Sparkling High

<sub>After slipping on my show jacket, I looked down at the detail and smiled at all the sparkles laid down upon the red jacket. I had this custom made when I found out about the show jumping competition at Little Lace Stables. My helmet just had some extra sparkles I had in the house when my little cousins came over. They wanted to help me so they decided to add some shine to my helmet. The theme was "Prom Night" anyways... I also had curled my hair a lot to make it look nice, and before I slid my helmet on, I pulled out some curls and let them hang on either side of my face, letting the rest hang out the back.

I walked into the stable where Marco Polo was standing in his stall, waiting anxiously to get moving. The young stallion had gotten a haircut and some grooming done before we had come to the stable, and he looked like a beautiful date to take to such a prom night. He lifted his head from his slumber when he saw me walk in and whinnied loudly. I touched his nose gently with my white gloves and he breathed out heavily through his nose. "You're ready for this, aren't ya buddy?" It was my first time riding Marco Polo in an actual competition, but I had trained him many times in the past. Hopefully it all added up to something worth the training.

An announcer walked in and said to me, "You're next, Ms. McKinnon." I nodded in thanks and unhooked Marco's bridle from a cross-tie. He bobbed his head as I led him out to the ring and he threw his head up at the scent of so many sweaty horses. I hushed him and patted his neck, looking at the white rose corsage I attached to his martingale. It matched the one I had around my wrist, and I smiled at it. We walked over to a stool and I hopped onto Marco's back. He stomped around a bit as the horse ahead of us came trotting in after having a few faults. I took a few deep breaths and gently kicked the young stallion. He whinnied and trotted quickly into the ring.

Some of the stands weren't really filled that much because it was early in the morning, and most of the higher leveled riders rode earlier in the morning. I halted Marco Polo in one spot and waited for them to tell me to go. Quickly, I patted his tense neck and whispered, "Let's show them what we can do, huh boy?" The stallion's breathing slowed until we heard a bell and Marco Polo took off at a fast canter.

I had to slow him down as we approached the first oxer. He cleared it quickly and took off for the gate not that far away. Marco cleared it and we soared through the rest of the course. As we approached the final oxer, I could feel Marco try to pull away, but I kept his nose straight. "Almost done, boy..." I whispered as we approached the jump. I glanced at the corsage on my wrist quickly and back at the jump. But Marco jumped too early. I grabbed his mane and kicked him as he stretched out as far as he could to make the jump.

I heard the clip of his hoof hit the pole and we galloped to the finish. When we passed, I turned him around to look at the oxer. The pole wobbled for a few more seconds before it came to a stop. I sighed deepy as we finished with a clean score. I patted his neck and grinned as I led him back into the stables for a nice treat.</sub>



This took me a good 3 hours of work but it was totally worth it I'm very proud of how the human and Marco came out THe shading started out with the hair, so I said to myself, "May as well do the jacket too..." Then I did the entire thing I swear I went crazy... But anyways, Show Jumping entry for *LittleLace Stables Prom Night Competition. It's not due for a long while, but I am going to be busy getting a job in the summer and with school, so I'm going to post them now

I needed some competition art anyways. And Marco Polo needed some work. He got a nice haircut for the competition too

Stock (c) [link]
Competition: [link]