HOME | DD

Description

Tainted Black Dressage Show

Horse: Dolli

horse age: 10

Rider: Steven Clark

rider age: 34

...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...

Story:

Everything's on fire. The air is filled with smoke and cinders. The ground under the horses' hooves is a smeary black mud. Within less than an hour the forest's turned into a scorched wasteland.

Putting on the pristine white dressage gloves felt so strange in these surroundings. From now on he couldn't touch anything except for his horse and the reins, or he'd get them dirty. The conditions were a little more extreme than usual, but Steven knew what he's doing. He definitely wasn't a newcomer to the dressage arena.

The concept of organizing a show in a freshly burned down forest got Steven intrigued immediately. Luckily, one of his two dressage steeds, Dolli, fit the requirement - black horses only - perfectly.

When it was their turn, Steven climbed up onto Dolli's back and lead her to the middle of the makeshift arena to start the test. As Dolli moved around, little sparks flew around her hooves. The ground was still warm. It was as if the Earth's mantle disappeared and there was only a thin crust separating them from the hell below. The big mare seemed absolutely unmoved. If anything, the strange surroundings peaked her curiosity. The organizers made sure the place was safe for the participants, but they could do nothing about the wind changing direction and bringing clouds of dark smoke and a roar of distant wildfire with it.

Dolli snorted and fell out of the rhythm for a second. Steven blinked a few times, his eyes started watering. He looked around through the tears trying to mostly guess, where the letter B might be located. The audience same as the judges looked like an assemblage of ghosts in the fickle light of the candles, their features conterted by dark shadows in their faces.

Suddenly a loud crack could be heard as another one of the trees fell to the ground. The wind threw a handful of embers on their heads. Dolli's head jumped a little higher than usual, her ears swiveled around, but she was too dignified to make a scene. She let her rider guide her through another set of figures with complete trust, although she could sense the hesitation in his grip on the reins.

Steven felt light-headed. Only now did he start to realize, how bizzare the whole situation actually was. We are all smiling and having fun, while being totally oblivious to the destruction around us. It's quite typical of us, humans, he wondered. And I'm no different.

The memories of pursuing the equestrian carrier as a boy came flooding back. His parents were always so supportive and his mother, especially, proud of his achievements. He always hated disappointing her. So much so, that he never did or said anything, when his little sister and his mother were on their respective throats about Jay's own carrier.

At one point Jayden's lost all interest in riding professionally. She missed many of her trainings and when she did show up, she didn't put her heart in it. Despite all that, mother wouldn't let Jay stop or slow down. She'd made her fulfill all of her duties by force, if necessary. She must have been certain she was doing it for Jay's own good and refused to see how unhappy the girl actually was.

Steven could see it, but still he did nothing. He acted as if everything was perfectly fine not wanting to be yet another issue for his parents. He felt bad for Jay, of course, but he was also a little mad at her. He couldn't understand the reason behind her behaviour. She didn't explain anything to him properly. The trainings were hard and exhausting and he kinda felt abandoned as well, when he suddenly had to go through all of that alone.

His sister was running around the woods, his mother was fuming in one of the rooms up in the manor and his father was probably down in the village, already deep in his cups.

Young Steven sighed only to put on his best smile and white gloves in the next second and entered the arena time after time, while the world around him burned.

Word Count: 696

...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...

Just a few hours before deadline, but I made it! The first concept was much more ambitious, but then school happened... This theme was so amazing, that I just had to Also a lot of things are messier than I'd like them to be, but... I'm glad Dolli's got another opportunity to get out there, this time even taking part in her favoured discipline.

Edit: Aaand I forgot the stirrups. Again.

Edit N.2: Steven is a little depressed, but don't mind him. I enjoyed this show a lot. Thanks for organizing it!

...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...

referenced mainly these two photos: 1 , 2 , but modified it quite a bit

Description

Tainted Black Dressage Show

Horse: Dolli

horse age: 10

Rider: Steven Clark

rider age: 34

...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...

Story:

Everything's on fire. The air is filled with smoke and cinders. The ground under the horses' hooves is a smeary black mud. Within less than an hour the forest's turned into a scorched wasteland.

Putting on the pristine white dressage gloves felt so strange in these surroundings. From now on he couldn't touch anything except for his horse and the reins, or he'd get them dirty. The conditions were a little more extreme than usual, but Steven knew what he's doing. He definitely wasn't a newcomer to the dressage arena.

The concept of organizing a show in a freshly burned down forest got Steven intrigued immediately. Luckily, one of his two dressage steeds, Dolli, fit the requirement - black horses only - perfectly.

When it was their turn, Steven climbed up onto Dolli's back and lead her to the middle of the makeshift arena to start the test. As Dolli moved around, little sparks flew around her hooves. The ground was still warm. It was as if the Earth's mantle disappeared and there was only a thin crust separating them from the hell below. The big mare seemed absolutely unmoved. If anything, the strange surroundings peaked her curiosity. The organizers made sure the place was safe for the participants, but they could do nothing about the wind changing direction and bringing clouds of dark smoke and a roar of distant wildfire with it.

Dolli snorted and fell out of the rhythm for a second. Steven blinked a few times, his eyes started watering. He looked around through the tears trying to mostly guess, where the letter B might be located. The audience same as the judges looked like an assemblage of ghosts in the fickle light of the candles, their features conterted by dark shadows in their faces.

Suddenly a loud crack could be heard as another one of the trees fell to the ground. The wind threw a handful of embers on their heads. Dolli's head jumped a little higher than usual, her ears swiveled around, but she was too dignified to make a scene. She let her rider guide her through another set of figures with complete trust, although she could sense the hesitation in his grip on the reins.

Steven felt light-headed. Only now did he start to realize, how bizzare the whole situation actually was. We are all smiling and having fun, while being totally oblivious to the destruction around us. It's quite typical of us, humans, he wondered. And I'm no different.

The memories of pursuing the equestrian carrier as a boy came flooding back. His parents were always so supportive and his mother, especially, proud of his achievements. He always hated disappointing her. So much so, that he never did or said anything, when his little sister and his mother were on their respective throats about Jay's own carrier.

At one point Jayden's lost all interest in riding professionally. She missed many of her trainings and when she did show up, she didn't put her heart in it. Despite all that, mother wouldn't let Jay stop or slow down. She'd made her fulfill all of her duties by force, if necessary. She must have been certain she was doing it for Jay's own good and refused to see how unhappy the girl actually was.

Steven could see it, but still he did nothing. He acted as if everything was perfectly fine not wanting to be yet another issue for his parents. He felt bad for Jay, of course, but he was also a little mad at her. He couldn't understand the reason behind her behaviour. She didn't explain anything to him properly. The trainings were hard and exhausting and he kinda felt abandoned as well, when he suddenly had to go through all of that alone.

His sister was running around the woods, his mother was fuming in one of the rooms up in the manor and his father was probably down in the village, already deep in his cups.

Young Steven sighed only to put on his best smile and white gloves in the next second and entered the arena time after time, while the world around him burned.

Word Count: 696

...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...

Just a few hours before deadline, but I made it! The first concept was much more ambitious, but then school happened... This theme was so amazing, that I just had to Also a lot of things are messier than I'd like them to be, but... I'm glad Dolli's got another opportunity to get out there, this time even taking part in her favoured discipline.

Edit: Aaand I forgot the stirrups. Again.

Edit N.2: Steven is a little depressed, but don't mind him. I enjoyed this show a lot. Thanks for organizing it!

...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...=...

referenced mainly these two photos: 1 , 2 , but modified it quite a bit