vetting in

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for another collab with @shot-fired! It's hard to keep track nowadays but this is probably our 5th collab? Including the ones that were never uploaded, that is. They did the sketch and lines and I did the flats and background, they no longer use dA so they won't be uploading it but I cannot imagine that's a problem since I own both horses. This was the piece that originally came before this piece but we were unable to finish this one before the prior deadline. As my longtime followers know, I enjoy drawing nontraditional stages of competition when the opportunity arises so for those of you unfamiliar with endurance racing, this is them vetting into the race (assessing their horses for soundness, basically) the day before it actually starts. Still working on my airbrush paintings and this is by far my favorite, I'm glad I ran out of time to shade them because I really like the effect it produces against the blurring. Very old-style HARPG, you'd see a lot like this 10+ years ago.

Funny anecdote about the way Amar introduced himself, generally any country that uses the Cyrillic alphabet will also order names as Last Name First Name, in some I believe it's optional but in others it's the only way of doing it (Mongolia for example is last initial and then first name, so he'd be K. Amarsanaa). One of my good friends is Ukranian and he orders his name Last First on all his social media, and his last name is a variation of a first name that does not end in any of the suffixes that are common for Russian surnames (-ov, -enko, etc). I only knew him as a nickname, and in the US it's common to nickname men based off their surname, so I genuinely spent like 3 months not being able to figure out what this mans fucking name was because it was all first name and in reverse order for me. I never told him that because it's more fun to try to figure it out myself, but to this day I refer to him internally as a nickname for the first name that his last name comes from.

There's also another little Easter Egg in here, some of you may recognize that Ami is wearing an Aldergate Academy Hoodie. That is because her father Keke teaches there, as does Amar's brother Dalai. Ami's half-brother Dragos and her uncle Valo are also there, as is Amar's daughter that he does not know about, Scarlett. Really small world in here.

~

“Hey,”

A husky voice behind Ami spoke in an odd, unplaceable, accent. She turned to see a man in some sort of ornate robe pointing at her mare.

“I know your horse,” He continued, taking a step forward. “Safiya. I remember her from Amudarya, my uncle was the one who made that pairing. I didn’t know they sold her, we told them to keep her because she was one of the best they’d ever produced.” 

Ami stared at him (and his fancy bathrobe) warily. He wasn't going to be one of those nutjobs who got mad at her for buying a horse, right? As she studied his face, she decided he probably wasn't, and she nodded at the chestnut mare who was observing the man with keen interest. 

“Yeah, that's Safiya. Their loss. I'd say she's spoiled rotten, except I don't spoil her; she's just like that naturally.” She tilted her head slightly, giving the man a more critical look when he offered a hand to Safiya. Never one to pass up a chance to discuss lines and genealogy with someone who seemed informed enough to know what they were actually talking about, she added, “You said your uncle made the pairing? Smart man. She's a hell of a horse.” 

She studied him for another long moment before holding out a hand to shake. He seemed okay, and she liked his voice. “Ami Cristo.” 

He stepped forwards hesitantly to shake her hand, suddenly aware of how incredibly long his name was compared to most Americans. “I’m Kaminov Amarsanaa- well, Amarsanaa Kaminov for you… Amar, I am Amar.” 

This was already the longest conversation he’d ever had in English and it was not going well. “Yes, my uncle Orynbasar Ashkat- Ashkat Or- Ashka. My uncle Ashka. Sorry we.. we put the last name first so I’ve never said our names this way.” Amar paused to stare off into space for a second. “He’s the uh, the Aralkum historian. He has his own breeding program and it was his decision to put Safiya’s sire out with that herd of mares. Her siblings were nice too, except for their horrible, ridiculous, colors. We didn’t know her sire carried silver until he produced a silver black that year but that’s the Hoja’s fault for breeding him to a black mare.” 

“I think I met your uncle at one point, but it wasn’t recently,” Ami observed, crossing her arms as she thought. The name sounded familiar, at least. She couldn’t resist a dry chuckle at the pointed criticism. She was no stranger to the strongly held traditions surrounding the coats of certain breeds. “Not checked in on her siblings recently, though. Maybe I should.” 

Pausing, she looked Amar up and down with a quirked grin and nodded to Safiya. “Alright. So you knew her as a foal, then? How’s she look now? If you’re too mean to me I will bite.” 

If that last part was a joke he did not notice. “If you met Ashka I feel bad for you,” Amar said dryly, rolling his eyes. “He’s the bitter old man who comes down from the mountains a few times a year to drop off horses and yell at my cousins about the choices they’re making. He told me about the sale but I didn’t go, if I did I probably would’ve yelled at them too.”

Amar dropped Vakhsh’s reins to get a closer look at Safiya, prompting concerned looks from others waiting in the vet check. Disciplined as always, Vakhsh stood quietly, a leg cocked, as his owner walked away. He circled the mare, running his hands down her legs and picking up a hoof to dig his thumbnail into her sole. “She’s not bad,” He dropped her hoof, patting her neck as he straightened up. “Maybe over-conditioned for this type of race, the American’s don’t like when you run it. But, Vakhsh is too. It’s a shame she doesn’t have hooded eyes, if she did I think Ashka would’ve taken her for his herd. A mare like this deserves to be a broodmare but I understand why you’d ride her. If you ever breed her make sure it’s to a stallion with very strong hooded eyes, like Vakhsh has.”

“Bitter old man? Maybe not, then, I was certain I'd met a banshee equivalent who certainly wasn't human,” Ami deadpanned, but cracked another grin at the description Amar gave of how he suspected the sale went. Oh, it sounded so familiar. 

She did miss the start of his inspection with a glance in surprise at the horse Amar had approached with. Very brave, very trusting, or very stupid. Yet to be seen which. Ami then turned her eyes to Amar’s slow circle, where she inspected the man about as closely as he inspected her horse. 

Safiya, for her part, seemed mildly annoyed about the whole event, but she loved attention, and stood quietly for Amar to look her over, leaning down to lip at his hair when he lifted a hoof. 

“I bought a horse to work together with, breeding isn't in her future yet,” Ami said firmly. “I want to see her at the full potential I can bring out before thinking about it.” 

Here, she glanced back to Amar’s horse, eyes tracing the curve of the neck and topline. “Yours seems pretty comfy here.” 

“You couldn’t already assess her full potential? Hmnh.” And thheerrree was the Orynbasar. The people around them had never been able to determine if it was arrogance or if they were genuinely surprised that no one else saw what they did. 

Amar scratched the groove of the mare’s jaw, a favorite since foalhood. “We’ve always been able to see it. She’d be a great warhorse- I bet she still grows this mane almost naturally doesn’t she? That’s why we wanted them to keep her, she has so much potential as a producer.”

Following her gaze he watched Vakhsh look around for a moment, taking in the sights and sounds of the other horses being trotted out. “He better be. I won’t have him embarrassing me, if anyone can tell he’s a stallion then I’ve failed. He was produced by Ashka’s herd too, the only reason I have him is Ashka doesn’t keep stallions. One of the best ever produced, his only flaw is a cream gene but that can be bred out in a single generation if I’m lucky.” 

Never one to hide how she felt about someone, Ami rolled her eyes. “I saw she has potential. I wanted to bring it out in a way that works for both of us. But limiting her to being a broodmare when she’s absolutely kicking ass so far? That's dumb.” 

She did raise her eyebrows at Amar’s firm assessment of his stallion’s behavior. “If I didn't know better, I would think he was a gelding. So I think he's doing fine. Better than most of the ones I've seen around today.” Ami could count on one hand the number of stallions she'd met who were as chill as this one seemed to be. It was admirable, though frankly she'd rather die than admit that out loud. It wasn't as if Amar seemed to need the ego boost. His horse earned it, though. 

Amar paused, his cousins had been on him lately about ‘not talking down to people’, whatever that meant, and clearly she had not liked his potential comment. Obviously everyone knew it was a waste to ride mares with great potential but she evidently had something to prove, unfortunately he had already mentioned his connection to Amudarya and one of the conditions for him traveling was that he not make them look bad. Whatever that meant. 

“Yes, thank you…” He returned to an uninterested Vakhsh, picking up his reins. “I was surprised by all the rules for stallions here, at home we just hobble them and leave them be. Double containment, ribbons, I don’t know why they don’t just train them better. I’ve never seen so many horses in little pens in my life.” 

The attempt to stifle a chuckle was a poor one on Ami’s part. She'd thought the same thing before–stallions weren't some alien beast out to run rampant. They just needed proper training. (Unfortunately, they often didn't get that here.) “Couldn't agree more,” she said, unable to keep the grin away. “At home, they're spicy, but behave. That's the way it should be. Harder to change a broadly accepted stance than just stuff around you, or something.” She nodded again at Amar’s stallion. “I'm impressed, is what I'm saying.” 

“Thank you.” Amar nodded curtly as the ladies were motioned to approach the vet. “It’s nice to see her again.” He added, remembering too late that the correct thing to say was ‘Nice to meet you.’. Oh well, there’s always next time. 

~

Word Count: 1,476 words

Horse Name: Vakhsh

Equine Type: Aralkum

Horse Endurance Global Rank: Novice

Rider Name and Age: Amarsanaa Kaminov (29 years old)

Representing Stables and Country: Independent, Kazakhstan

FEI, AERC, or EW: AERC

Link to race page/listing if possible: Big Horn Endurance Ride

Race Length/Code: 25 Miles (Limited Distance)

Location of Race, city and country: Shell, Wyoming, USA

Race Date: Unprovided, will just say 5/5/2025 as that is the closing date

Competition Number, if you want it for RP: n/a

Horse Name: Safiya

Equine Type: Aralkum

Horse Endurance Global Rank: Novice

Rider Name and Age: Ami Cristo (27 years old) 

Representing Stables and Country: Independent, USA

FEI, AERC, or EW: AERC

Link to race page/listing if possible: Big Horn Endurance Ride

Race Length/Code: 25 Miles (Limited Distance)

Location of Race, city and country: Shell, Wyoming, USA

Race Date: Unprovided, will just say 5/5/2025 as that is the closing date

Competition Number, if you want it for RP: n/a

~~~

Vakhsh, Safiya, Amar, and art: @kalixtii

Ami and art: @shot-fired

Refs used: xx & x by @Null-Entity Background refs provided privately by prior participants of the real ride