HOME | DD

Description

Came 1st in their round, 8th/21 overall

Joining the masses in the last-minute upload of art for this compematition

Rider: Laura Morris
Stables: Oak Hollow Stables
Horse: RPS King's Cross

Grew quite attached to this horse while I drew him. Need to give some more love to my own Welshies

---

Laura didn't waste any time in getting to know and warming King up. After their introduction with the tack, she'd watched both of his other rounds. He seemed to be a good cross between her two Welsh Cobs at home - steady, sensible Sinbad and high-octance, springy Arian. He also looked very pleased to jump, black-tipped ears pricked at every jump, well-balanced and capable of flying changes, twisting over jumps and sorting his own striding. He certainly seemed to be intelligent, as promised.

"Try a couple of direct transitions, make sure he hasn't gone to sleep over the day." Pod suggested from the edge of the warm-up ring. Laura was in the ring with only a few other competitors for the third round; which gave her much more room to manouevre. King had already tried to boss her around, since she was such a lightweight, and during one canter snatched the bit from her and tanked her around the school, nearly crashing (on purpose) into one of the other competitors. But five minutes later he was working in a well-rounded outline, performing the stereotypical Welshie trot all Welshie stallions knew instinctively.

"He's going really well. I don't want to overwork him, I'll pop a couple and then see how we are for time." Laura shouted back, after King dropped from trot to square halt with a squeeze on the reins from his rider. He flicked his ears questioningly - What are we doing next> - and Laura picked up a canter, preparinging for one of the jumps in the middle of the warm up ring. As she'd suspected, he tugged a little on the bit, sighting the jump, and his canter became flat. She half-halted, squeezed with her legs, and once happy with the bouncy strides, aimed. King's ears pricked forwards, and he cleared with inches to spare. As a test, Laura pulled a sharp turn and took the second warm up jump at an angle. King performed a flying change and twisted over the jump to save time, Accumulator-style.

"Did you see that?" Laura said as she cantered past Pod, setting up for the jump a second time. "He's sharp as anything!"

"Laura, we're no gettin' another horse! Drop it!" Pod replied with a laugh. Laura stopped next to him, patting King's shining golden neck.

"But he is a lovely horse. Very, very talented, and you can tell he's been trained well. Let's hope this isn't some trick he's playing - a false sense of security, and he isn't gonna dump me in the school." Laura joked. "Don't get ideas, horse!"

---

Them sneaky Welshies get ideas very easily...

Deets
Time: Approx 6 hours
Reference: Photo from Horse&Rider Magazine
Tools: Papermate propelling pencil and WHSmiths sketchbook, Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet & Photoshop Elements 5.0
Brushes: None

Horse & RPS (c)
Laura, Pod, Oak Hollow & art (c)

Description

Came 1st in their round, 8th/21 overall

Joining the masses in the last-minute upload of art for this compematition

Rider: Laura Morris
Stables: Oak Hollow Stables
Horse: RPS King's Cross

Grew quite attached to this horse while I drew him. Need to give some more love to my own Welshies

---

Laura didn't waste any time in getting to know and warming King up. After their introduction with the tack, she'd watched both of his other rounds. He seemed to be a good cross between her two Welsh Cobs at home - steady, sensible Sinbad and high-octance, springy Arian. He also looked very pleased to jump, black-tipped ears pricked at every jump, well-balanced and capable of flying changes, twisting over jumps and sorting his own striding. He certainly seemed to be intelligent, as promised.

"Try a couple of direct transitions, make sure he hasn't gone to sleep over the day." Pod suggested from the edge of the warm-up ring. Laura was in the ring with only a few other competitors for the third round; which gave her much more room to manouevre. King had already tried to boss her around, since she was such a lightweight, and during one canter snatched the bit from her and tanked her around the school, nearly crashing (on purpose) into one of the other competitors. But five minutes later he was working in a well-rounded outline, performing the stereotypical Welshie trot all Welshie stallions knew instinctively.

"He's going really well. I don't want to overwork him, I'll pop a couple and then see how we are for time." Laura shouted back, after King dropped from trot to square halt with a squeeze on the reins from his rider. He flicked his ears questioningly - What are we doing next> - and Laura picked up a canter, preparinging for one of the jumps in the middle of the warm up ring. As she'd suspected, he tugged a little on the bit, sighting the jump, and his canter became flat. She half-halted, squeezed with her legs, and once happy with the bouncy strides, aimed. King's ears pricked forwards, and he cleared with inches to spare. As a test, Laura pulled a sharp turn and took the second warm up jump at an angle. King performed a flying change and twisted over the jump to save time, Accumulator-style.

"Did you see that?" Laura said as she cantered past Pod, setting up for the jump a second time. "He's sharp as anything!"

"Laura, we're no gettin' another horse! Drop it!" Pod replied with a laugh. Laura stopped next to him, patting King's shining golden neck.

"But he is a lovely horse. Very, very talented, and you can tell he's been trained well. Let's hope this isn't some trick he's playing - a false sense of security, and he isn't gonna dump me in the school." Laura joked. "Don't get ideas, horse!"

---

Them sneaky Welshies get ideas very easily...

Deets
Time: Approx 6 hours
Reference: Photo from Horse&Rider Magazine
Tools: Papermate propelling pencil and WHSmiths sketchbook, Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet & Photoshop Elements 5.0
Brushes: None

Horse & RPS (c)
Laura, Pod, Oak Hollow & art (c)