THE Business

AQHR NPC Show | January/February

Featuring:
Bennet Rush on THE Absint Spot

Level: 1
Class: Over Fences - Showjumping
Horse's Name: THE Absint Spot
Rider/Handler's Name: Bennet Rush
Bonus Prompt Included: Yes
NPC Features: Darren Holmes on Rhythmic Cinnamon
Previous Rider(s) Experience: n.a.
Previous Horse Experience: n.a.

Placed: Fourth and Grand Champ

Results and Grand Champ Results

Follows after:  

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

     Bennet bobbed his head to the tunes coming from his earbuds as he mucked Spot’s stall in the stillness of the morning. It was a cold one as his breath clouded the air around him. Another coat for the California man, born and raised. New York was conditioning him for the brutal cold winters but he’d still rather sweat than shiver. He wasn’t going to let it impact him one way or the other anyway, but hey, what good was life without preferences. 

     In fact, he preferred going solo to these kinds of shows. He didn’t have to listen to Monet harp on every detail and business venture. He didn’t have to watch for Laurent destroying yet another groom’s confidence and then try to pick them back up again. Just him and his horse. He could almost blend in as some regular guy. Some habits never died. He didn’t mind mucking a stall early in the morning. It’s where he started with horses and where he found a lot of comfort. He’d hear about it later from Monet when she saw the receipts didn’t include a groom service. “Save your strength.” “Your attention is needed elsewhere.” “They need jobs too.” Yea, yea, yea. Bennet heard it all. 

     He shut the stall door behind him, looking down the aisle after hearing someone else joining the ranks of early risers. Aaaahhh, he knew who that was. Chris Burton. Pemberley guy. Bennet smiled politely and gave a wave but Chris must not have seen him as he turned and walked away with one of his signature grey horses behind him. Maybe he was the kind of morning person that was present but not a ray of sunshine. Bennet shrugged. They’d meet in the ring soon enough. 

     To the warm up ring, Bennet lunged Spot first. She could be a sneaky mare. Lovely and calm at first, head nice and level, not paying much mind. But then she’d hop up and give a little buck and frolic, tossing her head around just to settle right back down again. Bennet felt she just liked to remind everyone even though she was a tidied business woman for the job, she still had a little wild spirit underneath all that polished leather and braided hair. Once he was up on her back, she knew it was time to lock in. She didn’t need a heavy warmup but Bennet went ahead and gave her a thorough one with how cold it was. He wasn’t risking injuring such a valuable horse. 

     Bennet watched the showring after warming Spot up. He heard Chris was on deck and decided to pop over and watch while he waited his turn. Soon. Monet said this kid was promising but she wasn’t interested in courting him until he proved himself consistent and had some “real” titles under his name. Bennet had dismissed the conversation before it turned into bragging about World Championships and Olympic medals. 

     It became pretty clear Monet knew what she was talking about; consistency. Bennet grimaced as the grey stud crashed through a jump. He knew bad days were just a part of the business but yikes. Chris wasn’t doing a whole lot to salvage the situation other than just kicking him on to get through the course. It wasn’t a good showcase of talent or composure. Everyone knew that stud had much more potential than what took place in that ring. Monet would have fired him before he even got out of the ring. He wondered how much slack Pemberley would give him until they cut his funding too. Ugh, the business side of things were gross to think about. He didn’t wish ill towards the kid but he better straighten up before the good name he was born with does him no good. 

     Bennet gave Spot’s neck a rub, backing her up a step or two. “Good luck,” he waved at the rider before his go. He kept an eye on Chris leaving the area for a bit, reading his body language. Once he saw the walk of shame, he turned his focus back to the ring. No need to kick a kid while they were down. But he left the competition wide open with a performance like that. 

     That’s what Bennet offered his stable, Top Hat Equestrian: consistency. Spot popped into a nice canter, collected up and ready to turn on a dime. She was a big horse with a big stride that blew big breaths of air with every stride. Sure, perhaps, it was harder to really open her up in the confines of an indoor arena, but she could shorten up when demanded. Each hoof fall had purpose and determination as he took to the course. She opened up like a freight train bounding across the landscape. Her jumps had a beautiful silence to them as she sailed over the rails, not a knock once. A good lady with high, even knee action and a charming expression. She was a delight to watch in action. 

     Bennet smiled as the mare gave a little head shake around a turn. She was feeling it. Everyone else had no idea how on the edge riding a mare like this was. The slightest bump of the reins kept her from leaping and bucking into the next fence. To the audience, she just tucked her nose and rounded her neck. An emotional, distracted rider like Chris couldn’t ride this horse. Bennet took pride in that as Spot snorted and sailed over the tall oxer he had destroyed. Maybe one day he’d figure himself out. 

     Until then, he’d better get used to last place. 

(942 wordcount)

TLDR SUMMARY;

-- Bennet chilling at AQHR show; he's happy to be up early and do his own thing (mucking, grooming, etc.)

-- Monet will probably scold him for that later; use a groom but eeehhhh he doesn't wannaaaa

-- He watches Chris absolutely destroy the course during his round; yikes

-- Now he knows why Monet hasn't even considered the kid to join THE

-- Bennet, on the other hand has a great round on his great pony

-- Better luck next time, Chris~

Previous: THE Place to Be || Next: TBA

Meanwhile, me, totally aware the NPCs are about to absolutely wreck me I forgot previous experience helps tremendously until I already entered Chris into the Level 1 division lmao And now looking at my fresh baby-faced characters without a ride to their art career lmao So uh, I'm blaming it on the ring size lol Spot wants bigger arena, yes, that's it lol Who knows, maybe the scores will spare my soul xD But without a doubt, Chris ain't coming away from this one on top lol Good luck to Bennet and Spot My bad.

Ahhh, a piece I got to expend all my focus into. Yay~ Admittedly, I did almost quit on it. Had some deep reckoning about how I felt about not only my art style(s) but why I even should give a shit anymore. We're living in tough times. A "prove it" mentality is sweeping through the art community and justly so amongst all the generated content and its sucking away joy from all sides of it. It's not an era I'm enjoying, truth be told.

If you're here to find a resounding "plant my flag" statement from me, you won't find one. Ultimately, this is my art hovel. It's what I want to make it and I don't find joy in turmoil. I find joy in making art. Turning a blank canvas into snow I didn't want to draw and mountains that don't totally spook me anymore (but we're still on iffy terms) with the main focus on my pixel horses and pixel people that I get to express stories and feelings through. That's all I'm interested in with my notch of this dumb internet thing and that's all it's going to be.

That being said, once I got over that hump, enjoying mah realism side of life again. I dunno if I'm ever gonna hit mega-ultra realism again xD Like I know for sure I've gone in even harder before in the past but I just don't seem to have that in me anymore. I think because hearing the "looks like a photo!" sentiment really got to me once. And I've been striving to achieve "looks like art!" ever since~

Bennet/Spot/Chris/Dapur/Monet/Art © @Drasayer

Darren/Rhythmic Cinnamon © @AQHR-Admin

Laurent © @Saoradh

No specific refs for snow hellscape or jump things or jump friends in arena

Arena based on host-provided stock

Procreate/PhotoshopCS6