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Description
3rd Place
Ribbon
Medal
1 year supply of Superfeed
Custom helmet
Custom halter+lead

I spent so long on it but something still looks off. Dammit. But I'm so ridiculously proud of the horse and rider!!
Zoom in for better quality - it looks strange otherwise

I love Apollo so much he's such a beautiful color and what a character

Show: Pemberley Park
Class: Pemberley Cup | Day 1
Horse: TEC Apollo's Got a Gun
Horse age: 9
Rider: April Sanders
Rider age: 18
Country: Georgia

Story:

April poked her thoroughbred stallion’s cheek getting a playful attempt at a bite in return.

“Are you ready for this?” She didn’t really expect a response but looked at Apollo anyway. “Ye, I don’t think I am either.” The blonde sat on the floor by her mount and stroked his front legs. The white and red, the colors of the Georgian flag, looked beautiful on Apollo’s newly cleaned legs. The color scheme for their stables suited all of their horses and April was thankful for it.

The names of the competitors along with their horses’ fancy names were called one by one. As she began to recognize the names, April realized it must almost be her turn. She walked into the near-empty warm up arena and asked Apollo for a stretched-out trot. He obliged and made a forward transition into a trot followed by a beautiful variety of leaps in the air, spooking the other two horses and almost unseating one of the riders. With a sheepish look on her face, April halted her proud-looking stallion to apologize to the others. One of the girls in the arena – the one who was just able to stay on – simply smiled and let out a soft giggle. ‘What a friendly competition’, April thought to herself.

- - -

The few minutes spent in the warm up arena ended with Apollo doing tempi-changes to prepare for the jump off turns if it came to that and it was very likely that it would – Apollo was feeling more confident than usual over the jumps, mainly motivated by the carrots April always carried in her pockets. Some people questioned her choice of bridle but April, amongst a few others, swore by it. The only time Apollo was made to have a bit in his overly sensitive mouth was for Dressage competitions that didn’t yet permit bitless and, in those that did, he could outdo the bitted horses in a headcollar. She had taken her inspiration from Jürgen Krakow, an international Grand Prix show jumper, who said that he wanted his horses to find balance by themselves and that they offered him a better bascule with the bosal. Since trying it out herself as an experiment, there was absolutely no turning back.

“You’re up next”, called a voice from the fence-line. April suddenly felt the urge to cry and slumped over Apollo’s neck, letting him make another two circles in a walk before moving to the outdoor arena. The rider before her was beaming and hugging her horse – a sight that made April both, extremely happy and even more nervous.

“We’ve just got to give this our best shot”, she smiled and Apollo picked up a steady canter.
(452)

References
Horse
Rider

Description
3rd Place
Ribbon
Medal
1 year supply of Superfeed
Custom helmet
Custom halter+lead

I spent so long on it but something still looks off. Dammit. But I'm so ridiculously proud of the horse and rider!!
Zoom in for better quality - it looks strange otherwise

I love Apollo so much he's such a beautiful color and what a character

Show: Pemberley Park
Class: Pemberley Cup | Day 1
Horse: TEC Apollo's Got a Gun
Horse age: 9
Rider: April Sanders
Rider age: 18
Country: Georgia

Story:

April poked her thoroughbred stallion’s cheek getting a playful attempt at a bite in return.

“Are you ready for this?” She didn’t really expect a response but looked at Apollo anyway. “Ye, I don’t think I am either.” The blonde sat on the floor by her mount and stroked his front legs. The white and red, the colors of the Georgian flag, looked beautiful on Apollo’s newly cleaned legs. The color scheme for their stables suited all of their horses and April was thankful for it.

The names of the competitors along with their horses’ fancy names were called one by one. As she began to recognize the names, April realized it must almost be her turn. She walked into the near-empty warm up arena and asked Apollo for a stretched-out trot. He obliged and made a forward transition into a trot followed by a beautiful variety of leaps in the air, spooking the other two horses and almost unseating one of the riders. With a sheepish look on her face, April halted her proud-looking stallion to apologize to the others. One of the girls in the arena – the one who was just able to stay on – simply smiled and let out a soft giggle. ‘What a friendly competition’, April thought to herself.

- - -

The few minutes spent in the warm up arena ended with Apollo doing tempi-changes to prepare for the jump off turns if it came to that and it was very likely that it would – Apollo was feeling more confident than usual over the jumps, mainly motivated by the carrots April always carried in her pockets. Some people questioned her choice of bridle but April, amongst a few others, swore by it. The only time Apollo was made to have a bit in his overly sensitive mouth was for Dressage competitions that didn’t yet permit bitless and, in those that did, he could outdo the bitted horses in a headcollar. She had taken her inspiration from Jürgen Krakow, an international Grand Prix show jumper, who said that he wanted his horses to find balance by themselves and that they offered him a better bascule with the bosal. Since trying it out herself as an experiment, there was absolutely no turning back.

“You’re up next”, called a voice from the fence-line. April suddenly felt the urge to cry and slumped over Apollo’s neck, letting him make another two circles in a walk before moving to the outdoor arena. The rider before her was beaming and hugging her horse – a sight that made April both, extremely happy and even more nervous.

“We’ve just got to give this our best shot”, she smiled and Apollo picked up a steady canter.
(452)

References
Horse
Rider