Non-Transactional Exchange

Alnwick International Horse Show

Featuring:

Name of Rider: Abigail Burton

Name of Horse: 1048 NRR Stickers

Class: Dressage

Placed: First

Results

Follows awhile after:  

(story summary below the wall of text, feel free to scroll on down for all your non-reading needs~)

     “And she feels alright?” Dave asked, scanning over the pony with a critical eye. 

     “Yes, Daddy,” Abi groaned. Next time she wanted to get out of a show, she was going to claim stomach cramps. Something only she could vouch for. He hadn't stopped pestering her about her horse since they landed at the show. Not to mention the added horse chiropractor, vet, and sports medicine consultant. Stickers was in a world of luxury at her hooves. 

     Dave flashed his hands in surrender. He came in peace. “I only want to make sure. You deserve the best, Miss Abigail.”

     Abigail was about to continue on her way into her warmup but that had caught her attention. She halted Stickers with a gentle lift of her reins, looking over at Dave. She blinked a few times before her stern expression asked the question on her mind. “Why?” 

     It wasn't like she was the best rider on the planet or even at this show. She did try hard to get better every time, yes. She took her lessons very seriously. She already felt at such a disadvantage and ashamed of her inability, or more like her aversion, to jump like her father and older brother. Her only penance was to get as good as she could with dressage and hoped that wasn't an embarrassment to the family name. It was the closest she could get to earning her father’s praise. If anything, she deserved to start at the bottom just like anyone else and work for her place. She was a coward, not a brilliant, talented rider. She was on a very well-trained horse, not one she had to train herself or go through hardships. So why did she deserve the best?

     “Because you're my daughter,” Dave answered too quickly without giving it the same thought Abi had. Wasn't it obvious? Didn't she know she was his entire world? “Ah- Miss Abigail, wait…” Dave stepped after her along the railing. What had Chris said?

     “And that's my advice on how to handle the media,” Dave explained to Chris matter of factly. 

     Chris nodded solemnly, understanding how much Dave hated this situation. It wasn't Chris's place to force him to like anything Chris had decided to do. He knew he couldn't ever ask Dave to do that. But he did honestly appreciate he still had his best interests in mind and was willing to help with the situation surrounding him and Fang. “Thanks, Dad… hey, you, uh…” Chris looked up again, checking the surrounding area, not spotting his sister. “Can I give you some advice with Abi in return?”

     Dave tipped his head to the side, curious about the sudden change of topic but interested in what he had to say. “About what?” 

     “She…” Chris sighed. How to put it? “She doesn't think you like her because she chose to do dressage. She thinks you're embarrassed to be around her-”

     “I would never-”

     “I know,” Chris held up a hand to stop him. “But she thinks she’s not as good as us because she doesn’t want to jump.”

     Dave slumped sideways with a sad frown. “She told you this?” 

     “More or less.” It wasn’t that hard to figure out to anyone not named Dave Burton. “You’ve made it into Abi and her dressage. Like a sidebar-”

     “Absolutely not. I support her and-”

     “Dad,” Chris cut him off before he got all worked up over it. “You came here to ride with me. How can she not feel like some side show?”

     Dave gazed over his daughter growing up, sitting on her pony with the same hard expression she always had. How did he convey to her that he was honestly relieved she wanted to do dressage over jumping? That he never wanted her to have the broken bones or fear of falling or worse… but at the same time, asking her to never leave the ground and fly. Was it fair to even say? “I want the best for you because I don’t ever want you to think I would settle for anything else for you otherwise. You’re my daughter and I love you more than you’ll ever know. You make me a better person every day because I strive to be better for you. You owe me nothing, sweet Abigail, and I owe you everything for coming into my life.”

     Abigail’s hard glare wavered as her lip trembled. Her cheeks lit up like Christmas baubles as she leaned back a touch. “Daddy!” She reprimanded him quietly. So embarrassing! So heart-warmingly embarrassing! 

     “I know, I know,” Dave chucked, holding up his hands once more in surrender. “You have your test to focus on. I apologize, dear Abigail. Please forgive me.” 

     She glared and gathered up her reins, sitting up straight, ready to move away quickly but lingered nonetheless. How did she respond to that!? “Thank you for adequately elaborating.” She lingered longer. Part of her wanted to get off and hug her daddy. But she was growing up. She had things to do. She should really get riding. 

     Dave watched as Abi finally walked her pony away. She had hesitated for quite some time, her little rosy cheeks all aflame. Were all his children so emotionally charged? Bless them. They all just needed encouragement and open arms for when they didn’t feel so brave anymore. Dave blinked back the sting in his eyes. Maybe they all inherited his bleeding heart. 

     It felt weird to Abi to think she was the one her dad was thankful for. In her mind, it was always the other way around. She was only here because of her parents, after all. They gave her life, a home, food, shelter, everything she could ever want. She never thought of them being thankful for her. Why? All she did was take up resources and in return, she made good grades, behaved, did well with her riding lessons, and tried not to be a bother. Maybe she didn’t understand that the relationship between parent and child wasn’t a transactional exchange…

     Dave was right. This place was beautiful. Amongst the crowds admiring the floral decorations and gardens galore, the fountains glistening in the air, the ducklings stumbling after their parents, Abi felt herself lighter than a feather on her pony’s back as they drifted over the sand, quiet as a whisper. Love didn’t have to be loud and shouted from a mountain. As simple as her daddy standing to the side with a proud smile as he watched her. Maybe she didn’t have to try to be anyone or anything to beg for his attention. He said it himself: she owed him nothing and Abi felt comfort in that. She was free to be who she wanted to be and right now there was no one else she wanted to be than his daughter on her pony. 

(1145 wordcount)

oh look a break from giant walls

TLDR SUMMARY;

--Abi and Dave go to a show solo this time <3

--Dave wants everything perfect

--Abi asks "why?" one of those honest questions where the answer might not be so easy

--flashback to Chris telling Dave how left out Abi feels, like she's a sidebar because she's not showjumping like them; doesn't want to

--dave of course "no!"

--Chris points out "how can she not feel that way tho?" when it was dave coming to ride with chris after all...

--So Dave gives Abi a very loving little speech about how she is so special to him and makes him want to be a better person just simply by existing and she owes him nothing while he feels like he owers her the world and gladly so

--Abi big embarrassed to get mushy speech right there in the side of the warmup ring >///< daddy omg

--Now she feels all loved for just being herself <'''3

--Go have a good right, sweet Abigail <3

Previous: Dave's Daughter's Big Brother || Next: TBA

Abi! Here for the once a year checkbox lmao bless her

I do love her character <''3 She tries so hard so quietly too. Just wants to do good for Daddy. And now that (thanks to Chris) he knows that, well guess what, Daddy just wants to be a good Daddy for her <333 Blessss~ Maybe I have successfully repaired one Burton to Burton bridge xDD while I set others on fire but EH

So I admit, I've had this piece done for weeks now but I had to get all that Chris/Fang shite out of the way first so chronologically I could move from the previous show where Abi chickened out to then move into this show without jerking brains around too much xD ALL THAT WORK just to finally get to post this <33

I enjoyed working on this piece <3 Realism makes my brain happy every now and again where I can just leave my soul to detail~

I strongly encourage the viewing of the duck family as they are precious; just about as precious as my darling Abi and Stickers, always fabulous~ With added decorations for the show~

Abi/Stickers/Dave/Chris/Fang/Art © @Drasayer

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