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Description
... Two weeks earlier...

"Lisa, where'd you GET all this stuff?!"

The trainer blew off the seat of a dusty Western saddle, and the cloud floated right into Alfred's face. He promptly started coughing. "I've had it, actually. For years. It's just been stored up here."

"But you only do English!"

"Yes, but I'm also proficient in Western," she reminded him patiently, sliding two headstalls over her shoulder and picking the saddle up off the rack with a slight grunt. "I used to run in the Western show circuit up in Ohio. Grab those two saddle blankets, would you?"

Alfred did as she said and followed her, but he didn't let the matter drop. "Why are you pulling this out now?? Are those crystals? Why would you spend so much on useless glitter?? What show is this for, and who are you even planning on riding??"

"Because there's a Western show that I plan to enter a class or two in, yes they are, because it grabs the eye, the show's not too long of a haul, and I was thinking of riding Cricket," she rattled off without batting an eye, making her way into one of the tack rooms and finding an empty saddle rack. "Blankets go there." Once Alfred had placed the saddle rugs on the empty rack, Lisa settled the saddle on top of them, brushing some remaining dust off the seat. "You think Cricket would look better in green or black?"

"Black," he said distractedly, "But... you ride English!"

"What's so hard to understand?" she asked in exasperation, resting a hand on her hip and shifting her weight to one leg. "I used to show Western. I'm equally good with English, and I want to try Cricket in a little Western to see how she does. We were told she wasn't bad in Western pleasure, you recall? Plus she drops her head when requested. I want to test that theory."

"It's just... you're always in long boots and your hair's pulled up into a knot and you have an English riding helmet and all English saddles--"

"And you've never seen me in this," Lisa teased, reaching out to a hook on the wall to remove the cowboy hat she'd hung there a few minutes prior to their conversation and sliding it onto her head in a practiced motion. "I get it, I do. But you'll just have to get over it because I'm entering that show."

Alfred shook his head and nudged the brim of the hat up so he could see her eyes again. "It's just weird. I've never seen you ride anything but English."

She smirked. "Well, then maybe it's time you saw me ride something else." She paused, looking over her shoulder at the saddle. "... I'm going to have a hell of a time cleaning that-- hasn't been properly oiled in almost a year."

"You sure none of the straps need replaced?"

"Well, let me put it this way... If they do, I'll find out when something breaks. I'm more worried about the reins than anything," she chuckled, putting the hat back on the wall and sliding the headstalls off her shoulder to hang them. "But I'm sure I'll be fine, don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"Oh, so you think I'm pretty?"

"Mm, I'm prettier."

This is a Western Pleasure entry for XxPrinzesjhuxX 's BCR Summershow .

Stable: Golden Vale
Horse: GV Girl's Gotta Gun
Rider: Lisa Martin (also Lisa )
Classes Entering: Western Pleasure
Class Pictured: Western Pleasure

I had a ton of fun with this one. The idea here was that a storm may have been blowing up (I've never been to Illinois so I don't know if storms blow up differently than they do closer to the coast), but I didn't exactly make that obvious. Or rather, not as obvious as I'd hoped. But my favorite part of this is probably the shading on Lisa's shirt and chaps. I really like how those turned out.

This is Cricket's first show. I'm still holding out hope that she'll bring home the blues, and will continue to hope such until fully disproven.

Art: (c) shot-fired
Ref:
- www.deviantart.com/art/Chestnu…
- fineequine.deviantart.com/art/…
- www.deviantart.com/art/Santa-B… (just the shiny bits on the saddle)
- xxprinzesjhuxx.deviantart.com/… (for background)
Tools: Paint Tool SAI, Wacom Intuos tablet, music player, etc.

Description
... Two weeks earlier...

"Lisa, where'd you GET all this stuff?!"

The trainer blew off the seat of a dusty Western saddle, and the cloud floated right into Alfred's face. He promptly started coughing. "I've had it, actually. For years. It's just been stored up here."

"But you only do English!"

"Yes, but I'm also proficient in Western," she reminded him patiently, sliding two headstalls over her shoulder and picking the saddle up off the rack with a slight grunt. "I used to run in the Western show circuit up in Ohio. Grab those two saddle blankets, would you?"

Alfred did as she said and followed her, but he didn't let the matter drop. "Why are you pulling this out now?? Are those crystals? Why would you spend so much on useless glitter?? What show is this for, and who are you even planning on riding??"

"Because there's a Western show that I plan to enter a class or two in, yes they are, because it grabs the eye, the show's not too long of a haul, and I was thinking of riding Cricket," she rattled off without batting an eye, making her way into one of the tack rooms and finding an empty saddle rack. "Blankets go there." Once Alfred had placed the saddle rugs on the empty rack, Lisa settled the saddle on top of them, brushing some remaining dust off the seat. "You think Cricket would look better in green or black?"

"Black," he said distractedly, "But... you ride English!"

"What's so hard to understand?" she asked in exasperation, resting a hand on her hip and shifting her weight to one leg. "I used to show Western. I'm equally good with English, and I want to try Cricket in a little Western to see how she does. We were told she wasn't bad in Western pleasure, you recall? Plus she drops her head when requested. I want to test that theory."

"It's just... you're always in long boots and your hair's pulled up into a knot and you have an English riding helmet and all English saddles--"

"And you've never seen me in this," Lisa teased, reaching out to a hook on the wall to remove the cowboy hat she'd hung there a few minutes prior to their conversation and sliding it onto her head in a practiced motion. "I get it, I do. But you'll just have to get over it because I'm entering that show."

Alfred shook his head and nudged the brim of the hat up so he could see her eyes again. "It's just weird. I've never seen you ride anything but English."

She smirked. "Well, then maybe it's time you saw me ride something else." She paused, looking over her shoulder at the saddle. "... I'm going to have a hell of a time cleaning that-- hasn't been properly oiled in almost a year."

"You sure none of the straps need replaced?"

"Well, let me put it this way... If they do, I'll find out when something breaks. I'm more worried about the reins than anything," she chuckled, putting the hat back on the wall and sliding the headstalls off her shoulder to hang them. "But I'm sure I'll be fine, don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"Oh, so you think I'm pretty?"

"Mm, I'm prettier."

This is a Western Pleasure entry for XxPrinzesjhuxX 's BCR Summershow .

Stable: Golden Vale
Horse: GV Girl's Gotta Gun
Rider: Lisa Martin (also Lisa )
Classes Entering: Western Pleasure
Class Pictured: Western Pleasure

I had a ton of fun with this one. The idea here was that a storm may have been blowing up (I've never been to Illinois so I don't know if storms blow up differently than they do closer to the coast), but I didn't exactly make that obvious. Or rather, not as obvious as I'd hoped. But my favorite part of this is probably the shading on Lisa's shirt and chaps. I really like how those turned out.

This is Cricket's first show. I'm still holding out hope that she'll bring home the blues, and will continue to hope such until fully disproven.

Art: (c) shot-fired
Ref:
- www.deviantart.com/art/Chestnu…
- fineequine.deviantart.com/art/…
- www.deviantart.com/art/Santa-B… (just the shiny bits on the saddle)
- xxprinzesjhuxx.deviantart.com/… (for background)
Tools: Paint Tool SAI, Wacom Intuos tablet, music player, etc.