And Still, We Dance

I was not expecting this to turn out half as well as it ended up doing; I'm really proud of this! I am literally four months early for the show's finish date but oh well! I promise that the 'C' marking is there, it's just hidden behind Yank Did love doing this, though!

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Horse: DWS Yankee
Horse's Age: 10 years
Rider: Elizabeth Marshall
Rider's Age: 32
Class: Dressage
Country: GBR
Music: Singin' In the Rain (Trap Remix)

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"Doo-do-do-do, doo-do-doo-do-do-do," Liz hummed quietly to herself as she finished buffing up her boots and tugged them onto her feet. Yank snorted at her from where she was stood waiting beside her, stretching to nibble at her rider's hair. Batting her away in order to slip her hat on, Liz chuckled quietly, turning to give the mare a scratch on the nose as she looked out of the window with a frustrated sigh; it was almost as if they had predicted the weather by their song choice. The rain was pouring down outside, but there was no chance of a cancellation - they were already performing in a lake, so any added water wouldn't make much difference. She wasn't much looking forwards to it - both she and Yank were going to get absolutely soaked. Still, the show had to go on, and she reluctantly untied the mare from the wall and led her out.

Both horse and rider were shivering by the time their turn in the arena came around. It was warm out - mild, even - but the rain just made everything feel cold and miserable; it was due to clear up later in the day, but for now at least, the rain wasn't letting up. Shrugging off the rain poncho she had been bullied into wearing to protect her hat and jacket before sliding Yankee's equivalent off, Liz swung up into the saddle with a sigh. This was Yankee's first show in a long time, and she was determined that her re-entry into the show circuit would be a good one.

Yankee was obviously immediately at home in the water, and kicked at it with her front hooves as they walked into the arena. Liz chuckled, remembering their last show, where they had been dancing on the beach rather than in a lake, and smiled at the spring in the mare's step. 

Coming to a halt on X, Liz saluted to the judges with a small smile, then waited for the music to begin. Yank's skin shuddered under the rain, and Liz flinched slightly as a cold drop fell from the rim of her hat and landed on her leg. The music started suddenly, and Yank leapt forwards into a trot, lifting her knees high. All thought of being cold and wet vanished from Liz's head as she focused only on executing the movements perfectly.

Art, characters (c) me
Reference (c) JullelinPhotography ([link]
Splash tutorial used: [link]
Reference for clouds: [link] (just used this as a shape/colour reference, the background is hand-drawn)