive.com/olympics_… (sketchy traced)
www.turcalendar.ru/articles/im…
4.bp.blogspot.com/-F5V_w1bJDh0…
l7.alamy.com/zooms/64a06ebe87d…
Jump 2
Trullo 1
Some google images for inspiration with the clouds

Description
Got first and grand champion!

Show: SlightlyMad's Second Annual All-Showjumping Show
Horse name: SEA He's The One
Rider's name: Oliver Chancey Trace
Class: Grand Prix

Advertisement: Ongoing Showjumping Show Advertisement

Previous: Fear of Flying - Extra Image

--Story--
On the first day of competing the before-peacefully quiet Slightly Mad showgrounds were buzzing with crowds of people as they moved between the facilities in what seemed to me like a slow, menacing throng of bees zooming around a hive, and Jesse and I stopped to watched the commotion from the side for a few moments in surprise. Eventually Jesse lifted his Stetson to rub his forehead, letting out a huff.
“Well then,” he chuckled, “Certainly didn't expect such a giant hoard o' cattle to arrive overnight. You've got your branding iron?”

“Funny,” I smirked, throwing him an overly-dramatic sidelong look of disapproval as I stuffed my hands in my pockets. Being from the large outstretched landscapes of Montana where one could walk or ride for hours and see no sign of civilization meant I wasn't particularly well-acquainted with crowds like this, let alone been taught how to become one with them, and I watched the coming and going of all these people moving around like a solid, unpenetrable wall in silence.

“Where are we supposed to be going?” I finally asked Jesse, pulling my gaze away from the scene and turning it onto him. He was fumbling with a small paper map that we'd gotten upon our arrival a few days before, and I moved closer in order to peer over his shoulder.

“Here,” he said, pointing at one of the trullis that Rush had circled in a painfully obvious red pen, and we both looked up again to see whether we could spot the building through the waves of people like one would search for an island in the sea.

“Hey,” someone suddenly said from behind us, “Vhat are you guys doing, hanging around here? Aren't ve going to see Rush?” Jesse turned to look at the person, whom I immediately identified as Joachim by the thick accent before even having to look at him, and gave him a sheepish grin.

“We're getting there, just need to find out where we're going first,” he said, holding up the map in front of the young man's face. Joachim huffed, shaking his head with an amused chuckle, and he took the paper.

“Vell zat's easy,” he sniggered, starting off ahead of us after a few moments across the grounds as he beckoned for us to follow. We did, of course, scampering after him like two obedient dogs, and I found that once we were in the midst of the crowd it turned out to be much less stuffy than what I'd expected. In fact, there were entire patches of empty spaces, and I wondered to myself whether our spot had given us some kind of skewed view of the situation and turned it into an optical illusion. One glance at Jesse told me he was thinking the same thing, or at least something along those lines.

“I zink zis is it,” Joachim suddenly announced as he stopped in front of one of the many trullis situated around the stable grounds and I tried to peer into the shadows inside, seeing that there were indeed a few shapes moving around inside. With that, Rush's violent, highly explicit cursing reached my ears as well and nearly cause me to wince as he ranted on and on, not really at anyone in particular.

“This (censored) is just such (censored),” he growled then, as Neo started to fidget again, another wave of cussing followed. Eventually, Jesse cleared his throat.

“What,” Rush grumbled when he realized we were there, though his eyes quickly fell on Joachim and I could see his entire demeanour softening.

“Hey,” Joachim grinned, stepping over into the trulli and leaning down to press a quick kiss to Rush's lips, “Do you need help with anyzing?”

“Nah, I'm alright. Neo just needs to stand still,” Rush shrugged, returning his attention onto Neo's tack. Joachim chuckled, rubbing the stallion's nose and forehead, which actually seemed to calm him down a bit and allowed for Rush to finish up without any real difficulties. I could feel my gut churning, the fire that was starting to blaze deep down inside of me quickly growing larger and larger, and jealousy's iron grip started to sqeeze my entire body.

“Hey, I'm going to go get us some coffee,” I told Jesse, lightly touching his arm to get his attention, “Otherwise I might go through the entire day half-asleep.” The man looked at me then chuckled, giving an agreeing nod, and with that I walked off to find a place to buy beverages. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest, so loudly I could feel it all the way up in my throat, and a cold sweat was forming on my palms as the iron grip on me tightened. I hated jealousy and often prided myself in never suffering from it, but here it was rearing its ugly head once again as it glared at me with its beady eyes. I swore I could almost see a smug, triumphant grin on its face. My whole body was trembling with it and I could feel my legs shake beneath me as I stood in line at the busy coffee stand, but I did my best to force it away, even as I started to walk back to the trulli once I had gotten the coffee. It seemed like the others had already left to go to the arena when I arrived but upon closer inspection I found Jesse waiting for me beneath the shade of a small tree some metres away, sitting on the grass comfortably with his head leaned back against the trunk and his Stetson lying in his lap.

“Hey,” I said, stopping by him before holding out the styrofoam cup of watery, luke-warm coffee. He peeked an open then took it, grunting a thanks.

“Joachim and Ollie went off to the warmup field already, I just waited up for you here in case you got your ass lost,” he told me while setting the Stetson on his head, covering his sun-faded dark brown hair, and he got to his feet before brushing the bits off grass and dirt from the back of his jeans. I said nothing.

“The weather's a real blessin' though, huh?” he continued when he realized I wasn't going to be the one keeping the conversation alive as we walked over to the warmup field, where it was crowded with horses of all shapes and sizes. He was clearly avoiding the most obvious topic at hand. I merely hummed in agreement, looking around me to try and distract myself from the nasty, bitter aftertaste the coffee left in my mouth as it stuck to the roof of my mouth. We soon found Joachim standing in a small crowd of people at the edge of the field, which had been fenced off with some rope so that none of the general doe-eyed public could wander in and get in the way of the horses and their riders, and physically pulled him along to the jumping arena after he tried to resist coming with us after verbal coaxing. It was difficult to tear him away from watching Rush and Neo as they trotted and cantered across the grassy area, working together beautifully like a match made by the angels up in heaven, and I couldn't help but wonder to myself how nice it must be to be able to watch the person you liked – loved, even – so intently without having to worry about someone catching you in the act. Once again, I felt jealousy start to burn in my gut but this time I forced it away, with some matter of success. We stopped by the edge of the showjumping arena, all taking a moment to inspect the jumps more thoroughly now that we really had the time to look at them, then Joachim turned around and turned his attention onto me. I gulped.

“So how long have you been at Sterlingvood now?” he asked, running a hand through his long, thick brown hair to sweep a few stray, wind-blown strands from his face.

“Uh, a few months,” I replied simply, hardly knowing how to talk to him; I had nothing against him, only that he was Rush's boyfriend. He had what I desperately wanted and deep down, I hated him because of it.

“The work hasn't been too tough on you?” he grinned, although for some funny reason it looked like a forced smile to me. I blamed it on my imagination thought.

“Not really, no. I worked on my dad's ranch before so I'm used to something.”

“Vhere vas zat?”

“Montana.”

We said nothing to each other for a few moments, the air prickling with the tense silence, and at that moment I knew that he knew.

He knew that I desperately wanted his boyfriend, craving for his attention and affection – the latter of which I never, ever got. And probably never, ever would get. Looking at Joachim clearly told me so; he was a tall, handsome German with an accent that made anyone swoon whether or not they'd admit it, and he had the most beautiful eyes. Perhaps even prettier than Rush's. Next to him I could only imagine myself to be a lanky, clumsy, too-tall-for-his-own-good guy, with messy hair that I couldn't even pull a comb through properly anymore and boring brown eyes. What a disappointment.

“So when will you be comin' back to Sterlingwood for good, Joachim, anytime soon?” Jesse finally asked to break the silence coating the air thickly, and Joachim took his somewhat hostile gaze off of me.

“I don't know, maybe soon. I didn't realize I missed home so much and it's nice to be back, but at ze same time I vant to be closer to Rush again,” he sighed, shaking his head, and immediately the look was gone from his eyes. Jesse wasn't a threat. To be fair, I wasn't either, but I guess he still wasn't too amused about the fact that I was drooling over his boyfriend, following him around with a puppy-dog look. I certainly wouldn't be if I were him.

“Well, he'll definitely be happy to have you back,” Jesse chuckled, “Hasn't been quite the same since you left.”

He paused for a moment there, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows as he furrowed them ever so slightly in brief thoughtfulness, then with a bright grin he added, “Well, maybe been more like the old Ollie I used to know since you've been away. So you really should come back soon.”

Right. If he came back, I'd have to leave. It sounded like the illogical logic of a teenage girl crushing or even going after the boyfriend of another girl, but I pushed that thought of my mind and convinced myself that I was right. And I probably was.

I'd go back to Montana again to get to work on my father's ranch and avoid the repproaching comments about having attempted to abandon the family's heritige pride that had been with us for centuries now and would have been passed on to me had I not disappointed them by leaving. It would go to my younger brother now, but I didn't care about that. Didn't care about any of it.

I'd avoid thinking about what I'd have left behind at Sterlingwood; the easy acceptance, the freedom, and the horses that I'd already grown quite attached to. And that the people there knew me for who I was, not who I pretended to be. No one back home – “home”, I should say – knew about my orientation. Gay, bi, whichever of the two it was I didn't really care, but no one had ever realized I wasn't straight. Not even my close family.

“Here, I'll go throw out your cup,” I said quickly when I'd noticed Jesse taking the last sip of his coffee, and I ignored his suspicious, critical eyebrow-raise by keeping my eyes down as I nearly snatched the cup from his hands. Before he or Joachim could say anything I walked away briskly, pushing through the forming crowd that I knew probably wouldn't let me back through again if I returned. Who hopefully wouldn't let me back through. I looked around for a trashcan then returned once I'd found it and tossed the two cups out, and made a lousy attempt at finding my way through the crowd before walking off to find my own spot a little ways away. I'd just tell them that I couldn't get to them after I'd left. It was just a pity that I was a terrible liar and would have to try to convince them of that...

Word count: 2121

Next: Opportunities Lost | SMS Freejumping Entry

Artist's note: THIS DRAW HAS BEEN DONE FOR OVER A MONTH NOW EXCEPT THAT YOUR SHITTY LITTLE SHREW DIDN'T GET THE STORY WRITTEN UNTIL 5 MINUTES AGO
Still not sure how I feel about my ability to capture everything at the right angle here, but at least I tried... And as an explanation for the title, to all those Assassin's Creed players out there; leap of faith spots usually have doves Or at least, in II and III they do.

Previous effort show experience
Taking it easy - 1st place and grand champion
Lost Confidence - SVI Schooling Show - 1st place and grand champion

Extra images

Other entry

Tools used: Intuos pen and touch and Medibang
Time: Uuuh...
References
media.oregonlive.com/olympics_… (sketchy traced)
www.turcalendar.ru/articles/im…
4.bp.blogspot.com/-F5V_w1bJDh0…
l7.alamy.com/zooms/64a06ebe87d…
Jump 2
Trullo 1
Some google images for inspiration with the clouds