Diaphanous

The familiar shaking of hay nets made the spotted buckskin's ears prick up. His owner was early, much earlier than usual. Soren poked his head out of his stall, shaking some shavings off his face from his previous slumber. His ears swivelled, checking out the sounds around him in the barn, yet his gaze was fixed on his owner. The sights and smells of the equipment being loaded into the float this early meant only one thing--they were going out somewhere.

When Cole walked out of the tack room holding a burgundy fleece halter and matching lead rope, Soren nickered out to his owner. A girl leaned through the door and laughed at the sound. Soren knew her. She was the grey warmblood's owner. Before long, Cole slipped on Soren's halter and led him out of the stall to a tie and started grooming. Soren's tail swished when it came time to braid it, he particularly disliked having his tail messed with beyond brushing. Still, he stood for Cole.

The girl and her warmblood must be coming too, Soren thought, watching the pair of them engage the same routine as he and Cole had just done. The girl muttered something about greys and mud, and before long, Soren and the warmblood were walking towards the float. Cole put boots on Soren's hind legs, while the girl put boots on the warmblood. He craned his neck around to inspect the things that were now on his legs, and took a few exaggerated steps up the ramp of the float.

The ride to the show was peaceful. The horses had their hay nets and each other to keep them occupied and the humans were singing to their music. The peace was over, however, when they approached the showgrounds Soren knew all too well. He pawed at the floor of the float, tossing his head and letting out a whinny for the horses nearby to hear. Excitement made him restless, especially when there were sounds, smells, sights and all else to investigate. The warmblood pranced in place while the humans hurriedly disembarked from the car and got organised with their equipment, rushing this way and that. Cole eventually came to fetch Soren and off the two of them went, parting ways with the girl and the warmblood in the direction of their respective areas.

Soren looked everywhere around him for a recognisable horse, though never found one. The stallion in the stall next to his offered his nose, and Soren leaned over to meet him. A noise startled them both, but it was just Cole coming in with the tack. He checked his watch and got to work tacking up while Soren did his best to ignore the stress emanating from his owner and stood perfectly still. Once done, Cole led Soren out to an arena to warm up.

The arena was full as usual, but the horse and rider found their rhythm with relative ease, and Soren could feel Cole's anxiety and tension become less and less. After a few minutes had passed, they exited the warm up arena and Cole gave Soren a treat from his pocket. They met up with a group of other horses and riders not far from where they had just come from, and formed a line outside of an arena. Within the gates, there were people walking around and finishing setting up the working equitation course. Soren cocked his leg and lowered his head; it would be a while until it was their turn.

Twenty five minutes later, their turn was up next. They rode up past the judges and circled the area and then their round had begun. Soren was in total concentration as he and Cole rode up an incline, weaved through and around obstacles, sidepassed over poles and did multiple more maneuvers. Soren spooked, however, at the gate when Cole backed him at just the wrong angle. He kicked at the air before continuing through the gate, and Cole muttered a small "sorry" to his horse.

When their round was over and they rode out of the arena, Cole dismounted and gave Soren a treat and some scratches for his hard work. The girl and her warmblood approached and dismounted, and the humans hugged and smiled. The girl walked over to Soren and gave him an encouraging pat on the neck, telling him what a good boy he was, and Soren let out a soft snort in return.

It wasn't long before the competitors were back in the arena for the placings. One by one, the judges walked to the horses and riders to give them their awards, and at last, a judge approached Cole and handed him a shiny red ribbon for second place. Cole dropped his reins, leaned down and wrapped his arms around Soren's neck and whispered all sorts of words of praise.

It was night time when they returned home, and Cole led Soren down to his paddock for the night. He gave the stallion one last hug and kiss for his hard work at the show, and unbuckled the halter, watching Soren canter off whinnying towards his friends in contentment.