Now or Never - March Show Entry

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Ref

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#SarShowMarch

Sarah stroked Echo’s neck, adjusting the saddle’s position on the gelding’s back. He was sitting calmly in the cross-ties, coat glossy, mane plaited, tail detangled, socks brightly white, a picture of perfection. But dressage wasn’t all about looks.

“Back in the show ring again, huh, buddy?” Sarah cooed, turning to look at her horse’s face. Echo shook his head up and down, mimicking Sarah’s slow nod.

And Sarah knew he was ready. Echo was an experienced dressage horse, and he could conquer anything if his elegance was a weapon. But Sarah... not so much.

Confidence was the main issue, Sarah had always had problems with trusting herself to be able to get anything done. She and her trainer had worked on that, and she was improving, but clearly not enough.

She absentmindedly removed Echo from the cross-ties and led him to the edge of the arena where they both waited patiently as another pair finished up with their routine, with wonderful work on the part of both horse and rider.

As the two exited the arena, Sarah took a deep breath and gazed back into Echo’s eyes, searching for the confidence he had and she needed.

‘You can do this,’ the creature silently told her. ‘I will help you, and we can do this together.’ Echo blinked, raising his head, as if telling her it was time to enter the arena.

“If you say so,” she murmured under her breath, petting her steed’s nose.

‘There’s no space for anxiety, whatever place you get, you tried your best,’ she told herself with a sigh. ‘It’s now or never.’

First of all, THANK YOU to Sar for hosting these competititions, it’s really helping me get back into HARPG (and I mean *real* HARPG, not making a bunch of art and hoping I’m not too lazy to make a post for it).

I’m hoping to give FCE a little bit of a revamp, and come up with a story for a few of my horses! And yes, as crazy as it may seem, I will hopefully be drawing a horse other than Echo.