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Description
Show: CSIO Barcelona 5* (2018), Barcelona, ESP
Class: Gran Premi Ciutat de Barcelona
Horse: Sunrising
Rider: Christopher Miller
Country: USA

Placing: 1st (RNG placing sorted from a number between 1 and 10)

Context:
It is 2018 at the CSIO 5* held in Barcelona each year. Christopher Miller was selected as the reserve rider for team USA for the final and he had decided to bring Sunrising and Sofia with him to the Catalan capital.
The picture is from the last event Friday afternoon, Sunrising was more than eager to jump that day and the course was quite wide, making it able to take shortcuts in between the combinations despite the high jumps.

Story:
Word Count: 1,526 words
The week so far had gone well, the team had been able to classify on Thursday for the final on Sunday and so the athletes could enjoy a bit more of the show and the extra classes it had to offer.
Chris was especially looking forward to it, after his not so great results in the HCL that year followed by his starting to crumble relationship with Gibson he needed to at least get some good results here in the show in Barcelona. He and his mares were hungry for some clear rounds and victories, and the circuit he was walking right now seemed to be the perfect prey for him and Sunrising.

The designer of the course had taken full advantage of the size of the arena of the Polo Club, the jumps widely scattered all across it, giving room to some tight turns for those who wished to cut some time. The time given was quite tight if you wanted to follow the easy route, something that of course had not crossed the American’s mind even for a second.
He was going to cut those corners, each and every one of them. His grand prix mare adored to do so and he would lie if he said he didn’t at least like it as much as her. They were placed to jump almost at the end of the class, giving them also the chance to see their competitors and evaluate the situation, but Chris was determined to take the prize money home.

He returned to the warm up arena, Stephan spotting him and leading the bay mare to the rider. After discussing how the course looked with his groom Chris asked for him to put one last oxer at the height of the course to give the mare one last jump before letting her rest until their time to go.

“I will go and see how they do.” Stephan walked out of the arena after Sun and Chris cleared the oxer. The rider’s stands were just in between the two arenas, making it easier for grooms and riders to get from one place to another.

Sunrising walked patiently around the arena while Chris chatted with other competitors or simply sent text messages with his phone. The sun was starting to set behind the tall building of the King’s hotel just outside of the venue, the golden sun rays bathing both arenas in a nice and warm summer light while the temperatures started to get more comfortable as the sea breeze made its way to the city.

“Nod bad now, eh Sun?” The Selle Francais mare snorted, her head almost touching the ground as the show kept on going. The venue was rather quiet and empty of spectators as it was a regular workday, but still some people seemed to be getting there after their work hours to see some of the riders jump.

At the sight of Stephan’s return Chris led the mare to the edge of the arena to walk along his groom to the entrance of the show ring. The Greek groom resumed what he had been seeing with the other competitors, and also warned Chris of the tight turn that most of them seemed to be failing to do correctly before jump number 10.

“The dark blue one, right?” Stephan nodded. “That nasty fella is taking them all down?”
“Him or the double combination strides after.” Stephan smiled. “Most horses do not want to enter deep into that corner as the viewers are just on the other side of the bushes, and that makes them take the jump more to the left and messes up the stride count to the double.”
“You hear him Sun? We need to stick to the bushes fence.” The mare whined, excited to go out to the arena although it really looked like she was replying to Chris.
“Good luck you two.” Stephan said as the show stapp opened the gates for them to get in, the previous participant two jumps short to finishing. Chris lifted his right hand, his thumb up as a sign of thanks to Stephan.

Chris tried to get Sunrising’s attention back as soon as they got inside of the arena, the mare’s excitement could be a double edged sword if she was not focused enough. While the previous rider cleared the last jump he started to make Sunrising canter in a big circle while he took one last quick glance at the course.

The bell rang not too long after the last participant exited the arena, Sunrising’s canter rising even more as she perfectly knew what the bell signaled. As soon as she was facing the first jump the mare was into working mode, clearing the obstacles with ease even with the height they had.
Just as Chris had expected Sunrising was more than happy to cut the corners, jumping clear so far all of the jumps. Judging by what Stephan had said not many participants had chosen to cut time after the 10th and 11th jumps to secure only getting 4 penalties, so if they cleared those they had the chance to take the prize home.
So far so good, and Chris really meant for Sunrising to jump the dark blue obstacle as much to the right as possible. The mare was led straight to the corner, not giving her the chance to move away from the fence. The bay Selle Francais hesitated a bit as she saw the people so close to her, but as soon as she spotted the striped poles standing in front of her she completely forgot about the people, flying over the jump perfectly.
Jumping that close to the right side forced Chris to turn Sunrising sharply towards the left to get the line right for the double. The mare was still recovering from receiving the jump that he started to put pressure on his left leg and rein, avoiding Sun to slip away with the outside aids. With how wide the mare’s strides were, only five strides separated them from the first jump of the combination, five strides that needed to be perfect if they wanted not to throw the second obstacle’s poles down.

Sun had the combination in sight, her ears forward and her neck high as she measured the height. Without doubting even for a second, as Chris' legs pressed against her sides, she jumped over the first, her whole body arched over the fence. Her white front legs touched the ground, only one stride in between the obstacles forced the mare to quickly do another effort, Sunrising enjoying the combination just like she did with all the other obstacles, clearing the poles and demanding her rider where to go next, which other jump needed to be cleared now?
Keeping his head on the game Chris led the bay mare to the next obstacles, still four to clear for them to be over. With all the sharp corners they had taken they had more than enough time to finish, but Chris did not want to risk any of the remaining participants taking their win, nor letting it to lady luck to decide.
There were still a couple of turns they could cut short, and you can bet the pair did cut them while getting into everyone’s nerves. The tension was palpable until the end, no one daring to move from where they were and even the next participant, already inside the arena, could not take his eyes off of Sunrising and Christopher.
One last effort, that was all that separated them from a clear round, Sun steadily galloped to the obstacle, still wanting to do more while Chris held her in place. The man exhaled deeply, calculating well the distance between them and the jump in front. His hands released Sun’s neck, the mare jumping high in the air while he accompanied her movement, just by her spring upwards it was clear that she would not even bruise the pole, and the small crowd that was in the venue that Friday afternoon started to cheer even before Sun’s hands touched the ground again.

“Yes!” Chris couldn't help but exclaim, his long awaited perfect round had finally arrived. Sunrising galloped a few strides around the arena as Chris patted her neck after a job well done, Stephan waiting for them both at the gate next to one of the staff members, whose eyes also shone in excitement after seeing that round.
“You! You…!” Stephan and Chris high fived as Sun kept on walking through the corridor. “You’ve finally made it!”
“Took a while huh?” Chris joked. “All thanks to her!” Sunrising snorted, trying to regain a more steady breathing after the effort. “All thanks to you.” Chris whispered to his one and only girl.

No one could beat their result after that, even if a couple of the remaining participants were close to it. Sunrising fully enjoyed the round of honor after the show, happily cantering around the huge show arena at RCPB, while Chris fully enjoyed that long awaited victory after such a harsh year.
A year that was still not over.

Description
Show: CSIO Barcelona 5* (2018), Barcelona, ESP
Class: Gran Premi Ciutat de Barcelona
Horse: Sunrising
Rider: Christopher Miller
Country: USA

Placing: 1st (RNG placing sorted from a number between 1 and 10)

Context:
It is 2018 at the CSIO 5* held in Barcelona each year. Christopher Miller was selected as the reserve rider for team USA for the final and he had decided to bring Sunrising and Sofia with him to the Catalan capital.
The picture is from the last event Friday afternoon, Sunrising was more than eager to jump that day and the course was quite wide, making it able to take shortcuts in between the combinations despite the high jumps.

Story:
Word Count: 1,526 words
The week so far had gone well, the team had been able to classify on Thursday for the final on Sunday and so the athletes could enjoy a bit more of the show and the extra classes it had to offer.
Chris was especially looking forward to it, after his not so great results in the HCL that year followed by his starting to crumble relationship with Gibson he needed to at least get some good results here in the show in Barcelona. He and his mares were hungry for some clear rounds and victories, and the circuit he was walking right now seemed to be the perfect prey for him and Sunrising.

The designer of the course had taken full advantage of the size of the arena of the Polo Club, the jumps widely scattered all across it, giving room to some tight turns for those who wished to cut some time. The time given was quite tight if you wanted to follow the easy route, something that of course had not crossed the American’s mind even for a second.
He was going to cut those corners, each and every one of them. His grand prix mare adored to do so and he would lie if he said he didn’t at least like it as much as her. They were placed to jump almost at the end of the class, giving them also the chance to see their competitors and evaluate the situation, but Chris was determined to take the prize money home.

He returned to the warm up arena, Stephan spotting him and leading the bay mare to the rider. After discussing how the course looked with his groom Chris asked for him to put one last oxer at the height of the course to give the mare one last jump before letting her rest until their time to go.

“I will go and see how they do.” Stephan walked out of the arena after Sun and Chris cleared the oxer. The rider’s stands were just in between the two arenas, making it easier for grooms and riders to get from one place to another.

Sunrising walked patiently around the arena while Chris chatted with other competitors or simply sent text messages with his phone. The sun was starting to set behind the tall building of the King’s hotel just outside of the venue, the golden sun rays bathing both arenas in a nice and warm summer light while the temperatures started to get more comfortable as the sea breeze made its way to the city.

“Nod bad now, eh Sun?” The Selle Francais mare snorted, her head almost touching the ground as the show kept on going. The venue was rather quiet and empty of spectators as it was a regular workday, but still some people seemed to be getting there after their work hours to see some of the riders jump.

At the sight of Stephan’s return Chris led the mare to the edge of the arena to walk along his groom to the entrance of the show ring. The Greek groom resumed what he had been seeing with the other competitors, and also warned Chris of the tight turn that most of them seemed to be failing to do correctly before jump number 10.

“The dark blue one, right?” Stephan nodded. “That nasty fella is taking them all down?”
“Him or the double combination strides after.” Stephan smiled. “Most horses do not want to enter deep into that corner as the viewers are just on the other side of the bushes, and that makes them take the jump more to the left and messes up the stride count to the double.”
“You hear him Sun? We need to stick to the bushes fence.” The mare whined, excited to go out to the arena although it really looked like she was replying to Chris.
“Good luck you two.” Stephan said as the show stapp opened the gates for them to get in, the previous participant two jumps short to finishing. Chris lifted his right hand, his thumb up as a sign of thanks to Stephan.

Chris tried to get Sunrising’s attention back as soon as they got inside of the arena, the mare’s excitement could be a double edged sword if she was not focused enough. While the previous rider cleared the last jump he started to make Sunrising canter in a big circle while he took one last quick glance at the course.

The bell rang not too long after the last participant exited the arena, Sunrising’s canter rising even more as she perfectly knew what the bell signaled. As soon as she was facing the first jump the mare was into working mode, clearing the obstacles with ease even with the height they had.
Just as Chris had expected Sunrising was more than happy to cut the corners, jumping clear so far all of the jumps. Judging by what Stephan had said not many participants had chosen to cut time after the 10th and 11th jumps to secure only getting 4 penalties, so if they cleared those they had the chance to take the prize home.
So far so good, and Chris really meant for Sunrising to jump the dark blue obstacle as much to the right as possible. The mare was led straight to the corner, not giving her the chance to move away from the fence. The bay Selle Francais hesitated a bit as she saw the people so close to her, but as soon as she spotted the striped poles standing in front of her she completely forgot about the people, flying over the jump perfectly.
Jumping that close to the right side forced Chris to turn Sunrising sharply towards the left to get the line right for the double. The mare was still recovering from receiving the jump that he started to put pressure on his left leg and rein, avoiding Sun to slip away with the outside aids. With how wide the mare’s strides were, only five strides separated them from the first jump of the combination, five strides that needed to be perfect if they wanted not to throw the second obstacle’s poles down.

Sun had the combination in sight, her ears forward and her neck high as she measured the height. Without doubting even for a second, as Chris' legs pressed against her sides, she jumped over the first, her whole body arched over the fence. Her white front legs touched the ground, only one stride in between the obstacles forced the mare to quickly do another effort, Sunrising enjoying the combination just like she did with all the other obstacles, clearing the poles and demanding her rider where to go next, which other jump needed to be cleared now?
Keeping his head on the game Chris led the bay mare to the next obstacles, still four to clear for them to be over. With all the sharp corners they had taken they had more than enough time to finish, but Chris did not want to risk any of the remaining participants taking their win, nor letting it to lady luck to decide.
There were still a couple of turns they could cut short, and you can bet the pair did cut them while getting into everyone’s nerves. The tension was palpable until the end, no one daring to move from where they were and even the next participant, already inside the arena, could not take his eyes off of Sunrising and Christopher.
One last effort, that was all that separated them from a clear round, Sun steadily galloped to the obstacle, still wanting to do more while Chris held her in place. The man exhaled deeply, calculating well the distance between them and the jump in front. His hands released Sun’s neck, the mare jumping high in the air while he accompanied her movement, just by her spring upwards it was clear that she would not even bruise the pole, and the small crowd that was in the venue that Friday afternoon started to cheer even before Sun’s hands touched the ground again.

“Yes!” Chris couldn't help but exclaim, his long awaited perfect round had finally arrived. Sunrising galloped a few strides around the arena as Chris patted her neck after a job well done, Stephan waiting for them both at the gate next to one of the staff members, whose eyes also shone in excitement after seeing that round.
“You! You…!” Stephan and Chris high fived as Sun kept on walking through the corridor. “You’ve finally made it!”
“Took a while huh?” Chris joked. “All thanks to her!” Sunrising snorted, trying to regain a more steady breathing after the effort. “All thanks to you.” Chris whispered to his one and only girl.

No one could beat their result after that, even if a couple of the remaining participants were close to it. Sunrising fully enjoyed the round of honor after the show, happily cantering around the huge show arena at RCPB, while Chris fully enjoyed that long awaited victory after such a harsh year.
A year that was still not over.