Pippin's Debut

1st place + Individual Grand Champion 8D that horse, man!

Event: SVI Schooling Show | March hosted by MistyofSunrise
Discipline: Show Jumper (shown performing in 1,00 m class) 
Horse: The Sailor's Hornpipe
Rider: Summer Sutherland, age 23
Stable: Autumn Vale Rd. Riding Academy, CA, USA

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2018 storyline folder "Loving Learning Winning Losing"
Previously | Next

Summer was busier than ever. With her new project horse Caddy and Blue still on a long road to recovery, she had her hands full enough, even without her regular AVRRA mounts. Often enough, when she plopped down into her bed early in the evening, she wondered how long she could keep up with such a schedule - before quickly falling into a fast, dreamless sleep. 
There was one advantage to this lifestyle - she had neither time nor energy to really waste much thought about, well, the matters of the heart. 

Celeste had turned out to be a valuable help with Blueberry's injury. The girl was slowly growing into a fine horselady - she had no fear of the big animals and would often ask to lead them around on her own. She had taken over most of Blue's early rehabbing program, and over the weeks of handwalking her up and down the stable premises, had fallen in love with the mare. Blue, in return, seemed smitten with the little girl as well - moody at first, she'd turned into a calm and surprisingly cuddly horse.

Last Saturday, Summer had lifted the girl into the bay's saddle for the first time. She was sure - would she have been the one to mount the mare for the first time, Blue would've been an unpredictable box of explosives - but with Celeste on her back, the bay trudged along the fence like a 20 year-old schoolhorse. 
The little girl, once again, was all smiles.

Summer's second problem child was Caddy - but that is a story for another day entirely.
Let's rather talk about Pippin, that scraggly beanpole of a young horse... well, he just kept surprising everyone on every single occasion. He had grown a lot in the last year, and freshly clipped, looked almost like a real horse. Spring saw his show debut as well. Summer decided to enter him in a 1m class at a schooling show, just to see how he'd behave. She was taking other horses too - Aerys would enter a 130cm speed class and, depending on his mood, one or another additional class, while Bourbon was entered in hunter equitation. Summer wouldn't focus too much on the young roan, hoping he'd be calm if he was allowed to be together with his fellow stablemates. Pippin, though, couldn't underastand all the fuss these humans made. He went through the whole show business like an old professional, spooked only sometimes, chewed on what he didn't know to determine it didn't pose a threat and in general behaved like a real gentleman. 

"You could take a page of this lad's book," Summer said to a certain painted Oldenburger when she picked up Pippin's reins to lead him towards the warm-up arena, leaving the rest of the AVRRA horses in their mobile stables. Rax, who'd come along to help the Academy riders, wished her good look and stayed behind - the man was a walking mess when he didn't get his coffee on time, so Summer left him where he was and headed towards the warm-up arena. 

Surprise number one: roughly 20 other horses trotting around the arena, but Pippin was entirely unperturbed by the chaos. He stayed with his rider, and even though he was, of course, distracted by the other horses' shenanigans, and leapt to the side more than once, he was yet surprisingly calm and responsive. 

And then they were called into the show ring - now, Pippin would have to show what he was capable of. 
And boy, did he show it. He proved what his training had already made believe: put whatever you want in front of that horse and he will jump it, no matter how distracted the rider, how messy the distance.

Pippin was on fire, and Summer was trembling with curiosity at what this season would bring - and the season after that - and the season after that...

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Boop, general messy update on Summer's horses PLUS Pippin show pic! yass! <3 love this dude.
I experimented a little with my wonky blue-tinted laptop, so if the colours look strange, I apologise D:

Art, Summer/Pip (c) by me, no ref used
All of the other characters and AVRRA belong to WesternSpice thanks again for allowing me to use it as such an awesome setting!!
DIN A5 pencil sketch, coloured with PS