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Description
Show: Autumn Leaves Event
Result: First place
Class: Show Jumping
Horse Name: FAS Airplane
Age: 6 y.o.
Rider Name: Thomas Devereau
Rider Age: 31 y.o.
Proof Of Experience: -/-
Starting Number: #13

Story: (word count 1297)
[beg a pardon here, english is not my native language. So, please, bear with my awkward storytelling skills. Or better say with the lack of these.]
Cold breeze was rising, chasing a few clouds above the fancy grey roofs of Buckingham Palace. Murder of jackdaws were fleeting from one spot to another as if wind was carrying them around with autumn leves. The temporary show jumping arena was silent still. Few riders like those very jackdaws rushed there to walk the course. It was a simple one route with ten obstacles. But the novice class held not only novice horses, but also novice riders. And they had all the reasons to be nervous. Thomas could almost envy them. He would love to be able once again to get thrills from such little things in life. But after his military service and all the operations in hot spots, he felt like he became numb to many normal things. Peaceful life, desired and wanted at first, now seemed bland and almost papermade.
But Thomas stood here, watching all the rising buzz of a fine horse show for one particular reason. Not so long ago he managed to find a bit of a forgotten taste of life.
And that's how this happened.
The warm nostalgic feelings for homeland expired right after Thomas received the news that he's staying in England had to be extended indefinitely.To be honest, he enjoyed his time in London genuinely. However his love towards order and precise planning took its toll rather soon. And yet there was no sense in giving into emotions that would not change anything. Therefore Thomas decided to keep himself busy with settling in as he would do if he’d truly decided to make his stay in Great Britain a forever decision.
Ofcourse, if that would be true, he'd give his preference to a townhouse rather than an apartment in a big city, but there were alot of restrictions and rules that he still had to follow. Even if his main project on which he was called to work for is now postponed to unknown dates.
Such inconveniences were just a part of his job.
Not that Thomas was going to complain over those. Significant paycheck and greater cause were good enough reasons to cope with many things.
Besides his life streamlined here surprisingly quickly and smoothly. Thomas could not reach any of his old connections, but he acquired new ones with fair ease. And soon after he found himself on a stable grounds, debating whether he should rent a horse for himself or not. He enjoyed weekend rides with his new acquaintances and did not see this habit die out any time soon. It was not a question of money. These were plentiful, but of a good horse. Thomas did not get into the saddle for a few solid years and wanted a reliable and easy going mount for himself. However, not a single available option did not meet his fancy. That is until one day. Hugo Smithson, the stable owner approached Devereau with an unexpected proposal. Being an entrepreneur by heart, Hugo gave Thomas a young chestnut stally for a ride instead of his common horse, explaining it with his favorite mare being unavailable due to a sore back. Thomas and his friends were not kin to cancel the ride, so Devereau agreed.
One could think that such a move was a pure diversion from Hugo`s side, giving a young feisty horse instead of a calm seasoned one. But the stable owner saw Devereau around horses and was sure this man will handle the stallion just fine.
And that was exactly what happened. Thomas enjoyed the ride and the stally. Inspite his priour requests for calm and steady horses he admitted that he absolutely loved the attitude of the young ginger colt with striking blue eyes.
Thomas took this horse two more times, eager and happy about him, when Hugo told Thomas that this horse is actually for sale. And that he is not interested in leasing him out or keeping at his stables.
The next week of Thomas`s life was dedicated to searching a fitting stable and checking all the papers of the horse and the seller. Because you can never be too careful.
Turned out, bright ginger colt was of very nice bloods, even though he was not of a pure breed. And Hugo served as mediator for an irish equestrian facility that went bankrupt.

That was just a few months ago. Now FAS Airplane - that was an official name of the chestnut stallion, was prancing and yelling in all of his lungs, making sure that every other horse and living being is aware of his presence at Buckingham gardens. Very ginger and very arrogant wonder of a horse was led by Joanna Simmons. The stable hand and personal groom for Airplane. Young girl, thin like splinter, was not impressed by stallion`s show off. Tom genuinely liked how the young girl was handling Airplane. And the fact that she attached to this horse was a good one. As Thomas was not able to take proper daily care of this horse. And Joanna was willing to work with him any minute. While obviously Simmons was a serious person and was aiming to start her own career as a professional equestrian after academy, her bond with ginger stallion was sincere and already very deep. And that was hard not to notice even though Joanna tried her best to act all professional and cold. Thomas found such attempts to be rather cute.
Joanna removed the rug and began to check tack. She was very serious and focused. And nervous, obviously.
- I think, I can handle this, - Tom smiled at her, taking over the rein. Joanna just nodded.
- He’s a bit nervous… excited. But he’ll be fine. Oh and there are two stallions in the warm up arena right now, so be careful, sir, - Joanna checked the leg protection, for the third time.
- Ill take that into account, - Devereau nodded, putting his helmet on and finally checking on stallion`s girth, tightening it up a bit.
Airplane tossed his head up and down, up and down and was about to move forward, but Tom stopped him gently, but firmly. Stallion waited for his rider to get on him. But as soon as Thomas put his feet into stirrups, blue-eyed tried to trott away. Airplane had loads of energy and it fueled him with eagerness and a bit of unwanted enthusiasm.
Cold and almost meditative calmness and soberness of Tom’s mind acted like legit counterweight. But even so they pranced into the warm up arena.
They had plenty of time before their turn, however, Devereau was more concerned about not getting his horse exhausted before time. He did not mind the fiery attitude of Airplane and did not want him to spend his steam without any use. Their warm up was rather short, and even so stallion managed to give out a glorious buck and an attempt to rear.
Finally the cold air was ripped by a raspy and echoing sound of speakers, announcing their turn.
Jackdaws were croaking above heads. Wind rised and swirled some golden sparks of autumn leaves.
FAS Airplane, tense as cocked spring, was pushing on bits, almost dancing at one spot. All Tom had to do is to loosen up reins a bit. Stallion immediately went into the canter with just a tiny cue of a leg. His strides were jumpy and eager. Bell rang, creating a hollow echo above the cold gardens.
Airplane loved to jump, loved to do it fast and wide, so Tom had to control him very strictly. And stallion was not arguing much, but his strive to go forward was undoubtable. If given a chance, he`ll fly, probably in an eager attempt to justify his name. He was born to fly and he will.

Reference for rider`s pose : i.imgur.com/6NUhq09.jpg

Description
Show: Autumn Leaves Event
Result: First place
Class: Show Jumping
Horse Name: FAS Airplane
Age: 6 y.o.
Rider Name: Thomas Devereau
Rider Age: 31 y.o.
Proof Of Experience: -/-
Starting Number: #13

Story: (word count 1297)
[beg a pardon here, english is not my native language. So, please, bear with my awkward storytelling skills. Or better say with the lack of these.]
Cold breeze was rising, chasing a few clouds above the fancy grey roofs of Buckingham Palace. Murder of jackdaws were fleeting from one spot to another as if wind was carrying them around with autumn leves. The temporary show jumping arena was silent still. Few riders like those very jackdaws rushed there to walk the course. It was a simple one route with ten obstacles. But the novice class held not only novice horses, but also novice riders. And they had all the reasons to be nervous. Thomas could almost envy them. He would love to be able once again to get thrills from such little things in life. But after his military service and all the operations in hot spots, he felt like he became numb to many normal things. Peaceful life, desired and wanted at first, now seemed bland and almost papermade.
But Thomas stood here, watching all the rising buzz of a fine horse show for one particular reason. Not so long ago he managed to find a bit of a forgotten taste of life.
And that's how this happened.
The warm nostalgic feelings for homeland expired right after Thomas received the news that he's staying in England had to be extended indefinitely.To be honest, he enjoyed his time in London genuinely. However his love towards order and precise planning took its toll rather soon. And yet there was no sense in giving into emotions that would not change anything. Therefore Thomas decided to keep himself busy with settling in as he would do if he’d truly decided to make his stay in Great Britain a forever decision.
Ofcourse, if that would be true, he'd give his preference to a townhouse rather than an apartment in a big city, but there were alot of restrictions and rules that he still had to follow. Even if his main project on which he was called to work for is now postponed to unknown dates.
Such inconveniences were just a part of his job.
Not that Thomas was going to complain over those. Significant paycheck and greater cause were good enough reasons to cope with many things.
Besides his life streamlined here surprisingly quickly and smoothly. Thomas could not reach any of his old connections, but he acquired new ones with fair ease. And soon after he found himself on a stable grounds, debating whether he should rent a horse for himself or not. He enjoyed weekend rides with his new acquaintances and did not see this habit die out any time soon. It was not a question of money. These were plentiful, but of a good horse. Thomas did not get into the saddle for a few solid years and wanted a reliable and easy going mount for himself. However, not a single available option did not meet his fancy. That is until one day. Hugo Smithson, the stable owner approached Devereau with an unexpected proposal. Being an entrepreneur by heart, Hugo gave Thomas a young chestnut stally for a ride instead of his common horse, explaining it with his favorite mare being unavailable due to a sore back. Thomas and his friends were not kin to cancel the ride, so Devereau agreed.
One could think that such a move was a pure diversion from Hugo`s side, giving a young feisty horse instead of a calm seasoned one. But the stable owner saw Devereau around horses and was sure this man will handle the stallion just fine.
And that was exactly what happened. Thomas enjoyed the ride and the stally. Inspite his priour requests for calm and steady horses he admitted that he absolutely loved the attitude of the young ginger colt with striking blue eyes.
Thomas took this horse two more times, eager and happy about him, when Hugo told Thomas that this horse is actually for sale. And that he is not interested in leasing him out or keeping at his stables.
The next week of Thomas`s life was dedicated to searching a fitting stable and checking all the papers of the horse and the seller. Because you can never be too careful.
Turned out, bright ginger colt was of very nice bloods, even though he was not of a pure breed. And Hugo served as mediator for an irish equestrian facility that went bankrupt.

That was just a few months ago. Now FAS Airplane - that was an official name of the chestnut stallion, was prancing and yelling in all of his lungs, making sure that every other horse and living being is aware of his presence at Buckingham gardens. Very ginger and very arrogant wonder of a horse was led by Joanna Simmons. The stable hand and personal groom for Airplane. Young girl, thin like splinter, was not impressed by stallion`s show off. Tom genuinely liked how the young girl was handling Airplane. And the fact that she attached to this horse was a good one. As Thomas was not able to take proper daily care of this horse. And Joanna was willing to work with him any minute. While obviously Simmons was a serious person and was aiming to start her own career as a professional equestrian after academy, her bond with ginger stallion was sincere and already very deep. And that was hard not to notice even though Joanna tried her best to act all professional and cold. Thomas found such attempts to be rather cute.
Joanna removed the rug and began to check tack. She was very serious and focused. And nervous, obviously.
- I think, I can handle this, - Tom smiled at her, taking over the rein. Joanna just nodded.
- He’s a bit nervous… excited. But he’ll be fine. Oh and there are two stallions in the warm up arena right now, so be careful, sir, - Joanna checked the leg protection, for the third time.
- Ill take that into account, - Devereau nodded, putting his helmet on and finally checking on stallion`s girth, tightening it up a bit.
Airplane tossed his head up and down, up and down and was about to move forward, but Tom stopped him gently, but firmly. Stallion waited for his rider to get on him. But as soon as Thomas put his feet into stirrups, blue-eyed tried to trott away. Airplane had loads of energy and it fueled him with eagerness and a bit of unwanted enthusiasm.
Cold and almost meditative calmness and soberness of Tom’s mind acted like legit counterweight. But even so they pranced into the warm up arena.
They had plenty of time before their turn, however, Devereau was more concerned about not getting his horse exhausted before time. He did not mind the fiery attitude of Airplane and did not want him to spend his steam without any use. Their warm up was rather short, and even so stallion managed to give out a glorious buck and an attempt to rear.
Finally the cold air was ripped by a raspy and echoing sound of speakers, announcing their turn.
Jackdaws were croaking above heads. Wind rised and swirled some golden sparks of autumn leaves.
FAS Airplane, tense as cocked spring, was pushing on bits, almost dancing at one spot. All Tom had to do is to loosen up reins a bit. Stallion immediately went into the canter with just a tiny cue of a leg. His strides were jumpy and eager. Bell rang, creating a hollow echo above the cold gardens.
Airplane loved to jump, loved to do it fast and wide, so Tom had to control him very strictly. And stallion was not arguing much, but his strive to go forward was undoubtable. If given a chance, he`ll fly, probably in an eager attempt to justify his name. He was born to fly and he will.

Reference for rider`s pose : i.imgur.com/6NUhq09.jpg