Being Brave

Music: Brave by Josh Groban

---

The sky was shrouded by a thick layer of clouds when Mikayla awoke that morning. The clouds hardly mattered, because if one could see the sky they would just see the darkness that endured hours before the sun seeped above the horizon. Without flipping on the light switch, Mikayla slid out of the plush bed and padded to the closet. She dressed in her basic polo and jodhpurs, tugged on her riding boots and grabbed her dry-cleaned dressage outfit from the closet. A few people and horses were already up and moving about as Mikayla made her way to the area that contained her walers.

Two bay heads leaned out from their stall doors at the sound of her footsteps. The roan stallion nickered loudly into the near-silent atmosphere. A few horses neighed in reply, but he ignored them opting to rub his head against the side of the door as Mikayla unlocked the padlocks on the stall doors and began fed them. While they ate she stretched and jogged a lap around one of the arenas for her personal warm up. By the time she came back, Talal had finished his meal several minutes ago and was fiddling with the door latch. Mikayla opened the door, stepped inside the stall and set to grooming the roan stud. The sky had just barely begun to light the sky by the time Talal had been tacked up and they headed to the smaller arena to exercise. Even if they weren't jumping today, they still needed to practice for his big day tomorrow.

The fog on the ground had begun to clear away when Mikayla walked Talal back to his stall, groomed him again and moved over to Niribi. Meticulously grooming her dressage horse took much longer than the quick one the roan stallion had received. Her mane and tail were carefully braided and stitched, lightly gelled so very few stray hairs stuck out. Once her horse was groomed she went to the dressing rooms.

Mikayla stood in front of the mirror staring herself down. A few stray hairs curled to one side of her face just before her ear. Her riding boots were polished, black dressage jacket neatly dry cleaned, pants a little loose in the front, and white tie tucked in almost invisible against the white shirt. The Olympics were a huge event, one her aunt was unable to attend. Looking around at all the other confident riders a flash of anxiety crept up her spine, setting deep in her gut. She didn't belong here, surely she was better off just riding in regional and national shows than riding a worldwide event. Closing her eyes, she stood there for a few moments trying to find her inner strength before she looked back into the mirror, stood a little straighter, and strode from the room back towards the barn to practice.

It was just before midday when she rode into grassy arena. She stood before the judges in the center of the ring, saluting them with the tip of her hat before beginning the routine. Music floated into the air around them, the beat of the drums engulfing and changing the atmosphere of awe from the previous rider into one of determination. Colors danced in the vague vision of her peripherals as they strode together in their paces. It had taken a good minute or so before Mikayla eased into the routine, the stress and anxiety from before fading. The bay mare felt the subtle change in her rider's pace and followed suit, her paces coming more naturally.

When they left the arena, Nirbi was soaked with sweat and Mikayla felt a little worse for the wear. Niribi was a bit of an older mare, Talal wasn't. She hadn't felt so nervous in front of a crowd of people since her first horse show.

Tomorrow would bring new challenges.

---

Word Count: 648

---

Horse Nirbi
Rider Mikayla Turner
Show ause-olympics.deviantart.com/j…
Class Dressage
Training Images Leg Work
Arrival Image Arrival

---

If the background feels a bit rushed (which I hope it doesn't) it's because we're moving. I've been extremely busy, our landlord of almost 20 years gave us 60 days to move out because he's selling the place. I'm still working on the other picture, no worries there. I know we have until December, but I might not have internet for a long while when we move to North Carolina from California.

References: Stock by Luda-stock
Tool: SAI

Art (copyright) ~Rosela
Do NOT copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, heavily reference, trace, claim, reuse, or otherwise exploit for any other purpose whatsoever without prior written consent of the respective owner