Winding Trails

“We’re almost done. I promise.” Abigail patted the normally rambunctious mare on the neck and passed her an apple. She had only recently discovered how much the war horse loved them. And it seemed, thanks to the apples, the two had finally come to an understanding. Kind of.

Apples for a job well done.

Or, any job done, really.

What a life, she thought. Reduced to bribery….

Dad would keel over if he saw me now. Begging a thousand pound animal to follow an order.

Pathetic.

The mare snorted, reclaiming Abigail’s attention.

“What. You want to go out running again?”

A silly rhetorical question. They’d both be doing plenty of that any time now. She’d given the mare a small warmup in an enclosed space, just to settle their nerves. A day prior they’d gone blazing through the trees and fields, getting used to the surrounding greenery. Something rarely found around the deserts at home.

All that training. All that waiting. Just for this.

Bring it on, phase two!

The sky darkened as contestants from earlier this morning walked past. Her nerves spiked again as she saddled up and got comfortable in the seat. It would be the longest 10 minutes of her life. Maybe.

Alkaia pawed at the ground as the awaited their go-ahead. The dirt below their feet softened as a few sprinkles of rain fell.

At the waving of a flag, they were off, tearing across an open field toward the woods. The mare snorted as her pace quickened. Gale tried to rein her in, to conserve their energy, but Alkaia was having none of it. They came upon another open field with a forked path. One way led around the small patch of forest, with small, easy jumps. The other led straight through it.

Before Abigail could debate which to take, the mare had already made her decision, charging dead ahead into the woods. They approached the high jump and her heart stopped as panic set in.

A panic that was short-lived when the mare launched herself over the obstacle with little effort. I should give you more credit… Abigail thought excitedly and smiled as they landed, running headlong into the open rain.

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When your horse keep breaking the fourth wall....

I'm amazed how much painting progress I've made after the last few months of doing practically nothing at all.
Also amazed at how much I hated the grass brush I made and how it turned out to be one of the most useful things for this. Go figure.

Work time: Hell if I know xD 20 hrs....maybe...? No wait, 13. I was sleeping for some of those 20

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